Black/Blue? Coupe

A

AndyK92

New member
Hey guys

Long time lurker here - finally decided to take the plunge on getting my first Z4

I'm open to picking up any Z4 but have strong preferences, those being;

Colour; Black/Blue
Trans; Auto preferably
Location; West Midlands area
Budget; 9k-10k at a push

Disclaimer - i'm absolutely useless with cars, my knowledge literally comes from this forum, i just saw a z4 coupe one day and realised i needed one!
If anyone could let me know what i can expect to get at my price range i'd appreciate it as places like ebay/autotrader are all over the place in terms of consistency

Thanks all :D
 
Having only recently just got my hands on one i will share my two cents...

The fact you are looking for a coupe will narrow it down a lot in terms of how many are available, even more so one you have put a lid on your budget. Look on both Auto-trader and ebay (mine was off ebay from a local dealership who didn't want to pay to advertise on Auto-trader).

Decide if you want manual or auto... this will come down to preference but my research led me to the following conclusions:
Auto for daily driver and/or if you do a lot of commuting in traffic (will also get the layman/punter from 0-60 quicker than a manual)
Manual for weekend cruiser/track days or to get the full 'driving experience'

Decide if you want a sport or just an SE, i think there are more sports around and if in doubt then check for the following:
- 18" BMW OEM wheels (hard to tell if they have been replaced)
- Aluminium/silver dash and handbrake surround
- black/anthracite roof lining
- BMW in door sils
- M seats (thy have a little foldy out bit at the front

although the most sure fire way is to enter the reg into the following site and it will tell you for sure:
https://www.bmw-warranty.co.uk/Start

Think the sport has all the bells and whistles as standard and also has M suspension (stiffer ride), just the springs and arms i think, not full M suspension, other more experience people can prob give more info here

Finally; when below 100k, 10,000 miles on or off the odometer seemed to equate to £1,000 off or on the price depending on which way you went. For your budget would expect something with around 70/80k on the clock

I was looking regularly for about a month and in that time got pretty familiar with what was available and what was a good deal.

I also paid the AA to go and do a review and test drive as it was lockdown and couldn't do so myself (they are still able to without breaking restrictions) also took the stress out of it slightly and gave me some reassurance nothing was seriously wrong.

Good luck - it will 100% put a smile on your face!
 
Wow, Thanks Phippy - That's a good chunk of info to have

The more i think about it the more im leaning towards getting an auto. I was thinking of paying for the RAC inspection for the peace of mind as at the minute all the ones on auto/ebay im interested in are some 100+ miles away so paying for home delivery is looking likely but i'll check the AA one out!

I've got my eye on a 3.0 sport all black 76k miles for £10k so your price recommendation seems spot on - I've heard forum cars are naturally better looked after so i figured i would try my luck on here before pulling the trigger :lol:

Thanks for the advice and im glad you're enjoying yours!
 
The main thing people seem to prefer in the Sport is the sport seats, although some SEs had them specified as an option. Other differences as standard included stiffer and slightly lower suspension, a fatter steering wheel and 18” staggered (wider at the back than front) wheels as standard. Hardly anyone runs the standard wheels now, either because the car was specced with optional wheels or they’ve subsequently been upgraded.

I think most of the interior choices were common options across both models. Most importantly both had the same 265hp N52 straight six engine and could be specced in 6 speed manual or auto. The auto box seems to be reliable and highly rated. The manual is robust but can be baulky, and troublesome gear changes in the lower gears are much improved by removing the clutch delay valve (CDV).

Ballpark £10k should buy you a nice SE on 60k. Flex up or down for mileage and add on a bit for Sport (maybe as much as £1k). Don’t pay a premium for SatNav, its outdated and just something to go wrong.

Above all, unless it’s coming from a trusted forum member with plenty of history on here, GO AND SEE IT. Condition is everything here, unless you’re buying a fixer-upper on the cheap. Good luck with your search.
 
Thanks Andy, I went for an auto and I am loving it!

I also only chose the AA as i was already a member and they did a discount, if you are with RAC i'd ask them but probably not really very much in it. You get a report which covers 360 degree photos and you can ask them to take a look at anything you're particularly concerned with (rear springs for example as they seem to be rather common issue). They even picked up on bodywork i couldn't see from the photos, but i did go and see it in the flesh before i bought it as it was luckily local to me.

See if you can find out if it's due for a service, usually every ~15k miles - probably likely it will be and you will need to budget another £400-600 if it is, which can be a good reason to ask for that off the price, people will expect you to haggle a bit anyway!
 
Well I'll have to say a Coupe is a great choice, but then I suppose I might be biased. :lol:

I think most of the details have been covered, but other than the Sport specific items like seats, wheels, etc. Sport and SE came with the same standard equipment that includes electric seat adjustment with driver's memory, auto-lights and auto-wipers.

But none of them had rear parking sensors, heated seats, cruise control, Bi-Xenon headlights, Multi-Function Steering Wheel, power-folding door mirrors or cup-holders as standard - or the hopelessly outdated Sat-Nav!

So if any of those are things you think are "must haves" bear that in mind when you are searching, although cup-holders and cruise control are pretty easy to retro-fit.

Your budget should get you a good example, and I'd agree that forum owners' car usually get more TLC!

Here is a link to a database a forum member put together if you fancy playing about to see how many of each colour came to the UK, and it was less than 600 Automatic Coupes:- http://perso.numericable.fr/tonyz4c/index30si.html

Anyway good luck finding the right one. :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the replies guys!

The only extras i'm somewhat interested in are Xenon Headlights & Heated seats - the sat nav looks like a bit of an eye sore in my opinion!

Thanks Mr Tidy for sending the database link across, i had no idea the numbers in the UK are that low, also explains why i've never seen a white coupe which i would love.

Still searching for one, i'm in no rush but i'll be sure to keep you guys updated :D
 
AndyK92 said:
Thanks for the replies guys!

The only extras i'm somewhat interested in are Xenon Headlights & Heated seats - the sat nav looks like a bit of an eye sore in my opinion!

Thanks Mr Tidy for sending the database link across, i had no idea the numbers in the UK are that low, also explains why i've never seen a white coupe which i would love.

Still searching for one, i'm in no rush but i'll be sure to keep you guys updated :D
Click to expand...

There was a white one flagged upon the Coupe watch thread a few weeks back which was around your top budget but I think it sold quite quickly but they do come up.

Good luck with your search :thumbsup:
 
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