E85 / E86 HIGH MILEAGE PARANOIA

I bought a friend of mine's 2005 si a few months back. It's got 160k miles on it now. I'm about to put in about $2500 for a long list of things to get this car back into speck. It's got oil leaks, broken strut braces, shot motor mounts, lower strut stuff, etc. I've never been so excited about fixing a car before! haha I really love this thing...

I was actually planning to keep it for just one year, then give it to the state as they'll pay $4500 for any car older than 2007 if you buy an EV. Plus, you get another $4500 from a different dept in the state, and lastly a $7500 tax credit. All this to say that I've decided I'm not getting an EV just yet because I'd rather spend the money on this bad ass car! haha Eventually, I will buy an EV, but I think I'll still keep this one a long time.

I'm doing a lot of the work myself - mostly cosmetic stuff (some of you have seen my posts).

This car feels like it could go 300k miles, no problem. It's solid.
 
Agree with the above....expecially above enjoying your Z as much as possible before the Planet Police come for us.... :driving:
 
StudioWizard said:
I bought a friend of mine's 2005 si a few months back. It's got 160k miles on it now. I'm about to put in about $2500 for a long list of things to get this car back into speck. It's got oil leaks, broken strut braces, shot motor mounts, lower strut stuff, etc. I've never been so excited about fixing a car before! haha I really love this thing...

I was actually planning to keep it for just one year, then give it to the state as they'll pay $4500 for any car older than 2007 if you buy an EV. Plus, you get another $4500 from a different dept in the state, and lastly a $7500 tax credit. All this to say that I've decided I'm not getting an EV just yet because I'd rather spend the money on this bad ass car! haha Eventually, I will buy an EV, but I think I'll still keep this one a long time.

I'm doing a lot of the work myself - mostly cosmetic stuff (some of you have seen my posts).

This car feels like it could go 300k miles, no problem. It's solid.
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Christ on a rusty old bike! All that financial incentivisation just to buy into the biggest scam on the planet!

Ur doin the right thing fella. Stick with the zed.
:thumbsup:

Sounds like ur in Commiefornia?
 
Yeah, California. I will say, though, that I was incentivized to buy my previous car, which was the Chevy Volt. That was by far the best car I've ever owned. I essentially drove that car for free with incentives plus I sold it for close to what I paid for it. EVs are definitely the future, but I cannot deny how much I love this Z4 and how fun it is to drive and work on.

The scam with EVs right now is that they're just really too overpriced even with incentives, but the performance and maintenance on them is incredible. That Chevy Volt could blow doors on other "fast" cars. It had incredible speed from a stand still. I owned an Acura RSX Type S prior, which was also a GREAT car, but the Volt was faster believe it or not.
 
High mileage…..

https://www.zacharylukecarslimited.co.uk/details/used-car-in-northampton/bmw/z4/3.0/931710/
 
223,000 Miles........makes it TOP OF THE LEADER BOARD if I'm not mistaken. I checked the mot history and this thing has been seriously munching up the Miles even up to its last MOT. Incredible. :thumbsup:
 
Interestingly when checking on autotrader around 80% of Z4,s have over 60k plus on the clock and I estimate nearly 40% have from 90k to over 130k on the clock. I think a sub 50k Coupe will soon become a rare thing as these engines are brilliant mile muchers.
 
As my own thread shows,. I recently bought another Zed, my highest mileage car I've ever owned at 127K. Bought as a "project" or with the expectation at the age/mileage things will need attention. It is to be expected, unless you buy something someone has already done all the reworks.
The issue that's starting to occur to me is service history, it really is largely meaningless in many case. A book with stamps in means what?
It hopefully had an oil change, little else.
In just suggests someone done an inspection 1 or 2..... "Inspection" isn't a service my mind.
With out the history of receipts work done, which dealers and trade can't give you now, your really know very little. What of the quality of the work? Ok if it's main dealer you would hope it's done right...hmmm....

So I've just stripped down the brakes, clearly it had new discs and pads recently, nothing in the service book. Who ever did it couldn't be bothered to clean the rust off where the pads sit and slide, chucked some copper slip on and thought it was a good job!
I also see it has 6 Bosch ignition coils, so I assume they were replaced at some point, no record of it either.
The stamps in my book, mix of BMW and others, do no more than tick the standard boxes, so little info.

I think with the increased age/mileage you really have to do your own investigations and fix on failure or if it's long term keeper replace the common items and build/start a proper history file.
 
To your point, 9designs, I've got a project folder going. I've taken the car to 3 separate mechanics: one who looked it over before I bought it, another who used to service the car for the person I bought it from, and now the mechanic I really trust who does excellent work. All three basically pointed out the same issues, most of which have been fixed by the new mechanic. There's still a list, though. Once that's done, the car will then be on the "normal" maintenance track which means something will probably go out in a reasonably amount of time and it'll then get fixed properly.

This is a long-term car for me now, which I'm very happy about!
 
I think as these cars get old buying privately, regardless of mileage becomes a better option as people compile these project folders and can pass them on… I did with my 35iS, as also received a load, hopefully it keeps with the car…

For my current project, I’m recording jobs done in the actual service book, so GPDR won’t stop that possibility getting passed on one day. … so far looks like my standard of work is higher than the official “stamps” added previously.

When you have history of actual work mileage become less of a factor, rust is the killer.
 
I am currently sitting at 205,987 miles, Still running great except for a few bobbles here and there. But I am sure I can get a LOT more life out of her!
 
As our cars age it seems they are more likely to suffer from electrical problems usually down to sensors and in particular air bag modules. They either fail from water intrusion or just plain old age of components on their boards going bad. Regular oil changes certainly prolongs engine life same should be said about gearbox and diff fluids, disregard BMW’s ‘fill for life’ they didn’t expect we would be still using our cars after their warranty periods expired let alone 20 years on.
 
These cars are really built to last. I have no problem spending money "updating" parts because it runs so beautifully and deserves to have optimal parts.
 
Absolutely agree, I know this has always been the case and will continue to be the case, but I've always been of the opinion ( I'm not expecting everyone to agree) if it haven't the cash to run and maintain a car correctly then don't buy it. I'm going to get yelled at , but it does make we wince when I read of some bogged money saving short cuts ( that in some cases just save maybe a few quid!!!!!) that occasionally go on with these cars, I'm left thinking of the poor soul that's going to inherit it.
 
Just jumping in here knee deep without reading the previous 6 pages but average mileage is around 6800 miles per year by todays standards, bugger my 2.5 is now known as high mileage!!!!!!!!
 
TOMGREEN413 said:
Absolutely agree, I know this has always been the case and will continue to be the case, but I've always been of the opinion ( I'm not expecting everyone to agree) if it haven't the cash to run and maintain a car correctly then don't buy it. I'm going to get yelled at , but it does make we wince when I read of some bogged money saving short cuts ( that in some cases just save maybe a few quid!!!!!) that occasionally go on with these cars, I'm left thinking of the poor soul that's going to inherit it.
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Agree mate, so I can yelled at as well…. Perhaps because I’m lucky enough to afford it.
I do wonder when some are looking for real low miles it’s a belief that it won’t need money spending on it. Sadly at the age E85/6 are they going to need it regardless of miles.
So I bought one with 127k, saved what 2-3k? And have spent 700 on replacing, servicing and fixing what I felt needed doing. Now I have a car with history I’ve created.
Time will tell if I’ve done the right thing.
 
On the other side though, as the high milers are worth less, I am actually overspending on it but that is my choice though.

On top of the car, the wheels, tyres and now a whole new rear brake system has to be done getting the total spend to near enough £9k. I will never get that back, but i use this car as a hobby really and do what I can to it.

If however the car had been half the miles, the 3.5k spent might see some sort of return if sold.
 
Not really all cars will need tyres, wheels will corrode and or get curbed, bushes age regardless. If I’d bought a car with 60k on it, it’s cam cover gasket would still probably be leaking, the lolly pop bushes needing replacing, the flog lights would still have been corroded.... etc etc. (Lucky someone had done discs and pads recently on mine)
Other option is to buy a car from some one like us fanatics who has done all the jobs and accept to pay more for it if you can’t fix yourself.

They are all a money pit because they are old and need TLC.....if not it would be boring... :rofl:
 
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