Roadster & Coupe - Test drive accomplished!

N

Ninarvana

Member
Morning M owners... :driving:

Following the advice of those on the board I decided that it would indeed be a good idea to have experience in driving both the Roadster and Coupe even though it was the MC I was trying to source.

Sytner of Solihull had a 2007 black sapphire MC for sale which has been on Autotrader for a good couple of weeks and it appealed to me for the fact that it was spec loaded, had champagne extended leather including dash, a piano black gator console and 19inch Schnitzer wheels, the only downside for me is that it had done 67000 miles and as you know I'm looking for a low mileage example. However, after my routine daily search on Monday, they came up trumps having just got in a 2007 black sapphire, piano black, 14700 mile MR so I thought this was a perfect opportunity and you never know, the R might steel it for me! (Both 2 owner cars).

So I arranged to go up there yesterday... They operate a good sales department up there and the chap who I dealt with was very helpful, even emailing me a video presentation. I wanted to view the MR first as it was on standard wheels and had done the lower miles. It was a very clean car, leather with no wear and no wear on the strut mounts which you would hope having only done 14000 miles. Off to test drive and it was a beautiful machine, with the roof down you could really hear the rasp of the engine and it was very smooth, running like a new car.

Onto the MC, the wheels looked brand new and as AC Schnitzers, these were a £2500 addition to the car coupled with it being loaded with all the spec. Front bonnet onto the side arches were however very peppered. Test driving this car - what a difference! and am thoroughly glad I got to compare these examples. The gear knob was about to come off (no big deal I've heard of this before) but as for the drive... At higher revs the steering rattled and vibrated terribly and there was a constant 'wurring' hum coming from the engine at all times, I could just hear it undulating. The engine too did sound different, was noisier in a way that would not be deemed as characteristic. It was clear this car had either been abused on the road or perhaps been ragged on the track. I am surprised BMW would sell a car in this condition, it was clear something bad was going on and the sales chap seemed surprised too. :thumbsdown:

Things I noted that I found surprising and didn't correlate with a lot of reviews I have read are:
. Ride was not atall 'hard' - no different to my 130 (softer even), perhaps I am just used to this because I have run flats?
. Gear box was very smooth on both cars - no notching or kangarooing, perhaps again due to experience with my notchy CDV?
. 110% a daily driver car - why not crack this beauty out on a daily basis, it feels great to drive!

BMW service history:

. The service history was also somewhat suspect on both cars; the MR had it's run in check at about 1350 miles, then an oil service at just under 10000. However that was in 2010, so whilst the car has only done another 5ish thousand miles, it hadn't been looked at in 3 years... A concern? During it's oil and brake fluid service, it also was listed as having a rear axle service, heard of this?
. Secondly the MC; run in service was bang on 1200 miles however whilst it's first inspection 1 to it's next oil service was only a year apart the car had done 20,000 miles and it had two inspections 2's listed as being done one after the other which the salesman couldn't explain.

Verdict:
A car I'd definitely love to own and wasn't disappointed with at all. Feels a perfect step forward from my 130i. The MR really did win me over and that was a surprise! However, it has to be the MC for ultimate looks. It was a great shame the MR was the better low mileage example, it didn't come with nav or even the uprated CD system, electric heated seats being pretty much the only added extra.
The champagne leather was disappointing, perhaps it was this car but it was very yellow! I expected it to be more cream... The black leather looked very nice.

A hunt for my desired MC continues and I'm glad to have this experience under my belt so I know what I am looking for :thumbsup:
 
The champagne leather should be more cream than yellow. Too much time in direct sunlight perhaps?

I think the ride on the MC is dreadful at low speed (doesn't really bother me that much though) but it does improve as the speed builds. Even then though, it's too firmly sprung. You'll notice a difference in damping between an MR and an MC (MR in my opinion is better in that respect) but some choice mod's can really improve the ride quality judging by other peoples experiences on here (Exdos etc.).
 
Ninarvana said:
Perhaps I need to TD an MC that hasn't been abused to really judge between the two then...
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Yes definitely. They are a slightly different feel to an MR but emphasis on the word 'slight'. They are a bit firmer, the steering I think is a little quicker but otherwise they should feel about the same. I think you would really need to be driving at 10 10ths to feel the extra rigidity in the coupe over the Roadster.
 
original guvnor said:
Ninarvana said:
Perhaps I need to TD an MC that hasn't been abused to really judge between the two then...
Click to expand...

Yes definitely. They are a slightly different feel to an MR but emphasis on the word 'slight'. They are a bit firmer, the steering I think is a little quicker but otherwise they should feel about the same. I think you would really need to be driving at 10 10ths to feel the extra rigidity in the coupe over the Roadster.
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One thing I forgot to mention above was that the MC's clutch was utterly different, and when I say it was heavier, I mean on an entirely different ball park to the MR, normal?
 
Mine is certainly very heavy. I can vaguely recall thinking that it was less heavy on the Z4MR. Z4M-2006 is your man - he's owned both examples so probably is better placed than anyone to comment.
 
I doubt you'd feel a difference between mc or an mr, clutch is the same so it's prob just the difference between two cars used differently

But yeah I'd choose one over the other for looks alone really, not driving differences between coupe vs roadster :thumbsup:
 
I have a 118d M Sport and also feel the suspension is harder in this than the ///M

Regarding Service History I would avoid one that hasn't been serviced for 3 years. I'm sure it will be fine but warranty could fail to pay out and when selling you will have buyers with concerns like you. I rejected my first ///M after 2 days as BMW dealer advised history was 100% for me only to find out it was 8 months overdue before it was done.
 
srhutch said:
I have a 118d M Sport and also feel the suspension is harder in this than the ///M

Regarding Service History I would avoid one that hasn't been serviced for 3 years. I'm sure it will be fine but warranty could fail to pay out and when selling you will have buyers with concerns like you. I rejected my first ///M after 2 days as BMW dealer advised history was 100% for me only to find out it was 8 months overdue before it was done.
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It does seem that owning a 1er tends to break you in! I guess whilst it had gone three years without one (and not due for another 7000 miles if you go by the trip), it had only done about 5000 miles in that time, so better than the MC which had gone a year, but 20,000 before having it's oil changed. Apparently there's a thread lurking on M3 cutters as to what not changing the oil for 15,000 miles does to the engine!

The more I think about it, the more I am annoyed that BMW were willing to put that MC on their forecourt. Even if the steering rattling was just due to the tires needing balancing or something simple like that, the fact that the vehicle had already undergone it's AUV inspection is a little concerning (esp considering the gear knob was falling off etc and it came to my attention that perhaps the clutch was so terribly heavy because it was on it's way out). :!:
 
I seem to remember that the ///MC had winter tyres on from a previous thread, if so that would affect the ride imo , although I may have my knickers in a twist, I've got some Shiraz open :thumbsup:
 
Ninarvana said:
srhutch said:
I have a 118d M Sport and also feel the suspension is harder in this than the ///M

Regarding Service History I would avoid one that hasn't been serviced for 3 years. I'm sure it will be fine but warranty could fail to pay out and when selling you will have buyers with concerns like you. I rejected my first ///M after 2 days as BMW dealer advised history was 100% for me only to find out it was 8 months overdue before it was done.
Click to expand...

It does seem that owning a 1er tends to break you in! I guess whilst it had gone three years without one (and not due for another 7000 miles if you go by the trip), it had only done about 5000 miles in that time, so better than the MC which had gone a year, but 20,000 before having it's oil changed. Apparently there's a thread lurking on M3 cutters as to what not changing the oil for 15,000 miles does to the engine!

The more I think about it, the more I am annoyed that BMW were willing to put that MC on their forecourt. Even if the steering rattling was just due to the tires needing balancing or something simple like that, the fact that the vehicle had already undergone it's AUV inspection is a little concerning (esp considering the gear knob was falling off etc and it came to my attention that perhaps the clutch was so terribly heavy because it was on it's way out). :!:
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As I found out AUC means bugger all, it's down to dealer descreation.
 
I've seen those motors at Solihull (I live locally). The coupe is a shed it's been on there forecourt for months it looked and sounded knackered when isaw someone moving it. It was them who offered the comedy Px on my M at 14900 miles when I was talking m135i with them.

If anyone on here is thinking of bidding on that roadster, let me know, you can have mine for that price and it's a better colour with nav ;)
 
Johnnymiller said:
I've seen those motors at Solihull (I live locally). The coupe is a shed it's been on there forecourt for months it looked and sounded knackered when isaw someone moving it. It was them who offered the comedy Px on my M at 14900 miles when I was talking m135i with them.

If anyone on here is thinking of bidding on that roadster, let me know, you can have mine for that price and it's a better colour with nav ;)
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I'm glad you posted that Johnny, good to see it wasn't a 'newbie' observation! The salesman made out they'd only had the MC a couple of weeks, good luck in them getting rid of it that's all I can say, wouldn't be surprised if it passed from branch to branch a few times.
 
No problem. Wonder what they bought it for given they only offered 9800 for my mint one... lol

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4
 
Just shows you the profit they are making! The MR as I said had practically no extra spec and its up at 17,850 because of the mileage. They offered to tax it for a year, include GAP and deliver it on a trailer so if you tally that up you would basically knock a grand off the price, but judging by what they offered you, they probably bought it in for around that 10 mark so a 7 grand profit is damn healthy!
 
Personally I wouldn't have been concerned about the MR's service history. Sounds like its been stored and not used much.

I had my oil changed at the beginning of summer at 28k, last change was 2.5 years around 23k. The only reason I didn't do it bang on 2 years was because it was winter, I was away a lot and the car was barely being used. I changed the brake fluid last spring when I put new brakes on.

When I picked it up, the guy who changed the oil said it had come out looking as fresh as the oil he was putting in.
 
I'm always amazed how two examples of the same car can differ so much, even when new. I've swapped long term hire car's for the same make/model and sometimes wonder if they are the same engine size and wonder how the new one can feel more baggy. I think your back-to back test drive was a great idea.
 
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