Advice Needed: Considering a 2007 BMW Z4 3.0 Si for European Road Trips

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Yellow46

Member
Hi everyone,

I’m looking to buy this car: 2007 BMW Z4 3.0 Si Sport Auto Euro 4 2dr, 87,000 miles, £5,995, and I’d love some advice from anyone with experience owning similar models. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403047180232?fromSavedAds=true&advertising-location=at_cars&sort=relevance&postcode=YO105LY

I plan to use it primarily for trips and holidays abroad (often to Europe), so reliability is my main concern—I want to avoid breakdowns far from home. This won’t be a daily driver, as I don’t commute. I’m aware of the comfort limits, so that’s not an issue for me.

Does this particular car look like a good buy? Are there any common issues I should check for with this model/year, or anything I might not have considered?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
Looks like a good buy to me. Lovely colour combo with extended leather. These cars and in particular a 3.0si are brilliant cars. I have had quite a few and still have one now and not one has let me down. Check service and MOT history to see what has been replaced and take it for a long test drive. It looks great in the pics but sometimes not so when standing in front of it. Good luck
 
Great advice! I totally agree on checking the service and MOT history, plus a long test drive is essential. Sometimes pictures don't capture the full picture, so seeing it in person is key. Thanks
 
That car has been on sale for over 10 months. The dealer was originally asking £8995 and has been gradually reducing it since.

It has been £5995 since November.
 
Beerman said:
That car has been on sale for over 10 months. The dealer was originally asking £8995 and has been gradually reducing it since.

It has been £5995 since November.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! It does seem interesting that it's been on sale for so long with price reductions. Do you think this is suspicious, or could it just be that the initial asking price was set too high?
 
Having just bought one of these myself I can wholeheartedly recommend them especially for what you intend to do. They seem to blend comfortable cruising with delectable handling in a package that doesn’t cost the earth to run and keep on the road.

With regard to prices they seem to be all over the place for the E86, when I was looking they spanned from the very cheap to the hopelessly optimistic and everything in between. I don’t think there is any doubt at whatever price point you buy they won’t do you a mischief when you come to sell it on, there is certainly a big following and a lot of admirers. This forum is testament to that with most marque forums being a thing of the past and migrating to FB groups which are good and bad.

The price reduction is just a sign of the market, I have a RRS SVR in my AT watchlist, it’s been for sale over a year and currently they have reduced it £13k in that time! Don’t be out off, do the usual checks and enjoy!

Si
 
Yellow46 said:
Beerman said:
That car has been on sale for over 10 months. The dealer was originally asking £8995 and has been gradually reducing it since.

It has been £5995 since November.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! It does seem interesting that it's been on sale for so long with price reductions. Do you think this is suspicious, or could it just be that the initial asking price was set too high?
Click to expand...

I don’t find it suspicious personally. I think for the mileage £8990 was a strong asking. If all checks out looks like a nice buy 👍
 
No one mentioned water pump yet?
It seems bang on the mileage they start to pack up.
If not done then budget for new. Fairly simple to DIY for around £300, but a dealer will be getting close to four figures!
If the cooling fan runs constantly then the pump is about to expire.
 
Yellow46 said:
Beerman said:
That car has been on sale for over 10 months. The dealer was originally asking £8995 and has been gradually reducing it since.

It has been £5995 since November.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! It does seem interesting that it's been on sale for so long with price reductions. Do you think this is suspicious, or could it just be that the initial asking price was set too high?
Click to expand...

It does look like the dealer was being very greedy initially. They've had it so long, and been willing to reduce the price a lot, maybe a cheeky offer would be accepted now. Not many people are buying convertibles at this time of year.
 
As others have said it was priced very optimistically but is now far more reasonable.

It's a lovely colour combination, but doesn't have many of the options fitted. No Xenons, rear parking sensors, power-fold mirrors or cruise although the last of these is a fairly simple retro-fit.

I've had two 3.0Si Coupes. The water pump on the first one died at 60K miles, the 2nd seemed to still be on the original pump when I sold it on 91K miles. As the engine overheats in a mile or so when the pump dies I'd probably get a new one fitted before a Euro trip. OE Pierburg pumps cost £250-300 so long as you don't buy from BMW - they charge over £500. :o

These N52 engines are pretty bulletproof otherwise although they are prone to oil leaks from the cam-cover and oil filter gaskets now they are getting brittle with age so they're worth looking out for. But I was so impressed with them that when I bought a 3 Series 325i in 2018 I deliberately looked for one with the N52 and it was still running beautifully when I sold it on 139K, although it needed a water pump at 135K! I replaced it with a 330i in 2019, also an N52, and that is running great nearly 6 years later.

Good luck anyway. :thumbsup:
 
Thank you all so much for the valuable advice—I really appreciate it and will definitely take it into account!

I was also wondering if getting a Pre-Purchase Inspection from a qualified mechanic is a good idea for this car. Are dealers generally okay with this kind of request?

Thanks again for all the help!
 
Yellow46 said:
Thank you all so much for the valuable advice—I really appreciate it and will definitely take it into account!

I was also wondering if getting a Pre-Purchase Inspection from a qualified mechanic is a good idea for this car. Are dealers generally okay with this kind of request?

Thanks again for all the help!
Click to expand...

If they’re not happy with a pre purchase inspection, there’s a reason :tumbleweed:

We’ve done multiple European trips as a group and there’s always been at least 2 3.0Si’s in the group, they’ve been faultless apart from small pre existing issues.

I do agree with Enuff that at that mileage the water pump and thermostat, and coolant bottle (I think they’re prone to splitting) would be a big consideration for a trip like that :thumbsup:
 
Yellow46 said:
Thank you all so much for the valuable advice—I really appreciate it and will definitely take it into account!

I was also wondering if getting a Pre-Purchase Inspection from a qualified mechanic is a good idea for this car. Are dealers generally okay with this kind of request?

Thanks again for all the help!
Click to expand...
On face of it lks a good car BUT was for sale on 15 Apr 24 At Car Buyers Direct in Knaresborough for £5,995- Lots of advisories on MOT's for brake pipe corrosion. This would make me worried about rust - know e89 has a good reputations for rust resistance but not that knowledgeable about E85
Bought my previous E89 35I with few less miles 10 years old and had a BMW warranty on it with all servicing done by BMW.-still had ir RAC inspected. Leeks form both oil filter housing and rocker cover. Both fixed under insured warranty (which I continued on purchase) but negotiated a £500 reduction from seller to pay £250 excess(thought it was per item actually per claim) .
Missed the car but needed something more practical finished up buying a year newer E88 125i convertible. Very few available at time and even less with spec that I wanted. Finished up buying one privately and didn't have an RAC inspection after driving a two year newer one (at a dealer)which didn't have the zenons and was in white( a chav colour for me) . The private one was 20k more miles and only missing option was cruise control but had Harmon Karden + electric lumber and had passed its last 6 mot's without any advisory's.
It had rocker cover gasket leak but with Vanos recall this would be replaced free by BMW. £5k cheaper than dealer car. Since found it has sump leak but even with this still £'s in and got a better car in my eyes.
Inspection would have revealed sump leak and would have given more negotiation power. At end of day saved £300 fee. I do like the RAC inspection as they measure paint thickness (the AA don't) so get a good idea of any paintwork done on car.
The dealer selling the white car was very reluctant to let me have RAC report done but this is first time met this. A 2 week wait for inspection the one I bought found on Gumtree before inspection was done.
In your situation I think I would hang on depending on how long to go before want to go on Europe trip. Been some great 3 litre E85's sold on the forum . The E88 more practical for me but what a superb engine (even with only 218bhp) . Mine will only be doing trips in Uk but roof down its an absolute pleasure to drive.
I
 
If you go and see it I would definitely advise taking a torch and getting on the floor and trying to see the underside. I went to see a Z4M that looked great in the pictures/history/paperwork but when I crawled underneath there was a lot of corrosion on all the exposed metal like all the suspension arms. For hard to get at areas I held my phone under the car and took photos so I could see.
 
2k35is said:
Yellow46 said:
Thank you all so much for the valuable advice—I really appreciate it and will definitely take it into account!

I was also wondering if getting a Pre-Purchase Inspection from a qualified mechanic is a good idea for this car. Are dealers generally okay with this kind of request?

Thanks again for all the help!
Click to expand...
On face of it lks a good car BUT was for sale on 15 Apr 24 At Car Buyers Direct in Knaresborough for £5,995- Lots of advisories on MOT's for brake pipe corrosion. This would make me worried about rust - know e89 has a good reputations for rust resistance but not that knowledgeable about E85
Bought my previous E89 35I with few less miles 10 years old and had a BMW warranty on it with all servicing done by BMW.-still had ir RAC inspected. Leeks form both oil filter housing and rocker cover. Both fixed under insured warranty (which I continued on purchase) but negotiated a £500 reduction from seller to pay £250 excess(thought it was per item actually per claim) .
Missed the car but needed something more practical finished up buying a year newer E88 125i convertible. Very few available at time and even less with spec that I wanted. Finished up buying one privately and didn't have an RAC inspection after driving a two year newer one (at a dealer)which didn't have the zenons and was in white( a chav colour for me) . The private one was 20k more miles and only missing option was cruise control but had Harmon Karden + electric lumber and had passed its last 6 mot's without any advisory's.
It had rocker cover gasket leak but with Vanos recall this would be replaced free by BMW. £5k cheaper than dealer car. Since found it has sump leak but even with this still £'s in and got a better car in my eyes.
Inspection would have revealed sump leak and would have given more negotiation power. At end of day saved £300 fee. I do like the RAC inspection as they measure paint thickness (the AA don't) so get a good idea of any paintwork done on car.
The dealer selling the white car was very reluctant to let me have RAC report done but this is first time met this. A 2 week wait for inspection the one I bought found on Gumtree before inspection was done.
In your situation I think I would hang on depending on how long to go before want to go on Europe trip. Been some great 3 litre E85's sold on the forum . The E88 more practical for me but what a superb engine (even with only 218bhp) . Mine will only be doing trips in Uk but roof down its an absolute pleasure to drive.
I
Click to expand...
Nothing to worry about there. My E85 has had the hard brake lines repaired due to corrosion, but the underside is spotless.

It's a 19yo car. Brake lines weren't expected to last this long.
 
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Nothing to worry about there. My E85 has had the hard brake lines repaired due to corrosion, but the underside is spotless.

It's a 19yo car. Brake lines weren't expected to last this long.
[/quote

Nothing to do with having brake lines replaced. Just look at MOT's been mentioned for last 6 years somewhere on car - its failed, passed and then fails again in same area. New pipes don't rust in a couple of years more like a bodge to get a p
Had 2 MOT's in 24 Feb with a pass with 3 advisories tested on 2nd Arili 24 same advisories and a fail but then on same day with same mileage passes with no advisories so in fairness all corroded pipes could have been replaced whilst in sellers ownership. As Gebby says in his post
If you go and see it I would definitely advise taking a torch and getting on the floor and trying to see the underside.
As always with car buying go and have a look at it is only way to know
 
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