Not quite yet...

D

daveg

Active member
 Leatherhead, Surrey
Hi everyone
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In the final stages of getting a Z4 now. Spent far too long choosing what car I would get next - and finally settled on a pre-facelift 3.0i. Spent the weekend reading plenty of posts so I know what to look for when I look at some next weekend. I just love the styling and performance/drive is a step up from my current car.

Want to try and get an 03-05 in Sterling grey with xenons and ellipsoids with under 40k on the clock. Proving to be tough for £12k so might need to start compromising on the mileage. Red leather, sports seats and MV2 alloys would be lovely but not expecting them in my budget.

The Mazda 3 forum was a great place and I'm glad to see the Z4 has an equally welcoming online presence. :thumbsup:

Look forward to meeting some of you at meets,
Dave
 
Hi and welcome, good luck with the search, with regard to options items like MV2's, and ///M styles seats can be easily retrofitted, Xeons and HiFi are another story so thibg about that when looking around.

Good luck :thumbsup:
 
Thanks everyone :thumbsup:

srhutch said:
Hi and welcome, good luck with the search, with regard to options items like MV2's, and ///M styles seats can be easily retrofitted, Xeons and HiFi are another story so thibg about that when looking around.
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Cheers - great info. Mind expanding on the hifi? I've struggled to find what's standard and what's dealer options. Would love an original sales brochure PDF!
 
daveg said:
Thanks everyone :thumbsup:

srhutch said:
Hi and welcome, good luck with the search, with regard to options items like MV2's, and ///M styles seats can be easily retrofitted, Xeons and HiFi are another story so thibg about that when looking around.
Click to expand...

Cheers - great info. Mind expanding on the hifi? I've struggled to find what's standard and what's dealer options. Would love an original sales brochure PDF!
Click to expand...
the brochures are on here somewhere...
 
3 hifi levels

basic on 3.0i is ok, I expected it to be poor but it's a good one in it's own right IMHO!
Spotted because boxes behind seats are storage areas big enough for a few cans of beer each. So no subs and no door speakers despite grates being there.

Next is hifi, so subs behind seats and speakers behind grills in doors.

Next is pro hifi, same as above but better again. It's not black and White though. I like music and am happy with mine despite my workmate having the top one on his z4. Better but not night and day. Nice to have but I'd not chase it when looking!
Not sure how you easily spot it though, BMW spec sheet makes it easier!



Xenons hardest and probably costliest to retrofit, but I stopped chasing and happy with urated halogen. Again nice to have but I'd not chase unless you just want em. Personally I see the difference but i'd look to other spec first on a drivers car!

Wheels, loads about, easy to swap, I'd ignore wheels and source the car you want. Wheels are easy to sort once you have the right car! Just depends on desperation for specific spec vs hassle, I'd not let wheels get in the way of an otherwise right car for me!


Msport seats, enough around, but sometimes odd spec on rest of car, and price is a premium. Easy to swap and you can sell old ones for maybe £300. But finding some might be hard. I was very lucky I think, but a 6 month wait and £600 all in costs might be a good guide.
Also not to all tastes. I prefer and noticed the difference lots, BUT don't feel the standard ones are lacking as much as you'd imagine now when I get back in normal ones. Better, for me, just depends what YOU like so try get some time in both as back to back as you can.


Wind deflector, handy in winter roof down motoring in sub 5 deg temps, but IMHO I don't reckon they do that much any other time.
Heated seats are my main must have, winter roof down is loads more bearable with all that heat coming in!


Happy hunting!


Ps, are you into photography quite a bit DaveG? Or are you a different DaveG hehe?

Cheers

Dave
 
Mr Whippy said:
Ps, are you into photography quite a bit DaveG? Or are you a different DaveG hehe?

Cheers

Dave
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What a helpful post Mr Whippy - thank you so much :thumbsup: My eyesight is a not amazing - even more so at night and I have found the Xenon's on my current car a massive improvement for night driving.

Thanks too Gannet for the link. Really useful to check what kit was standard and how much non standard bits cost.

Yes I am into photography - which leads me to wonder - how do you know me :scratchhead:

I have seen quite a few now and this one is interesting:

http://www.pistonheads.com/SALES/1217175.htm

All the spec I want but out of my price range. The search continues! Have favourites set up in Piston Heads, Autotrader, eBay, Bid Motoring World, Gumtree and Exchange and Mart so hopefully won't miss one :D

Thanks,
Dave
 
Can anyone confirm deny for definite if headlight washers mean the car has Xenons on 03-04 3.0i models?

I have read both answers on the forum but not sure what year they were reffering to. The brochure suggests washers are part of the Xenon package but don't know if it also came separately.

I see a lot of adverts mentioning "headlight washers" but not Xenons.
 
daveg said:
Can anyone confirm deny for definite if headlight washers mean the car has Xenons on 03-04 3.0i models?

I have read both answers on the forum but not sure what year they were reffering to. The brochure suggests washers are part of the Xenon package but don't know if it also came separately.

I see a lot of adverts mentioning "headlight washers" but not Xenons.
Click to expand...

Just because it has washers doesnt mean it will have xenons. An easy way to tell when you are there is to open the bonnet, there will be some yellow warning stickers about the hight voltage.
 
srhutch said:
Just because it has washers doesnt mean it will have xenons. An easy way to tell when you are there is to open the bonnet, there will be some yellow warning stickers about the hight voltage.
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Indeed this is what i done the weekend, popped the hood up to see some yellow high voltage stickers. What i didn't realise mind that the xenon part is only the low beam.. both the side lights and high beam have normal bulbs.. (pardon my ignorance if this is common knowledge, i have no idea on xenons)

I also changed my side lights the weekend to those phillips white ones, not very impressed tbh they still look yellow next to the xenon headlight :(
 
WelshGirl2009 said:
srhutch said:
Just because it has washers doesnt mean it will have xenons. An easy way to tell when you are there is to open the bonnet, there will be some yellow warning stickers about the hight voltage.
Click to expand...

Indeed this is what i done the weekend, popped the hood up to see some yellow high voltage stickers. What i didn't realise mind that the xenon part is only the low beam.. both the side lights and high beam have normal bulbs.. (pardon my ignorance if this is common knowledge, i have no idea on xenons)

I also changed my side lights the weekend to those phillips white ones, not very impressed tbh they still look yellow next to the xenon headlight :(
Click to expand...

Where abouts are the stickers - that info would be ideal! Even better would be a photo to send to sellers so I can simply ask - does it have these stickers! :P

Xenons weren't used for high beam until recently as they have a short delay in coming to full brightness - making them useless for the flashing people use high beams for. Some cars now feature a moveable lens/mirror that redirect the light up or down depending if high/low beam is selected (Aka Bi-Xenons http://wikicars.org/en/Bi-xenon_Headlights).

I'm a geek at heart and like upgrade just about every light on my car for best performace. With my Mazda 3 this even included custom making a multi-die high power reverse light as none on the market were powerful enough. Will probably need to do this on the Z4 also as it looks like it has a single reverse light. :evil:

For the sidelights - pretty much no halogen bulbs will match the Xenon colour even ones with blue tinted capsules. Does the Z4 have blown bulb indicators that prevent LED bulbs being used?
 
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