After being without a convertible sports car for nearly five years I wanted something, but knowing it would sit on the drive most of the time and only do a few thousand miles a year the missus would only let me spend about £5,000. It did limit my options a lot. Ideally i wanted to go back to a 987 but a decent one of them would have cost twice that and getting back into an 987 RS60 like I had from new till 2011 would be £20k or so.
I did try a few things like the mx5 (too cramped not enough go), the S2000 (too cramped breathless unless nailing it). I also ruled out the TT 225 as I had one as a company car from 2003-2006 and its not a sport cars just a golf in drag, great for motorways not back roads! Tried an SLK 350 which was more than my budget, but I would of stretched to it but found it not very sporty at all and rare as hens teeth with a big engine and a manual. At one dealer i did manage to try a E85 against the 987 in the showroom and was pleasantly surprised to find the zed more spacious inside and actually felt a more modern design. At the same dealer I was able to try a second E85 with m sports seats and definitely decided I needed these.
That left me with a bit of a dilemma as I only wanted to spend £5k ish but a decent 3.0si (sport seats) was a good couple of grand of so more. Plus I liked the idea of the bullet proof M54 engine in the pre face lifts as I was familiar with this engine as my wife used to have a 330ci M sport Cab with this engine in. The potential issues with the N52 worried me, especially after having an X5 4.8is with the N62 engine in that was very problematic in the engine department. I know its a different engine but there's a lot of similarities with N52. In the end I decided to save a couple of grand and opted for an 05 3.0i SE bought privately for a good price and after a week bought a set of heated/electric black leather sports seats, with these and non runflat tyres, retrofit cruise and a few other bits including wrapping the interior silver bits in 3M Carbon fibre it owes me about £5,000.
I've had it since July and have now done about 1,000 miles in it and can honestly say I do wish it had a bit more go but that aside I'm probably getting 85% of the enjoyment out of it I got from my old RS60. I put a quaiffe in that and it made a huge difference and hope to do the same with my zed in the summer (quaiffe or m factory) and hopefully that will make a similarly big difference. OK its never going to handle quite as good as the Porsche or be quite as fast but for the money I really cant complain!
I did try a few things like the mx5 (too cramped not enough go), the S2000 (too cramped breathless unless nailing it). I also ruled out the TT 225 as I had one as a company car from 2003-2006 and its not a sport cars just a golf in drag, great for motorways not back roads! Tried an SLK 350 which was more than my budget, but I would of stretched to it but found it not very sporty at all and rare as hens teeth with a big engine and a manual. At one dealer i did manage to try a E85 against the 987 in the showroom and was pleasantly surprised to find the zed more spacious inside and actually felt a more modern design. At the same dealer I was able to try a second E85 with m sports seats and definitely decided I needed these.
That left me with a bit of a dilemma as I only wanted to spend £5k ish but a decent 3.0si (sport seats) was a good couple of grand of so more. Plus I liked the idea of the bullet proof M54 engine in the pre face lifts as I was familiar with this engine as my wife used to have a 330ci M sport Cab with this engine in. The potential issues with the N52 worried me, especially after having an X5 4.8is with the N62 engine in that was very problematic in the engine department. I know its a different engine but there's a lot of similarities with N52. In the end I decided to save a couple of grand and opted for an 05 3.0i SE bought privately for a good price and after a week bought a set of heated/electric black leather sports seats, with these and non runflat tyres, retrofit cruise and a few other bits including wrapping the interior silver bits in 3M Carbon fibre it owes me about £5,000.
I've had it since July and have now done about 1,000 miles in it and can honestly say I do wish it had a bit more go but that aside I'm probably getting 85% of the enjoyment out of it I got from my old RS60. I put a quaiffe in that and it made a huge difference and hope to do the same with my zed in the summer (quaiffe or m factory) and hopefully that will make a similarly big difference. OK its never going to handle quite as good as the Porsche or be quite as fast but for the money I really cant complain!
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