From 2 wheels to 4 :-)

K

kirklet

Member
Hello 8)

Thought I'd say 'Hi' now I've registered on here, I've been lurking for a few weeks now while I read up on the Z4 amongst a couple of other cars.
10 weeks ago I broke my neck whilst out at Brno doing trackdays on my ZX10R. Arrived at a corner late in the second day, complete brake failure and head first into the gravel trap ! I was very lucky to survive it and the prognosis for the future is good thank god.
So all things considered and after having plenty of time to mull things over I thought after 28 years of road riding and tracking motorbikes I'd sell up and get myself a 2 seater roadster.
I'm dead set on a 3 litre Z4 now, just got to find the right car for me and my max budget is 5k. Do like the Sterling silver ones with red seats. If my neck was up to driving now I would've loved the one recently advertised with the aero kit for £3850 ! A lot of car for little money !

I'm a week or so away from being able to drive again so can start looking in earnest. Bit excited because I've never really had my own car, the missus drives around in a 2 litre SMAX (I have 4 children :o) which is nice enough and I have a VW T5 Kombi as my daily driver.
Hopefully can source a car through the forum instead eBay/Trader/Gumtree. You guys really seem to look after them and know your onions.

Cheers

Scott
 
Keep your eyes on the classifieds Scott, there's usually some nice cars come on for sale if you're patient, it's a good place to buy on most occasions with well looked after motors, and the chancers are pretty much always rooted out, there's quite a few eagle eyed members that rat out the goons. :lol:

Nasty accident you had, sounds like you've been very lucky.

Hope you find the forum to your liking. :thumbsup:
 
Welcome- glad to hear you recovered from what sounds like a nasty accident. Forum cars tend to be safe bets or post adverts of cars you are considering for advice. Sure the right one will come along soon! :driving: :thumbsup:
 
Tough break on the crash fella..glad you are on the mend tho and you do right seeking out a zed, you could do a lot worse than this fine forum car if its within you're budget
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=88941
 
Welcome Scott good luck with your search.
A lot of ex and current bikers on here.
Just over 3 years ago after reaching a certain age without any serious mishaps but plenty of near misses over the years.
I decided not to push my luck for much longer, it was a major decision but I sold my Hyabusa (1340) and all the kit so not tempted to go back.
Bought my Z, surprisingly I don't miss the bike and love the car.
My Mrs also prefers the car to the bike :thumbsup:
 
Welcome, your approaching a good time to buy as some people sell their car at the end of the summer, you should be able to pickup a decent one with your budget, good luck and when you do find your dream car...we want photos :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for your replies, thankfully I'm getting fitter and more flexible day by day. :)

So I've started the search in earnest now, didn't know whether to post a wanted ad or just post a few I'd seen in the usual places in this thread?

My rough requirements are;

120k miles max
Manual
Heated/electric seats
3.0 litre
Sterling silver/dark grey preferably
18" alloys
Cruise control
£5000 budget max !
Anything else is a bonus tbh.

So I'll start with this one, it's ticking most of my boxes, only fly in the ointment is the lack of working roof. The seller has indicated this is a £175 repair but I'm assuming that's for the motor only and fitting will be extra? I was hoping for one with cruise control but I don't suppose this would be a deal breaker. I do like this colour though and I like the split rims this comes with as well, recently refreshed as well ! :thumbsup:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122104476287

I live just near Hull so I was hoping to find one within a 100 radius or so. Couple of others I've spotted below.


https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/bmw-z4-30-price-reduced-for-quick-sale/1183253529?utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_ios&utm_medium=social&utm_source=sms


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201608237055146

Thanks in advance for any comments help. I'm hoping to buy next week if not sooner. Just like to reiterate I'm a totally newbie to the brand and these cars, no idea what I'm looking for beyond a few things I've read in this here parrish ! :D
 
Of those cars the middle one looks the best- clean, tidy and res ably priced. Other two feel a little unloved.
 
Welcome!

I'm into 3rd week of ownership of what I thought to be a sorted z.
Cosmetically and when it was working it was tiptop but turns out it has a few hidden issues and foibles which my basic OBD scanner didnt pick up on the initial inspection before i bought it.
It was working fine up until very recently and now I'm in a loathsome process of elimination to find out what the problem is.

My advice: take a good BMW-specific OBD scanner to any prospective car ur looking at and ask the owner politely if you can scan it to see if it throws up any fault codes.

The only codes on mine at the point of purchasing was relating to thermostat for which I haggled the price down seeing as it didnt affect car running etc. - gbp500 off asking price and a further 400 off re the stat issue.

I'll probably end up having to take it to an indie for a full diagnosis/healthcheck. but i'm trying not to let this sour the experience. have already done 1000 enjoyable miles and hoping this is just a bump.

but do your homework and make sure everything is working as it should. look out for oil leaks around the oil filter housing and valve gaskets and sump gasket and dipstick. the lower intake boot will prob have holes in it if it hasnt been changed recently. you can see it very easily with a good light. flex it about a bit to see if there are holes/cracks lurking in the ribbed sections.

for the roof motor see the following thread:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=86030

dave is in durham, not a million miles away from you. for 80 u cant go wrong there.

good luck!
 
Cheers Chris, I'll see if I can source one of these fault code scanners. Hopefully you get to the bottom of your problems sooner then later !
 
This is the one I ordered recently. Comes highly reccomended.

https://www.amazon.de/Creator-System-scanner-Reader-Scanner/dp/B01AVUHA38/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473002648&sr=8-1&keywords=Creator+C310
 
So I've trawled through eBay etc all weekend and nothing's floated my boat properly yet.
I did notice this one on eBay though;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252521193786

Seemed too cheap for a car with 46k miles. It looked like the passenger door might be marked but this could just have been a reflection in the photo. So I messaged the seller asking more about its history etc. I suspected it may be a Cat C/D car.

After a day he responded, amazingly the car is located in Maidenhead but he's currently in Scotland but will pay for the car to be delivered to me if I send him £3495 by bank transfer ! :lol: :driving:

I honestly think that people can't be that gullible to fall for this s**t surely? Suffice to say I suggested he go fondle himself and reported the item to eBay to save anybody from falling for this guff.
 
Could be spurious. Could be legit.
The fact he hasnt blurred number plate, parked in front of residence inc another vehicle + numberplate could mean he has nothing to hide.
Ask for copies of ID, cars docs etc. check online with a VIN check website and if all tallys up then it might mean its a legit sale.
Ofc you should never pay for anything without an inspection, viewing, testdrive, docs viewing first, so if it turns out to be legit then your last move would be a trip up/down there for a viewing.
 
Hi Chris,

Yeah I did think it odd that he hadn't blurred out the reg plate of the Z4 and the other car in the background. But believe me, I've come across plenty of bogus adverts on ebay in my time, you can just tell from the correspondence back that they're taking the piss. It's the way they word their responses which gives the game away and they're always working in Scotland ! Unsurprisingly he wasn't in a position to allow me to view the car before buying but he assures me it's all legit ! I did offer to travel down to Maidenhead as well ! :driving:
 
Welcome along.
A lot of Zed owners come from bikes - broke yer neck hells bells!

Have you considered this Forum car? http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=88941&start=30

Its 1k over your budget but ticks all the boxes (apart from Cruise)
Also its a well known Zed from a well respected Forum member :thumbsup:
 
My budget is tight for now and I'm trying to get a reasonable car as cheap as possible ! :P

So I've seen this on eBay...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191963330664

No service history, seller said they'll have it serviced before collection. But I'm sure that'll be a basic oil service, I think I'd sooner buy it as is an get it serviced myself and try and wangle a few quid off.
It's no cruise control but as I've been made aware I can get this upgraded afterwards. 3 grand or less is tempting though....
 
kirklet said:
My budget is tight for now and I'm trying to get a reasonable car as cheap as possible ! :P

So I've seen this on eBay...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191963330664

No service history, seller said they'll have it serviced before collection. But I'm sure that'll be a basic oil service, I think I'd sooner buy it as is an get it serviced myself and try and wangle a few quid off.
It's no cruise control but as I've been made aware I can get this upgraded afterwards. 3 grand or less is tempting though....
Click to expand...

You have the reg plate so you can do an MOT history/mileage check. No service history is a big gamble but then again its only 3k. I agree about the service - you need to get it serviced yourself for peace of mind and figure in a big bill. Looks a bit tired inside, but seats are electric. Ideally a full inspection would be good before you buy, but I get the feeling the seller won't go for that. (retro-fitting cruise control is fairy straightforward on pre-facelift cars as the wiring looms are already in place)
 
If it were me i'd be steering clear.
That engine bay looks filthy. Its scrubbed up ok externally but internally and mechanically it looks unloved.
I'm dealing with a start/rough idle problem with my recently purchased 3.0 and in an arduous process of elimination after 1000 miles of driving it. Soured the experience a little and wish i had done a more thorough inspection prior to purchase. Could have been bad luck but I'll never know.
Its worth paying the extra for a cherished example imo.
Someone who's already poured care, love and money into a car in preference to a cheap motor that might end up costing you a fortune to rectify should be your primary search criteria.
As suggested before, do a full inspection, obd scan, test drive and never ever take the vendors word for anything.
Lots to go wrong on these cars at high miles if unloved, esp the motor.
 
Sooo......the search goes on and then one springs up on my doorstep, literally 15 minutes from me. Went for a test drive in it, ticked all my boxes. Full service history, 90% of it at BMW dealers, almost blemish free bodywork and four great tyres. Only thing it lacked was cruise control and I'm not too fussed about that now from what you guys told me about how easy it is to add it on..
I was interested to see the SMG gearbox in action and the owner loved it. He'd had the car for 3 years and was only trading up due to needed 4 seats.
Full years MOT on it, had a new rear caliper fitted today and new brake lines at the cost of £300. The owner is quite fastidious when it comes to looking after his motors so it's not been scrimped and saved on.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/bmw-z4-30-l/1186745567?utm_campaign=socialbuttons&utm_content=app_ios&utm_medium=social&utm_source=

What say the forum massive? Is 4600 about right?
 
Looks ok but i cant stress enough:

OBD scan
OBD scan
OBD scan

Get a scanner, politely ask to plug it in, see what codes might be lurking...

Check lower intake boot for holes cracks and a rattle on startup or shutdown of engine.

Rattly vanos wont make a difference to test drive but will need to be addressed eventually.
 
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