Weekend Toy or Daily Driver? ~~~YOUR NEWBIE NEEDS YOU!!~~~
- Thread starter StevenH72
- Start date
8)Sorry I forgot to mention the 635 is my old E24 635Csi which was on classic insurance hence the £200..
Z4coupebeaver
Member
Going back to the original point, an MC will cost more than an Si but you are a long time dead and you will spend all of that time regretting not having tbought he M.
I run an MC as a daily driver and 4 years on from buying it, every journey is still an event.
I had an Si before and I loved it but was bored after about a year owning it, I couldn't tell you how much more the MC is to run but I know it's not noticeable.
It's down to how you feel about spending the money on something that will give you a lot of pleasure.
Forget 23mpg as quoted officially, you'd have to drive like a lunatic everywhere to get that.
I drive a mixture of fun driving, built up driving and motorways, I've averaged just over 29mpg and had a lot of fun. On a run in motorway traffic, you will get more, weekend hooning, a bit less.
I run an MC as a daily driver and 4 years on from buying it, every journey is still an event.
I had an Si before and I loved it but was bored after about a year owning it, I couldn't tell you how much more the MC is to run but I know it's not noticeable.
It's down to how you feel about spending the money on something that will give you a lot of pleasure.
Forget 23mpg as quoted officially, you'd have to drive like a lunatic everywhere to get that.
I drive a mixture of fun driving, built up driving and motorways, I've averaged just over 29mpg and had a lot of fun. On a run in motorway traffic, you will get more, weekend hooning, a bit less.
parlivus said:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301074818871?atmobcid=soc4
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301144916542?atmobcid=soc4
Or this...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201301225007616?atmobcid=soc4
Think I'd go for number 1
bluestreak56 said:
Ah yeh that makes more sense, was thinking it must be something along those lines (that or I shoulda saved myself a fortune on insurance and got a 6 series instead :lol:
parlivus said:
Something I mentioned earlier... if you're justifying the difference based on cost it's important to consider the increased outlay for an M (and no money back on the Astra if you keep it).
I haven't looked at the links for cars yet, but I do appreciate the extra initial outlay, basically which car I get will dictate which kitchen we get 
Thanks for the feedback so far guys, I think I'm leaning toward the M, I got insurance quotes today and they aren't too dissimilar, certainly not £700 apart. Bluestreak seems to suggest that there won't be much difference other than in insurance and fuel in which case I'm happy enough. I know the M will be more but at such a low yearly mileage I'm hoping my figures will be about right.
Still love to hear others thoughts though!
Thanks again guys
Thanks for the feedback so far guys, I think I'm leaning toward the M, I got insurance quotes today and they aren't too dissimilar, certainly not £700 apart. Bluestreak seems to suggest that there won't be much difference other than in insurance and fuel in which case I'm happy enough. I know the M will be more but at such a low yearly mileage I'm hoping my figures will be about right.
Still love to hear others thoughts though!
Thanks again guys
parlivus said:
Meh, Auc Schmoork!
I'd rather have a loved forum car any day of the week having seen some auc cars...
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=43215&start=75
And horror dealer stories. But yer I agree, my comparison was a little unfair/biased...!
Steve my M averages 4mpg less than what my E85 3.0i did, as said above they can easily achieve high 20's on average...so wouldn't worry too much about fuel. And my circumstances might be different to yours but the insurance on the M was £510, £80 cheaper than my 3.0i ! I have a great Indy for servicing, which makes it only slightly more than the si, and £200 extra for tax, pocket money!!
I would buy that silver one ASAP before someone else does!!
I would buy that silver one ASAP before someone else does!!
mr wilks said:
Agreed if you can find what you want, its as good as saving £2-3k with no regret.
Have to say that yes you haven't factored in the cost of buying a good M.
Also if you just have the Z4M you will miss those extra two seats. What about when you have those times on a daily drive where you have to do something where you dont want your pride and joy getting wrecked? Thats why I have a second car.
Couldnt agree less with this statement
"I to would buy from forum member before AUC / dealer . . the right car looked after the right way doesn't need the warranty IMO"
Sorry even if it is a forum member how do you know they are telling the truth? Even if they are a fanatic? Also how do you know that it was treated well early on unless it was a 1 owner car, which now is pretty hard to find. Maybe they had been lucky with it, doesn't mean nothing will go wrong. Least with a warranty you will have piece of mind, putting the money away every month for problems is sensible but in hindsight other things become more important or if something else in your life takes precedence its quickly forgotten. So if something does go wrong then you could be landed. Not saying this is the case but life can change.
A comprehensive warranty is a must for the M in my opinion, small things quickly get very expensive. No way I would buy a Z4M privately for that reason, no idea how well it was treated early on in its life. if something goes wrong you get landed with the bill and no comeback. I got a 2 year comprehensive from BMW with mine. In the first month I had two non mechanical problems both electrical which added to the value of £1400 including labour and me being without the car for 2 weeks! That would be the sum of a good 3rd party warranty, Many of those mean you have to pay so much toward the bill and dont cover that much. Although I know the BMW one isnt great depending on milage but I would rather that BMW dealt with it directly, and that be piece of mind that I could just take it there and they sort it as im not particularly mechanical minded.
Make sure you factor in this cost.
But on the other side of the coin the Z4M seems to be pretty bullet proof even ones that are driven hard all the time dont seem to get problems. There are barely any threads on here with mechanical problems except hesitation which that thread has now got to the bottom of. So I would have confidence in this. Caution is always a good thing tho.
The silver car is lovely but at 44k it will be ready for a INSII mine was done at 46k so thats probably where the 14k comes from that is factored into the sale im assuming? So add another 800-1100 for that, if it needs new tyres another £1000, discs and pads another £500. Im not saying this car needs it, just pointing out that sometimes when you buy there could be some hidden costs which may change your figures. But im sure you no exactly what to look for so sorry for stating the obvious.
With mine I got a 2 year warranty, new pads all round an InspII full wheel refurb and a brand new set of Mich PSIIs as I requested and BMW reluctantly said yes. As I didn't think they had prepared it properly. But all those bits added if it had been private 2 year warranty? 2k maybe? INPII they quoted me £1100 which is mad but still, full wheel refurb £400, new set of Mich PS2s £900? and £200 for a set of pads? roughly £4500? Wouldn't have cost BMW that but it would have cost me that.
not saying that is the same situ as you would be in, but at 40-50k most of these things need doing and with BMW I managed to get them to do it all. But would you get enough off a car to pay for that as a private sell? Most cars you see for sale need a lot doing hence down in the value. Have to remember these cars were 50k so the price of looking after them is the same although the cars are now cheap. Also many enthusiasts wont buy one without FBMWSH, neither will BMW warrant it unless it has FBMWSH.
Maybe im over worried but worth pointing out. Sorry for the rant
Also if you just have the Z4M you will miss those extra two seats. What about when you have those times on a daily drive where you have to do something where you dont want your pride and joy getting wrecked? Thats why I have a second car.
Couldnt agree less with this statement
"I to would buy from forum member before AUC / dealer . . the right car looked after the right way doesn't need the warranty IMO"
Sorry even if it is a forum member how do you know they are telling the truth? Even if they are a fanatic? Also how do you know that it was treated well early on unless it was a 1 owner car, which now is pretty hard to find. Maybe they had been lucky with it, doesn't mean nothing will go wrong. Least with a warranty you will have piece of mind, putting the money away every month for problems is sensible but in hindsight other things become more important or if something else in your life takes precedence its quickly forgotten. So if something does go wrong then you could be landed. Not saying this is the case but life can change.
A comprehensive warranty is a must for the M in my opinion, small things quickly get very expensive. No way I would buy a Z4M privately for that reason, no idea how well it was treated early on in its life. if something goes wrong you get landed with the bill and no comeback. I got a 2 year comprehensive from BMW with mine. In the first month I had two non mechanical problems both electrical which added to the value of £1400 including labour and me being without the car for 2 weeks! That would be the sum of a good 3rd party warranty, Many of those mean you have to pay so much toward the bill and dont cover that much. Although I know the BMW one isnt great depending on milage but I would rather that BMW dealt with it directly, and that be piece of mind that I could just take it there and they sort it as im not particularly mechanical minded.
Make sure you factor in this cost.
But on the other side of the coin the Z4M seems to be pretty bullet proof even ones that are driven hard all the time dont seem to get problems. There are barely any threads on here with mechanical problems except hesitation which that thread has now got to the bottom of. So I would have confidence in this. Caution is always a good thing tho.
The silver car is lovely but at 44k it will be ready for a INSII mine was done at 46k so thats probably where the 14k comes from that is factored into the sale im assuming? So add another 800-1100 for that, if it needs new tyres another £1000, discs and pads another £500. Im not saying this car needs it, just pointing out that sometimes when you buy there could be some hidden costs which may change your figures. But im sure you no exactly what to look for so sorry for stating the obvious.
With mine I got a 2 year warranty, new pads all round an InspII full wheel refurb and a brand new set of Mich PSIIs as I requested and BMW reluctantly said yes. As I didn't think they had prepared it properly. But all those bits added if it had been private 2 year warranty? 2k maybe? INPII they quoted me £1100 which is mad but still, full wheel refurb £400, new set of Mich PS2s £900? and £200 for a set of pads? roughly £4500? Wouldn't have cost BMW that but it would have cost me that.
not saying that is the same situ as you would be in, but at 40-50k most of these things need doing and with BMW I managed to get them to do it all. But would you get enough off a car to pay for that as a private sell? Most cars you see for sale need a lot doing hence down in the value. Have to remember these cars were 50k so the price of looking after them is the same although the cars are now cheap. Also many enthusiasts wont buy one without FBMWSH, neither will BMW warrant it unless it has FBMWSH.
Maybe im over worried but worth pointing out. Sorry for the rant
I tend to disagree with Tom.
I think his post comes across as a little 'scaremongering' if you choose to buy an M privately and just 'don't do it', it will end badly...
If buying an auc car is so much better and worth paying circa £2k premium for the same age/mileage/spec etc, then why would statements like this be made: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=46882 (see end of topic!)
Also, where do these lovely pristine auc cars come from?! Yes, some come from brilliant great owners/enthusiasts such as Stu's Alpina. But others are not, just because its auc doesn't mean it's had a better life than that of a private car sale. Auc cars still have 2, 3 or more previous owners, whose to know they haven't abused it less than a private seller's car? They could've redlined it when cold as easily as previous owner number 2 on a private car?!
Lets not forget most auc cars are part exchange vehicles, not wanted by their owner anymore. A full bmwsh does not guarantee anything, much like it didn't stop your car Tom needing £1400 worth of work doing to it, and my privately bought car only needing new rear pads & discs (which I was made aware of) and that's it!
I agree that a warranty gives piece of mind, no doubt about that. It's a gamble whether to get one or not. But I think the only way to judge which would be better; private, auc or unbranded car dealer would be to go and view the car and do your homework on it. Yes there are lemons out there, but I would like to think members selling their p&j's on here aren't lying. I certainly haven't heard of any horror stories of members being disgruntled at buying cars on here...
So yer, my point is don't be fooled into thinking just because its auc and you're in a nice shiny BMW garage with a customer service latte, you're getting a better car.
I think his post comes across as a little 'scaremongering' if you choose to buy an M privately and just 'don't do it', it will end badly...
If buying an auc car is so much better and worth paying circa £2k premium for the same age/mileage/spec etc, then why would statements like this be made: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=46882 (see end of topic!)
Also, where do these lovely pristine auc cars come from?! Yes, some come from brilliant great owners/enthusiasts such as Stu's Alpina. But others are not, just because its auc doesn't mean it's had a better life than that of a private car sale. Auc cars still have 2, 3 or more previous owners, whose to know they haven't abused it less than a private seller's car? They could've redlined it when cold as easily as previous owner number 2 on a private car?!
Lets not forget most auc cars are part exchange vehicles, not wanted by their owner anymore. A full bmwsh does not guarantee anything, much like it didn't stop your car Tom needing £1400 worth of work doing to it, and my privately bought car only needing new rear pads & discs (which I was made aware of) and that's it!
I agree that a warranty gives piece of mind, no doubt about that. It's a gamble whether to get one or not. But I think the only way to judge which would be better; private, auc or unbranded car dealer would be to go and view the car and do your homework on it. Yes there are lemons out there, but I would like to think members selling their p&j's on here aren't lying. I certainly haven't heard of any horror stories of members being disgruntled at buying cars on here...
So yer, my point is don't be fooled into thinking just because its auc and you're in a nice shiny BMW garage with a customer service latte, you're getting a better car.
I didn't mean to come across as scaremongering, just giving my opinion and also my experience.
You PMd me about your car, and I seem to remember you worrying more than just discs and quite a few other components that needed sorting. But I wont go into details on here.
Mine wasnt 2k more AUC, they dealt well in the end and got a car that I didn't need to do anything to in theory until its next service in 2 years time, if not the warranty is there to fall back on. Also you get the full BMW inspection which gives you comeback if its not right as an AUC car, and obs the warranty which was worth its weight in gold for me, as im not savvy mechanically.
People who say that warranties aren't worth having obv haven't had any problems with their cars, fair, until you do then you might think twice which is why I got 2 years, covers me for the minimum amount of time I will keep the car. The reason mine needed work doing was because it had a fault which could happen to any car, mine was a fairly rare one that ended up having to have the ECU replaced and quite a few other electronic components that were difficult to diagnose. But it was £1400!! that mostly the labour costs, now if that had happended to you after you had just bought your car privately you would be pretty pissed? and it would probably take the shine off, and if you add that £1400 to say the 14k car for sale your looking at £15.5 not looking so cheap now. But that is my experience, so I will stick to it.
Also with Stus Alpina, his had a lot of warranty work done to it similar to mine, and the warranty paid for itself with one visit. These faults are not things you can plan for, but I no that me and Stu are quite Anal and the car has to be like it was when it was new or it wont do. Hence why he has just bought that lovely queen. These cars arent getting any younger and the oldest being 7 years, its getting on in car years, much more likely for things to go wrong you wouldn't expect, bushes, sus, seals, most likely culprit being electronic etc etc
The thing is if you buy from a dealer you at least have some come back, if you buy privately you cant go back to the owner and be like well its broken. Similar to my Ebay thread, buying something in good nick and breaking it. It could have been bad luck it could have been malicious. Either way you will end up with the bill for sorting it.
Again you can have great experience, but im always wary because they will always tell you its the best car since sliced bread, until 6 months later.
But again this is my experience. Just have to be careful buying privately thats the point I was making.
I actually had a torrid time with BMW, it was poor and well documented on my thread. But that was my dealer and there are many examples of poor service on here. I had comeback and had everything done without me spending any more, at the end of the day my car was sorted with the only thing detrimental to me being without the car for 2 weeks.
You PMd me about your car, and I seem to remember you worrying more than just discs and quite a few other components that needed sorting. But I wont go into details on here.
Mine wasnt 2k more AUC, they dealt well in the end and got a car that I didn't need to do anything to in theory until its next service in 2 years time, if not the warranty is there to fall back on. Also you get the full BMW inspection which gives you comeback if its not right as an AUC car, and obs the warranty which was worth its weight in gold for me, as im not savvy mechanically.
People who say that warranties aren't worth having obv haven't had any problems with their cars, fair, until you do then you might think twice which is why I got 2 years, covers me for the minimum amount of time I will keep the car. The reason mine needed work doing was because it had a fault which could happen to any car, mine was a fairly rare one that ended up having to have the ECU replaced and quite a few other electronic components that were difficult to diagnose. But it was £1400!! that mostly the labour costs, now if that had happended to you after you had just bought your car privately you would be pretty pissed? and it would probably take the shine off, and if you add that £1400 to say the 14k car for sale your looking at £15.5 not looking so cheap now. But that is my experience, so I will stick to it.
Also with Stus Alpina, his had a lot of warranty work done to it similar to mine, and the warranty paid for itself with one visit. These faults are not things you can plan for, but I no that me and Stu are quite Anal and the car has to be like it was when it was new or it wont do. Hence why he has just bought that lovely queen. These cars arent getting any younger and the oldest being 7 years, its getting on in car years, much more likely for things to go wrong you wouldn't expect, bushes, sus, seals, most likely culprit being electronic etc etc
The thing is if you buy from a dealer you at least have some come back, if you buy privately you cant go back to the owner and be like well its broken. Similar to my Ebay thread, buying something in good nick and breaking it. It could have been bad luck it could have been malicious. Either way you will end up with the bill for sorting it.
Again you can have great experience, but im always wary because they will always tell you its the best car since sliced bread, until 6 months later.
But again this is my experience. Just have to be careful buying privately thats the point I was making.
I actually had a torrid time with BMW, it was poor and well documented on my thread. But that was my dealer and there are many examples of poor service on here. I had comeback and had everything done without me spending any more, at the end of the day my car was sorted with the only thing detrimental to me being without the car for 2 weeks.
Usa
To Echo what Tom said about warranties.
My 3.0 had full BMWSH but 10 months into ownership I had the dual mass flywheel go.......a £3000 + job.
Luckily I had continued the previous owners warranty at £30 ish a month and was fully covered.
I don't remember anyone having a more expensive repair job than mine on here, but just a reminder that even the best serviced and cared for cars can and do go wrong.
If I was buying an "M" and the warranty was £80 a month I'd probably gamble and bank the money each month into a car fund.
Considering doing that on my car now as it's only valued at £5-6k. If my warranty was anymore than the £30 ish a month I pay now it would be a no-brainer.
My 3.0 had full BMWSH but 10 months into ownership I had the dual mass flywheel go.......a £3000 + job.
Luckily I had continued the previous owners warranty at £30 ish a month and was fully covered.
I don't remember anyone having a more expensive repair job than mine on here, but just a reminder that even the best serviced and cared for cars can and do go wrong.
If I was buying an "M" and the warranty was £80 a month I'd probably gamble and bank the money each month into a car fund.
Considering doing that on my car now as it's only valued at £5-6k. If my warranty was anymore than the £30 ish a month I pay now it would be a no-brainer.