So I figured it was probably prudent to create a new thread away from the 'New Members' section where I posted the night before I travelled to see the E86 I now own. The situation arose as I wanted something that felt engaging and special to drive but also something with which I could tinker and bring up to date, a plentiful supply of parts and an enthusiastic ownership community. The last time I owed such a car was back in 2022 when I purchased a Porsche 911 (997.1) Carrera convertible, it was a narrow body manual car and an amazing thing to own as a petrolhead through and through. It coincided with my 40th birthday and a planned driving holiday with 6 friends in their own cars down to Le Mans 24H, a really memorable trip and a superb car to do it in, for those interested that is documented on my PH thread here - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1958950
Post the 911 it was followed by a succession of double cab pickups and 4wd's due to our daughter owning a horse and needing to be able to tow it to various events. The wifes car was fitted with a tow bar as a fallback option in case I was away or car off the road, the occasions we needed to tow reduced and I started to consider getting something special again. My friendship group comprises of similarly petrol based enthusiasts and we try and do a few shows a year, meet once a month for food and to poke fun at each other and whilst this continued it wasn't quite the same in a pickup/van.
I was originally looking at a W204 C63 or F83 M4 - both have been on the 'list' for sometime and in actual fact just before Christmas I had a deposit on a C63 Coupe but the sale didn't materialise. With a few bits at home to tend to this year and some potential changes in employment it didn't seem the right time to plough £20k into a car which if we are honest can't really be enjoyed on the public roads as it makers intended. So I revisited Auto Trader and reduced my budget, having owned 2 seaters before (2 x VX220 and a Honda S2000) I knew they ticked the special box and would provide required driving enjoyment. I have always like the Nissan 370Z so browsed those along with SLK55's until I happened across an old thread on PH where someone had posed a similar question and a couple of people suggested the Z4 coupe. I had totally forgotten about it and had always been an admirer of the shape particularly when garnished with CSL wheels :wub:
Out of touch with what prices were doing I started having a look at a few adverts and reading up on their weaknesses and ownership experiences, it was whilst doing this on a Monday that I came across the car I now own. It caught my eye because it had 1 owner from new (the seller) and was an Individual car in Ruby Black. The pictures suggested a genuine, straight un-molested car backed up by a Car Vertical check and a call with the sellers son on the Tuesday filled me with confidence this was a rare find. So on the Wednesday (NYD) I hopped in the car with a mate and we headed off to have a look.
When we arrived it was parked in a communal car park and hadn't moved since before Christmas, it was covered with leaves, the paint looked dull, the wheels look pretty ropey and generally didn't look like it had been prepared for sale. The owners son hopped in and turned the key and without hesitation the sweet sounding N52 burst in to life and settled at a lovely burble after the cold start had finished doing its rorty bit. He thrust a wedge of paperwork into my arms along with a service book which I hastily passed to my wing man to have a flick through whilst I continued to make my way around the car.
The MOT history suggested the car had been plagued throughout its life with cracked alloys, the 108's seem to do this, and when I opened the boot to my surprise there was another one in there! This was the victim of 2024's MOT but had been kept as the centre was pretty tidy in fairness. We jumped in the car and he took me for a drive, swapping halfway round for me to do the return leg. The car felt factory fresh despite its age and miles (104k) not a knock or a rattle could be heard and it felt peppy and keen, mileages between MOT's and his mother living in London meant it had rarely left the city or done much over 30mph.
It felt like a grown up version of my VX220 with additional luxuries and comfort - I was sold and it was too, we agreed a price did the formalities and I was driving home a few hours later.
When I got home I sat and went through the invoices and paperwork, pleased to see it had a replacement water pump during one of the services and had been serviced on the dot every year. I find older folk tend to default to this sort of service regime which is great for me and the car. I also found an original build sheet with the options listed which included -
0249 - Multi function steering wheel
0313 - Fold-in outside mirrors
0320 - Deleted model lettering
0345 - Chromeline interior
0350 - Two piece wheels Star-spoke style 108
0420 - Sun protection glazing
0430 - Interior/outside mirror with auto dip
0459 - Seat adjustment, electric, with memory
0493 - Storage compartment package
0494 - Seat heating driver/passenger
04AA - Headlining Anthracite
04ML - Interior strips, piano lacquer, black
0502 - Headlight cleaning system
0508 - Park Distance Control (PDC)
0521 - Rain sensor
0522 - Xenon light
0609 - Navigation system Professional
0620 - Voice control
0633 - Preparation, mobile phone, Business
0676 - HiFi speaker system
0692 - Preparation, BMW 6-CD changer i-bus
0704 - M Sports suspension
0710 - M Leather steering wheel
0711 - M Sports seats
So with the exception of cruise I think I did pretty well! The chap I bought it off explained the car belonged to his mother and father who lived in London, this was bought by his mother from the showroom of Cooper, Wimbledon in 2006 and it had been ordered in as a dealer demo however owing to the colour and options she insisted they sell it to her so it was never registered to BMW and instead was sold directly to her as the 1 and only keeper until I came along. At 80 odd years old she had finally conceded getting in and out was too difficult and had bought a Lexus SUV instead, reluctantly letting the Z4 go.
I hope I will be a trusty custodian of the car and assured the son I would remain in touch to let him know what we get up to and where we go in the car, it will mainly be a weekend car so hope to get to a few shows and meets during the year.
The interior, save for a bit of wear on the drivers bolster, was in superb condition but as with all my cars I like to give them a good clean and hoover out - it is normally during this you spot little bits of trim/clips missing and start to make a shopping list. On this occasion however there were none, the centre console trim was cracked however and on the list for repair/replacement if I was lucky enough to find one being sold/broken.
Couple of pics after the interior clean/vac -
I thought initially this was Imola Red interior but another member suggested it looked like Dream Red and after looking through the paperwork it seems it is indeed Dream Red, I will pick up a Scuff Master/Furniture Clinic kit to recolour the drivers bolster in time.
The engine looked like you would expect, no real signs of leaks, oil etc. however a lot of leaves and cobwebs from it being stood up and not used I assume so tended to this one sunny morning.
Before -
After -
The wheels were a mixed back, 4 nearly new runflat tyres, 1 brand new wheel with less that 500 miles on it and 3 that definitely needed attention. Discussed elsewhere but for me they really date the car, I was keen to get the run flat tyres off so decided to take the opportunity and fit 19" CSL replica alloys. I had a shop round and it was between CM Wheels and BM Autosport, in the end Mark from BM Autosport came up with a cracking deal and was fantastic to deal with answering my random questions at all times of the day! I went 8.5 on the front and 9.5 on the back with an ET33 offset on the rear, I really liked the deeper concave on the rear wheels and also wanted to avoid fitting spacers so this offset was the equivalent of a 20mm spacer and pushed the rim out in line with the rear arches -
The car is filthy right now so will get some better pics, its booked in with a local detailing firm for a full de-contamination and winter protection package which I think will inject some life back into this beautiful colour.
I have a long list of bits to tend to and some parts stacking up already so will attempt to document these as I go along and post up pics when I can to keep this thread up to date, I think these journal type posts are really good especially when car numbers get quite low as in the future people can look back at the cars history.
Si
Post the 911 it was followed by a succession of double cab pickups and 4wd's due to our daughter owning a horse and needing to be able to tow it to various events. The wifes car was fitted with a tow bar as a fallback option in case I was away or car off the road, the occasions we needed to tow reduced and I started to consider getting something special again. My friendship group comprises of similarly petrol based enthusiasts and we try and do a few shows a year, meet once a month for food and to poke fun at each other and whilst this continued it wasn't quite the same in a pickup/van.
I was originally looking at a W204 C63 or F83 M4 - both have been on the 'list' for sometime and in actual fact just before Christmas I had a deposit on a C63 Coupe but the sale didn't materialise. With a few bits at home to tend to this year and some potential changes in employment it didn't seem the right time to plough £20k into a car which if we are honest can't really be enjoyed on the public roads as it makers intended. So I revisited Auto Trader and reduced my budget, having owned 2 seaters before (2 x VX220 and a Honda S2000) I knew they ticked the special box and would provide required driving enjoyment. I have always like the Nissan 370Z so browsed those along with SLK55's until I happened across an old thread on PH where someone had posed a similar question and a couple of people suggested the Z4 coupe. I had totally forgotten about it and had always been an admirer of the shape particularly when garnished with CSL wheels :wub:
Out of touch with what prices were doing I started having a look at a few adverts and reading up on their weaknesses and ownership experiences, it was whilst doing this on a Monday that I came across the car I now own. It caught my eye because it had 1 owner from new (the seller) and was an Individual car in Ruby Black. The pictures suggested a genuine, straight un-molested car backed up by a Car Vertical check and a call with the sellers son on the Tuesday filled me with confidence this was a rare find. So on the Wednesday (NYD) I hopped in the car with a mate and we headed off to have a look.
When we arrived it was parked in a communal car park and hadn't moved since before Christmas, it was covered with leaves, the paint looked dull, the wheels look pretty ropey and generally didn't look like it had been prepared for sale. The owners son hopped in and turned the key and without hesitation the sweet sounding N52 burst in to life and settled at a lovely burble after the cold start had finished doing its rorty bit. He thrust a wedge of paperwork into my arms along with a service book which I hastily passed to my wing man to have a flick through whilst I continued to make my way around the car.
The MOT history suggested the car had been plagued throughout its life with cracked alloys, the 108's seem to do this, and when I opened the boot to my surprise there was another one in there! This was the victim of 2024's MOT but had been kept as the centre was pretty tidy in fairness. We jumped in the car and he took me for a drive, swapping halfway round for me to do the return leg. The car felt factory fresh despite its age and miles (104k) not a knock or a rattle could be heard and it felt peppy and keen, mileages between MOT's and his mother living in London meant it had rarely left the city or done much over 30mph.
It felt like a grown up version of my VX220 with additional luxuries and comfort - I was sold and it was too, we agreed a price did the formalities and I was driving home a few hours later.
When I got home I sat and went through the invoices and paperwork, pleased to see it had a replacement water pump during one of the services and had been serviced on the dot every year. I find older folk tend to default to this sort of service regime which is great for me and the car. I also found an original build sheet with the options listed which included -
0249 - Multi function steering wheel
0313 - Fold-in outside mirrors
0320 - Deleted model lettering
0345 - Chromeline interior
0350 - Two piece wheels Star-spoke style 108
0420 - Sun protection glazing
0430 - Interior/outside mirror with auto dip
0459 - Seat adjustment, electric, with memory
0493 - Storage compartment package
0494 - Seat heating driver/passenger
04AA - Headlining Anthracite
04ML - Interior strips, piano lacquer, black
0502 - Headlight cleaning system
0508 - Park Distance Control (PDC)
0521 - Rain sensor
0522 - Xenon light
0609 - Navigation system Professional
0620 - Voice control
0633 - Preparation, mobile phone, Business
0676 - HiFi speaker system
0692 - Preparation, BMW 6-CD changer i-bus
0704 - M Sports suspension
0710 - M Leather steering wheel
0711 - M Sports seats
So with the exception of cruise I think I did pretty well! The chap I bought it off explained the car belonged to his mother and father who lived in London, this was bought by his mother from the showroom of Cooper, Wimbledon in 2006 and it had been ordered in as a dealer demo however owing to the colour and options she insisted they sell it to her so it was never registered to BMW and instead was sold directly to her as the 1 and only keeper until I came along. At 80 odd years old she had finally conceded getting in and out was too difficult and had bought a Lexus SUV instead, reluctantly letting the Z4 go.
I hope I will be a trusty custodian of the car and assured the son I would remain in touch to let him know what we get up to and where we go in the car, it will mainly be a weekend car so hope to get to a few shows and meets during the year.
The interior, save for a bit of wear on the drivers bolster, was in superb condition but as with all my cars I like to give them a good clean and hoover out - it is normally during this you spot little bits of trim/clips missing and start to make a shopping list. On this occasion however there were none, the centre console trim was cracked however and on the list for repair/replacement if I was lucky enough to find one being sold/broken.
Couple of pics after the interior clean/vac -
I thought initially this was Imola Red interior but another member suggested it looked like Dream Red and after looking through the paperwork it seems it is indeed Dream Red, I will pick up a Scuff Master/Furniture Clinic kit to recolour the drivers bolster in time.
The engine looked like you would expect, no real signs of leaks, oil etc. however a lot of leaves and cobwebs from it being stood up and not used I assume so tended to this one sunny morning.
Before -
After -
The wheels were a mixed back, 4 nearly new runflat tyres, 1 brand new wheel with less that 500 miles on it and 3 that definitely needed attention. Discussed elsewhere but for me they really date the car, I was keen to get the run flat tyres off so decided to take the opportunity and fit 19" CSL replica alloys. I had a shop round and it was between CM Wheels and BM Autosport, in the end Mark from BM Autosport came up with a cracking deal and was fantastic to deal with answering my random questions at all times of the day! I went 8.5 on the front and 9.5 on the back with an ET33 offset on the rear, I really liked the deeper concave on the rear wheels and also wanted to avoid fitting spacers so this offset was the equivalent of a 20mm spacer and pushed the rim out in line with the rear arches -
The car is filthy right now so will get some better pics, its booked in with a local detailing firm for a full de-contamination and winter protection package which I think will inject some life back into this beautiful colour.
I have a long list of bits to tend to and some parts stacking up already so will attempt to document these as I go along and post up pics when I can to keep this thread up to date, I think these journal type posts are really good especially when car numbers get quite low as in the future people can look back at the cars history.
Si
I had some damage to the central trim between the seats, the lady said that she regularly 'placed' her handbag on the centre console whilst getting in before moving it onto the passenger seat. The said handbag had I presume to metal studs on the underside and coupled with some UV weakening this constant action resulted in a couple of cracks and chips.
