Z4 running costs: Are they High?

S

speed12

Member
Evening All, I am new to this site and dont currently own a Z4.

However I have been seriously looking at them for the past month, and am hoping to get one once my current insurance policy runs out in may. (They wont insure me due to lack of experience in a performance car).

The situation is this, I am a 25 year old male, and do not currently have to pay rent, mortgage or bills etc. My car is my biggest financial burden. I currently drive a VW bora TDI highline. I have had it remapped and lowered slightly (all very subtle), the car is nice and I do like it (Its surprisingly fast with the remap). However I just feel like I want something a bit more fun and something with a nice engine note.

Thus I am considering the 2.5 Si Z4. With my budget I could only afford an 05 (maybe 06) plate, so would need to consider buying a warranty.

My main question is regarding the running costs of a Z4, I know with this type of car it should not be asked, but I commute 50 miles each day to work (25 there 25 back) so I soon rack up the miles. In my current car I average 45mpg (Diesel), driving consists of the following: 15 miles B roads, 30 miles dual carriageway and roughly 5 mile city driving (Usually stop start for 10-15 mins).
I think if I can manage low 30's the Z4 would not actually be that bad to run, especially since petrol is 10p cheaper than diesel. Also I have to service my current car twice a year, whereas the Z4 could get away with once a year.

So I guess I am just after peoples thoughts really! I am being stupid even thinking about it?

Apologies for the essay!
 
Well Im kind of in the same situation as yourself. Only I bought my Z4 in November.

Im 21 and like yourself, my car is my main financial burden. If you are worried about saving pennies with fuel, buying a warranty or general running cost then I'd eliminate all of these worries by getting an older Z4.

I did this and went with a 53 plate 3.0i. Its fantastic and it saved me enough money to not have to worry about needing a warranty incase something major goes wrong, or worry about getting high MPG all the time.

I see no reason why you can't get mid 30's on that run. I do a similar run to manchester to go shopping - 20 miles NSL single carriagway, 20 miles dual carriageway, 1-2 miles city driving - and I can get high 30's if I take it easy , Low 30's if I don't :)

Just cancel your insurance and go out and buy a z4 :thumbsup:
 
Hi Tommo,

thanks for the reply.

I see you are based in Stoke, Im only just down the road at Stone.
The insurance costs must be pretty high for yourself, any recommendations on what company to go for? Had a quick look on confused and I think Admiral were the cheapest.

Im hoping to pick up one with 6months -1 year warranty if possible, though its not the end of the world if there is no warranty. Most garages usually offer 3 months anyway I think?

You woudl recommend the 3.0 over the 2.5 then? I guess its the choice between saving a few £'s on fuel or saving a second on 0-60...
 
Yeah Im in stoke unfortunately :lol:

I paid £1150 for 10 months with elephant. But Im only 21 and have 0ncb (been on company fleet insurance since I started driving which I couldn't carry over) so I don't think its that bad.

For me nobody could touch Admiral, Elephant or Bell but at 25 insurance shouldn't be much of a worry for you. This forum gets a special discount on insurance and I think quite a few people use them - Chris Knott.

Ive not driven the 2.5 or the 2.5si that you want so I can't really compare. All I can say is that all the parts are identical (not sure about the 2.5si), the servicing is the same price and the difference in MPG in seriously minimal and you won't notice much difference in your wallet. I just thought I'd go for the 3.0i so I didn't regret it later on down the line.

My average MPG since I bought my car is 27.6. Im very impressed with that to be honest as most of my driving is around town.

A warranty can be had from Warranty Direct for around £500 for the year if thats a worry for you. One from BMW will come with 12 months obviously (but you do pay for it :P) and most garages offer 3 months although some of them are fairly worthless so check them out.


Ive replaced 4 pads and 2 discs since I had the car at a cost of around £200 ish (can't actually remember).

Obviously more people will be around soon to comment and they will have been running theirs for much longer :)
 
Thanks Tommo,

you have been most usefull.

Actualy my insuruance is coming out higher than you would think!
The best quote so far (with admiral) is approx £900 for the year, that with 1 year ncb ( i was on parents policy until last year)

I am currently with chris knott, they are very good but they wont insure me on the Z4 due to lack of experience you see. I think I will wait and see what other people say about running costs. BUt hey, if i cant get one now with no mortgage to worry about, then when will I?

thanks
 
Running costs shouldn't be that huge TBH? At 50 miles a day that's only around 12k a year, I'd budget a service and a set of rear tyres each year....costs like brakes etc depend on the age and mileage of the car. For example if you buy a 40k mile car thats just had its brakes done and a major service, you won't have any bills for a long time.

I would highly recommend the 3.0 over the 2.5, running costs will be within spitting distance of each other but the 3.0 has the extra oomph that make's it worth the the bit extra. (I had the same debate in a toss up between a 330 Sport Coupe and 325 Sport Coupe years ago, and the 330 won).

Your insurance quote seems a bit steep to me at 25, thought the 1 year NCB is probably what's causing it.

Servicing goes

Oil Service -Insp 1 - Oil Service - Insp 2

and repeat, each being 10-15k miles apart depending on how it's driven. but I will leave it to a 2.5 / 3.0 owner to furnish you with costs. So as above you want to pic one up thats had an Insp1 or Insp2 recently to have the longest period between bills!
 
As above, go for the 3.0 instead.

More toys, very similar total running costs. There is nothing on the 3.0 that should be more of a burden except potentially lower fuel usage if you use the power alot.

I'd not worry excessively about general wear and tear items, and big problems shouldn't be TOO bad because the engine/main parts are all fairly common with the E46 3 series... ie, they are common and so cheaper for parts/fixes etc.


Good luck!
 
What age of Z4 are you looking at? 2.5Si is the newer engine in facelift (2006-on) cars but if you're going for an odler one, the 3.0i is only marginally more expensive to run than the 2.5i apparently.

I too came from a quickish diesel (an Ibiza Cupra TDI 160) and TBH the running costs aren't too bad for me on a 3.0i Z4. I used to average around 44mpg in the Cupra, I'm averaging 31mpg in the Z4 at the moment for mixed driving. Tax is a bugger compared to the Cupra, insurance slightly more, fuel obviously more, tyres, etc more. It all adds up but it's not a crazy amount IMO.

Not sure if this'll help, but I was quite rational/anal in comparing running costs before buying a Z4 and worked this out for me (based on a 30y.o. with 6yrs NCB, 10k miles p.a.):

Cost for fuel, tax & insurance for 12months:
Ibiza Cupra TDI: £1,627
Z4 3.0i: £2,290
350z: £2,733
Clio V6 255: £3,140
MR2 Roadster: £1,816
VX220 2.2: £2,040
Civic Type R EP3: £2,430

Interesting that I'm getting better MPG in my Z4 compared to my old CTR (31mpg v 28mpg) and that insurance is less too. And I know which car I prefer by a long way :)
 
After (also!) having had a Seat Ibiza TDi (Modified to/beyond Cupra Levels), VX220 2.2 (Lots of mods) and a 3.0i Z4 ive honestly barely noticed a change in running costs, however i did modify the previous 2 quite a lot.

I literally took this pic last night after a run From Sheffield -> Sunderland and back @ 70mph and a few trips to the Peak District and Wilmslow. I WASNT driving like a granny all the time, giving it a few full RPM blats. 310 of these miles were roof off! :driving: These cars can be very efficient indeed...
GPS_007.jpg

:)

PS: Get the 3.0i as you may miss the TDi's torque! The 3l is a VERY tractable engine and feels like a constatnt wave of torque from 1500-6500 as opposed to a surging VAG 8v TDi.

Edit: Oops forgot that tyre warning was on! One of the rears got to 26psi thanks to my stupid corroded 108's letting them leak!! :x
 
I can't believe your having trouble trying to insure it at 25! I've had my 2008 3.0si since October '08 where i was 20 years old at the time and managed to insure it for 1326, i'd held my licence less than 2 years at the time so only had 1year ncb. So not bad at all really. You just need to really look around.

As alot of people have said, go for the 3.0 instead of the 2.5. I'm actually surprised at the fuel economy of the Z4, i previously had a 1.6 Ford SportKa where i was using 40 pounds a week of standard petrol, and now i'm using about 45 of v-power in a week :? I don't work very far from home, i think it's about 1.1 miles haha, so work journeys don't add up to much during the week. Both filled up once a week unless i'm going somewhere quite alot of miles away. I suppose it's something to do with the fact that i had my foot flat to the floor constantly in the SportKa as it wasn't very fast, whereas i don't need to in the Z. I'm currently averaging 23.3mpg :lol: but i was probably doing less than that in the SportKa somehow :lol: And i guess that's partly because i don't have many motorway journeys so i'm in lower gears around built up area's quite alot.

As for road tax, i'm surprised at that aswell, the SportKa was in tax band E at a cost of 170 for the year, and my Z4 is only one band higher at F, think it's about 220 for the year.

So all in all i'm very happy with the running costs, and they're not bad like some people may think. You may be pleasantly surprised too :thumbsup:
 
Insurance was the biggest factor for me when deciding which Z4 to get. The coupes were alot cheaper to insure then the roadsters but then a 3.0si sport coupe was near 20k to buy and over budget. Also the pre-facelifts were slightly more to insure so I went for a 2007 2.0l with the plan to upgrade to a 3.0si coupe in a couple years once i get some NCD. I wonder how much the new Z4's will be in 2 years.

Anyway i'm 25 with zero NCD, postccode isnt the best, 2 accidents in the last year,3 points (sp30), my dad and girlfriend on the insurance, girlfriend is 23 with 1 accident in the past year. I pay £1083.

A 3.0l sport coupe was around £1300 where as a 3.0l sport roadster was over £1600.

I do alot of very short journeys and get 22mpg as i'm stuck in traffic all the time which is good really considering i only get 17 mpg from my 1.6 mk1 mr2 on the same journeys. When i got the car the mpg was at 39mpg and was mainly driven on country roads by the previous owner.
 
Hi Everyone,

Just want to say thanks for your replies so far, most usefull.

Looks like the 3.0L it is then (I was secretly hoping everyone would say that anyway).

I too cannot beleive insurance is an issue. I am paying £720 a year at the moment for the VW TDI, which is silly, but I guess thats what I get for modding it.

My current plan is to wait until april/may when my renewal is due, start getting quotes for the Z4 then, and then purchase one. Although I am 25 I only have one years no claims bonus. This is my fault for being on my parent insurance through Uni. In 7 years of driving I have only had one claim, which was last year and was not really my fault as it was flood damage whilst up in the Lakes! Despite that, the claim was on my parents policy and my current insurers say that I should not class it as a claim in my name....

So I will keep shopping around.

Thanks again eveyone.
 
EdButler said:
Make sure you add your Mum/Dad as named drivers on your policy - brings mine down by £300 :D
Click to expand...


Adding my Dad as a second driver brought mine down by twice as much as that :lol:
 
Hi tommo.

I've had my Z a few fews now. So far the only real cost has been on fuel which is marginally more than my other toy (Clio v6) When i say maginally, there about the same 15-17mpg around town as opposed to 17-20 in the vee. Roughtly 70miles to 20£...But that doesn't really bother me.

Insurance is 682 for the Z4 and 675 for the V6 with clean licence and 3yrs NCB. I'm 23.

I've not looked at tyres, servicing (9k miles from now)...Tax is 400£ a year.

I suppose its important to weigh it all up! They are lovely cars. But a car should never burden your personal life.

I made sure i got the Flat bought before the car!

Cheers - Ali
 
Im impressed how low the running costs are on these cars, considering on how quick and powerful they are.
Its the mpg i find impressive most of all, the book figure on a 3.0si combined is almost 33mpg! though i get about 30 which i think is excellent, and im no Sunday driver! Some of you guys getting low 20s must have very heavy right foots! :lol:
Ed, thanks for the pointer regards adding a parent to reduce the insurance premium. Will look into that :thumbsup:
 
Been driving really carefully this week and MPG gone up from 19 to 22/23 (3.0si). Even turned off the A/C.

Lot's of short journeys, though.
 
i've only done the typical inspection 1 with new control arms and bushings (22k miles) in december of 2007 with new tires. then an oil change around june 2008, then new tires and inspection 2 performed in september 2008. then i had the maf and the DISA replaced at 57k miles a few weeks ago.

each repair was typically around 900 to 1000 dollars (excluding the oil changes of course).

the only thing that gets me... insurance payments. i was paying 183 per month for full coverage and the works.


and i get 25 mpg and i DO NOT drive slow.
oh.. and i drive about a total of 60 miles every day. i get anywhere from 230 to 270 miles for every tank of gas, too.
 
Put simply - it won't cost you any more than any other 3 lite BMW with whatever size wheels you have. I haven't seen or heard of anything huge that may break and cost a lot of money in particular.

Main routine costs will be the normal fuel, tax and tyres. Tyres can be expensive if you stick to the standard run flats - but that would be the same with a 3 series. Insurance - again, nothing different from any other car with this sort of power / insurance group.

You are definitely not talking Porsche / Maserati costs here. Yes, more than a fiesta... but normal generally.
 
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