Have I bought a lemon

A

andy6409

Member
 Stone,Staffs
I have had my car (04 titanium 3.0 SE 82K) for around 5 weeks
When I bought it the airbag light was on which I was told was a seat sensor and it would be sorted
It went to an independent specialist to be checked but it turned out to be more serious than first thought and was diagnosed as a wiring problem behind the dash and a new loom had to be ordered .
I went away for 2 weeks and left my car at the garage for them to take it back to the indy specialist for repair when the loom arrived from Germany
It is now nearly 3 weeks and I am still without my car as the loom took ages to arrive. While this was being done the car apparently developed a central locking fault and now the CL module has been sent away for repair
I know I am not paying for any of the repairs but I am starting to worry what else is going to go wrong

I have (did have) plans to do a few mods to the car but am worried about spending money on it at the moment , one touch remote roof, cruise control, re-badging with black carbon badges and changing the wheels as 1 of the rear 108's is buckled and has about 200g of weights to balance it out . I have been offered a set of matt black non staggered 18" cross spokes which I think will look good (any opinions)
 
out of interest, how much did you pay & how many others did you look at before taking the plunge... or did you just get seduced?
 
I wasn't even looking for a Z4, I was looking for a boxster as I wasn't keen on the look of standard Z4's but this one attracted me with its full body kit, big wheels and clear lights all round and at £6995 seemed like a good buy compared to others available in the area
 
well Andy hope it gets sorted. If you're committed now & it's a respected independent, go chat with them, maybe bring a case of beer as suggested on another thread on here & ask the indy for their impartial advice on the car.

Then you can decide to run or stick with it,

best of luck
 
Body kit = aero kit with alpina front spoiler and added rear boot spoiler . Front lights are angel eyes , look much better than standard IMO as do the clear rears especially on a silver car

pics at following link .
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=38676
 
Looks good

All down to personal taste, but I would spray the rear lights to give the 'quad white spot' look




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The central locking fault is probably down tothe GM5 Module. It's a little box of tricks that sits just behind your glove box. It controls all sorts of things on the car like the wipers, windows, locks ect and is used on Z4 and the E46 3 series. It's a bit of a known problem but it's a quite simple fix.

The reason I know all this is I've just had mine fixed.This video should answer any questions.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0zT2UtEU88
 
Hopefully these two problems will get sorted and you can enjoy the car.
No reason to think it's a lemon. When I bought mine there were two issues within the first six months, sat nav motor faulty occasionally and ABS sensor went down. Since they were repaired under warranty nearly five years ago & 30,000 miles not a single issue at all!
 
It's a car, designed and built by humans and subject to wear. And therefore will often not be perfect. And with a sports car that more than likely has been driven hard on occasion with 82K. I'd say you are fine.
 
I'd introduce a note of caution despite everyone's optimism.....

Given that its already had two faults that will be costing the garage you bought it from a pretty penny to sort, there will soon come a time when they may start to lose money on the deal, so may then be reluctant to support any further warranty claims - and of course you have six months cover by right, regardless of whatever they may or may not have offered with the deal.

They may well be a perfectly respectable outfit that will stand by its responsibilities in which case they deserve a pat on the back, but I'd suggest that you need to (1) assess that on the basis of your local knowledge, (2) talk to the indie ASAP and ask them to give the car a good going over (on the basis that you'd give them servicing work downstream) to make sure nothing else immediate is in evidence, and (3) decide, based on the results of all that, whether its worth firing a warning shot across the seller's bows by way of a polite "I will have to reject the car" if the current faults are not fully rectified.

Its easy to say it will al be alright on the night but this is an eight year-old car with some miles under its belt - don't take anything for granted.

Fingers crossed for a positive outcome for you! :thumbsup:
 
lacroupade said:
I'd introduce a note of caution despite everyone's optimism.....

Given that its already had two faults that will be costing the garage you bought it from a pretty penny to sort, there will soon come a time when they may start to lose money on the deal, so may then be reluctant to support any further warranty claims - and of course you have six months cover by right, regardless of whatever they may or may not have offered with the deal.

They may well be a perfectly respectable outfit that will stand by its responsibilities in which case they deserve a pat on the back, but I'd suggest that you need to (1) assess that on the basis of your local knowledge, (2) talk to the indie ASAP and ask them to give the car a good going over (on the basis that you'd give them servicing work downstream) to make sure nothing else immediate is in evidence, and (3) decide, based on the results of all that, whether its worth firing a warning shot across the seller's bows by way of a polite "I will have to reject the car" if the current faults are not fully rectified.

Its easy to say it will al be alright on the night but this is an eight year-old car with some miles under its belt - don't take anything for granted.

Fingers crossed for a positive outcome for you! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Good advice :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for all your comments and advice
Maybe I will be a bit happier when I get the car back but I have a habit of fearing the worst.
No doubt once I get back to hanging on for dear life while listening to the roar of the sound generator (modded) and the scenery blurring past me I will be smiling again
I know the garage are out of pocket on the sale but he is a decent bloke and wants to give good customer sevice so I am lucky ,Unlike a mate who bought an Audi then 3 days later found it needed over £1500 pounds spending on it and despite going through small claims and the garage being told to cough up they have done nothing
wich kind of rear spoiler do you have mounted ? the original bmw one, of some thing else ?
Click to expand...
Standard BMW as far as I know
 
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