Newbie looking to buy a Z in near future

[oliver87]

Hi i'm Oliver
22 born in England, living in France
Just sold my Audi TT 225
wanting to move on to something a bit more tasty

I've always loved the Z4 from when they came out... now i've had my driving lisense for a while and have a real passion for cars, the Z4 is very tempting (living in france insurance is cheap )
I've been looking also at the Honda S2000, but can't stop dreaming about the straight 6 roar...
i have been doing quite a bit of research on them both and both seem pretty bullet proof and at the moment the BM has the upper hand on quality, economy, and i do prefer the Z looks

I'm thinking more along the lines of the 3.0i (2003/2005) , not to high mileage (=>100k ish) , heated seats , nice wheels , xenons... not to fussy on options though. looking to spend around 5/6 grand tops
Also considering the 2.5i ?? dunno what you think ?
i'm going in to a job with a company car , so the car will probly be mainly used the weekend, short trips and the odd long trip...

I also have a Kawasaki Z 750 (so the Z4 would fit into my collection quite well)

I should have the cash at the ready fairly soon , so i will be watching the cars going on this site and ebay , autotrader and all of those to hopefully buy one in the near future
I would prefer to buy from someone on here, as i'm coming from france it's hard to just come and view and have a test drive you see.. so i would like to be able to trust the seller.

Any advice is welcome of course =)

 

[oliver87]

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/606252244/bmw-z4-25i-2dr-full-heated-leather-fsh-vgc-roadster.html
Found this that looks quite nice and rite on the door step of where i used to live in the UK , so easy to get someone to look at it for me. Just not sure if its the 2.5 or 3.0 as in the title it says it's the 2.5 but then in the add it says 3.0
Price seems good for mileage...

 

[Machine monkey]

Hi you should have no trouble finding a car that fits your needs. There have been a few very tasty cars go for that money on hear recently. And under the 100k mark.

2.5 3.0l real world performance is not meant to be that much different and neither is economy. I went for a 3.0l as they have a six speed box. I think the later small engine cars came with the six though. Generally there are more toys as stranded on the 3.0l i think.

 

[BDM]

Hi Oliver,
I`m thinking about selling mine as I`ve just bought a house that needs loads of work. It might be more money that you had in mind but it`s a 2006 2.5 roadster in Ruby Black with only 36K on the clock and in "show car" condition. I was looking for £8,500 minimum. It likes France. I bought it for a trip there last year.

 

[Machine monkey]

Sounds like a good car BDM. Bandit12 has his up for sale as well.
Have a look in the for sale section

 

[oliver87]

Hi Oliver,
I`m thinking about selling mine as I`ve just bought a house that needs loads of work. It might be more money that you had in mind but it`s a 2006 2.5 roadster in Ruby Black with only 36K on the clock and in "show car" condition. I was looking for £8,500 minimum. It likes France. I bought it for a trip there last year.

Hi thanks for the offer but indeed it is a bit out of my budget , but i bet it's a lovely car. Thanks anywayz
Yes cars do seem to like france , probly because the roads are much smoother

 

[oliver87]

Hi you should have no trouble finding a car that fits your needs. There have been a few very tasty cars go for that money on hear recently. And under the 100k mark.

2.5 3.0l real world performance is not meant to be that much different and neither is economy. I went for a 3.0l as they have a six speed box. I think the later small engine cars came with the six though. Generally there are more toys as stranded on the 3.0l i think.

That's true the other reason why i like the 3.0i is for the 6 speed box...

 

[oliver87]

Sounds like a good car BDM. Bandit12 has his up for sale as well.
Have a look in the for sale section

Just had a quick look, indeed it is very nice but i don't like auto gearbox's :roll: unless you can convince me otherwise (you got quite a task if you do )

 

[bandit12]

Sounds like a good car BDM. Bandit12 has his up for sale as well.
Have a look in the for sale section

Just had a quick look, indeed it is very nice but i don't like auto gearbox's :roll: unless you can convince me otherwise (you got quite a task if you do )

I wasn't a fan of auto boxes but the auto in my Z is sublime, especially in semi auto mode or with the sport button in auto.

 

[Rusky]

The auto box is superb, i love mine and like bandit says with the sport button or in semi it is fantastic. Also and i may be wrong but i think you could add the paddle shifts to it Or am i talking bullocks??? sure someone will correct me I certainly wouldnt dismiss the auto with that silky smooth straight six

 

[oliver87]

Ok you two sound very happy with you auto's =)
But i'v driven auto's and semi auto's before and it just doesn't feel the same... but i guess i shouldn't shut it out until i've tried one on the Z4 ^^
The other thing that scares me with an auto is when or if it goes wrong...