Its also good to point out that these cars cost money to look after. I am in a similar position my car has 71000 I've had it 2 years.
My list of things to do in the short term:
Bearings
INS II
Suspension - my dampers literally have no damping left which is another common issue
Engine mounts and bolts
That will cost I would think 4k and these are just standard serviceable items. On top I need a new set of tyres and I've just taxed and insured it. The tax and insurance was £600 each and the tyres will be about £800. Thats another 2k but you can't really add those things in but they are costs you have to spend.
Something else on my mind is to have the Vanos serviced too as the guides tend to disintegrate at 60k+ I would think there is decent amount of wear on all these cars.
That's roughly 6K I've had the car 2 years and already spent 3k on repairs and servicing for example a new set of discs and pads all round will be about £1200. I also had window regulator issues where it failed and I needed it rebuilt. The door handle cable has stretched in the passenger door which was a bit costly too.
I bought a strut brace some Aero Skirts and some extended leather items. These parts are like hens teeth the brace was £350 and the Aero skirts were £1000 and need painting
Worth checking the roof too, they have 3 layers but its a really annoying but they all wear catching the rubber seal when putting it down and tend to wear through mine has one on each side. Also being in the UK when the sun comes out people put it up and down but if you put it down wet the material stretches and over time the material starts to go in high torsion areas around the frame. It is an aesthetic issue as the skin won't allow water through but its still an annoyance and the only way to fix is a new roof which is £800 then fitting.
Obviously at 71k its no spring chicken and needs some paint too the front bumpers tend to get rash and are low so easy to catch the fangs. Mine had a carbon fibre wrap on the valances and the wing mirrors. The front was hiding what looks like roadkill damage but not a big deal, the rear water got under and when removing the wrap the paint came with.
Bonnets are long too and mine does have a few chips so do the wings. Depends how anal you are but I could probably spend 2-3k having the paint sorted too.
Once they get to this age its not difficult to spend money to the point it the cars value becomes a bit of a secondary. The fact is you can't buy cars like this anymore so the more money spent the better from an enthusiast point of view but its unlikely to make you money like some of the stories of other brands currently the Z4M has been super stable and has highs lows and lots of middle priced cars. Not to say the god ones won't appreciate but I wouldn't bet on buying one for that reason. Thats not to say there aren't good examples at good prices but there are a lot of shoot for the stars cars that aren't great and people jump on the bandwagon.
Although 12k sounds a lot I'm far off that without the mods.
Theres also an element of making the car as good as it can be with the M3 CSL being a great goal... the CSL airbox really makes the car sound fabulous. There is a lot of scaremongering about things you should and shouldn't do but honestly these cars are 13-15 years old and at 70-100k there will be a fair amount of maintenance.
This is why when buying its key to get a well documented car. At 15-16k (average Mroady price) sounds like ok value until you get savvy with what potentially needs doing then the value of the car is pretty much redundant.
I would assume that was the plan for the previous owner of this car and then life takes over and another opportunity arises so you cut your losses and move on which ends up a good opportunity for someone else.
The risk is buying one where the previous owner didn't have that level of due diligence and you end up with a money pit. When I was looking the majority of them were just that. Took me 2 years to get into this one and I let heart over head determine my purchase too. Although I've had one before and well versed with issues sometimes cars come up in certain specs that are hard to find... mine is one of 4. It also has everything apart from folding mirrors and extended leather (which was only available with certain interior options) funnily enough 2 of the 3 have just come up for sale and both are low milage but significantly more than what I paid. That being said it has cost me some money but at the same time its all documented and gives me peace of mind. Its all a bit of a journey.
All worth bearing in mind.
This is my second Z4M and I've got a 996 C4S and had a Boxster S too and just ended up gravitating back because I really do love these cars they are just murderous in the best possible way with a nice enough interior and a boot you can hit Europe with no issues.
Last thing to note is these things can be tackled over time not all is nessasary and obviously this can probably read a little daunting but your in the same boat with what ever high performance low tolerance 15 year old car...
The C4S came with £35ks worth of paperwork.... thankfully everything was done with that one so the Z is my project car lol!
North West Surrey
And while A/T say it's £848 above market average they won't have factored in the £1,000 bearing shell job!
Liverpool
