Is this hardtop worth buying?

8

85genius

Senior member
I have seen a hardtop roof for my z4 that I am tempted to buy but there are a couple of issues, so I wanted to know some opinions on what the experts though.

Firstly its the wrong colour, its light metallic blue and my z is silver, its not a million miles of the colour and there is a guy I have used before for spraying various bits of cars who is really quite cheap, but this is quite a big piece to spray and dont know if its particularly complex with the built in spoiler.

Secondly there is some damage to the corners at the front where it meets the car, the guy selling it says it still looks good on the car, but not knowing what the roof is made out of I don't know if its easily fixable if it all, so help need on this please

Thirdly its quite far away - although that is a good excuse to take it out for a long drive so not really an issue, but I have to factor in the petrol cost to the total cost of the roof and its a 400 mile round trip.

So basically would you buy it and what do you think I should be paying before I make the guy an offer, also any other things I should look out for when buying a hard top?

Here are the pictures of the damage on the corners, looks like it has been stood resting on them

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if it cheap enough this is an easy repair as the top itself is only fibre glass over a metal frame.
 
Know anyone who can do the repair for you? Seeing as you'd need to paint anyway - get a quote and factor in the collection costs?
 
That's the one on eBay its been £800, £700 Now its £600, you should be able to get a mint one for around £600-£800 at the moment!
Z4 hardtop eBay Link

I'm still after one too, got offered one from a forum member for £1000 which is OTT offered £700 not heard back!

I would offer £300 max with that damage! Must have been dropped, my concern would be what else is damaged & is it twisted?
 
Sell the car, get a coupe!

Sorry I couldn't resist! :poke:

P.s I'd avoid unless stupid cheap like said above.
 
Roundozo said:
Sell the car, get a coupe!

Sorry I couldn't resist! :poke:

P.s I'd avoid unless stupid cheap like said above.
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as much as I like the coupe the thing clincher of the Z4 is the fact you can take the roof off, I'll be leaving it as a soft top until probably the end of September but I really do want/need a hardtop for the winter months I also think the roadster with the hartop on looks awesome!

From some angles I have to admit I prefer the look of the coupe but from other angles the roadster hardtop looks better than the coupe, and with the roof off the roadster looks much better than the coupe!!!!

So back to the part in question..... I know there is damage on this roof and repair+respray+petrol top collect it will add around £200 to the purchase price so i suppose the real question is how often do these hardtops come up for sale, I have tried bargaining this seller down and cant get him to come near the £350 you guys say its worth but I really want a hardtop and this is the only one I can find at the moment and don't want to miss out if another wont come up at a reasonable price, I have a £700 budget and think i could probably get him down enough to make this viable and whilst the damage does worry me, I'm more worried I wont find another in time for the winter
 
They come up all of the time, i would wait out for one in the colour you need that is in good condition.

I think this would end up costing you more than £700 all in
 
85genius said:
Roundozo said:
Sell the car, get a coupe!

Sorry I couldn't resist! :poke:

P.s I'd avoid unless stupid cheap like said above.
Click to expand...

as much as I like the coupe the thing clincher of the Z4 is the fact you can take the roof off, I'll be leaving it as a soft top until probably the end of September but I really do want/need a hardtop for the winter months I also think the roadster with the hartop on looks awesome!

From some angles I have to admit I prefer the look of the coupe but from other angles the roadster hardtop looks better than the coupe, and with the roof off the roadster looks much better than the coupe!!!!

So back to the part in question..... I know there is damage on this roof and repair+respray+petrol top collect it will add around £200 to the purchase price so i suppose the real question is how often do these hardtops come up for sale, I have tried bargaining this seller down and cant get him to come near the £350 you guys say its worth but I really want a hardtop and this is the only one I can find at the moment and don't want to miss out if another wont come up at a reasonable price, I have a £700 budget and think i could probably get him down enough to make this viable and whilst the damage does worry me, I'm more worried I wont find another in time for the winter
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YESSSSSS!!!! i like this guy!! i don't care what a soul says on this forum, a roadster, windows up, softop covers in place, lowered slightly over nice wheels looks perfection.... no coupe could draw my eyes from a roadster in its optimal setting, however roof up it looks pants, HT also looks badass.
 
If he won't budge then he is an idiot. No one will buy it at the asking price with that sort of damage - it's insulting. If you can't look after your stuff don't expect it to command the same price as better quality examples. It's not like it's a couple of scratches!
I'd say let him know that you're still interested but he has to be open to an offer, after a few months of it sitting around the pig-headed arrogance may subside when he realises 50% of 700 is better than 100% of 0!
 
Scooba_Steve said:
If he won't budge then he is an idiot. No one will buy it at the asking price with that sort of damage - it's insulting. If you can't look after your stuff don't expect it to command the same price as better quality examples. It's not like it's a couple of scratches!
I'd say let him know that you're still interested but he has to be open to an offer, after a few months of it sitting around the pig-headed arrogance may subside when he realises 50% of 700 is better than 100% of 0!
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He did come down slightly basically offered £550 if I collect but its going to be at least £100 for repair and spraying maybe £150 (my bodyshop guy wouldnt give a proper price just off the photos) and then probably another £50 maybe more in petrol, only had the Z 2 days so don't know what its like on the motorway
 
I got contacted by member called bug.. I offered the going rate for his sterling grey hardtop (£700) and he wants £850!

I'm not paying that!... Contact bug if your desperate for a tin top! :thumbsup:
 
At £500 (£50 less than latest price) I'd buy it and repair it. The corners are cosmetic and can readily be fibreglassed, skim filled and re spray. You'll be respraying anyway. That said if you can pick up a perfect one for £700/£750 in the right colour that's what I'd go with.

Remember come October they top £1,000 for a mint with cover, key and cosmetic inserts. Have done every year for a decade and will continue. There's a thread on here that gets resurrected every autumn on the subject.
 
Just a quick update on this, I was seriously considering cj10jeeper's advice but after speaking to the guy in the bodyshop again today I have decided to give this one a miss, he said he could repair the damage on the corner cheap like £50 but then it would most likely happen again, to do it properly so it couldn't happen again he said I would be looking nearer £300 then with the cost of spraying on top it makes this one to avoid. On a slightly more positive note he did say if I found one in decent nick that just needed a respray he was confident of a sub £100 cost for the work
 
85genius said:
Just a quick update on this, I was seriously considering cj10jeeper's advice but after speaking to the guy in the bodyshop again today I have decided to give this one a miss, he said he could repair the damage on the corner cheap like £50 but then it would most likely happen again, to do it properly so it couldn't happen again he said I would be looking nearer £300 then with the cost of spraying on top it makes this one to avoid. On a slightly more positive note he did say if I found one in decent nick that just needed a respray he was confident of a sub £100 cost for the work
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You've made a decision in light of all of the facts which is great and have a good respray price agreed.
Good luck in your search for a new one but be fairly quick - as soon as the nights draw in and gets colder folks start thinking hardtops and the price rockets by October.
 
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