Newbie to das bimmer...

S

sp33dy

Member
Hi all.

I'm bored with my current ride (VW GTI) and want something new. I've looked at everything from WRX's, Evo's, Audi TT's, S2000's, and most recently 135i's. A friend of mine actually owns a 135i and he's done a few things to it to get some serious power from it. I made the mistake of taking him up on his offer to let me drive it around the block one day and I soon realized how boring my GTI is after I handed back his keys... :|

My previous car before the GTI was a Solstice GXP. Fun car and with the tune I was making some pretty good power. But once Pontiac shut down I got spooked and traded it in for the GTI. The GTI is fun but I've done just about everything I can to it with the exception of a bigger turbo. I'm bored with it and would like to go back to a two seater as I'm not married and I don't have any kids and you only live once, right?

I've always loved the look of the Z4 coupes. What's even better is you don't see them very often. Out of a whim, I started researching them a couple of nights ago and came to the realization that these cars can be had for not too much money with relatively low mileage. I've even found myself looking for the M version just because they aren't too much more than the 3.0si.

Couple of questions I have...

Does the 3.0si require valve adjustments? Does the 3.0si have the same Inspection 1 & 2 service intervals as the M? Is there anything I should be looking for specifically with a 2007 with less than 20k miles? Any surprises I should know about? I've read about the rear sway bar and notchy 1-2 gear shifts. Anything else?

This will be my only car and subsequently my daily driver. I'd like to have the M but at the same time the 3.0si seems a little more refined as a daily driver and maybe less expensive to maintain as well. Hence I am leaning away from the M in favor of the 3.0si.

Thanks for any feedback any of you can provide. This seems like a really great website and there is lots of information on here. I've been researching as much as I can! :thumbsup:
 
My Zed is my only car, but only really get to use it on weekends as I train it to work during the week.

With the small difference in price I would seriously go for the M. You get soooo much more for your money.

MPG will only be a little worse, but servicing costs and road tax will be around twice as much.
 
sp33dy, welcome to the forum.... :thumbsup:
My ///M Roadster is a daily driver and before that I had a 3.0si also a daily driver. The ///M is a very comfortable daily driver and I can't say that I would consider the 3.0si as more refined. Actually I think of the ///M as more refined. Once out of warranty which is 4 years 50,000 mile the cost to maintain the ///M will be just slightly higher mostly due to the cost of valve adjustment if you don't do that yourself. I get on the average about 5 MPG less with the ///M as well. However, which ever you decide on you will be well pleased... :driving:
 
welcome to the forum :D

what kind of daily drive do you have - fast a-road or stop start traffic... ?

my car is only really a weekend car but I live and work around london...
 
M, M, M, M, M!!!! :evil:

Seriously though, like gannet asked I would consider the 3.0si if it is stop-start driving and going to be your daily driver.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

I live in a big city (Dallas, Texas) so my driving does consist of a lot of stop and go driving. I've read the 3.0si has a little more grunt on the bottom end compared to the M. One thing I love about my GTI is all of the bottom end power. I rarely ever have to rev over 3k from the stop lights.

As much as I would love to own an M, I'm beginning to believe the 3.0si is probably the right choice. However I would hate to realize down the road that I should have bought the M instead. I guess the only real way of knowing is by test driving both. :driving:
 
Well if you do buy the 3.0 and change your mind, the 3.0 would be a hell of a lot easier to sell (based on this forum). So you can sell it and buy an M if you really want to :P
 
Also, a lot of the M Coupe's I am finding are 2007's and have around 20k miles on average. If I were to go with the M, I assume I'm going to have to start saving up for the Inspection 1 service at 25k miles, correct? Is this the same for the 3.0si?
 
sp33dy said:
Also, a lot of the M Coupe's I am finding are 2007's and have around 20k miles on average. If I were to go with the M, I assume I'm going to have to start saving up for the Inspection 1 service at 25k miles, correct? Is this the same for the 3.0si?
Click to expand...
Not always true and even if it is then you could use it to bargin a bigger discount. :)
 
sp33dy said:
Also, a lot of the M Coupe's I am finding are 2007's and have around 20k miles on average. If I were to go with the M, I assume I'm going to have to start saving up for the Inspection 1 service at 25k miles, correct? Is this the same for the 3.0si?
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that in the US the 4 year 50,000 mile warranty covers all service and inspection cost and even covers the replacement cost of wiper blades.
 
WLH said:
sp33dy said:
Also, a lot of the M Coupe's I am finding are 2007's and have around 20k miles on average. If I were to go with the M, I assume I'm going to have to start saving up for the Inspection 1 service at 25k miles, correct? Is this the same for the 3.0si?
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that in the US the 4 year 50,000 mile warranty covers all service and inspection cost and even covers the replacement cost of wiper blades.
Click to expand...

Interesting...And this includes the valve check/adjustment?

So, let's say I buy an 07 with 20k miles and the warranty is good up until the middle of next year. Is there a certain mileage I have to hit before I can take it in for the Inspection 1 service? This does sound a bit more enticing as I was under the assumption the valve check/adjustment was not covered under the maintenance program. I like to change my own oil and do other routine maintenance-type things on my own but when it comes adjusting valves, I will leave that to the mechanics.
 
sp33dy, my valve adjustment was done at just over 20,000 as I recall and it was completely covered under warranty as is everything else including oil. Also, since you will be buying used make sure you are getting the extended CPO warranty that covers you out to 6 years and 100,000 miles.
 
I've found a 2007 3.0si with about 8000 miles on it. They are asking $25k. If the car is as perfect as they say it is and the carfax comes back clean, I'd say this is a damn good deal, yeah?
 
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