mr wilks said:Bet his other trick is buying 4x4 in winter & selling it in summer
Ive had 3 x E85s & in between had a 330Ci , sorry but unless you need the 4 seats they just aren't in the game as a roof down motor to enjoy in the lanes , far too numb , serious scuttle shake & virtually impossible to find one without rust problems around front wings + cills
Nice set of shoes on your new motor thoughdon't do what you did with your Z , just read your wheel post & each move from the first set was backward
He said it was his 8th car he's bought this year so must be trading on the side. He said he was manager at Peterborough Evans Halshaw so i guess he snapping up cheap part exchange cars from customers cheap, signing off the paperwork, driving ones he likes and reselling them for his own profit.
I'm actually changing these 5 spoke cades alloys the e46 came with they will be up for sale £400 shortly. I don't like them I prefer deep dish alloys on e46's gives it a better stance. I hear you on the grey csl alloys that's the reason I bought the Z4 on appearance and the fact the roof pump had recently been changed. Those csl style replica alloys have been done to death by Z4 owners though and not in same league as a quality manufacturer like the other black Beyern alloys i had. Beyern only make monoblock alloys for bmw cars so are engineered to last which cost me £2000. Csl replicas like many put on their Z4's cost like £500 from any high street alloy shop copied by dozens of other cheaper alloy manufacturers. Beyern is up there with likes off BBS alloys, really no comparison to a cheap high street replica just my opinion.
I don't need 4 seats but have a 6 year old daughter so need 3 seats and I agree roof down you cant compare a 4 seat to 2 seat from a driving view. The Z4 with roof down is almost like just having the windows down there's really no breeze in the cabin. The main reason for buying another bmw coupe in the end was down to noise and ride quality. In convertibles you get those annoying rattles which for an ageing car is expected. In the e46 coupe you have none of that its silent inside the cabin, the cars done 70k and feels like new. My E85 had done 84k miles when i sold it but felt its age. as for rusty E46 ive had 4 now none were rusty but my E85 driver wing was starting to bubble up so was on its way to need replacing or repainting in next year or so. I think that's just down to bmw's poor under sealing and not galvanising their cars like Audi did.
There's no real quality feel either about the E85 but the E89 seems the one for a luxury cruiser the e85 is more of a sports car but still not a true sports like mx5 etc being so heavy for its size. Whenever I used to work on the E85 I'd just laugh at the way parts were sacrificed or put together it almost felt Honda like not a luxury brand like Bmw. You only have to pop the bonnet open and take a look at the front to know that M54 engine was never designed for that chassis and body. There's a great big heat shield up the driver side with huge empty space either sides around it. From an engineers point I think it wasn't designed well you get more car for money in a E46. When i shut a E46 door it makes a thud not a tinny hollow clang like in E85. Just little things like that make the E85 seem cheap build quality.
My biggest regret was maybe not getting an auto Z4 that would be my choice when I get another Z4. As for comparing the two cars on performance the E46 actually feels faster at top speed being more heavy. The E85 felt more brutal at lower speed with a more instant feel on the throttle, sports mode in a manual is amazing. Head to head there's nothing between a E85 and E46 coupe. I was shocked when I 1/4 mile raced a few E46 330ci at Bmw show last month there was only 0.5s in it at the finish line. That's only down to the start getting off the line once you hit 60mph the E46 gains towards 100mph the E85 being lighter maybe. I suppose you could say the E85 feels more composed at lower speeds in/out sharp bends and the E46 feels more composed at high speeds I'd say. I use motorway daily so this suits me better in E46 than a spine shattering E85. I checked the weights and there aint really much in it either the E85 is quite a heavy small car when comparing likes of mx5's and lotus etc. I'm sure the E46 is only 50kg more i could be wrong I'm sure e85 is 1450kg and E46 is 1505kg.
Now going back to the coupe vs convertible debate the E46 convertible weighs almost 1640kg and has softer springs to cope with this. This gives a much more numb floaty feel up front it feel. Don't get me wrong its still a good car and handles well but compared with a lighter E46 coupe if your fussy you will notice these things. So the reason I bought a coupe is it ticks more boxes at the moment for what I need. We aint been to safari park in years because convertibles have to take the short route and miss half the good stuff. The E46 has more common extras like cruise control and my daughter can watch her DVD's again on the 7 inch screen. I'm not sure if z4 has dvd with touchscreen like you can have in E46's. The coupe can drop its rear seats, has spare wheel and bigger boot so is more practical at the moment that's all. I've had 4 coupes and 2 convertible bmw's now so it would seem coupes are better as ive bought more but I still prefer my convertibles being open to the elements is what driving is all about for me. I did actually see 3 or 4 E46 convertibles yesterday on my travels and had that gut feeling I'd choose wrong.
E46 convertible insurance is also a lot cheaper than E85 or my E46 coupes have been as less are claimed against I suppose so have much lower premiums. My insurance was only £350 a year for E46 330ci convertible but has been £500 for E85 3.0i, E46 330ci and 325ci coupes. We could be here all day with pros and cons I suppose with the coupe vs convertible debate. On a day like yesterday nearly 30 degrees you almost feel its a sin not having the roof down. In reality any convertible owner will know at times its just too much as your burning and all sweaty. So if you have a convertible and are now driving roof up with air con on people now think why have you got that car its sunny the roof should be down. In a coupe you dont look out of place windows up and air con on. One thing I will finish with was when I sold the Z4 roadster. The guy drove off and I came back in the house and my daughter was in floods of tears. I have a picture but would be mean putting it up. The E85 is the only Bmw she has ever walked out of school and asked if we could go for a drive before going straight home. After she calmed her down I asked why she got so upset. She said she will miss the drive outs in the country side and the trips to Halfords which cracked me up. Kids hey i suppose it will be apart of her memories for ever now which makes the Z4 roadster special. The E85 was used as a daily it was great but is more a car you need to have as a spare car to have fun in. So i could see myself getting another one but for the mrs and taking it on occasional track days and road trips later next year we'll see. A nice grey Z4 would likwe nice sat next to my grey e46 coupe.......I'll be back
hoping for a swift £800 but I reckon he'l be lucky to trouser half that & could well have a wait to see it ? 
