The Z journey started in June 2003, when I decided that I no longer needed my 740i as I bought a family estate for my wife, and could go for a two seater convertible.
My dealer gave me a 2.5 for a weekend and a couple of weeks later a 3.0, again for a weekend. Even though they were automatics, I really liked the performance of the Z with the 3.0 being the clear winner for me. So the order was placed and the 9 months wait started for the 3.0 Toledo blue manual 3.0 I ordered. In those days I was not too up to speed on the “necessary” extras and ordered a car without Satnav. Due to the waiting list, I only got the phone cradle free as a form of discount on the car, nothing else :x
The car arrived ...
I also joined a fairly new forum called Z4UM.com, which was great as because the model was new, all members were discovering the cars and receiving them from the factory in the early stages. I “may” have had a few thousand posts there before I even got the car …
In March 2004, the car arrived and the fun started with many trips planned. Some fantastic trips to Germany were done as well as 3 Highlander trips and the forum annual Wales trips where usually about 50 – 60 Zeds would participate, including some of the US members coming over. Met some great friends during those trips.
In 2005 I started to think about the missing satnav as my portable one was always in the boot or was falling off the dashboard. Also, my experience with the TomTom was rather poor with the quality of the routing and the clarity, so with another forum member I was planning to retrofit a satnav in the Z, a world’s first as the dealer stated that it could not be done. Challenge accepted :evil:
Obviously, my Z was too precious to practise on so bought the parts and cut the hole first in another member’s car. Besides the dashboard cutting, the whole process was straight forward including dismantling the car. Based on that success, I performed the same operation on my car as well with good results. It was like having a new car again with all the new functions that suddenly appeared on the board computer as well as the fast and accurate routing of course.
In 2006, the M was introduced, and due to the forum curse and another Highlander trip where a couple of Ms made an appearance, I was tempted to place an order for an M in 2007. This time the waiting time was only 3 months and a healthy discount could also be achieved (no discount on the 2006 versions at the time). When choosing the colour in the showroom, I was tempted by Sepang but the dealer persuaded me not to get that as there was one in the dealer network somewhere in Cornwall which nobody could shift and he basically said that I would be stuck with it. I could have an Interlagos M with additional discount as the boat from the US was full of them and all the dealers had over ordered that colour. The extra £1k discount did not sway me and I selected the Silver Grey with Red leather combination. Obviously, I had learned from my previous mistake and ordered the SatNav as well.
I put my Toledo up on pistonheads, and within hours it was sold to a private buyer who collected it the next week. For a month or so, I was a car down whilst waiting for the M to arrive.
The M was delivered and it was beautiful weather that day, so took the car for a trip to the New Forest. The drive was significantly different from the 3.0 and I loved it. I had to drive the car a lot as within a week I was taking it on another Highlander run which meant I needed the running in service before that. I managed it
In the meantime, the Z4um website went down and the Z4-Forum one was born afterwards with a whole different member base to go with it.
In the following years, I attended many runs and enjoyed the car and the people from the forum. I patented the “flimper spec” terminology which will make an appearance in the Oxford Dictionary soon . I am sure that flimper (Mark) will be eternally grateful to me – especially when he comes to sell the car :evil:
After 7 years of ownership of the M, Mrs PVR suggested that I should get my dream car – a Porsche 911. She even got the books from the London dealer for me to have a look at. I had never seen a spec list that long in my life, and spent a fair few hours trying to understand the options and what they meant. Anyway, the dealer had 1 allocation of a 911-50th which they offered to me, and I gladly accepted. I added some bits and pieces to the car I wanted, and the car was ordered.
Now the dilemma with the M, as I was keen to keep it but as I only drove it about 2 k in the last few years, it just did not make sense and was looking to sell it. Bing put a deposit on it, and is currently still borrowing it until he finally pays it off :evil:
Despite me not having a Z anymore after 10 years, I continued to enjoy the forum and managed to get the status of the first non Z owner legend.
To celebrate this event, a trip with friends was called for … :lol:
Even though I don’t own a Z anymore, the forum and the people have always been a source of entertainment for me and I continue to enjoy that.
My dealer gave me a 2.5 for a weekend and a couple of weeks later a 3.0, again for a weekend. Even though they were automatics, I really liked the performance of the Z with the 3.0 being the clear winner for me. So the order was placed and the 9 months wait started for the 3.0 Toledo blue manual 3.0 I ordered. In those days I was not too up to speed on the “necessary” extras and ordered a car without Satnav. Due to the waiting list, I only got the phone cradle free as a form of discount on the car, nothing else :x
The car arrived ...
I also joined a fairly new forum called Z4UM.com, which was great as because the model was new, all members were discovering the cars and receiving them from the factory in the early stages. I “may” have had a few thousand posts there before I even got the car …
In March 2004, the car arrived and the fun started with many trips planned. Some fantastic trips to Germany were done as well as 3 Highlander trips and the forum annual Wales trips where usually about 50 – 60 Zeds would participate, including some of the US members coming over. Met some great friends during those trips.
In 2005 I started to think about the missing satnav as my portable one was always in the boot or was falling off the dashboard. Also, my experience with the TomTom was rather poor with the quality of the routing and the clarity, so with another forum member I was planning to retrofit a satnav in the Z, a world’s first as the dealer stated that it could not be done. Challenge accepted :evil:
Obviously, my Z was too precious to practise on so bought the parts and cut the hole first in another member’s car. Besides the dashboard cutting, the whole process was straight forward including dismantling the car. Based on that success, I performed the same operation on my car as well with good results. It was like having a new car again with all the new functions that suddenly appeared on the board computer as well as the fast and accurate routing of course.
In 2006, the M was introduced, and due to the forum curse and another Highlander trip where a couple of Ms made an appearance, I was tempted to place an order for an M in 2007. This time the waiting time was only 3 months and a healthy discount could also be achieved (no discount on the 2006 versions at the time). When choosing the colour in the showroom, I was tempted by Sepang but the dealer persuaded me not to get that as there was one in the dealer network somewhere in Cornwall which nobody could shift and he basically said that I would be stuck with it. I could have an Interlagos M with additional discount as the boat from the US was full of them and all the dealers had over ordered that colour. The extra £1k discount did not sway me and I selected the Silver Grey with Red leather combination. Obviously, I had learned from my previous mistake and ordered the SatNav as well.
I put my Toledo up on pistonheads, and within hours it was sold to a private buyer who collected it the next week. For a month or so, I was a car down whilst waiting for the M to arrive.
The M was delivered and it was beautiful weather that day, so took the car for a trip to the New Forest. The drive was significantly different from the 3.0 and I loved it. I had to drive the car a lot as within a week I was taking it on another Highlander run which meant I needed the running in service before that. I managed it
In the meantime, the Z4um website went down and the Z4-Forum one was born afterwards with a whole different member base to go with it.
In the following years, I attended many runs and enjoyed the car and the people from the forum. I patented the “flimper spec” terminology which will make an appearance in the Oxford Dictionary soon
. I am sure that flimper (Mark) will be eternally grateful to me – especially when he comes to sell the car :evil: After 7 years of ownership of the M, Mrs PVR suggested that I should get my dream car – a Porsche 911. She even got the books from the London dealer for me to have a look at. I had never seen a spec list that long in my life, and spent a fair few hours trying to understand the options and what they meant. Anyway, the dealer had 1 allocation of a 911-50th which they offered to me, and I gladly accepted. I added some bits and pieces to the car I wanted, and the car was ordered.
Now the dilemma with the M, as I was keen to keep it but as I only drove it about 2 k in the last few years, it just did not make sense and was looking to sell it. Bing put a deposit on it, and is currently still borrowing it until he finally pays it off :evil:
Despite me not having a Z anymore after 10 years, I continued to enjoy the forum and managed to get the status of the first non Z owner legend.
To celebrate this event, a trip with friends was called for … :lol:
Even though I don’t own a Z anymore, the forum and the people have always been a source of entertainment for me and I continue to enjoy that.
By the seaside...
North Yorkshire
