Pedroskate
New member
BMW Z4 Coupe 3.0si 2006
This is a petrol heads honest account of my first venture into high performance, sport focused BMW ownership. My daily drive is a new generation 1 series which is a superb car, so I'm already loyal to the brand and a fan of RWD. I searched for a year for a Z4 coupe, chosen after endless research into its spec, capability, performance and reliability. However, I was also smitten from the first time I saw one on the road in 2006, it was a WOW! bite the back of my hand moment.
I finally found the car on the Pistonheads classified site in late 2011, Midnight blue with ivory leather, 100K miles but declared as good condition. I waited a week before going to look as it was below market value and I was slightly wary. In the flesh it was stunning, full BMW service history, £5K in options added at build, I paid the asking price with only a passenger ride (no MOT at the time).
The journey home (100 miles) was "interesting",18" wheels, cheap Chinese tyres, cold salted roads, 265bhp, horrific tramlining, bone hard ride bouncing all over the road, the handling was best described as dangerous. I lived with the handing for 2 months assuming I'd learn to understand it....I didn't. The decision was made when I found 4 cracks on the inner rim of one rear wheel. I purchased a set of standard fit 17" alloys from a breaker, had them powder coated in shadow chrome, fitted Goodyear Asymetric 2 tyres (non-RFT), had both lower front wishbones renewed, fitted new genuine discs and pads all round, and had 4 wheel alignment carried out... That was an expensive month!
The difference was massive and I could at last dare to blink and relax both hands on the wheel.
At last able to exploit some of the performance and handling, more issues became apparent. The rev limiter, traction control, and stability control are aggressive and clearly designed to protect footballers wives from killing themselves, but in doing so make spirited driving almost pointless (unlike any other car I've driven). Hit the rev limiter in 2nd accelerating hard, then change into 3rd and the rev limiter is still limiting the throttle for a second or more, this gets your attention when your overtaking and find yourself unable to accelerate briefly in any gear (OMG I'm going to die!). Also when the traction control cuts in it cuts engine power (lots) then after about 3 seconds decides you can have it back...again if your overtaking it's an OMG I'm going to die moment!
The sport button is a step in the right direction as it appears to moderate the severity of traction/stability control, sharpen up the steering response, and make the throttle more aggressive. Switching off the DTSC is an option to improve spirited driving, and you do have prodigious grip at the rear, but your sat almost over the rear axle and on the public highway get little warning when the back end is about to go sideways. Also if you break traction when you launch or at low speed with the DTSC off, you have to back right off to regain traction, which unsettles the car and can break traction again..by which time the loud Corsa has disappeared up the road! Also, I'm sure the exhaust complies with all the noise regs around the world, and people tell me it sounds awesome outside the car, but I can't hear jack from where I sit.
This probably gives the impression that I'm unimpressed with the Z4 but that's not the case. This is difficult car to fully exploit on the road so demands your full ability and attention to get the best from, which brings satisfaction. I've owned the Zed for 2 years and 12K miles, learned to fix or drive round many of the problems encountered, and the right noise is only a sports exhaust away.
I would imagine its a supreme track focused car given the opportunity to turn off the DTSC, but the majority of original buyers were not spirited drivers so BMW used aggressive DTSC to protect them from themselves.
I've had an impreza, which makes you feel like Lewis Hamilton after the first 5 minutes, however the Z4 demands a lot more from you to even approach the same level, but we're getting there. And when you don't feel the need for speed it's a sublime GT cruiser with amazing economy (35 mpg average is easy), and in my opinion it still really is a stunning looking car.
This is a petrol heads honest account of my first venture into high performance, sport focused BMW ownership. My daily drive is a new generation 1 series which is a superb car, so I'm already loyal to the brand and a fan of RWD. I searched for a year for a Z4 coupe, chosen after endless research into its spec, capability, performance and reliability. However, I was also smitten from the first time I saw one on the road in 2006, it was a WOW! bite the back of my hand moment.
I finally found the car on the Pistonheads classified site in late 2011, Midnight blue with ivory leather, 100K miles but declared as good condition. I waited a week before going to look as it was below market value and I was slightly wary. In the flesh it was stunning, full BMW service history, £5K in options added at build, I paid the asking price with only a passenger ride (no MOT at the time).
The journey home (100 miles) was "interesting",18" wheels, cheap Chinese tyres, cold salted roads, 265bhp, horrific tramlining, bone hard ride bouncing all over the road, the handling was best described as dangerous. I lived with the handing for 2 months assuming I'd learn to understand it....I didn't. The decision was made when I found 4 cracks on the inner rim of one rear wheel. I purchased a set of standard fit 17" alloys from a breaker, had them powder coated in shadow chrome, fitted Goodyear Asymetric 2 tyres (non-RFT), had both lower front wishbones renewed, fitted new genuine discs and pads all round, and had 4 wheel alignment carried out... That was an expensive month!
The difference was massive and I could at last dare to blink and relax both hands on the wheel.
At last able to exploit some of the performance and handling, more issues became apparent. The rev limiter, traction control, and stability control are aggressive and clearly designed to protect footballers wives from killing themselves, but in doing so make spirited driving almost pointless (unlike any other car I've driven). Hit the rev limiter in 2nd accelerating hard, then change into 3rd and the rev limiter is still limiting the throttle for a second or more, this gets your attention when your overtaking and find yourself unable to accelerate briefly in any gear (OMG I'm going to die!). Also when the traction control cuts in it cuts engine power (lots) then after about 3 seconds decides you can have it back...again if your overtaking it's an OMG I'm going to die moment!
The sport button is a step in the right direction as it appears to moderate the severity of traction/stability control, sharpen up the steering response, and make the throttle more aggressive. Switching off the DTSC is an option to improve spirited driving, and you do have prodigious grip at the rear, but your sat almost over the rear axle and on the public highway get little warning when the back end is about to go sideways. Also if you break traction when you launch or at low speed with the DTSC off, you have to back right off to regain traction, which unsettles the car and can break traction again..by which time the loud Corsa has disappeared up the road! Also, I'm sure the exhaust complies with all the noise regs around the world, and people tell me it sounds awesome outside the car, but I can't hear jack from where I sit.
This probably gives the impression that I'm unimpressed with the Z4 but that's not the case. This is difficult car to fully exploit on the road so demands your full ability and attention to get the best from, which brings satisfaction. I've owned the Zed for 2 years and 12K miles, learned to fix or drive round many of the problems encountered, and the right noise is only a sports exhaust away.
I would imagine its a supreme track focused car given the opportunity to turn off the DTSC, but the majority of original buyers were not spirited drivers so BMW used aggressive DTSC to protect them from themselves.
I've had an impreza, which makes you feel like Lewis Hamilton after the first 5 minutes, however the Z4 demands a lot more from you to even approach the same level, but we're getting there. And when you don't feel the need for speed it's a sublime GT cruiser with amazing economy (35 mpg average is easy), and in my opinion it still really is a stunning looking car.
