Do you think the Z4's are good cars.

Tough question! Good car? Subjective! I own 2003 Z4 & 2003 325i. The Z4 has about the same reliability as the 325. The quality is less on the Z4 when compared to the 325. But it is a roadster. It just feels like a cheaply built car when compared to the 325.

My Z4 is a garage queen, so it hasn't had a lot of abuse to bring out the problems. The car has not needed repairs except for the window regulators.

If money was more important to me, and I was looking for a car, I would opt for a Miata or something else. There are much better values. There are much better cars by BMW and certainly other manufacturers. Am I sorry I bought it? No. Would i buy another? Possibly! With the high cost of ownership and initial cost, that 2009 Z4 is still pretty tempting. I am not in the market for a new car right now and my Z4 looks good and still has low milage. Common sense says to stay with my old Z4.

I went to a couple of the Z4 homecomings; they ended up being worth the cost of ownership.
 
If our Zeds had been made in Italy, It'd all be called "character". I'd rather have a few foibles than a perfectly boring car.My daily driver is a Toyota, it's 100% reliable, but sooo boring to live with.Nothing goes wrong, nothing breaks,in fact the word 'nothing' sums it up. I'll have my rattly,squeaky and quirky Z any day thanks.
 
I've owned 105 different "performance" cars since 1972. Only one (Ford Capri 2.8 Special) left me stranded at the side of the road with a failed electric fuel pump. Back on topic, I've owned four "Zs" & a 329CI convertible since 1997 with not even a popped light bulb.

The first was a LHD 1996 Z3 1.9 bought from Hamburg when the UK waiting list in 1997 was over 12 months. That car served me for 6 months working in Sarajevo & took me all over Serbia/Croatia/Slovenia at weekends. I ordered a new Z3 2.8 in 1998 & had that until 2004 with 33,000 miles & not a single problem. In 2004 I bought a 19,000 mile 2 year old 320CI convertible & sold it (got bored) to buy a Lotus Elise. In 2005 I bought an AC Schnitzer 3.0 Z4 which I ran for a year then sold to buy an Alfa Brera. The Alfa was the 200bhp 2.4 diesel which I had chipped to 260 BHP. It was a disaster with the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) regularly coming on & the car going into "Limp Home Mode", which means absolutely NO acceleration, 60 mph top speed (after 5 minutes) & obviously being extremely dangerous to ot :thumbsdown: her road users.

Now I have a Z4MR. Owned it for 8 months & not a single problem apart from the "BMW" plastic wheel centre caps losing their chrome - but being replaced next week under warranty.

Preventative maintenance is better (& much cheaper!) than a cure. Modern BMW's are pretty much bulletproof. Just change the oil every 6-8,000 miles. With any car things will sometimes fail. Just be thankful you don't own an Italian car. Several years ago I bought a Ferrari 355 from Brundall Motors, Kings Lynn, UK. It was the car that the failed F1 driver Martin Brundall was given. Within 3 months it needed a cambelt change (every 6000 miles on Ferrari's). Engine out job & £6000+.....

You have a good car if you look after it.
 
Both the Z4`s I have owned have been great.. First one did have a broken spring and also needed a shaft seal replaced but that`s nothing. I did 33400 miles in that car, neve left me stranded.

Worse BMW I have owned was a 2002 320td COmpact. The turbo blew big time at about 50k miles (under warranty luckily) which left me stranded and the diesel pump also went about a year later which left me stranded. However, after those two problems I drove another 50,000 miles in that car with no further issues at all.
 
I think the roof latch thread sums up my opinion - its BMWs attitude to fixing/bodging/ignoring the issues which is the biggets detriment, for a £30k + car its not well made but is fun to drive and has interesting styling.

I expect a Porsche would cost just as much to run and be none to more reliable but a bit better screwed together in the cabin.
 
I purchased a Boxster yesterday. Get it next week sometime. Will be sad to see the Z go but wanted an upgrade and could not afford the new Z.
 
Pay attention to the cooling systems and known issues and preventative care goes a long way.

The best feature of the net is the shared knowledge of "issues" amongst owners, that you just won't get at a dealer or indy service center. (Well maybe some indies will know what's up!)

The state of ownership nirvana is when you have ironed out the bugs (for ANY car) and then can drive the $hit out of it with peace of mind.
 
I am in the market for a used Z4-------the deals here in the states on Z's with less than 30k miles are amazing.

But I don't want to deal with a finnickey car that has problems that require a trip to the dealership every 6 months. To be honest, I haven't heard many complaints but for the cupholders with the Z4, until I read through this site.

I love the car, can you give an estimate on cost-of-ownership outside of insurance? I live in Greenville, SC, 10 miles from where the Z's are built, and it's sunny here 8 months of the year meaning I'll be using the top constantly. Any advice would be appreciated!
 
2 x Mk2 1600 Ford Capri's, Killed before anything could break
1 x Mk1 1300S Ford Fiesta, Killed by rust and a Hairtrigger clutch
1 x Mk3 2000 Ford Capri, (I never learned and would still have another one, only the 280 Brooklands Special though) Kept cracking the Cylinder head, Oil Seals blew on rear axle.
1 x Peugeot MI164X4, Shattered the clutch plate
2 X Renault Laguna's, (Company Cars) heater matrix blew spraying water all the inside of the windscreen, it was pitch black & I couldn't figure out what was going on until the following morning
1 x Honda Accord, (Company Car) no problem's
2 x BMW E46 318 SE's, (1 was a Company Car)No Problem's
1 x Peugeot 406 Coupe, No problem's

and finally to the Z4, Yes I think the Z4 is a good car I've had it from new, just over 5 years now, I have suffered the usual things
Inline Coil Failure
Broken Springs
Rattles & Squeaks
I think hood micro-switch played up the other day, but then started working again

Would I buy another one, No, I want a change but have no idea what, toying with the new Audi S5 Convertible or Jaguar XF, I just don't know but it's still a bit away yet, working away from home and only able to drive for 3 months a year is putting me off spending money on another car at the moment.
 
I had 3 Miatas, 1990, 1991, 1999 and a Nissan Z280 1979, a Fiero 1984, my BMW Z4 2005 is the best car I ever had, drives as a brand new car, parts are not too expensive, I highly recommended this car. I just love it.
 
I went with BMW as everyone single one have owned have been very reliable and better made than some of it's rivals, although the worst luck I have ever had is with VW's, a lot of people say they are so reliable but I think otherwise.
 
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