New to Forum - advice on insuring modified Z4

L

LEC

Member
 East Anglia
Hi,

I've just joined the forum - looks great and very informative!

I am planning to buy a 04/54 Z4 3.0i SE convertible in the next month or so and have seen one in particular that I like which has a few modifications. However, the insurance quotes I'm getting seem to be through the roof! Lowest so far is Elephant (my current insurer) with £865 (but apparantly they don't insure the modified parts - I kind of thought what's the point then!) and RAC with £894! For an unmodified model I'm getting quotes of £570 or so (Premium Choice). Does anybody know of any insurers that insure modified Z4s at a reasonable price?

I am going to try Adrian Flux and Chris Knott tomorrow (although I know the latter states that you have to have 1 yrs driving experience of a 'performance car', which I don't have, but it still may be worth a try).

The modifications on the car are quite minimal (to me anyway!):

H&R suspension
19 inch BBS LMs (new)
Custom front grills
Exterior side repeater
Beesting aerial

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Hi and welcome to the Forum. I have used Aviva (previously Norwich Union) for some years now and have had no problems with modifications. I have changed from 17" to 18" rims, from RFTS to non RFTs and other cosmetic mods - notified the company with no increase in premium or problems with renewal. The suspension change is perhaps an issue for Insurers who may see it as a significant change from the original vehicle spec and therefore change the characteristics of the vehicle (that I think will be the insurers argument). The premiums you quote seem quite reasonable in comparison with some people on the Forum who have quotes in excess of £2000 - but this obvioulsly depends on age and previous driving history. A case of shopping around I think.
 
Large wheels and changed suspension will be adding to the premiums. You may not think they are much of a change but insurers generally do, reflecting a car that may be driven harder, may be more open to theft, maybe less stable with inappropriate suspension and cost more to repair if damaged.

As Alan notes though the premiums are not excessive for a modified 3.0i and all depends on cover, age, mileage, location, etc. etc.
 
Adrian Flux insure my kit car for about 170 a year. Defo worth a chat with them - will be interesting what they come up with.
 
My best quote for renewal for this year so far (after being on Elephant for the last 12 months) is through the brokers at Noel Dazely.
 
lec - depends on your age / ncb / area the car is kept, but your in the ball park - i pay £600 on a 2.5 which has a spoiler and lowering springs. im in a good area and im approaching 30 with 4 years ncb, car is garaged / works car park in the day. no other named drivers on the policy as the old trick of adding the parents didnt make any difference. try a limited milage policy, im on up to 8k miles a year which brought the cost down, as my workplace is local 8k does me fine.

im with greenlight who use the same underwriter as chris knott - hence i was already on the best deal when i tried to get a new quote. greenlight have been great - been with them 2 years now, never used a broker before but ive been impressed with them, never had to claim so cant comment on that side.

adrian flux insure my track car, a striped out and caged 205 gti, its not that cheap but they will at least cover the mods. my gti is only tpft - dont care about the car so much rather other people & property. next year it will only be used for 6 months, and sorn'd the other 6 to keep costs down.
 
HI all,

Thanks for all your comments. I have actually got a lower quote now - £788 through A-plan insurance brokers (with Markerstudy), so not bad! Tried Adrain Flux but quoted £1000+. Got a few others to try as well but not sure i'll better that. I'm female, 29, 5 years NCB, no convictions or points (touch wood!), avg 12,000 miles (will probably definitely do that in a year as i also need business cover for my job), got husband on as named driver (which brings it down as he's older), located in East Anglia so a pretty safe area, parked on driveway (too much junk in garage!) etc. Have got 1 fault claim though (minor bump) and no experience of driving a 'performance car' so i think that's what may be bumping the price up plus the mods obviously. May try some other companies as well that you've all mentioned - thanks.

I am a little concerned though about buying an already modified car now as i understand that it adds no market value to the car (was reading that on another thread) but the car i've seen seems to be priced to take into account these mods. It's priced at just under £12,000 but owner said he'd be willing to go down to £11,000 (no more) but i just think i'd be driving it away at a loss already for when i eventually go to sell it on (probably 2-3 years down the line). I haven't seen the car yet (hopefully will do on Friday) as i don't want to fall in love with something and then get caught up in paying too much money for what the car is worth!

Does anybody have any advice on this and more generally on buying a modified Z4? I read that it can narrow down the potential buyers? Poeple have suggested putting cars back to standard and then marketing the car but surely it costs to do that (i.e., get the standrad parts) and then you have the hassle of selling individual parts? I'm also guessing there's not much you can do with the suspension once it's been lowered or can you take the springs off and go back to standard? So, all in all, although i love the look of this car, i'm wondering whether to go for a standard 3.0i SE, which will also reduce the cost of insurance but forego the 'look'/firm drive, although don't get me wrong, all Z4's are stunning to me and much better than what i currently have!

Any advice would be great - cheers!
 
LEC said:
HI all,

Thanks for all your comments. I have actually got a lower quote now - £788 through A-plan insurance brokers (with Markerstudy), so not bad!
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I used Markerstudy when I first passed my driving test in 2006. They were the best by far. My sister passed her test the year after and they were also the best for her. I never had an accident in the car I had insured with them, but my sister made a claim when a woman drove into her, and they were pretty swift and got it sorted quickly. You shouldn't have any problems with them.

Unfortunately they wouldn't insure me on the Z4 when I bought it because I'm under 25, and I wasn't waiting 5 years :lol: So I insured it with Diamond who have been great and certainly the cheapest. My sister bought an Audi TT a couple of months ago and she also moved to Diamond when she got it as they were the cheapest and best. Have you tried them?
 
Hi Lucy,

Thanks for this. It does seem like a good deal with them so may be on to a winner and good to know they were efficient with your sister's claim. Although it still felt like a shock to the system how the price went up just because of mods, although i do take on everybody's points. I'm definitely going to buy a Z4 soon and maybe even the one i've been talking about but got to do some more searching now to find the 'right' one! May have done it a bit back to front but wanted to make sure I could afford everything before i set my heart on one!

I have been with Diamond before with my current car (Hyundai Coupe) and they seemed okay but they haven't been coming out on any of the comparison sites i've used, as the Hyundai just isn't comparable in any way shape or form! I could try them separately though.

Do you, or anybody else out there have any thoughts about buying modified Z4s and the resell of them? Also i'd appreciate people's knowledge about what does/doesn't add value to cars as i'm pretty sure that the one i;m interested in is overpriced even with all the mods?? It's a 2004 with 73K on the clock. Apparantly in very good condition (yet to see) - should this add to the value (i.e., over and above Parker's guide for e.g.)?

Nice car btw Lucy - wanted to get the 3.0is but as i'm not going to keep the car longer than 2-3 years i didn't want to have to fork out so much :( Maybe after i've had my family! :D Are there many of us ladies on here!?

Cheers!
 
i wouldnt worry about the mods on the car you mentioned, nice wheels, and original springs eventually break on z4's so previous owner has saved you the hassle, h&r are a quality brand so they have spent some money on them. ride might be harder but it will hug the ground and will compliment the bigger alloys looks wise.

whats the exterior side repeater mod? only thing i can think of is the acs ugly (imho) indicator replacements. the grill will just be colour coded so not really a mod, and we all do the stubby arial so again not what id class as a mod but cheap enough to do.

buy and sell wise, they are nice to have but original options are what will sell a car, xenon lights, multifunction steering wheel, bmw sat nav and m seats. most people return cars to standard and sell their mods to re coupe money, as mods dont add value for me, and some buyers dont want modded cars full stop.


judging by your wanted ad your pretty clued up already! :thumbsup:
 
Cheers klarky - still learning but having a BMW enthusiast for a brother helps! He has an M3 and he's loving the fact that he's converted me to BMW now! :D
 
klarky said:
whats the exterior side repeater mod? only thing i can think of is the acs ugly (imho) indicator replacements. the grill will just be colour coded so not really a mod, and we all do the stubby arial so again not what id class as a mod but cheap enough to do.
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I think it's a clear side indicator around the badge. I'm finding it difficult to figure out what is standard and not on the earlier Z4s - e.g., i read on here that M sport-suspension is standard on the 3.0? If something is not on the car when it's made, is it classed as a mod or an optional extra? Slightly confused by all of that. Just don't want to get caught out on the insurance as they'll invalidate any potential claims where possible!
 
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