Hi, Ian 850
I just bought a one-owner FBMWSH car with 46k miles for £14k6. It is splendid! Really splendid, and I have a lot of experience of other performance cars over the last
twenty-five years or so.
Don't worry about the run-flat tyre issue when buying the car. Yes, they are crappy, but you re not tied to them. You can fit conventional tyres to the same rims, with full BMW approval. Getting the right car otherwise is much more important. It costs a few hundred quid to get rid of the runflats, which is nothing compared to the value of a full service history or even going for a colour of paint that you do not like.
I tried both 2,5 and 3,0 litre cars. For me, there was no contest: the 3,0 was far better; the top-end is not much different, but the low-down torque of the 3.0 leaves the 2.5 standing when it really matters overtaking the Nissan Micras, et. al. on A-roads. There is little difference in cost, and if the CO2 figures are to be believed, little difference in fuel consumption (both my 3,0 Z4 and my partner's 2,5 E46 Compact use about 13,5l/100km despite the Z4 getting far more welly). So, for me, going for the 3.0 over the 2.5 is a no-brainer.
Modern automatic gearboxes are so much better at changing gears than I am, I never considered buying a manual (although I did drive one, just to make sure, to myself, I was right). The 5-speed auto with Steptronic is such a delight to drive. I also believe that for most people it makes the car faster. If you want to get past the 40mph Micra, you use the Steptronic to hold second, and then mash the throttle when the road is clear. You get instant second-gear grunt AND a full-throttle upchange when you get to the redline, while you, as the driver, are concentrating on the road ahead, rather than on the mechanicals of the car. Ever since I drove a 1991 Porsche 911 (964 Model) Tiptronic, I was totally hooked, and always found manual gearboxes and clutch pedals in particular just stupid anachronisms. (Just as I do not want manual mixture controls for cold starting nor manual ignition timing advance/retard for engine loading and speed.)
Coming to the crunch: buy the car that appeals to YOU! Buy the one that drives the way you like it to, looks the way you like a car to look, and has the things you like in a car. There is no logical argument that will lead to any Z4. They are profligate, expensive and unpractical, as compared with any Proton. The only reason to buy one is because you WANT one. And that is absolutely fine. So, what REALLY to look for in a Z4 is whatever floats your boat! What to look for in a Z4 is just that thing that makes you yearn for it; what makes you want to get into it and drive it; what, when you see your own self in your own car in a mirror-fronted building, will make you think that you like what you see.
Buying a silly car like a Z4 is about the heart, not the head! Drive as many as you can (maybe wasting lots of car dealers' time) and just form your own opinion.
So, what to look for in a Z4 to buy? Easy - what would you like in the Z4 you will drive? Well, buy what you would like to drive and just sod anyone's opinion, and NEVER read a review of the car you bought.
A
