Buying Advice, Please! (Also Hello.)

[tomscott]

Really useful viewpoints again Tom. You are becoming a hero poster for me at the moment :lol: .

I agree on the rep CSLs, would maybe prefer OEM but the 224s always seemed a bit sparse to my eye. Do not really fit the rest of the car's look, if that makes sense? Genuine CSLs is my ideal but I cannot justify the cost. I am not overly picky with wheels right now though.

OEM Silver in either 224s or CSLs suits the IL and Imola colours perfectly in my view; the various Greys have more leeway for darker rims. Although, again my oddly-associative brain kicks in and seeing black/dark wheels I immediately think Shadow Edition 3-series.

No problem glad to be of some help!

So i completely agree. 224s arent my favourite design, I have OE CSLs on mine that i was lucky enough to pick up back in 2012 for less than a set of tyres with not a lot of mileage. Before they started getting hard to find.

More so that the 224s are lighter and they belong on the car. I have my 224s tucked up in the garage if I sell as people tend to prefer original.

So ive had gunmetal, satin gunmetal both were on my cars when I bought them. In the past with a previous owner has also had shadow chrome. Im not a fan of dark wheels, just personal but they dull really quickly and feel like I always need to clean them, also if you catch one it stands out like a sore thumb. They details tend to disapear too if they are black for example unless the sun catches. The silver I think just suits the car but also know people want to be different. Just love the look.

This is gunmetal when clean they looked great (the carbon badges came with the car too)
BMW Z4M Coupe by Tom Scott, on Flickr

BMW Z4M Coupe by Tom Scott, on Flickr

In reality, this how they looked most of the time
BMW Z4M Coupe CSL & OEM Wheels by Tom Scott, on Flickr

This is shadow chrome - looks a bit 2000s now but at the time I quite liked it

Z4-forum Cumbria National Meet 2013 49 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Satin gunmetal
Z&P Eurotrip UK to Monaco 2017 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Z&P Eurotrip UK to Monaco 2017 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

My old car and current, CSLs in original OE silver just look amazing in person. Hard to explain but they just look different the reps cant come close.

Z4-forum Cumbria National Meet 2013 43 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

The CSLs on imola

BMW Z4M Roadster, Tatton Park by Tom Scott, on Flickr

BMW Z4M Roadster, Tatton Park by Tom Scott, on Flickr

In the SG
BMW Z4M Coupe CSL wheels by Tom Scott, on Flickr

On interlargos I actually love it and would love an intelargos coupe to go with my imola to complete the launch line up :rofl: sad I know.

In reality its much darker, like a lot of M colours it has a tint of purple in it when the light hits its.

ZEDFest North West 2024 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

ZEDFest North West 2024 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

Looks great with the contrasting Champagne leather. This one has extended Champagne leather its rather lovely.

The Z colour line up was great. Silver grey had a titanium silver look in the light but a touch of purple in shadow, ruby black looks red in the sun, intelargos has a touch of purple, imola has a tint of pink, Carbon black has a tint of blue, space grey has purple and green, midnight looks almost black but great blue in the sun, sepang and phoenix are marmite but look great in the sun.

Personally, im wasn't a fan of sepang and pheonix but a friend of mine has a sepang and now ive seen it more im coming round to it. Super rare too. There is one with imola leather which actualy is a great combo.

ZEDFest North West 2024 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

ZEDFest North West 2024 by Tom Scott, on Flickr

It was a great colour line up there is a thread here with the combinations
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44894

 

[MS_Z4M]

:rofl: Not sad at all!!

The gunmetal looks really smart and actually elevates the 224s which surprises me. The CSLs, especially on a Coupe look like how the car should have been from the factory. Not knocking 224s by any means and it could be an unconsious M3/'M-ified' bias but it would be on my wishlist in a perfect world.

 

[tomscott]

:rofl: Not sad at all!!

The gunmetal looks really smart and actually elevates the 224s which surprises me. The CSLs, especially on a Coupe look like how the car should have been from the factory. Not knocking 224s by any means and it could be an unconsious M3/'M-ified' bias but it would be on my wishlist in a perfect world.

Completely agree, the CSLs look better on the coupe should have come from factory. With the lines of the car its different quite aggressive and the 224s are just a bit plain and generic 5 spoke. Infact the coupe looks better in general one of the best designs ever made. Cost/experience the roadster has it tho. Couldnt believe the difference. I was one of the first to go the other way round most go roadster to coupe and really love the noise and experience you get with the roof down. I do miss the looks of my coupe tho.

People will say CSLs are overdone but the meets I go to you barely ever see them, seen very few Ms with real CSLs in the 14 odd years but its because they are expensive and hard to justify so understand why people buy replicas.

 

[MS_Z4M]

I know that colour-combo thread. It is a pity that so many pictures are missing. The Coupe in either version never got a Maldives Blue option, which I would have liked to see, incidentally.

Back to the rims though, your comment about Roadster vs Coupe looks is exactly where I am at. I imagine the Roadster will have a much different experience but I cannot go past the shape of the Coupe. It is quintessential sports car.

 

[tomscott]

Ye fair point! There are differences, although the roadster gives a more visceral experience, the coupe is a lot stiffer, not sure this is something that is noticeable unless you were tracking. It was designed a roadster so it is very stiff already. If anything they do feel crashy you cant really get away from that, new suspension does help tho. The coupe has a much quicker steering rack, which is something that I really noticed moving over the steering in the roadster feels more disconnected. It could be that because my suspension is original and needs replacing but the wheel input is not as precise. It's not night and day, but if you drive them back to back, it's definitely noticeable.

 

[plenty]

Looks are subjective but I really like the clean styling of the 224s - and they are so easy to keep clean.

However, they are an incredibly heavy wheel. I was shocked when I first lifted one. Swapped them for ARC-8s and the car drives noticeably better as a result. If CSL reps are even heavier that's the first change I'd be making, regardless of looks.

 

[pvr]

These are my old and new cars. The old on CSL and the new on 224. The 224 just looks a bit small I found.

 

[tomscott]

Its all subjective and yes you are correct. Just think the M should have had a more aggessive set up. The double dish rear looks so much better from the side.

BMW Z4M Roadster, Tatton Park by Tom Scott, on Flickr

The circumference of the CSL as a 19" with smaller profile tyres is about the same as the 224 with a the larger profile, ensuring the spedo isnt too far out. So the arch gap should be about the same but the wheel does look smaller.

Tyre weight can vary too, not sure whether the weights include the tyres.

224s are roughly 27lbs front and 30lbs rear

There are two CSL variants that will fit the Z4M, the 163M which has a smaller front wheel 8J and the 127M which has a larger front 8.5J.

163Ms are the wheels that came with the M3 CS 225/265 are roughly 23lbs front 25lbs rear

Cant find the 127M spec, they are the wheels supplied with the M3 CSL and what I have on my car. I would suspect similar just with a slightly heavier front.

bmwoemwheels.com has the specs but the weight is wrong for both the 127m and 163M says the 224s are lighter than both, which is incorrect. The part numbers stated for the 127 are actually the 359 supplied on the E9X generation which are heavier than the E46 gen.

 

[Mr Tidy]

People will say CSLs are overdone but the meets I go to you barely ever see them, seen very few Ms with real CSLs in the 14 odd years but its because they are expensive and hard to justify so understand why people buy replicas.

My car had CSL Reps when I bought it, but shortly after lockdown ended I met 4 other Z4 owners outdoors and only two didn't have CSL - and one of those two had OE CSLs!

So I decided it was almost more unusual to have 224s so I found a set of those.

Most of the colours have a hint of something else in the right light. My first Coupe was Ruby Black which looked fantastic on a sunny day but just black for most of the year, and it was a PITA to keep it looking clean. :roll:

The first MC I looked at was Interlagos Blue with Light Sepang leather which was a great combination, but while I was dithering it sold. Still I got mine within 6 months with lower mileage for less money so maybe it was meant to be!

 

[MS_Z4M]

Light Sepang is a rare one. I do not think I have seen one for sale in the last 12-18 months.

I did see a roadster with what looked like Cinnamon, but it could have been Caramel or Dark Sepang. Do not believe any UK M came with Cinnamon, if at all.

Re. Your 'rebelling' against the crowd with 224s - you met four people and 'only two' did not have CSL ... So half? :lol:

 

[pvr]

Re. Your 'rebelling' against the crowd with 224s - you met four people and 'only two' did not have CSL ... So half? :lol:

… and afterward only 25% had CSL and 75% had the common 224s :lol:

 

[Mr Tidy]

Re. Your 'rebelling' against the crowd with 224s - you met four people and 'only two' did not have CSL ... So half?

Maybe I could have phrased it better, out of 5 cars 3 including mine had CSL Reps, one had OE CSLs and only one had something else!

 

[MS_Z4M]

Re. Your 'rebelling' against the crowd with 224s - you met four people and 'only two' did not have CSL ... So half?

Maybe I could have phrased it better, out of 5 cars 3 including mine had CSL Reps, one had OE CSLs and only one had something else!

I get you. Only playing. :wink:

 

[tomscott]

When you live in Z circles and meets ye. In real life I have only seen three or four other Z4Ms on the road in the last few years let alone one with real CSLs. Like I say even at meets there aren’t many.

At BMW live last weekend I think there were 5 Z4Ms there. Rarely see them!

 

[Mr Tidy]

There were at least 6 Z4Ms at the Ace Cafe in 2021.







IIRC the one in the foreground on the last photo had genuine CSLs, but that was in 2019!

But there were also 6 Sepang M Coupes at Warwick in April.

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=151436

 

[MS_Z4M]

Deary me, those IL cars are dime-a-dozen . Maximum GTA effect. AI would like to see a picture of an IL, Imola, and Alpine beside each other in correct order.

There is an Imola roadster that meets me most days on my commute. Fairly certain that apart from my test drive it is the only Z4M I have seen 'in the wild'.

 

[MS_Z4M]

Hi,

I've also been stalking a Z4M, great advice in this thread

The one your looking at has been for sale for quite a while just under 12 months

Screenshot 2025-06-06 115548.jpg

With some yo-yoing on the price!

Best of luck with the search!

Can I ask if you are using a browser extension to view the price changes on AT please? If so, then which?

Cheers.

 

[MS_Z4M]

Deary me, those IL cars are dime-a-dozen . Maximum GTA effect. AI would like to see a picture of an IL, Imola, and Alpine beside each other in correct order.

There is an Imola roadster that meets me most days on my commute. Fairly certain that apart from my test drive it is the only Z4M I have seen 'in the wild'.

Of course, I said this, and talking about GTA Effect, I drove past a black M Coupe this morning. Jumped right across from the corner of my eye.

 

[flimper]

Deary me, those IL cars are dime-a-dozen . Maximum GTA effect. AI would like to see a picture of an IL, Imola, and Alpine beside each other in correct order.

There is an Imola roadster that meets me most days on my commute. Fairly certain that apart from my test drive it is the only Z4M I have seen 'in the wild'.

Best I can do

 

[MS_Z4M]

Deary me, those IL cars are dime-a-dozen . Maximum GTA effect. I would like to see a picture of an IL, Imola, and Alpine beside each other in correct order.

There is an Imola roadster that meets me most days on my commute. Fairly certain that apart from my test drive it is the only Z4M I have seen 'in the wild'.

Best I can do

Not bad, but not perfect.

I will just have to buy one of each and set up the photo myself. Should be easy enough yeah?