The 3.0si - the lovable sports car underdog (or so it says)

I

idej_z4

Senior member
Quick read on the Coupe 3.0si from Dan Trent, columnist at Goodward Road & Racing.

Some good points made on owning one:

https://www.goodwood.com/grrc/columnists/dan-trent/2017/6/dan-trent-bmw-z4-3.0si--the-sportscar-not-so-underdog/
 
A good article, thanks for sharing it. It makes me feel I made the right decision opting for the Z4C, I agree with the author, I love the look of the coupe.
 
Great little article, thanks. He would be tempted to put a louder exhaust on - just needs to visit DLV as I did.
 
"If" I was to change my car, it would only be for an Si...

The ///M is out, as I don't do manuals, and the E89 is not only a bit "soft" for my liking, there is also no way I'm getting 12 cases of Stella in the boot with the roof down!!


Mike
 
Thanks OP. :thumbsup:

I knew it had to be an E86 Si for me - I don't do convertibles and an M was way out of budget!

They do seem to be getting a bit of a following - especially on here. :lol:
 
Great article, and definitely agree with the "special feeling" point, the engine is a peach and as a whole package it's so well balanced.
Great car and they always get a second look too.
BMW nailed it with the Z4C :thumbsup:
 
Mr Tidy said:
Thanks OP. :thumbsup:

I knew it had to be an E86 Si for me - I don't do convertibles and an M was way out of budget!

They do seem to be getting a bit of a following - especially on here. :lol:
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The ///M is a special machine, but like you said, expensive. I couldn't afford the upkeep of it even if I could afford to buy one.
 
Marlon said:
Great little article, thanks. He would be tempted to put a louder exhaust on - just needs to visit DLV as I did.
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Or get a Longlife backbox like I did. I love the sound of mine...how it should have sounded from standard. :)
 
idej_jedi said:
The ///M is a special machine, but like you said, expensive. I couldn't afford the upkeep of it even if I could afford to buy one.
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You're right - running costs were a major factor for me too. :(
 
Nice write up
In both Coupe and roadster the E85/86 is an attractive package - and the //M or non- M package serves both kinds of drivers needs and budgets

What's not to like :thumbsup:
 
I don't get to use my Z4 coupe much, largely due to kids and using train for commute, but was at Mercedes World yesterday for a track day and decided to drive down from Hudds the night before and stay over. Leaving at 6pm meant traffic had died down and made for a relaxing cruise. Messed around with different speeds over 10mile distances, but found car returned best mpg using cruise at around 72-73mph. Average on display for the 221 mile journey - 44.8mpg ! Thats amazing for an 11 year old car with a 3.0litres straight six. Return journey was not so good as I found myself stuck on the M25 for almost 2 hours, but for the return leg it managed to average out at around 39.2mpg. All done on a single fill of VPower !

What was best of all was that i got out after the long journey back, and felt remarkably fresh ! Almost as though I could do it all again ! Never expected that when i bought it.
 
kammy1975 said:
I don't get to use my Z4 coupe much, largely due to kids and using train for commute, but was at Mercedes World yesterday for a track day and decided to drive down from Hudds the night before and stay over. Leaving at 6pm meant traffic had died down and made for a relaxing cruise. Messed around with different speeds over 10mile distances, but found car returned best mpg using cruise at around 72-73mph. Average on display for the 221 mile journey - 44.8mpg ! Thats amazing for an 11 year old car with a 3.0litres straight six. Return journey was not so good as I found myself stuck on the M25 for almost 2 hours, but for the return leg it managed to average out at around 39.2mpg. All done on a single fill of VPower !

What was best of all was that i got out after the long journey back, and felt remarkably fresh ! Almost as though I could do it all again ! Never expected that when i bought it.
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I use V Power and never get anywhere near 44mpg. Best I've had is around 39mpg and that was on A1 with cruise control on!
 
idej_jedi said:
I use V Power and never get anywhere near 44mpg. Best I've had is around 39mpg and that was on A1 with cruise control on!
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When I got the car, it would easily do 42.8mpg (obviously this is what the computer is claiming!) but this dropped when I put the 19"s on, and was slightly worse on my second set of 19s, using cruise control and over the same roads. Put it down to external temps etc, but having moved back to 18"s and running the factory widths of 225 Front and 255 Rears, rather than the 235/265 I was running with the 19s, I can't help but think this is a factor. I did the spark plugs, filters, oil etc all when I was running 19s so the only thing that's changed is wheels and lowered suspension. Can't see the lowering having any impact.

Do remember that mine is an Auto, so there will always be differences between our cars.

Brimmed the car to get the real mpg (rather than rely on OBC) and it worked out at just over 39mpg, which is good considering the return leg would have impacted the average, and the OBC will be overreading by a few mpg.

Just bought a M Sport steering wheel, so hopefully the extra thickness and weight doesn't impact my mpg !!
 
kammy1975 said:
idej_jedi said:
I use V Power and never get anywhere near 44mpg. Best I've had is around 39mpg and that was on A1 with cruise control on!
Click to expand...

When I got the car, it would easily do 42.8mpg (obviously this is what the computer is claiming!) but this dropped when I put the 19"s on, and was slightly worse on my second set of 19s, using cruise control and over the same roads. Put it down to external temps etc, but having moved back to 18"s and running the factory widths of 225 Front and 255 Rears, rather than the 235/265 I was running with the 19s, I can't help but think this is a factor. I did the spark plugs, filters, oil etc all when I was running 19s so the only thing that's changed is wheels and lowered suspension. Can't see the lowering having any impact.

Do remember that mine is an Auto, so there will always be differences between our cars.

Brimmed the car to get the real mpg (rather than rely on OBC) and it worked out at just over 39mpg, which is good considering the return leg would have impacted the average, and the OBC will be overreading by a few mpg.

Just bought a M Sport steering wheel, so hopefully the extra thickness and weight doesn't impact my mpg !!
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You'll love the M steering wheel - where did you find it?
 
I love the coupe shape,to me it's the nearest thing shape-wise to my Datsun 260 Z,just getting to grips and learning a few things from you guys about my coupe,not read the article yet
 
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