Roadster purchase: milky oil cap, traction and brake warning lights, sticky roof

R

robg86

Member
 Newcastle
Hi everyone, looks like I might be about to join your club having recently found a Z4 with good buying potential. However on the viewing I found a few potential issues that I'd appreciate some opinions on, so hopefully you can help!

Firstly the oil filler cap - some milky stuff on this. Is there any easy way to tell if it's condensation from short journeys or something more serious?

Then there's a few warning lights on. The thread below suggests it could need the brake fluid changing and bleeding (or the traction control has been manually turned off). Reckon it's a big deal or not?
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=96651

And lastly when the roof is going up/down it will stop for a few moments, whining away, and then continue. Does this stuggest something is broken or worn out or is this pretty normal? (Motor in original position btw, would move it to the boot if bought.)

Any comments or advice welcome, thanks!
Rob
 

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Mayo is standard at this time of year. Head gasket issues are very rare on these engines. Roof motor will likely need a refurb and relocating into the boot.
warning lights - anyone's guess unless you can read the fault codes.

Is it cheap?
 
Welcome aboard.
Depending on price I don't think there's much to worry about tbh.
The M54 engines do tend to show a little bit of mayo especially in colder weather or on short runs. That doesn't look an excessive amount to me.

Those three lights could be a few things and only a code reader will make it clear to you.
The absence of the ABS light leads me towards it being the yaw sensor under the drivers seat. Feel around under the carpet (there's a join you can get your hand in). If it's wet then budget £35 or so to replace that sensor, plus you'll need to find where the water is coming in. Favourite is the door membrane.

Roof motor sounds as though possibly the pump is getting a bit tired, but until you get it into the boot for a good look you won't know.
Budget about £150 to sort it yourself, or maybe a little more if you need help. A few of us dotted about who carry spares and can help with that.

Whereabouts are you? If you happened to be anywhere near me I'd happily come and take a look with a code reader for you.

But as I said, if the engine is running smoothly then there's nothing there that should put you off.
 
Thanks for the input both. I think the price for it is right, it's not cheap cheap (i.e <£3k or anything), and a similar price to other examples.

The garage said they'd sort the fault lights so that's a start at least, but I'm skeptical they'd just turn them off only for them to reappear soon after.

I'm in Newcastle so a little distant to Norfolk but thanks for the offer!
 
robg86 said:
Thanks for the input both. I think the price for it is right, it's not cheap cheap (i.e <£3k or anything), and a similar price to other examples.

The garage said they'd sort the fault lights so that's a start at least, but I'm skeptical they'd just turn them off only for them to reappear soon after.

I'm in Newcastle so a little distant to Norfolk but thanks for the offer!
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Ah well, once you get it, you need to contact [ref]Street[/ref], who lives up near you. He'll definitely be able to help with any issues you have.
Be interesting to see what they do to clear the lights. They won't be able to simply turn them off that's for certain.
Chris (Street) can definitely help out with the roof motor though.
 
Blimey, if its a garage and it showing all those lights then personally I wouldn't go near it. They obviously have done no prep work to it.

Looks like its got the wood effect dash as well......

I'm out :-)
 
Rockhopper said:
Blimey, if its a garage and it showing all those lights then personally I wouldn't go near it.
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Not sure I completely agree tbh. Cars in that price range on a bog standard forecourt tend to be trade-ins that they just want cleared.
It's a good haggling point at least, and if they can't fix it you knock even more off.
These are all common E85 issues cropping up more and more often, Nothing scary there, just an opportunity to get it a bit cheaper. Mileage is good on it.
OP, look at garage rates for replacing that roof motor: not much change from £1k and they'll put it back in the dark wet hole it came from. So use that as a bartering point too, then talk to the forum and get it all fixed at a fraction of the cost.
 
I've been following High Peak Autos on youtube, he sells all sorts of cars (and does very well) but he does a lot of low end sub £2k cars and he always fully preps them before they get advertised. If this garage can't get the lights sorted then what else haven't they bothered to do?
 
Yeah all good stuff. Regarding the lights / forecourt prep, the owner did say he'd MOT, service, and sort any issues such as the lights when it's sold. Not sure why you wouldn't do this up front but as mentioned, a couple of things to haggle over which helps.

And yes if it goes through I'll get in contact with Chris/Street to sort the roof out!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. :thumbsup:

I think some traders don't do the service and MOT until they have found a buyer - that way it will be longer until they need doing again which makes sense I suppose.

Good luck finding your Z4, whether it's this or another one. :thumbsup:
 
robg86 said:
Yeah all good stuff. Regarding the lights / forecourt prep, the owner did say he'd MOT, service, and sort any issues such as the lights when it's sold. Not sure why you wouldn't do this up front but as mentioned, a couple of things to haggle over which helps.

And yes if it goes through I'll get in contact with Chris/Street to sort the roof out!
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Hey Robg86, welcome to the group. Hope you bag the car you want :thumbsup:
 
Hi there, I live in Gateshead and currently have my 3.0l e85 up for sale, it’s just passed its mot with 0 advisories and is in great condition! Let me know if you’d like any more info! Cheers
 
It wont let me respond to your PM as I only made the account today and I think I have to post 3 times to reply! but the item number is 175956748709 on eBay if you would like to view it!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175956748709?hash=item28f7d6e9a5:g:4c4AAOSw5e1lJot3&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4J3NK0nbBL0A7b5yYxcWf6m%2FqC9ILHxtkzFSqt2wvVN5vnFmTbWXk3ycB%2FivGOVHa2Yh0aYArZULldk0Vt6f6y6wvr3CBmu3d4P7wknbzk94bk8wzH6Ei8u9lBTO9I7FUBDdEzNg6SsNVZFR1qhZWL8gQ0dxUif8AkLiw4QyTqF8HCyzK7kCBKG%2BXrJ8Zpej14V2ky7iBbzIp5SXPC9%2F%2FRP9gQwbpS1EU4xCROrDFgRK5pANBNRT3X4sBBpeb8qYa4srpi%2FJsHqE9qxmYqVQOZNK2fHBOexs65Lsam0zxcD2%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_C8zJ7wYg
 
As others have said Mayo on cap is common in the winter / short journeys.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be the HG. I’d be looking for smoke 💨 and ask for the engine to be cold started. You can also use a sniffer test to make sure it’s not HG
 
Hello again - some development on the warning lights that the garage was going to fix. Apparently it's the [magnetic] steering [column] angle sensor, and they don't fancy trying to fix/replace that. They've knocked £250 off if I still take it. Does anyone know if it's a big job to fix?
 
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