Looking at a Z4M.

H

Havard

Senior member
 Wigan
Ok, my Supra is about to be collected in the next week or so.

I have seen a nice Z4M with low miles. On enquiring about the service history the car only had it's initial running in service at BMW but then all others have been done by independants (not sure if they were BMW specialists or not). Car is a long way away from me so I want to ensure everything is ok before travelling. Would this put you off? The car is out of warranty so I suppose it doesn''t matter now the car is 8 years old but I expected most cars to go to BMS while they are within warranty.

The dealer reckons the car was owned locally by a guy who ran a garage so that is the reason for not going to BMW.

Also the car has cream seats and ideally I would want black. Are the seats easy to swap, (presuming I can find some) and also are the door card inserts also easy to swap?

I don't think black seats with cream side inserts would look right but I suppose we could see.

Thanks

H.
 
There was a rather tasty low miles Imola ZM on the forum a while back where almost all servicing had been done by the owners garage but that was a roadster
Your description of the car & history is a little vague to say yea or nay to whether its worth pursuing
 
My preference would be a car that was serviced at the main dealer whilst under warranty.

Thereafter I would not be too concerned with subsequent services at a BMW independent specialist.

There are some excellent indies out there.

An ///M is a car that deserves to be cherished :driving:

That's my preference, other's may, & will no doubt disagree.

If you have a link to the sale's advert it is worth posting. The chaps on here miss very little, & you will be amazed at what
they spot from the photographs.

Good luck with the search :thumbsup:
 
Not many sub 30k ones about though ..

Does seem odd that such a low mileage car wouldn't be in the dealer network..very risky having the car serviced at indys whilst in warranty..

How many owners. ?
 
mr wilks said:
There was a rather tasty low miles Imola ZM on the forum a while back where almost all servicing had been done by the owners garage but that was a roadster
Your description of the car & history is a little vague to say yea or nay to whether its worth pursuing
Click to expand...

That was ?Kevin's car.

I would want to know more about the garage that did the servicing, but wouldn't write it off.

Just remember your concerns though, as when you sell prospective buyers might have the same ones you have.
 
mr wilks said:
There was a rather tasty low miles Imola ZM on the forum a while back where almost all servicing had been done by the owners garage but that was a roadster
Your description of the car & history is a little vague to say yea or nay to whether its worth pursuing
Click to expand...

That was Kevshore's originally, who did indeed own a garage and did it all himself. Went to a forumites called Jonny - then when he finally made himself sell it I nearly bought it... But I bought PVRs instead. I didn't buy it because PVRs was lower miles, a single owner and pristine condition, lots of mods I would have had to do to Jonny's car already done by PVR. Mine has a FBMW service history, for now, but it wasn't the main reason for buying it vs. Jonny's.

The car is out of warranty, so it's now irrelevant whether BMW did the servicing or not. More important is that the correct services were done to schedule, along with 2 year brake fluid changes. If they were, then were they done at reputable indies ? You should get photos of the service booklet pages and Google the indies - in fact ask about them on here too.

If it all stacks up as a well maintained car, and it looks to be good condition from what you have seen on photos, pitched at a good price for the miles and spec, then go see it. Then you can dig around the documentation, receipts etc. and the car itself. It is very common for people to travel from one end of the country to the other to see a car, there are justnot that many about, certainly not decent ones.
 
Bing said:
mr wilks said:
There was a rather tasty low miles Imola ZM on the forum a while back where almost all servicing had been done by the owners garage but that was a roadster
Your description of the car & history is a little vague to say yea or nay to whether its worth pursuing
Click to expand...

That was Kevshore's originally, who did indeed own a garage and did it all himself. Went to a forumites called Jonny - then when he finally made himself sell it I nearly bought it... But I bought PVRs instead. I didn't buy it because PVRs was lower miles, a single owner and pristine condition, lots of mods I would have had to do to Jonny's car already done by PVR. Mine has a FBMW service history, for now, but it wasn't the main reason for buying it vs. Jonny's.

The car is out of warranty, so it's now irrelevant whether BMW did the servicing or not. More important is that the correct services were done to schedule, along with 2 year brake fluid changes. If they were, then were they done at reputable indies ? You should get photos of the service booklet pages and Google the indies - in fact ask about them on here too.

If it all stacks up as a well maintained car, and it looks to be good condition from what you have seen on photos, pitched at a good price for the miles and spec, then go see it. Then you can dig around the documentation, receipts etc. and the car itself. It is very common for people to travel from one end of the country to the other to see a car, there are justnot that many about, certainly not decent ones.
Click to expand...

Spot on Bing,

Travelled to Scotland to buy Zermatts :thumbsup:
 
http://www.thinkingofcars.co.uk/used-car-bmw-z4m-coupe-3179

This is the car. Looks like it hasn't been serviced by a specialist, just a local garage. I am going to ask them tomorrow to provide the details of the SH.

One thing that put me off was the salesman telling me that someone else was also interested and I hate that as it is the oldest trick in the book. Car on the surface looks great but the lack of BMW involvement is a little worrying.

H.
 
Genuine CSL's. At that mileage it's only ever had oil changes and due inspection one around now if not just done. Tbh if you have a stamped book I don't think you are going to go far wrong. You it as a bargaining point though.
 
Why does that car look familiar ?

Wasnt it discussed recently on here ?The edged mats and strutbrace ring a bell..


Anyway...

For that kinda money i would want checkable history to verify mileage.....

Also isnt the laquer peeking off the side badges and surround ?
 
FWIW, this isn't the perfect car for me but it's pretty close. If it had FBMWSH then I would probably go for it. I have, however, not been looking long and the cars on PH, AT seem to turn over quite frequently.

I still have a couple of weeks before the Supra goes and I am due get the keys to a new house with a garage soon so unless the perfect car pops up, I am willing to wait.

H.
 
Looks to be a great example, £18,500 for a 20k car with genuine CSLs is a much better price than others have been selling for....£20-22k isn't unheard of for trade sales.

The service history isn't ideal, but then being such low mileage, as already mentioned would only have needed oil services. Take it to a decent indy / BMW for the next service, get an Inspection I and get yourself some peace of mind.

If it ticks your boxes spec wise, I'd go for it. Not many 20k examples around any more. There's approx 120 sapphire Blacks, if you assume that <10% have 20k or lower mileage, you're down to 12 cars, discount ones that the owners have no intention to sell and you might be down to <5 cars. Food for thought.
 
Cars like this (if any good) are very rare. I would not wait for another one to come along if it is what you want.
 
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