My first Z4? (Hopefully!)

[Ant94]

Can you please tell me exactly where the VIN number should be found on this car?

I'm assuming the drivers door sill, the front windscreen somewhere & somewhere in the engine bay?

I think I’ve seen it written on the engine bay or somewhere under the hood very visibly. Likely door sill or windscreen too. I found mine on the paperwork the dealership gave me.

Can’t check currently as within 48 hours of purchase it’s needing a camshaft belt replacement, as well as seals and water pump. Luckily all under warranty, but poor the BMW dealership hadn’t done a thorough check prior to sale. Parked it up with smoke coming out of engine bag but luckily this is just friction from the belt and whatever part needed replacing.

 

[PSQ777]

Annoying but probably easy to rectify. It's always a risk with a used car, then again you hear horror stories with new cars too. I remember I had my fingers crossed when mine went in for it's first inspection. It was nearly 3 years old and just don't know what's hiding under that alluring bodywork

 

[Ant94]

Annoying but probably easy to rectify. It's always a risk with a used car, then again you hear horror stories with new cars too. I remember I had my fingers crossed when mine went in for it's first inspection. It was nearly 3 years old and just don't know what's hiding under that alluring bodywork

Lots of advice received is to hand it back and say I want nothing to do with it - but it can just be one of those things can’t it. The dealership I have it in with now have done thorough checks to give me peace of mind, and they gain nothing from doing the additional checks - luckily I have friends within the dealership so perhaps have that to my advantage. Will definitely ask them what they think when I go to collect but it sounds like with all the parts replaced, it should be a fantastic car again.

 

[PSQ777]

Lots of advice received is to hand it back and say I want nothing to do with it - but it can just be one of those things can’t it. The dealership I have it in with now have done thorough checks to give me peace of mind, and they gain nothing from doing the additional checks - luckily I have friends within the dealership so perhaps have that to my advantage. Will definitely ask them what they think when I go to collect but it sounds like with all the parts replaced, it should be a fantastic car again.

Sounds like your car is in the right hands. If they give it a clean bill of health, and given these are generally robust cars, I would hope its fine. If you do decide to keep it I would consider a comprehensive BMW warranty anyway just for peace of mind.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Ell201275 wrote: Thu Apr 17, 2025 2:18 pm
Can you please tell me exactly where the VIN number should be found on this car?

I'm assuming the drivers door sill, the front windscreen somewhere & somewhere in the engine bay?
I think I’ve seen it written on the engine bay or somewhere under the hood very visibly. Likely door sill or windscreen too. I found mine on the paperwork the dealership gave me.

I'm pretty sure all of my BMWs had it stamped on the driver's side (RHD cars) inner wing around the suspension turret as well as in the bottom passenger side of the windscreen. How many paces do you need to see it anyway?

Although things may have changed - my newest BMW was registered in 2007.

 

[Ell201275]

Ell201275 wrote: Thu Apr 17, 2025 2:18 pm
Can you please tell me exactly where the VIN number should be found on this car?

I'm assuming the drivers door sill, the front windscreen somewhere & somewhere in the engine bay?
I think I’ve seen it written on the engine bay or somewhere under the hood very visibly. Likely door sill or windscreen too. I found mine on the paperwork the dealership gave me.

I'm pretty sure all of my BMWs had it stamped on the driver's side (RHD cars) inner wing around the suspension turret as well as in the bottom passenger side of the windscreen. How many paces do you need to see it anyway?

Although things may have changed - my newest BMW was registered in 2007.

I simply want to make sure that the correct VIN number is showing & it looks genuine & original in all places it should be before I purchase the car, so it's important that I get an accurate answer.

 

[Ell201275]

I've just been given this info about my likely purchase.
Are these numbers decent enough?


All round tyre tread depth is 6mm.
Front Disc Thickness is 34.5mm and rear 23.2mm.
Inner Brake Pad Thickness (mm) NSF 10.0 OSF 10.0 NSR 5.0 OSR 5.0
Outer Brake Pad Thickness (mm) NSF 10.0 OSF 10.0 NSR 5.0 OSR 5.0

 

[Ant94]

I've just been given this info about my likely purchase.
Are these numbers decent enough?


All round tyre tread depth is 6mm.
Front Disc Thickness is 34.5mm and rear 23.2mm.
Inner Brake Pad Thickness (mm) NSF 10.0 OSF 10.0 NSR 5.0 OSR 5.0
Outer Brake Pad Thickness (mm) NSF 10.0 OSF 10.0 NSR 5.0 OSR 5.0

My front are 35.6mm (34.4mm is minimum) and rear are 23.6 (22.4mm is minimum).
Inner pads NSF and OSF 9.0, NSR and OSR 7.0.
Outer pads NSF and OSF 10.0, NSR and OSR 8.0.

 

[Ell201275]

Thanks for your reply.

Any idea what the rear pads minimum is?
Also, I'm a bit concerned about the front disc thickness which is basically on the minimum? Are you sure about your minimum number?

 

[Ant94]

Thanks for your reply.

Any idea what the rear pads minimum is?
Also, I'm a bit concerned about the front disc thickness which is basically on the minimum? Are you sure about your minimum number?

I keep getting signed out - this’ll be my fourth attempt to respond to this!

Not sure about other technical info - only have the measurements and minimums for discs provided by dealer.
Worth finding out how much life that might actually be for your discs on average.

Where are you buying from?

 

[Ell201275]

Thanks for your reply.

Any idea what the rear pads minimum is?
Also, I'm a bit concerned about the front disc thickness which is basically on the minimum? Are you sure about your minimum number?

I keep getting signed out - this’ll be my fourth attempt to respond to this!

Not sure about other technical info - only have the measurements and minimums for discs provided by dealer.
Worth finding out how much life that might actually be for your discs on average.

Where are you buying from?

I'm buying from a proper main dealer with the standard 1 year BMW used car warranty.

The car has been checked over by them as standard & also a brand new MOT has just been issued, so all should be good, but I'm paranoid about this sort of thing.

 

[Ant94]

I'm buying from a proper main dealer with the standard 1 year BMW used car warranty.

The car has been checked over by them as standard & also a brand new MOT has just been issued, so all should be good, but I'm paranoid about this sort of thing.

You’re not wrong to be checking these things - attention to detail is so important and I think a lot of people don’t ask the right questions. You may have seen my other post but no matter how much you check things can still go wrong. Mine had MOT and service and then broke down 48 hours into ownership. Seems like it's just some bad luck and I’ve decided to keep the car, but these things can happen. Mine had a s**t valet prior to sale - I insisted for a video prior to collection so I could see the valet was done to a good standard and trusted the sales rep would spot a bad valet, assuming he knew already how much attention to detail I showed when viewing the car first time - he did not. Brake calipers were still almost black from dust. I got a full refund for the Gardx they supposedly applied to the car - I didn’t trust the same team who couldn’t even clean the wheels or engine bay during a valet to have applied any form of coating to the vehicle. I wasn’t expecting anything brilliant but it meant an overall discount on the whole protective package - smart guard, alloy and tyre insurance etc.

 

[Pondrew]

I'm buying from a proper main dealer with the standard 1 year BMW used car warranty.

Just be aware that 'consumables' which include brake parts are never covered under any warranty.

It's also worth checking whether your 'BMW used car warranty' is a BMW AUC warranty, or a generic third party one (like the RAC, etc). Not all warranties are equal.

 

[Ant94]

I'm buying from a proper main dealer with the standard 1 year BMW used car warranty.

Just be aware that 'consumables' which include brake parts are never covered under any warranty.

It's also worth checking whether your 'BMW used car warranty' is a BMW AUC warranty, or a generic third party one (like the RAC, etc). Not all warranties are equal.

Definitely work checking. I got the 1 year AUC with roadside assistance. My 24 month extended is group 1’s extended warranty with RAC, so different from AUC/BMW Insured.