At what point is a z4m considered high mileage?

My Z4 feels the same now at 101,000 miles as it did when I bought it at 60,000 miles.

Indeed it possibly feels better as I've done stuff on it to make it better again.

Assuming you bother to maintain your car and look after the engine it should run to 200,000 miles without major issues.

The counter to that is that ultimately your car will be worth a lot less and maintenance will continue to be a higher proportion of the vehicle value which I think is what puts people off doing it.


Obviously long-term issues like rusting chassis will be what kills the car eventually... but mileage doesn't really impact that. Accident history, repair quality, salinity of environment it's kept etc will all impact that more.


I'd go for a 100k mile Z4 M without hesitation, but I'd want to drive it from cold, warm it up, check everything was right, and then also check that it'd had everything done on it that it should have had done on it.
If everything was ok then all the high mileage does is make it cheaper to buy :D

Dave
 
My ///M has 82k on the clock. Bought at 67k almost 18 months ago and runs like new. Only problem in all that time has been broken rear spring.

I've no warranty either so just take it as it comes. Car is well looked after and serviced on the button.

Probably going to sell it on soon as my commuting situation has changed and hate to see the car sitting unused 5 days a week.

It'll be interesting to see what it's worth with those miles on it :o

I'll cry the day it goes though...if I can bring myself to sell!
 
im ashamed to say mines done 11,000 miles in the 5 years...

blame a business a for the last few years as its been s**t, before that i have no excuse apart from being out the country alot and using the car on sunny weekends......
with the cars configuration its a pretty shocking car to run in the bad weather so tends to get left in unless its dry, factor in completely unexpectedly being a single dad @ 26 + the businesses.... i dont get much time to mess around with it any more.... i seem to be spending most my spare time (after 8pm) dismantling it and adding more parts it doesnt need!! my parts hoard to install is frankly ludicrous, its weird but its almost like a wind down after a long day to just go into the garage and work away till 11 every night and makes me feel better about not getting the time to do what i want, when i want....

i can however see things are getting much better and i reckon next year my son will be coming along for the ride instead of me trying to get baby sitters and having to do extensive ahead planning which always goes wrong....


that said id have no problem buying a 50k miles z4m if was now, im glad I've got all the history with mine however and plan to keep it forever in the back of the garage... i reckon one day they may be pretty collectable.
 
Stuart Truman said:
tomscott said:
Anyway a 40-50k model IMO is fine teething problems gone, but would still want a warranty regardless. But yes as long as its been looked after correctly, condition is good, service history is there and there aren't too many owners (as this could be an indicator of problems) I would go for it.

A main dealer sales rep informed me that M cars often have low miles but several owners , after the initial novelty has worn off and potential running costs are realised . Just his experience/ opinion .
 
High mileage to me means averaging more than 15k/year - doesn't matter whether it's a diesel repmobile or a niche sportscar.

I bought my last 3 cars with 80k+ on them (3.6 M5, 3.8 M5, Corrado VR6), but they all had professional/independent/specialist (i.e. not AA/RAC) inspections before I bought them.

My belief is that a car that's sat may not necessarily wear out parts through use, but will be sat there with moisture in the oil/fuel/brake fluid for unknown amounts of time - and all the faults will be invisible until something fails catastrophically.

I understand a high mileage car is not worth as much, and that works both ways. It's cheaper to purchase, but it means I'll get less when I come to sell. However, it means I can get a higher performance/newer car for less than the same car with lower mileage.

All my cars have been my daily drivers, and they'll do 15k-30k a year. I'm likely to lose more in depreciation/value if I buy a 10k mile car (for £21k) and add 60k over 3 years than if I buy a 60k car (£15k) and add the same mileage. The 10k car will be worth £14k with 70k miles on it and the 120k car might still be worth at least £11k - so an actual loss of £3k less - and I've not had to worry about going out for a fun drive and adding miles to it.
 
Ye a fair point. But I dont think the running costs are too bad really. Unless it all comes at once which is why buying a sorted car is important.

Its ware and tear parts discs, pads, tyres and servicing they all mount and usually need doing around the same time, but under AUC they have to sort these things for you before you buy it and if they are half way inbetween they may try and get away with it which is where you can use it to your advantage and threaten to walk away unless it is done.

But these costs are dependant on your milage servicing is every 2 years or 14k and tyres should last that period and discs and pads should last double that really if not a bit more.
 
mmm-five said:
I understand a high mileage car is not worth as much, and that works both ways. It's cheaper to purchase, but it means I'll get less when I come to sell. However, it means I can get a higher performance/newer car for less than the same car with lower mileage.
That's the reasoning I ended up buying a 5 year-old 76k mile e90 when replacing the Z4. Yes, I could've spent more and bought a lower-miles car but with a baby on the way every penny counts. I accept I'll get less when I come to sell but I could never afford a newer/higher performance car otherwise.
 
a11y said:
mmm-five said:
I understand a high mileage car is not worth as much, and that works both ways. It's cheaper to purchase, but it means I'll get less when I come to sell. However, it means I can get a higher performance/newer car for less than the same car with lower mileage.
That's the reasoning I ended up buying a 5 year-old 76k mile e90 when replacing the Z4. Yes, I could've spent more and bought a lower-miles car but with a baby on the way every penny counts. I accept I'll get less when I come to sell but I could never afford a newer/higher performance car otherwise.

good lcuk with the new baby :-)

i cant lie, i find it extremely hard work...... defo understand your reasoning, im spending a small fortune on the bugger each month.... lol having a baby reminds me of ///M ownership......
 
Beedub said:
a11y said:
mmm-five said:
I understand a high mileage car is not worth as much, and that works both ways. It's cheaper to purchase, but it means I'll get less when I come to sell. However, it means I can get a higher performance/newer car for less than the same car with lower mileage.
That's the reasoning I ended up buying a 5 year-old 76k mile e90 when replacing the Z4. Yes, I could've spent more and bought a lower-miles car but with a baby on the way every penny counts. I accept I'll get less when I come to sell but I could never afford a newer/higher performance car otherwise.

good lcuk with the new baby :-)

i cant lie, i find it extremely hard work...... defo understand your reasoning, im spending a small fortune on the bugger each month.... lol having a baby reminds me of ///M ownership......
:rofl:

Cheers :)

Instead of researching mods for the e90, I'm researching prams/buggies/travel systems/WTF they're called :oops:
 
a11y said:
The UK in particular are TOTALLY obsessed with low miles. Cars are designed to be used - use them! Mainland Europe and the US aren't like that.

I love the fact that the bloke in evo magazine owns a Lambo Murcielago that's covered approx 260k miles, most of them on track as a "supercar experience" car. It's worn it well from reading the updates, so I'd imagine a 100k mile Z4M to be absolutely fine if it's looked after.

I think the reason for this obsession in the UK is that we are less likely to get in the car and do a full tank in on the motorway without ever coming out of sixth gear. 100k miles cruising along motorways wears a car a lot less than 100k miles crashing around the s**t roads in the UK in stop start traffic.

A good example was the Boxster forum. People used to get paranoid about cars that had done 80k miles without the clutch being changed but one member from America had done 250k miles on the original before it packed in.

Beedub, amen to babies not being easy. Try having 2 under the age of 2. I've pretty much not had a full nights sleep for 2 years now. They do make life worth living though.
 
Beedub, amen to babies not being easy. Try having 2 under the age of 2. I've pretty much not had a full nights sleep for 2 years now. They do make life worth living though.[/quote]

Yep agreed I have 3 under 5 :0)
 
This might put the mileage issue into perspective a little. Lists a few high BMWs still going strong, including an E30 with 1m miles on the clock under Rolling road conditions.

http://www.endrasbmw.com/15/worlds-longest-competition/

IMO high mileage is all in the head; its about how well looked after the lady is.
 
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