New Member - buying a Z4 Coupe

[Gaznod]

Hi All,

I am in the process of buying a 56 plate Z4 Coupe in titanium silver. It has (according to my research so far) two tone New England Black and Estriol blue leather, newly refurbed 18" 108 Split rim wheels, just under 78k, and a full service history with paperwork. It seems to be a very good price at £8995 from a specialist trader in Essex.

Pads and discs looked fairly new, good tyres with plenty of tread, clean and tidy inside, could do with some paint correction on the outside.

I've test driven the car and it all seemed fine other than a few issues (never driven one before). Would love your thoughts on these.

1. It wandered a fair bit under heavy right foot - I suspect bushes and tracking and coupe characteristics??
2. Some condensation in both headlights - cleared fairly quickly once driven.
3. A small chip to the windscreen that they are going to get filled
4. Wind noise from drivers window. Looks like the trim that the window goes into at the top is sitting slightly proud. Is this a known issue?

I've done a check on the car and all looks good other than a period in the early teens where it only seemed to do a few hundred miles per year.

I plan to give this a good check over and paint correction but wonder if anyone knows the car or has seen it. It used to have a private plate up till 2017 - G3 MJT.

Any recommendations for indy specialist in Essex?

Thoughts and opinion welcome.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It looks like you have found one with some good options fitted, like heated seats, Bi-Xenons, cup-holders, multi-function steering wheel and possibly Sat-Nav although that is very out-dated now!

It shouldn't wander so I think you may be right about bushes. The only time I've had wind noise when my passenger window wasn't fully closed. They drop slightly when you open the doors and should go back up when you close them, but mine didn't. Although if the trim isn't sitting right that would cause some noise too.

Sorry I can't help with a specialist in Essex but I know a great one in Hampshire!

 

[WhisperingWasp]

Hi mate. Nothing that helpful to add about the car but it was on my radar recently - see my recent thread - and based on my, albeit very limited and recent, knowledge of the market, this one looked a particularly good buy.

FWIW I visited this dealer to look at the 996 targa they had and found Christian really good to deal with. They seem to have very interesting, kinda modern classic, stock at very competitive prices.

 

[Gaznod]

Thanks mate. Good to hear they were very competitive on pricing for another car.

Hopefully picking it up later this week.

 

[Gaznod]

It looks like you have found one with some good options fitted, like heated seats, Bi-Xenons, cup-holders, multi-function steering wheel and possibly Sat-Nav although that is very out-dated now!

Didn't know it had zenons so that's good. It does have sat nav and multi CD changer too but I'll probably change that to a more modern option if there is one.

 

[WhisperingWasp]

It looks like you have found one with some good options fitted, like heated seats, Bi-Xenons, cup-holders, multi-function steering wheel and possibly Sat-Nav although that is very out-dated now!

Didn't know it had zenons so that's good. It does have sat nav and multi CD changer too but I'll probably change that to a more modern option if there is one.

Xenons were an absolute must for me when I was looking. Make the front end look so much better an up-to-date.

 

[Pondy]

from a specialist trader in Essex.

What...who 'specialise' in selling cars for a very healthy profit?
Don't buy into the 'specialist' bollox that some dealers try and portray. They don't give two shites what they sell, as long as they can make a good margin.

 

[Gaznod]

from a specialist trader in Essex.

What...who 'specialise' in selling cars for a very healthy profit?
Don't buy into the 'specialist' bollox that some dealers try and portray. They don't give two shites what they sell, as long as they can make a good margin.

They seem to have good feedback and they do only sell interesting cars. I would hope any business with an online presence had realised that you can't be shite and get away with it anymore. Fingers crossed anyway.

 

[Gaznod]

Xenons were an absolute must for me when I was looking. Make the front end look so much better an up-to-date

Strangely that had not come up on my research so I got lucky

 

[Pondy]

I would hope any business with an online presence had realised that you can't be shite and get away with it anymore.

Seems to be a naive way of thinking in 2025 IME. If you are referring to 'reviews'...don't take any notice of those. It is easy to fake them.
I hope the car is a good one, but it is the car that matters, not who is selling it.
I have bought and sold a LOT of cars in the past few years (including two brand new ones recently) and can honestly say that, without exception, the people I bought them from were 100% focused on the money, not the quality of the cars they sell.
Maybe I am the unluckiest person on the planet but I doubt it.

The word 'integrity' and car salesmen do not go together in the same sentence, certainly not in 2025.

 

[Mr Tidy]

WhisperingWasp wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 11:11 pm
Xenons were an absolute must for me when I was looking. Make the front end look so much better an up-to-date
Strangely that had not come up on my research so I got lucky

Did you notice if it had storage cubbies behind the front seats or speaker grilles? If it had speaker grilles instead it also has one of the upgraded stereo options with 10 speakers instead of the standard 6 speaker set-up.

 

[Gaznod]

Did you notice if it had storage cubbies behind the front seats or speaker grilles? If it had speaker grilles instead it also has one of the upgraded stereo options with 10 speakers instead of the standard 6 speaker set-up.

It has the basics stereo according to the seller. It sounded good to me, so should be ok for a while at least.

 

[Z450]

from a specialist trader in Essex.

What...who 'specialise' in selling cars for a very healthy profit?
Don't buy into the 'specialist' bollox that some dealers try and portray. They don't give two shites what they sell, as long as they can make a good margin.

They seem to have good feedback and they do only sell interesting cars. I would hope any business with an online presence had realised that you can't be shite and get away with it anymore. Fingers crossed anyway.

Like with any business/ trade there are good and bad. I agree with you, nowadays with online presence it’s easier to spot the bad businesses. I have heard good about Heal & Toe cars. Do they want to make money.. certainly the same as any one, no one works for free unless your a charity worker

 

[raymond.harper]

It would be nice to have its current registration. What paint needs to be corrected exactly?

 

[Gaznod]

It would be nice to have its current registration. What paint needs to be corrected exactly?

The general external appearance was not up to my standard. Some trim had polish on it and the paint just looked a bit lacking. A good clean and some DA action should get it looking lovely.

 

[Gaznod]

I picked up the car yesterday and it is fantastic. Being a first time Z4 owners I was slight concerned with usability and comfort on longer journeys. I can safely say it is fantastic. I done a total of around 200 miles after picking it up. It drove faultlessly, was very comfy and I loved every minute of it (even when stuck in traffic on the M25).

I was also a little worried about fuel consumption but once it gets going on a A road or motorway, it seems to return high 30's if you stick to the speed limit so well happy with that.

I have a few things to sort out/address. I have one broken cup holder. I am a product designer so I'm going to look at designing and maybe making a better/stronger cup holder to fit where the current one goes. I also have a slight rattle from underneath. Sounds like exhaust or heatshield but will get this checked out as soon as I can.

I've found a German car specialist in Rayleigh - https://www.germancarservices.co.uk They seem to get good google reviews but wondered if anyone has any experience with them. They mention Z4's so assume they have some experience. Any other recommendations welcome.

I want to take the car to a local specialist I can trust and get a full check over to see what might need doing. It still feels a little twitchy at the front end after the 4 wheel alignment they had done so I'm guessing it might need some bushes replacing.

No chance of cleaning and playing with it today as it's cold wet and miserable. I'll post up more picks once it's been given some love.

 

[raymond.harper]

May you enjoy many happy trouble-free miles! Get some form of code reader for the car. Make sure it is a model-specific one. Many members seem to go for the Creator+410

 

[Zedebee]

. . . Except Ray, who likes his Ancel BM700.

 

[Fred Smith]

Seems to be a naive way of thinking in 2025 IME. If you are referring to 'reviews'...don't take any notice of those. It is easy to fake them.
I hope the car is a good one, but it is the car that matters, not who is selling it.
I have bought and sold a LOT of cars in the past few years (including two brand new ones recently) and can honestly say that, without exception, the people I bought them from were 100% focused on the money, not the quality of the cars they sell.
Maybe I am the unluckiest person on the planet but I doubt it.

The word 'integrity' and car salesmen do not go together in the same sentence, certainly not in 2025.

You are right to be cautious and cynical... but not that much.

You can critically appraise reviews as you read them and hopefully get an insight into whether they are fake or not. You can then come on places like here and get feedback from people you can trust.

Lots of business (including mine, which is nothing to do with cars) rely primarily on word of mouth for their business (I for one have not really done much in the way of networking, marketing or advertising, or even being listed for free in places where people looking for my services might go) in 15 years of my business, and almost none in the last 10 or 12.

Lots of businesses, including me, would rather make - say - 25% less profit and be 99% sure that they will not have the hassle of dealing with unhappy customers. For me the hassle of dealing with complaints is something I want to avoid. Car dealers, I think, are often happy to spend a bit extra prepping a car than risk saving £300 pre-sale, then having to spend the £300 three months later, plus pay the cost of recovering the car from 60 miles away and returning it to the customer, plus the hassle of dealing with it, plus the risk of less good word of mouth.

Lots of businesses - especially small ones - are a bit of a labour of love. Heel and Toe seem like they have a little niche that they love working in... if it was money above all else they'd probably be turning over easier to sell cars.

OP - glad you love the new motor... good luck with it!

 

[Gaznod]

May you enjoy many happy trouble-free miles! Get some form of code reader for the car. Make sure it is a model-specific one. Many members seem to go for the Creator+410

I currently use an app called car scanner and a cheap ELM327 for other newer cars. It allows me to read codes and clear them as well as monitor various outputs. I'll give it a go on this one when I can find the damn thing! Is there much advantage to a model specific one like those that you mentioned?