Noob looking at a Z4, a few questions

[Mr Whippy]

My bosses wife (also works at work, so I can have a look at any time) has a nice Z4, Maldives Blue, SMG, 3.0 SE, 23,000 miles, a 53 plate, with 5 spoke star alloys.

But, she isn't sure what the spec is in detail, and neither am I. They bought it from BMW used and it will be traded back in there relatively soon unless I put my name down.


So, what are the sorts of things I want to have, or don't want to have, or just things to look out for spec wise when I have a proper look at it? If it's got missing essentials then there are plenty of others out there...
I think a manual would be more my cup of tea, but having driven none at all yet (hoping I love it, but from what I've read and already know that I like of them, I'm sure I will!) I may well be surprised by the robot SMG...


Thanks for any help. Just getting into looking at all the details of the options as they can make alot of difference to desireability and price, and basically as much as I can look on Parkers at what options there were, spotting them is another thing. Ie, how to spot the upgraded audio, etc.


PS, I had a look at an MZ4C (I can't afford that though but it was lovely), and the seats were perfect for me. Are these the same as the optional sports seats on the normal Z4 Roadster? (unfortunately this SMG car doesn't have them, but I haven't had a drive with either seat under me yet so both could be perfectly ok)

PSPS, generally, I'm liking the idea of a 3.0 engine, and possibly the sports seats, not an automatic, but all else is open really. But obviously options are important and if there are what owners consider must haves, then I must have them

Thanks for any tips/advice.

Dave

 

[csmith319]

Well - the one thing I would say is that there is so much choice out there, you don't need to tie yourself to one because its being offered to you.

Gearboxes are a personal choice thing, but the manual is my preference. I have the Sport seats (which I'm led to believe are the same as in the M coupe) which as part of the sport package also gives you the M steering wheel which is the same except for the stiching colour.

If you can afford a newer one, the later 3.0 engine has more power and lower emmissions - these start at about £16K through BMW from '06 plate onwards - cheaper privately obviously.

 

[senwar]

But, she isn't sure what the spec is in detail, and neither am I. They bought it from BMW used and it will be traded back in there relatively soon unless I put my name down.

If it helps (and to clarify the spec), she could take it into the dealer and get them to print off the spec list - I think that can be done either from the key, or perhaps its just retained info on the system.

I had this done when I sold my 04 roadster

 

[Mr Whippy]

Ah sorry. My budget is around the £10,000 mark really... which leaves me with the older 3.0

I also prefer the older front end looks, so I'd be looking at the earlier cars too.

So the sports seats come with the sports package, which also includes a steering wheel the same as the M cars except the stitching colour?

Do the sports seats come in isolation at all?

Are all 3.0/SE/sports seats electric memory, with heating being an option?


I'm going to have to pay more attention to the interior shots on classifieds. I've spotted the seats being different, but now I need to decide which steering wheel I prefer

Does the sports pack do anything to the chassis/engine?


I'll have to borrow the manual for the car and have a read through as I guess it covers all equipment and optional equipment in there.


I'm certainly not too tied to this car. It is a desireable looking one as it stands, especially because I know I'll probably get it at a good price, it has a full BMW history, very low mileage, and I know the history as every time it's gone wrong she has said to me what... but my personal favourite would be a red one on ellipsoids, with black sports interior. Finding one though! The only red ones I've seen have been the odd 2.2 and 2.0.

 

[Crusoe]

ok for spec on the car list is as follows: there will be buttons behind the gear stick for heated seats each side, in the boot under the batter cover if you see a black amplifier it has the better stereo option, wind deflector is stored under the boot lid or in place between the seats if it has one, sensor against the glass behind the rear view mirror if there is a rain sensor for auto wipers, light switch turns left one click as well as right two clicks for auto headlights, satnav screen in the middle of the dash if you want that, xenon lights are a round single unit inside the headlight instead of a bulb and reflector and start up with a bright white blue tinged light. Electric seats in leather, buttons down the side and three memory buttons to adjust, don't think the sports seats were an option on the earlier cars. Left and right adjustment for the electric mirrors and a small black button beside that if it has the electric folding version.

For me xenons, electric heated leather, wind deflector and stereo upgrade were the things I required, ended up with everything other than satnav though even if i'll not use some of it.

 

[Mr Whippy]

Cripes.

I knew I'd have some research to do with my BMW options... I'll have to do lots more reading as I'm clearly going to have to know what I'm looking for even on SE models.

Nice plan Senwar, I think she probably has some documentation somewhere, so I might pester her for a look at the booklets/manuals that came with the car, then go and have a sit in it and see what it has and hasn't got and report back (and to glasses guide )


Is the wind deflector an easy upgrade? I'll have to take a look in the boot for the black amp by the battery, see what it looks like.

I may well just take a few pics too then I'm sure the eagle eyed owners among you may spot things I miss.

I've also heard about the graduated screen tint, is that something worth having or not?

Thanks once again!

 

[Crusoe]

think the wind deflector is just a £150 bit of plastic you can buy from BMW at any stage, probably aftermarket ones around too which are cheaper.

p.s. if it has a six disc changer it should be in the central cubby hole behind the seats.

 

[Mr Whippy]

Ah ok, having a read through the "how to" there seems to be alot of upgrade potential if you can just source the parts cheaply enough to make it worth while.


Just another quick question, Evo's long term 3.0 Z4 had sports suspension as standard, as all 3.0 Z4's apparently did.

So do all the 3.0's have the same suspension no matter if they are 3.0, SE, or sport pack?


Just noticed the 3.0's stay under the 225g/km tax bracket too so cheap tax as well. I've already had a stunning quote off Swiftcover for insurance! The S2000 on the other hand, well it was comfortably double for the best quote!

 

[Herminator]

The S2000 has no traction control so finds itself in hedges a bit more often than the Z4 :wink: Plus it's cheaper so it gets more young men buying them, although the Z4 is dropping into their price range now....

All 3.0's of the age you're looking at had sports suspension and there wasn't really a sports pack for them. The M sports seats were only available from 2004 onwards.

The 3.0 manual is under 225g/km but the SMG and auto are just over the limit. But the higher tax prices aren't coming out for a while longer now.

 

[Angus McCoatup]

My bosses wife (also works at work, so I can have a look at any time) has a nice Z4,
Dave

Ho ho, what, at the car or the wife?

Sounds like you're gong through a very similar process to the one I went through a while back.

As far as I know it is only the SE cars that come with M sport suspension and seats.

On the options side of things; the things I'm really pleased to have are electric folding mirrors (makes it easier when I have both cars in the garage), 12 speaker hifi (all the better to hear with, but haven't tried the standard version so can't compare), cruise control (great for helping me stick to speed limits in camera monitored areas - would hate not to have this extra), xenon headlights (although standard on the ///M, if I'd gone for a 3.0 I would definitely have wanted these. But I haven't tried the non-xenon, so can't compare). I also really like the piano-black trim option in my car.

Things I have that I'm not too bothered about are heated seats (maybe I have an unusually warm ar$e, but I never really feel the need for them and have only used them for the novelty value), green shaded band at the top of the windscreen (TBH I think this is barely noticeable when looking at the car from outside and it seems to make bu88er-all difference when inside), sun protection rear glass (would actually prefer not to have had this because it always looks dark when looking through the rear-view mirror. Granted it does shield the view of the boot contents a bit from prying eyes, but then there is a screen to pull over that does a better job anyway), bluetooth phone prep (I refuse to switch a phone on in the car - it's one of the few places I can get peace and quiet from the damn thing and this car's for drivin' :driving: ).

Things I don't have are sat nav (99.9% of my journeys are on familiar roads so I don't really need it but would like to have had it for gadget appeal and because it might assist with resale if I can ever bear to part with the car ), extended storage ( quite pleased not to have this because I play golf a lot and the bag would probabaly have knackered the storage nets in the boot).

Fully agree with your comments about the S2000. I think it's a great car, but the 3.0 Z4 seemed to me to offer more for less cost and it was hard to resist the appeal of a straight six engine.

Hope you find a nice Z4. Try lots of them and see what you like best, because all of what I have said above is very much a matter of personal choice.

 

[Mr Whippy]

Hehe, the car Angus, the car

Well I've just found out it has heated electric seats and rear parking sensors. It had a new alternator and battery fairly recently too, probably because it does sit around not used fairly often, only 23,000 miles and one previous owner.
I'm not sure it has cruise because it just has the plain metal side spokes on the wheel. I'm still finding it hard to spot a sports wheel and a non sports one. The best I've seen is ones with plastic spokes and ones with glossy metal finish.
I also think it has Xenons. The general spec seems pretty nice really. I've seen a few 04/05 cars with the sports seats, so it seems they came on early ish cars. They do look very nice, but in a few pics even with 40,000 miles they look to have worn in some cases.

I just need to test drive it really, see how good the SMG is. I've only ever driven an F360 (stradale) and it was 'ok' gearbox wise, but every car is different. On the road it might be nice to just slot it into automatic and be lazy, but be able to really use the gears on a hoon out.
Has anyone here had/driven an SMG and a manual at all, are the modes as wide as the M cars? Ie, aggressive through to nice and soft?

I think after looking more now, the main ones for me are electric memory seats. I'm 6ft and my partner is about 5/5 so she would be forever moving my perfect setup. Xenons sound ideal in a low sports car to see ahead on a wet winters evening, and the hifi just so I can listen to music in summer with the top down nicely... that said the engines sound sweet enough on their own... 18" wheels are the way to go for looks and probably dump the RFT's... I'm sure I saw that the Z4 had a full sized space saver spare anyway?!

Thanks again

Dave

 

[gannet]

On that age car the cruise control is an easy retrofit - £150 for the kit - do a search and you'll find loads of info Cruise is a stalk below the indicators

 

[bras0782]

Things I have that I'm not too bothered about are heated seats (maybe I have an unusually warm ar$e, but I never really feel the need for them and have only used them for the novelty value),

I've found the heated seats great over the last few days of supreme cold. They warm you whilst waiting for the air to warm up enough to crank it up.

green shaded band at the top of the windscreen (TBH I think this is barely noticeable when looking at the car from outside and it seems to make bu88er-all difference when inside),

What is this 'green shaded band'? :scratchhead:

sun protection rear glass (would actually prefer not to have had this because it always looks dark when looking through the rear-view mirror. Granted it does shield the view of the boot contents a bit from prying eyes, but then there is a screen to pull over that does a better job anyway),

Is this standard or option? Don't know if mine has it. I don't have anything to compare it to.

 

[Angus McCoatup]

Well I've just found out it has heated electric seats and rear parking sensors.

for the rear parking sensors. Forgot to mention that mine has these and I'm very pleased it has.

I've only ever driven an F360 (stradale) and it was 'ok' gearbox wise

8)

I think after looking more now, the main ones for me are electric memory seats.

Yep, definitely very nice to have. I thought these were standard on all Z4s (certainly the 3.0 ones anyway).

and probably dump the RFT's

Seems a very worthwhile change to make to reduce/eliminate the tendency for the car to tramline when on RFTs. Seem to be quite a few posts on here about it and Falken tyres seem a good and cost effective replacement. But........

I'm sure I saw that the Z4 had a full sized space saver spare anyway?!

.........unfortunately the Z4 has no spare tyre of any size. Non ///M cars rely on RFTs, so if you ditch them you might need to think about carrying a can of tyre weld. ///M cars come with non-RFTs as standard and come with a BMW tyre weld and compressor kit to get you home if you get a hole in one.

 

[Angus McCoatup]

Things I have that I'm not too bothered about are heated seats (maybe I have an unusually warm ar$e, but I never really feel the need for them and have only used them for the novelty value),

I've found the heated seats great over the last few days of supreme cold. They warm you whilst waiting for the air to warm up enough to crank it up.

green shaded band at the top of the windscreen (TBH I think this is barely noticeable when looking at the car from outside and it seems to make bu88er-all difference when inside),

What is this 'green shaded band'? :scratchhead:

sun protection rear glass (would actually prefer not to have had this because it always looks dark when looking through the rear-view mirror. Granted it does shield the view of the boot contents a bit from prying eyes, but then there is a screen to pull over that does a better job anyway),

Is this standard or option? Don't know if mine has it. I don't have anything to compare it to.

Hi - As far as I know the green shaded band is an option that gives you, well er, a green shaded band along the top edge of the windscreen, which extends about 10cm or so down from the top. I imagine the purpose is to reduce the glare from the sun when it is lowish in the sky. My car has it but is so subtle that I can't see it being of much use.

The sun protection rear glass is also an option. It makes the tailgate and rear side window glass on the coupe very noticeably darker than the front side windows and the windscreen. I'm not sure if it's available on the roadster. Unlike the green shaded band its very obvious and if you have it you'll know it. One way of finding out is if you are sitting in your car while it's stationary for any length of time and people come up to try and buy drugs from you then, yep, you've got sun protection rear glass

 

[Mr Whippy]

Right, just doing some sums, and finding info hard to come by

If I used a cheaper end scale BMW garage, or an Independent BMW specialist, about how much per year 'average' might I be looking at for service costs, if I did 12,000 fairly well mixed miles per year?
I'm thinking around the £350 mark average is a good figure to aim for... I've priced for those Falkens FK452's and using a set a year, + any extras that are incurred for wear items like brakes etc coming to another £50 a month average...

£450 tyres (these are 225/40 r18 and 255/35 r18 on the ellipsoids or 108's (those 5 spoke two piece jobbies))
£350 primary servicing on book
£600 other random wear/tear like brakes etc

Are they realistic kinds of figures? I'm trying to think of worst case wear levels and things needing doing, so that unless something bad goes wrong then I'll hopefully not be caught out by anything surprising...


Dave

 

[Mr Whippy]

Also, is anyone using an independent dealer for servicing in the Leeds area?

I see that Malton main dealer is recommended and they are relatively close, but maybe a tad too far, but you can't put a price on a good BMW dealer it seems!


Just waiting for the trader near me in Collingham (Thunder Road Sports and Prestige) to get those 3.0's in he said he would have, then I can get out for some test drives. All the early 3.0's seem to have dried up around Leeds at the moment I want to test drive one

Thanks

Dave