Potential New Member - How Much Should I Pay

[bferry70]

Hi all,

I've been a member for a while now and have enjoyed a lot of the content about peoples Z4 ownership experience. Now that I am approaching a milestone birthday, I have set my heart and sights on a Z4. I have probably spent the last 2 years viewing the various places that advertise Z4 sales and have seen some (what appear to be) nice clean low mileage examples come and go. As with most, if not all, prospective buyers I am worried about buying a lemon! Obviously a good service history will help in avoiding this.

Anyway, yesterday I had my first ever viewing and test drive of '54 plate 3.0 SE (I understand that the SE was the only variant with 3.0 at this age?). It has a reasonable service record (twice by BMW in the last 3 years). The test drive went well and I am interested in the car as it has had a significant amount of work done this year to get it through the MOT. It has had new brake lines front to back, new rear suspension including Rear Axle Carrier (which involved removing and refitting fuel tank). It's had new brakes, discs and calipers all round and 2 new tyres in the last 18 months - work all carried out by BMW. The car has 71,000 miles. The cockpit was a little tired looking but all working including the roof motor. The seat bolsters need treating, the headlights need a restoration, bonnet and boot badges are worn too. The bodywork has 2 small dints (penny size) and the roof has a nick, which has not penetrated and appears water tight.

My dilemma is what is the value of the car!? What would be a good price to pay for a car with this history? I hope some of you who have been in this position before, and agreed a sale for a car such as this, could give me an idea? I did a check on Parkers which threw out a figure which surely can't be right!

I look forward to comments.

 

[Smartbear]

Have a look through the classified section in here, that will give you a good idea by comparison with the dozens of cars sold via the forum
Rob

 

[mr wilks]

Any pics or link to the car would help members throw figures at it but from the brief description ( ie not knowing history, spec, colours, prev owners, warranty etc) I'd be reluctant to pay over £4500 & to be blunt personally I wouldn't pay more than £3750 the hole in the roof would swerve me straight off unless price allowed for a replacement.
There are so many out there of these cars I would ignore mileage to a certain extent & see as many as you can before making a decision & that way you will build up your own opinion on what a suitable example should be worth.
Best of luck & welcome to the forum

 

[bferry70]

That’s interesting. Thanks. The sort of figures you have mentioned are more less what we are discussing (£4,000 to £4,500). The car has had 4 owners and is Titanium Silver. It’s a private sale, so no warranty but it has had £3,500 spent on it in the last 18 months to clear advisories and failures picked up on the MOT which makes it tempting. Many thanks for the advice. It’s difficult to know what is a reasonable offer without insulting the seller. I was curious to know what other people pitched their offers on based on asking price.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I can't help much with Roadster values, but in the past I've always found looking at similar cars advertised for sale gives a pretty good indication of values at any given time.

But it sounds like the example you are thinking of has had plenty of jobs done recently so hopefully might not throw up anything costly for a while.

If you do go for it don't start with too high a figure - you can always go up!

 

[mr.tourette]

Id say around 4k, the work its had is a big plus but like Mr Wilks I'd be put off by a hole in the roof no matter how small. However the market is not exactly swimming with cars at that price point so you need to be slightly flexible on requirements.. good luck with your search

 

[firebobby]

Welcome to the forum, you say the roof has a nick,but has not gone through, these roofs have a few layers so remain pretty water tight.
Is there a hole in the outer layer then.
As mentioned, the car has had a lot spent and many new parts, so should be pretty sorted.
What extras does it have.

 

[buzyg]

Welcome aboard. Only you know what you want. As a keeper though the roof would put me off. Any pictures of it it may be nothing.

 

[bferry70]

Hi all,

Thanks for the words of advice. I've managed to get some pictures of the roof issue that mentioned a lot. As I said, I don't think it has fully penetrated the top layer - more of a snag? It's obviously noticeable and would certainly warrant a repair of some sort, although I have been told it has never caused an issue with the integrity of the roof. Is this of a concern? Your thoughts would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[Mikopop]

I know I could not live with the roof nick, however much you clean and polish and detail and fettle there would always be a hole in the roof which would detract from everything else you ever do. Either negotiate down based on a used replacement (400-500) or look elsewhere.
JMHO