Z4M or 3.0 si?

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scottish69

Member
Hi all!

This is my first post so be gentle!

Im due for a change in car now that my golf gti has rattled its way into my bad books..... thought about the new TT but judging by my GTI it would be just as boring to drive.

So the question is do i go for the M or 3.0si? Ill be getting the coupe i reckon too.... not the roadster. How do the service costs for these two cars compare. Ive heard horror stories about £1500 inspection 2 costs for the M version. Can anyone here give me their service costs so i can make an informed decision? I doubt the dealers would be honest with me! Also i know theres a "Book price" for the service, but the actual prices paid seem to be more i.e. if discs/tyres are needed. From what ive seen the M is just crazy to service, and the £400 tax bill doesnt help! Is the extra power noticable - and the better exhaust noise?

Ill be test driving in april - but dont really want to approach the dealers until im at least semi-sure about what i want to do. They dont half bite your hand off!

Cheers!
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scottish69, welcome to the forum... :thumbsup:
I'm sure you will get some excellent feedback about service cost from others on your side of the pond... :)
 
I just want to make sure im not going to be lumbered with 1500 service costs! That on top of the 400 a year tax, double insurance, and tracker requirement for my insurance will put the price up far more than the 3.0si.... thats why i need some figures to be better prepared really.

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scottish69 said:
I just want to make sure im not going to be lumbered with 1500 service costs! That on top of the 400 a year tax, double insurance, and tracker requirement for my insurance will put the price up far more than the 3.0si.... thats why i need some figures to be better prepared really.

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Facts aside - If you're already worried about taxes, insurance and service costs, you're not the ///M type personality.

///M = $$$$$

There's no way anyone can justify an ///M over other models if cost of ownership is in anyway considered.

Enfield knows all - Go For It!
 
The answer is not one that you'll really get from board members. It's a personal decision.

As said ///M service, running cost, insurance and other is going to be way way higher and if you have to worry about it then you should not go ///M. On top of that probably a 50% price premium

If 1-60 in sub 6 seconds and 155mph is not enough then I guess you need the ///M

The ///M is a great car but not a rational decision (as if a 3.0i is either..lol)

Service costs on my 3.0i come to less than nothing. The local specialist does it and it's no more than a Ford Mondeo :)
 
Fromt he price of the vehicles - the coupe z4m' s are available 18 month old at prices which are so similar to the 3.0si's. They seem like such a bargain. WOuld surely hold their value from now on far better than the 3.0si coupe at similar price (and age)?

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^^^ you never know about prices. Different people will say the exact opposite and both views will make sense.

As Caddyshk has pointed out - the M is not for one who is worried about costs. This car is a wonderful investment in fun and probably a financial Titantic disaster.

You should probably follow cj10jeeper's advice on this one.
 
first of all, i dont think your conclusion on the tt based on comparison to gti even makes sense. if you're looking at audi, quattro is a must so you can't compare it against a fwd gti. and if you're not crazy about the 3.2 and prefer the 2.0t, then the 2.0t wasn't meant to be stock anyway. most enthusiasts at very least will get a stg1 chip which should easily add 50hp at the crank. car is rated at 200hp but actually dynos at 200hp :?

with that said, if you're set on the z, both the si and m are great cars. it was a hard choice for me as m-version would've cost me only 8k usd more than my fully loaded si. i'll be the first to admit there are times i wish i got the m. looks, performance and rarity are the biggest factors, but my si coupe is pretty rare here (most are 'verts) and the 6spd on the si is pretty darn fast. but end of day, i was more concerned with getting the better deal over the better car, and i got my si at a steal of a price.

if you're into performance, go for the m, there's no comparison. if you want overall best combo of performance/price, i think the si is the best value of the lineup.
 
I did an impromptu spring roadtrip to the desert this weekend in my 3.0si. Blasted along at triple digits on the freeway and still comfortably got 450 miles a tankful. Try that in an M.
 
Another thought is how much you want to tinker with the car. Do you want to have fun and do a ton of mods to really customize the vehicle? Or are you going to be completely happy with stock? Considering the M price, and how pricey parts are, and the fact that you'd be throwing away many fantasitic M parts to get your personal choice on some, the 3.0 might make more sense if you plan on customizing.
 
vachss said:
I did an impromptu spring roadtrip to the desert this weekend in my 3.0si. Blasted along at triple digits on the freeway and still comfortably got 450 miles a tankful. Try that in an M.
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Supports previous points - If I was at all interested in fuel economy I would've purchased a Smart Car. Horsepower * speed = Money
 
vachss said:
I did an impromptu spring roadtrip to the desert this weekend in my 3.0si. Blasted along at triple digits on the freeway and still comfortably got 450 miles a tankful. Try that in an M.
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What size fuel tank have you got in yours...?

450 miles, assuming the tank is bone dry at fill up, equates to 37mpg in good old imperial english measurements (55 litre tank approx. 12.1 imperial gallons).....
 
Pauly_G said:
vachss said:
I did an impromptu spring roadtrip to the desert this weekend in my 3.0si. Blasted along at triple digits on the freeway and still comfortably got 450 miles a tankful. Try that in an M.
Click to expand...

What size fuel tank have you got in yours...?

450 miles, assuming the tank is bone dry at fill up, equates to 37mpg in good old imperial english measurements (55 litre tank approx. 12.1 imperial gallons).....
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~ 7.0l per 100km! I've gotten down as low as 8.2l or 29.9 mpg in the M - However that was in ideal conditions with cruise control @ 100km per hour. On the track my consumption is 28l per 100km or 8.7 mpg :rofl:
 
Pauly_G said:
What size fuel tank have you got in yours...?

450 miles, assuming the tank is bone dry at fill up, equates to 37mpg in good old imperial english measurements (55 litre tank approx. 12.1 imperial gallons).....
Click to expand...

Tank is nominally 14.5 gallons in our pesky USA gallons units. I was getting 31-32 mpg, but got pretty close to empty (OK, so I guess the "comfortably" in my original post was a bit of an exaggeration). Also being completely fair, I did most of this drive at 80-90mph, with only occasionally blips up into the triple digits. In local driving I've been getting around 400 per tank if doing nothing exciting, or as little as 350-370 if I include a few canyon runs.

Also, I must admit there are plenty of times when I've wished I had an M (most non-M drivers probably would say the same). It's just that stretching my tank through the empty desert wasn't one of those times.
 
Caddyshk said:
~ 7.0l per 100km! I've gotten down as low as 8.2l or 29.9 mpg in the M - However that was in ideal conditions with cruise control @ 100km per hour. On the track my consumption is 28l per 100km or 8.7 mpg :rofl:
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I was quite surprised to find that I got almost 15mpg out on the track last Saturday in my 3.0si Coupe. All of my old Audi S4s were down around 7mpg and even my old Honda S2k was down to 8mpg for lapping sessions. I had friends in Audis who had to go get another tank by lunchtime and were almost empty at the end of the day. Their jaws hit the pavement when they heard that I had only used 1/2 tank all day. :thumbsup:
 
scottish69 said:
I just want to make sure im not going to be lumbered with 1500 service costs! That on top of the 400 a year tax, double insurance, and tracker requirement for my insurance will put the price up far more than the 3.0si.... thats why i need some figures to be better prepared really.

S>
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I went through the same dilemma as you a year ago, the biggest thing putting me off was a regular crawl into the centre of Leeds, where an ///M is just wasted. Depending on where you live, if it's quiet enough and you would actually get some enjoyment out of the extra power, then it might be the way forward.

Don't forget that the warranty renewal on an ///M is much higher too, crazy really, so if you'd keep it for any sort of period after it's 3 years old then you need to factor that in.
 
I tried both too. IMO....

The 3.0 is smoother, sounds lovely, is nearly as quick and is less draining to drive day to day. The Z4M is better looking (quad exhausts, front bumper, leather dash) and miles more aggressive / urgent to drive - the 1 second to 60 does not show how big a difference it really is, its night and day. The steering is hydraulic not elecric, its on proper tyres not runflats, its got CSL bits and bobs...its an M car and a big difference.

Day to day the M is a little more tiring to drive, more likely to get you a ticket and more expensive to run (though not hugely). However, if you do what I did and buy one with very low miles, the servicing issue won't affect you. Mine had 1160 on it when I bought it meaning around 25-30k miles until Insp1 and more like 50k until an Insp2. Price wise they are now about £5k more than a 3.0 of the same age, and fuel consumption is maybe a few MPG worse. So for me, the running costs are broadly similar. I've done 10k in mine so far and use it every day...love it, but sometimes long for a cruiser on motorway runs.

I have come from an M3 and before that I had a 330 Sport. For me, the difference between the Z4M and the 3.0 is the same; the 3.0 litre car is excellent in every way and is 75% as good. But then you drive the M version, and that extra 25% makes a huge, huge difference - and a very big grin. I would have been happy with a 3.0....but wanted the M!

PS don't bother with the TT. I tried a 3.2 and it sounds nice but is not even close in performance terms. I have also just bought a TT 2.0T for the company and its a nice car but I would never swap; boring engine (though quick), horrid light steering, and 'too refined' if you can say that; its more like a squashed hot hatch. The Z4M feels like a proper sports car. The forthcoming RST may raise the game...
 
What do you use the car for? In everyday driving the advantages of the M over the 3.0Si are not in proportion to the massive increase in running costs. If you are going ot be able to use the extra performance of the M on a regular basis and can justify the increased costs based on that then it is worthy of consideration. However, if you are going to be using the car for commuting with the occasional blast at the weekends then the 3.0Si is a very serious contender. Some of the reviews I have read have been of the opinion that the increased costs are not worth it for the everyday driver but may be so for the weekend driver.

I use my car for the commute to work (40 miles round trip) in traffic as wel las everything else. Given that at my age the increased insurance alone wasn't worth it, when I factored in the increased fuel costs (£1.12 or ~$2.25 a litre for SUL in the UK now!!), increased servicing and consumable costs and the potential cost if something goes wrong - it just wasn't worth it in my eyes.

Now, if I had a boring car for the commute to work and running around and wanted a car for blasting around the back roads at weekends, the M would have certainly been a consideration.
 
This seems like such an easy choice. Buy what you can comfortably afford :idunno: . Doesn't matter which gets a gallon or two better gas mileage or costs a few extra hundred a year to service. If you can't afford it, it doesn't matter. Hell, if I got rid of all my other toys I could afford an M comfortably. But I get bored doing only one adrenaline-dumping activity. So I compromise. But if driving was all that mattered to me, of course I'd buy the M!
 
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