BMW Z4M 3.2L '06 Convertible - 72k miles - £11,850

[Jembo]

One other thing I noticed on the new style MOT was:

Aug 2011, mileage 70.9k
May 2012, mileage 71,083
Jan 2013, mileage 71,092

If I were to be interested in such a car, would be looking to find out why it as been almost idle for he last 3 years, so suggest you also supply this info in the original advert for openness

 

[Bing]

Yeah that's a fair point actually, 2 months would raise suspicion in my mind too...I really don't want to part with it, but the news of a new arrival ties my hands. But at the same time I love this car...and...if I can't sell it I'll just have to keep it. Oh Damn . My other half won't be impressed but I'm sure we can come to some arrangement and get her a little polo or something

It doesn't seem like you are 'that' serious re selling with the above comment and hopefully you will be able to keep it to enjoy for the summer - unless that was a couple of weeks ago!

A few things that would cause me to scratch my head and put it to the bottom of my buying list:

The running in service as pointed out – it would concern me more if it was serviced over 2,500. However maybe it’s me but there appears to be a gap on the other services, insp 1 - insp 2 10,000 odd difference? Am I not looking correctly?

The other alarm bells are the fact you are selling within two months of purchase right on the edge of the start of summer – generally a time to keep this car. I know you say a genuine reason of new arrival buts that’s not until December. Further you are using the pictures from the ad from when you bought it – ideally you should be using fresh pictures you have taken not of some secondhand car lot.

Agree with some of this, but not all...

Running in service is fine at that mileage
Agree there is an oddly large gap between the Insp1 and Insp2... Though it is within 2 years at least.
Selling during summer - generally you can command a slightly higher price from what I have seen. Sensible perhaps - babies are expensive, getting rid of the expensive toy early to save pennies. No issue with that.
Pics - agree

I also agree with Jembo regarding the MOTs, however the car has been serviced (if not over-serviced) at the correct intervals during that time, so not such a biggie.

 

[jimbob]

Yeah that's a fair point actually, 2 months would raise suspicion in my mind too...I really don't want to part with it, but the news of a new arrival ties my hands. But at the same time I love this car...and...if I can't sell it I'll just have to keep it. Oh Damn . My other half won't be impressed but I'm sure we can come to some arrangement and get her a little polo or something

It doesn't seem like you are 'that' serious re selling with the above comment and hopefully you will be able to keep it to enjoy for the summer - unless that was a couple of weeks ago!

A few things that would cause me to scratch my head and put it to the bottom of my buying list:

The running in service as pointed out – it would concern me more if it was serviced over 2,500. However maybe it’s me but there appears to be a gap on the other services, insp 1 - insp 2 10,000 odd difference? Am I not looking correctly?

The other alarm bells are the fact you are selling within two months of purchase right on the edge of the start of summer – generally a time to keep this car. I know you say a genuine reason of new arrival buts that’s not until December. Further you are using the pictures from the ad from when you bought it – ideally you should be using fresh pictures you have taken not of some secondhand car lot.

Hi Simon,

Sorry, I am serious about selling. I was just joking around trying to get across that I'm reluctantly selling because of the change in circumstance. I need to realistically sell it.

Running-in service - I think it's personal preference, as you mentioned it's only 400 miles over and probably within the limits outside of 1200 miles.

The service difference - a 2009 service is missing, I think it's every 2 years or 15,000 miles, however this was left for an extra 5,000 miles. This was one lady owner from new so am not sure why.

Only owning 2 months - I can understand that and you're totally right a car like this makes summer very enjoyable. Trouble is, just on the edge of summer is also the best time to sell a car, if I rag it around in the summer and sell it after the price will naturally depreciate a bit and the deciding factor was that the boss told me to.

pictures - I wanted to get this up and running, I'm about to take the car to get cleaned and am going to take some more pictures....which I will put up straight away.

 

[jimbob]

Location would be handy.

Bromley in Kent

 

[jimbob]

One other thing I noticed on the new style MOT was:

Aug 2011, mileage 70.9k
May 2012, mileage 71,083
Jan 2013, mileage 71,092

If I were to be interested in such a car, would be looking to find out why it as been almost idle for he last 3 years, so suggest you also supply this info in the original advert for openness

I'm not sure how I can get this information without directly writing to the previous owner. Like Bing mentioned the service history during this time is up to date. I would suspect it's the normal case of being garaged and not used much and then deciding to sell.

 

[Simon_P]

Hi Simon,

Sorry, I am serious about selling. I was just joking around trying to get across that I'm reluctantly selling because of the change in circumstance. I need to realistically sell it.

Running-in service - I think it's personal preference, as you mentioned it's only 400 miles over and probably within the limits outside of 1200 miles.

The service difference - a 2009 service is missing, I think it's every 2 years or 15,000 miles, however this was left for an extra 5,000 miles. This was one lady owner from new so am not sure why.

Only owning 2 months - I can understand that and you're totally right a car like this makes summer very enjoyable. Trouble is, just on the edge of summer is also the best time to sell a car, if I rag it around in the summer and sell it after the price will naturally depreciate a bit and the deciding factor was that the boss told me to.

pictures - I wanted to get this up and running, I'm about to take the car to get cleaned and am going to take some more pictures....which I will put up straight away.

Hi Jim!

I would also list the full spec under the service details with some good personal pictures this will see this sell no problem for sensible money.

 

[jimbob]

Hi Jim!

I would also list the full spec under the service details with some good personal pictures this will see this sell no problem for sensible money.

The original post has now been updated with specs and brand new pictures

 

[shawna]

This running in service is used as leverage by M owners who adhered to a strict protocol against those users that did it late or did not do it all...

In reality we all have seen Ms without a running in service (both Zs and 3 Series etc...) and none, absolutely none had any problems.

This is because even though this running in service is for engines built by hand, and i am not sure if the Z4M engine was built by hand, it uses organic oil vs synthetic oil to allow for the wide tolerances when building by hand and establish a good seating of the rings and pistons.

These cars have withstood the test of time and as long as the initial oil is changed relatively in a short time all is well.

Now for those enthusiastic owners, one should ask what type of oil it is:

Its just an organic oil (i.e. without additives) - it enables the rings to bed faster.

Usually anyone who races and builds engines, allows for this seating, and for the tolerances to settle anywhere between 400-2000 miles.

 

[boristhebold]

Jim, you may be better trying to sell it where people can't rip it to shreds on the same thread.
I appreciate it is an open forum but is someone's For Sale ad really the place for it ?

 

[mmm-five]

Jim, you may be better trying to sell it where people can't rip it to shreds on the same thread.
I appreciate it is an open forum but is someone's For Sale ad really the place for it ?

That's the risk you take posting the ad on a forum dedicated to the marque. It happens on the M5 forum, the CSL forums, the Corrado VR6 forums, ...

No member can have failed to have seen what happens when a for sale post is made - wouldn't matter if it's a new member or one who's been here 6 years (i.e. since it launched)!

I tend to use the forums as a first point of call to get all the hard questions out of the way, and prepare appropriate answers/proof - THEN I go and advertise it elsewhere

 

[boristhebold]

Yep, exactly what I have seen on most forums bar 1 where people can stick a "No Bull" rule on a post to keep it on topic...specifically items for sale.

 

[Jembo]

Jim, you may be better trying to sell it where people can't rip it to shreds on the same thread.

No member can have failed to have seen what happens when a for sale post is made - wouldn't matter if it's a new member or one who's been here 6 years (i.e. since it launched)!

I'd argue well presented cars with a clear history only receive complements from members.

When someone who has had no previous connection with the forum offers a car for sale, I welcome them to do so, though by the same token if I had been considering buying such a car, I would find all the forum's collaborative comments & contributions invaluable.

There's too many cars with a chequered history, it's down to places like this to weed out the scroats & stop them from taking honest money.

If Jim can successfully substantiate & answer, then it's a car worth having, for example running in service query - clearly answered & reassured by forum members as not an issue. Whether Jim sells it to someone on here or elsewhere, he'll be able to answer comprehensively from his experience here, so good luck m8, a lot of car for that money.

 

[jimbob]

I'm cool with how the threads turned out. I posted my for sale ad here in the hope that it went to a genuine home and a z4 lover...but also to get all the questions fired at me that a potential buyer would ask.

I'll be honest, I'm no expert when it comes to cars, I just love them. I know this is a beautiful car and ticks most boxes but I would of never of thought of the running-in check, missing service or MOT showing that it's clearly been mothballed the last couple of years (despite still being serviced). But now I know and now I can answer them with some confidence to back them up.

It's a true beauty that will give someone lots of fun and just in time for summer that surely is just around the corner.....isn't it?!

 

[inkey$]

For info I met Jamie this weekend as he's just up the road from me. Thoroughly great bloke and his ///MR sounded lovely, bringing back lots of lovely/painful memories of ///Molly.