Hi
1st- apologies for the long post, all advice greatly appreciated
Been a lurker on the forum for quite a while whilst I’ve saved up my pennies like a good boy for my first Z4. Now I‘ve got enough for an early model, I’m currently looking and yesterday went to a independent dealer and test drove a Z4 for the first time; unfortunately it wasn’t the experience I had expected but at least I’ve confirmed the Z4 is for me, or have I?
Don’t get me wrong-the car is astounding and I love it-it’s the one for me - unfortunately it just wasn’t a good example of a good Z4, thought I’d give the feedback and ask for some help from the forum, might get me looking for the right thing in the right direction.
Model : was an 03 2.5 auto, sport button / suspension; test drive was for 20+miles.
Initial Experience:
The car was waiting in the scorching hot sun (about 90 degrees+) with roof down, looked great. I pulled off and upon hitting first bump in the road there was a loud metallic clonk from the rear of the car, drivers side, this happened every time I hit even a small dip in the road and didn’t bode well I guess, felt like the suspension was clonking on any slight bump in the road, I pulled over and opened boot to check the battery was sealed tight and the tool kit wasn’t loose, all was fine.hhmmm.1st question; Is this the infamous rear spring issue?
Steering?
When I got going on the open road it felt like the steering went a bit weird / went tight, like it didn’t want to do as it was told, or return to centre after a corner without being put back on line, this worried me a bit, but seemed to then disappear ?? so i put it down to a niggle / lack of experience. However this morning I researched this issue and am now pretty aware of the “steering column / power steering issue” but I cannot fairly say if this was the real cause as I had never driven a Z4 before, but when I pulled off the car had been sat in the 90 degree heat for an hour before I drove it, this definitely made me a bit worried and seemed to be just what is described in numerous posts in reference to this issue. Que; ANY Advice?
Ride comfort
The ride seemed hard to me which I put down to the fact I am new to two seaters / sports cars and that I am currently driving an Volvo XC90; however I guess that I would prefer an SE and NOT the sports suspension due to the bad back and compressed spine I’ve amassed from years of jumping out of planes (-; Que; is this the right decision?
Drove for about 8 miles and apart from the noise I’ve described already and the initial steering issue, I loved the car like I always knew I would, so I pulled over and checked the car out according to the checklist I’d printed off (thanks to AlanJ for this)
It became apparent that the car was not the best example of a well cared for Z4 that I’d been led to believe, the salesman had said it had done 48K but from my 25 yrs driving & owning cars experience I would say it has done way more than this, possibly double, so the deal seems iffy to me.
Return to dealers
When I got the car back to dealers, I explained the noise to salesman and his response was “must be a bush!” I asked why he had told me that the car had been fully checked when it obviously hadn’t, no response-I went on to explain that it felt the car had done a lot more miles than under 50K, no response, guess I stood on his toes huh! Ask him where the SATNAV was he said the car had, he replied its business satnav?? Que; I thought SATNAV on the Z4 had a pop up screen, please advise.
Service History?
With a bit of pressing I found out that the Full BMW Service History I’d been told it had couldn’t materialise, the first few stamps were BMW dealer however the reason it wasn’t a FULL BMW dealer service history on the vehicle was because the previous owner was a mechanic and had performed / been involved in the last couple of services at the garage he was employed at before he sold the car- oh yeah! hhhmmm
Que; is it fair for me to assume the car has had its clock altered? Or should I just assume it’s just been raced, ravaged and overdriven to the point of feeling it’s done a lot more miles and is in a state?)
How do you tell? Should I test drive a new one at a BMW dealers just for experience?
So at least this was great experience; however I now have a few noob questions to help me on my quest in finding the ideal Z for me in the price bracket I have.
Do I have to worry about the possible £2500 outlay for the steering wheel / power steering issue on an older model or is this a rare occurrence? How do you check for this?
Should I expect springs to have been dealt with already?
SO, is 8.5 to 9k realistic for what I want??
I could stretch to 9.5 for the IDEAL model with good history and required spec
Should I wait until the winter to get a better deal even though I need it now?
Where now? help please
I want a 2.5 or 3.0 SE, auto / tiptronic,
Not sports suspension (advice?)
Ideal colour is gun metal grey
Full leather, preferably tan, then red, then black
SATNAV / phone on motorised screen,
Aircon
Height adjustable driver’s seat / elec seats;
Adjustable steering column/wheel;
Obviously full BMWSH,
Would also like;
Decent sound system not basic
Cruise control
Any other upgrades gratefully accepted
What mileage should I be considering as acceptable in this price bracket?
What to look for service wise?
Prepared to travel for the right one, I’m on the south coast / south East of England
Thanks in advance for your experience and advice, cheers and look forward to joining the club.
IwatchLive
1st- apologies for the long post, all advice greatly appreciated
Been a lurker on the forum for quite a while whilst I’ve saved up my pennies like a good boy for my first Z4. Now I‘ve got enough for an early model, I’m currently looking and yesterday went to a independent dealer and test drove a Z4 for the first time; unfortunately it wasn’t the experience I had expected but at least I’ve confirmed the Z4 is for me, or have I?
Don’t get me wrong-the car is astounding and I love it-it’s the one for me - unfortunately it just wasn’t a good example of a good Z4, thought I’d give the feedback and ask for some help from the forum, might get me looking for the right thing in the right direction.
Model : was an 03 2.5 auto, sport button / suspension; test drive was for 20+miles.
Initial Experience:
The car was waiting in the scorching hot sun (about 90 degrees+) with roof down, looked great. I pulled off and upon hitting first bump in the road there was a loud metallic clonk from the rear of the car, drivers side, this happened every time I hit even a small dip in the road and didn’t bode well I guess, felt like the suspension was clonking on any slight bump in the road, I pulled over and opened boot to check the battery was sealed tight and the tool kit wasn’t loose, all was fine.hhmmm.1st question; Is this the infamous rear spring issue?
Steering?
When I got going on the open road it felt like the steering went a bit weird / went tight, like it didn’t want to do as it was told, or return to centre after a corner without being put back on line, this worried me a bit, but seemed to then disappear ?? so i put it down to a niggle / lack of experience. However this morning I researched this issue and am now pretty aware of the “steering column / power steering issue” but I cannot fairly say if this was the real cause as I had never driven a Z4 before, but when I pulled off the car had been sat in the 90 degree heat for an hour before I drove it, this definitely made me a bit worried and seemed to be just what is described in numerous posts in reference to this issue. Que; ANY Advice?
Ride comfort
The ride seemed hard to me which I put down to the fact I am new to two seaters / sports cars and that I am currently driving an Volvo XC90; however I guess that I would prefer an SE and NOT the sports suspension due to the bad back and compressed spine I’ve amassed from years of jumping out of planes (-; Que; is this the right decision?
Drove for about 8 miles and apart from the noise I’ve described already and the initial steering issue, I loved the car like I always knew I would, so I pulled over and checked the car out according to the checklist I’d printed off (thanks to AlanJ for this)
It became apparent that the car was not the best example of a well cared for Z4 that I’d been led to believe, the salesman had said it had done 48K but from my 25 yrs driving & owning cars experience I would say it has done way more than this, possibly double, so the deal seems iffy to me.
Return to dealers
When I got the car back to dealers, I explained the noise to salesman and his response was “must be a bush!” I asked why he had told me that the car had been fully checked when it obviously hadn’t, no response-I went on to explain that it felt the car had done a lot more miles than under 50K, no response, guess I stood on his toes huh! Ask him where the SATNAV was he said the car had, he replied its business satnav?? Que; I thought SATNAV on the Z4 had a pop up screen, please advise.
Service History?
With a bit of pressing I found out that the Full BMW Service History I’d been told it had couldn’t materialise, the first few stamps were BMW dealer however the reason it wasn’t a FULL BMW dealer service history on the vehicle was because the previous owner was a mechanic and had performed / been involved in the last couple of services at the garage he was employed at before he sold the car- oh yeah! hhhmmm
Que; is it fair for me to assume the car has had its clock altered? Or should I just assume it’s just been raced, ravaged and overdriven to the point of feeling it’s done a lot more miles and is in a state?)
How do you tell? Should I test drive a new one at a BMW dealers just for experience?
So at least this was great experience; however I now have a few noob questions to help me on my quest in finding the ideal Z for me in the price bracket I have.
Do I have to worry about the possible £2500 outlay for the steering wheel / power steering issue on an older model or is this a rare occurrence? How do you check for this?
Should I expect springs to have been dealt with already?
SO, is 8.5 to 9k realistic for what I want??
I could stretch to 9.5 for the IDEAL model with good history and required spec
Should I wait until the winter to get a better deal even though I need it now?
Where now? help please
I want a 2.5 or 3.0 SE, auto / tiptronic,
Not sports suspension (advice?)
Ideal colour is gun metal grey
Full leather, preferably tan, then red, then black
SATNAV / phone on motorised screen,
Aircon
Height adjustable driver’s seat / elec seats;
Adjustable steering column/wheel;
Obviously full BMWSH,
Would also like;
Decent sound system not basic
Cruise control
Any other upgrades gratefully accepted
What mileage should I be considering as acceptable in this price bracket?
What to look for service wise?
Prepared to travel for the right one, I’m on the south coast / south East of England
Thanks in advance for your experience and advice, cheers and look forward to joining the club.
IwatchLive
