Uk
I've been on the hunt for a car that ticks my boxes and have recently come across the z4. I really was quite unaware of the e85 and e86 z4 and was focusing on the e46 330ci. The rarity and rust issues, as well as generally hard to find nature of a good condition manual 330ci has made the z4 especially with the n52 a better prospect to me. I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole in the last week or so looking through countless reviews of z4s and am quite persuaded by the 3.0si coupe. I was a bit hesitant with the clown shoe shape but I think its growing on me helped in part by its rarity on the road. I have looked through a bunch of listing's from the past few months to try gauge prices, condition and so on and will be continuing to do so as I decide if it is the right car for me. I'm not obsessed with having a low mileage, I care alot more about how the car has been maintained and its actual condition, I think in my budget around £8000 depending on condition, most examples would have over 6 figures on the clock. I think the sweet spot for a owner who wants to daily the car would be just over 100k up till maybe 130k miles, correct me if im wrong .If anyone would like to reply with any knowledge for a prospective buyer or have any other comments too, that would be appreciated.
Hello from a potential owner and new member
- Thread starter Caspon
- Start date
Hi and welcome to the forum. 
Good E46s are few and far between these days, and sellers seem to be asking strong money for the few that are around.
I was so impressed with the N52 engine on my Z4s that I also had an E91 325i and now have an E90 330i that has done 130K miles, so I suppose and E92 might be an option, although an E86 is much better looking, a fair bit quicker and way more fun to drive!
Buying just above 100K miles is a good idea as buyers in the UK seem to have a mental block about 6 figure mileages, even though there are two owners on here who have E86s that have done over 200K. The engine in my 330i still performs brilliantly.
N52 engines can suffer from oil leaks from the oil filter housing and cam-cover when the gasket gets brittle. My 330i has had both replaced. The electric water pump will die at some point, but it's life in unpredictable. The pump in my first E86 died at 60K miles, but my second was on the original when I sold it on 91K. It's only an issue because the engine overheats in less than a mile, and a new OE Pierburg pump costs about £300 so long as you don't buy from BMW. If you find a car that has already had a new one that's a bonus.
E86 specific issues can be corroded rear brake pipes, usually just in front of the passenger side rear wheel. Tailgates can also corrode so it's worth opening it and checking all around the edges.
BMW weren't generous with the standard spec, although they all had headlamp washers (that are just another problem) and electric seats with drivers' memory. Heated seats, rear parking sensors, Bi-Xenons, cruise control, MFSW were all on the options list. Sport models have the highly desirable M-Sport seats as well as stiffer and 15mm lower suspension.
Anyway good luck finding the right one.
Good E46s are few and far between these days, and sellers seem to be asking strong money for the few that are around.
I was so impressed with the N52 engine on my Z4s that I also had an E91 325i and now have an E90 330i that has done 130K miles, so I suppose and E92 might be an option, although an E86 is much better looking, a fair bit quicker and way more fun to drive!
Buying just above 100K miles is a good idea as buyers in the UK seem to have a mental block about 6 figure mileages, even though there are two owners on here who have E86s that have done over 200K. The engine in my 330i still performs brilliantly.
N52 engines can suffer from oil leaks from the oil filter housing and cam-cover when the gasket gets brittle. My 330i has had both replaced. The electric water pump will die at some point, but it's life in unpredictable. The pump in my first E86 died at 60K miles, but my second was on the original when I sold it on 91K. It's only an issue because the engine overheats in less than a mile, and a new OE Pierburg pump costs about £300 so long as you don't buy from BMW. If you find a car that has already had a new one that's a bonus.
E86 specific issues can be corroded rear brake pipes, usually just in front of the passenger side rear wheel. Tailgates can also corrode so it's worth opening it and checking all around the edges.
BMW weren't generous with the standard spec, although they all had headlamp washers (that are just another problem) and electric seats with drivers' memory. Heated seats, rear parking sensors, Bi-Xenons, cruise control, MFSW were all on the options list. Sport models have the highly desirable M-Sport seats as well as stiffer and 15mm lower suspension.
Anyway good luck finding the right one.
Hi, thanks for the reply
I was looking at the e90 generation as well a while back, finding a manual 330i with the n52 and not n53 was quite hard and in the end I realised i was only interested in it for its driving characteristics and looked quite boring unless it was an m sport, but even then its not much different visually from every base model 318 on the road. About the water pump and other maintenance items, at 100k miles would it be most likely that the pump would have been replaced by then as well as the oil filter housing and cam cover.
I do like to do basic maintenance or repairs on cars myself, would you say that it is a relatively easy car to work on? For at least the main failure/weak points and service items. I am relatively new to it though, having got myself a set of axle stands and a jack a year ago. The most extensive work I've done is a full miltek manifold to backbox exhaust system upgrade for a fiesta zetec s 1.6ti vct.
How often would you say do new listings for the coupe/roadster come up and would you say that competitively priced ones are sold within a day or two or not?
I was looking at the e90 generation as well a while back, finding a manual 330i with the n52 and not n53 was quite hard and in the end I realised i was only interested in it for its driving characteristics and looked quite boring unless it was an m sport, but even then its not much different visually from every base model 318 on the road. About the water pump and other maintenance items, at 100k miles would it be most likely that the pump would have been replaced by then as well as the oil filter housing and cam cover.
I do like to do basic maintenance or repairs on cars myself, would you say that it is a relatively easy car to work on? For at least the main failure/weak points and service items. I am relatively new to it though, having got myself a set of axle stands and a jack a year ago. The most extensive work I've done is a full miltek manifold to backbox exhaust system upgrade for a fiesta zetec s 1.6ti vct.
How often would you say do new listings for the coupe/roadster come up and would you say that competitively priced ones are sold within a day or two or not?
You're right about the E9* models not looking that special - it was the shape of the E86 that drew me to one.
The life of the water pump is impossible to predict. As I said my first one died at 60K but the 2nd was still going at 91K. My 325i needed a new one at 135K, but I've no idea whether it had been replaced before. My 330i had a new cam-cover gasket at 105K just before I bought it but within 8K it needed a new oil filter housing one as well, but at least you can see if they are leaking.
I'm too old to want to crawl around under cars any more so I get any jobs done by a competent Indy. E86s are pretty low so getting underneath can be a challenge as they don't have a front central jacking point. People who've done work on them may be able to offer some advice, but at least there is a fair bit of space in the engine bay - unlike my E90 where the back of the engine is tight up to the bulkhead.
The Roadsters are pretty rare as less than 900 came to the UK and 200 were Autos. We got over 3,000 Coupes and about 1,000 of those were Autos.
Here's a database a forum member compiled:- https://tonyz4c.z28.web.core.windows.net/index30si.html
They do seem to change hands quite often because either they become impractical or people have ticked that box and move on to something else, but the number for sale at any one time varies significantly. I found my first one via an alert on Autotrader, the second and my MC via the forum. They are something of a niche choice so even good ones can take a while to sell, but greedily priced ones linger for ages!
The life of the water pump is impossible to predict. As I said my first one died at 60K but the 2nd was still going at 91K. My 325i needed a new one at 135K, but I've no idea whether it had been replaced before. My 330i had a new cam-cover gasket at 105K just before I bought it but within 8K it needed a new oil filter housing one as well, but at least you can see if they are leaking.
I'm too old to want to crawl around under cars any more so I get any jobs done by a competent Indy. E86s are pretty low so getting underneath can be a challenge as they don't have a front central jacking point. People who've done work on them may be able to offer some advice, but at least there is a fair bit of space in the engine bay - unlike my E90 where the back of the engine is tight up to the bulkhead.
The Roadsters are pretty rare as less than 900 came to the UK and 200 were Autos. We got over 3,000 Coupes and about 1,000 of those were Autos.
Here's a database a forum member compiled:- https://tonyz4c.z28.web.core.windows.net/index30si.html
They do seem to change hands quite often because either they become impractical or people have ticked that box and move on to something else, but the number for sale at any one time varies significantly. I found my first one via an alert on Autotrader, the second and my MC via the forum. They are something of a niche choice so even good ones can take a while to sell, but greedily priced ones linger for ages!
Hi Caspon, welcome to the forum. Definitely the right approach to prioritise condition over mileage - and usually enthusiast owned cars are better cared for, so it’s good to keep an eye on the for sale section of this forum.
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Good luck with the search!