Possible new owner

B

Beardledd

New member
Hi everyone,

First post here! I have seen a few z4s at the upper most part of my budget 4k, with 100k on the clock mainly 2003 and the odd 2004. Now I've been researching around for information regarding reliability and possible problems at this milage and have received conflicting views.

I will be using this car to commute a few days a week plus running about in general.

I have heard if well looked after with fsh it's good for nearly double that minus consumables including suspension stuff. But because it's the upper part of my budget any imminent repair costing over 500 is likely take me a while to fix.

Should I bite the bullet and take ownership of a car once worth nearly 10x the value? Am I likely to regret putting all my eggs (budget) in one basket (car) :-)

I do have use of another car if things go tits up, Just not keen on the idea of taking a match to 4k

Thanks everyone
 
personally at 4k yes you are looking at the bottom end of the budget but I have definitely seen some decent z4s for sale here that have got plenty of life in them that i would punt 4k at.... at your budget a forum car is the way to go... You'd get nowt at a dealer and i wouldn't punt 4k at an ebay car... scout our for sale forum to get an idea whats available
 
also 200k out of a modern petrol engined car should not be an issue... ofc as cars get older you will start finding other issues in the chassis but tbh this would be true of any car in a 4k budget... regular servicing is a must and annual oil changes at a minimum... the 15000 mile service interval on these cars is too long... I will be changing annually or every 7500 miles whichever is soonest
 
I agree with Mr tourette,these cars are good for well over 100k,engines and transmissions are very strong and as they use 3 series suspension etc,the price of replacement parts is very reasonable. The service interval of 15000 miles or 2 years is a bit long but a lot of cars will have been serviced to this spec,especially earlier in life when used by fleet/lease companies,which is OK as long as the correct oil was used.Obviously it's a bit of a lottery with all used car's, in general these are not costly to maintain.I change oil and filter every 2 years,which is approx 1500 miles (only use car on sunny weekends,so not very often) :D
 
I presently have my second Z4. After the first one I realized a couple things:

1. They are amazing cars to own, drive and even just look at
2. Things go wrong with them and even the smallest thing can be very expensive (especially if you have to take it to a dealer).

I spent well over $500 just getting my Z ready for spring. Even smaller and minor parts (what you call consumables) are more expensive than my other cars, and it is harder to find someone other than a dealer to work on them. I knew that going in and set up one bank account just to handle what comes up in the future. My best advice is: If you don't have the ability to set back some money for eventual repairs this might not be the car for you right now.
 
Mine is a 2003 3.0i with 107k on the clock. Bought it 4 years ago and run it as my daily with no issue's.

Bushes/suspension could well need replacing at that mileage though, so be aware of that. Engine wise, all I've had in terms of breakages are thermostat leaking (replaced for £60) expansion tank cracked (£80) and the air intake pipe had split (about £30). These are all common things to replace so check those over when the engine is warm as that's when the coolant starts leaking.

Roof motor is a big problem on these, but you can re-locate it to the boot for peace of mind.
 
Buying a 12 or 13 year old car with high miles is always going to be a bit of a gamble, but if you stick around on here for a while and soak up all the information it should be less of a gamble when you decide to buy. Keep your eye on the Z4 Forum's market place for used Zeds as these are more likely to have been well looked after. Some sellers join the forum just to sell their cars, but you should really be keeping an eye out for longstanding forum members who are selling.
 
Thank you everyone.

So great replies here, good to see a forum with lots of activity!

I have hopefully managed to get my budget up to £4800, and with any luck have a bit more choice.
I spoke to a future brother in law today who is a inde mechanic, and will be accompanying me to check it over. I have had a read through the things to look our for and its definitely set in stone!!

I am super excited now, just wish I had this idea months ago when everyone wasn't wanting a convertible :P

I have heard about the throttle being a little lazy and discovered the sprint booster module that many seem to love, anybody had experience with these on an older car? dont want to roll the dice to much. :thumbsup:

My previous toy was a MR2 3.0 V6 conversion and the throttle response was ....well :evil:
 
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