2006 BMW Z4

Welcome to the sale of my 2006 BMW 3.0Si coupe (E86) which is presented in beautiful Individual Ruby Black metallic paint with contrasting Dream Red leather interior, this car has covered 106500 miles from new and as all E86’s is fitted with the N52 3.0 straight six petrol engine and 6 speed manual gearbox.

This particular car is special in a number of ways, firstly the colour combination – when these were available new the datasheets (Z4 owners forum) suggest only 15 cars were delivered to the UK in this colourway. The exterior colour is simply stunning, on a dull day looking like a black car but on a bright sunny day it pops purple, red & aubergine hues. The interior is not the usual Imola red that this era of BMW is often found with but instead a brighter Dream red which complements the exterior perfectly whilst lifting the cabin and contrasting against the sought after piano black dash trims.

Secondly and what attracted me to the car in the first place was that when I bought it, the car had 1 owner! I bought it from an 83yr old lady who bought it brand new from Cooper BMW, Wimbledon in 2006. It spent its life in London, rarely leaving the city and rarely doing much more than 60mph and was only sold as she finally conceded that she could no longer easily get in and out. A 19 year old E86 with only 2 owners from new is such a rare find, I was unable to find another for sale when writing this advert.

I have always admired these cars, the lines and design for me were peak BMW and everytime you look at the car you notice another detail, another crease or a beautiful line. It offers a very analogue driving experience with a lumpy 3.0 straight six up front, a bolt action 6 speed gearbox in the middle all mated to the rear wheels which you are essentially sat on top of. In an age where decreasing capacity, increasing drivers aids and chasing reduced Co2 emissions are king, this transports you back to a much simpler and enjoyable time to own and drive a car. YouTube is bulging with people raving about just how good these cars are and despite standing in the shadow of its M big brother, the car offers 90% of the driving experience but without the associated M costs and repairs.

The car was well-specced from new with nearly every box ticked with the exception of cruise control, however having researched the forums this is a relatively straightforward aftermarket fitment, this car is fitted with the following options –

0249 Multifunction steering wheel

0313 Fold-in outside mirrors

0320 Deleted model lettering

0345 Chrome line interior

0420 Sun protection glazing

0430 Interior/outside mirror with auto dip

0459 Seat adjustment electric with memory

0470 Isofix system

0493 Storage compartment package

0494 Seat heating driver/passenger

04AA Headlining anthracite

04ML Interior strips piano lacquer black

0502 Headlight cleaning system

0508 Park distance control

0521 Rain sensor

0522 Xenon lights

0534 Automatic air conditioning

0609 Navigation system Professional

0620 Voice control

0633 Preparation mobile phone Business

0676 HiFi speaker system

0692 Preparation BMW 6 CD changer I-bus

0704 M Sports suspension

0710 M Leather steering wheel

0711 M sports seats

So as you can see it is literally fully loaded, there are some really sought after options in that list as well and things that if you look for Z4 buying advice, owners suggest you should look for. Having been owned by an 83yr old lady the car has had an easy life, the passenger seat looks like it has barely been sat in, the carpets still immaculate and the trim like new. The drivers seat is a little worn on the outer bolster from getting in and out (this is a LOW car) which is to be expected but I suspect a furniture clinic treatment would have it back to 100% with very little effort. The cabin is cosy and cosseting, the buttons all work and have not worn away or melted, the sat nav still pops up and down when you start/stop the car, there are no pixels missing from the displays. You look out over a never-ending bonnet and when you glance in the tiny wing mirrors you see the great muscular haunches of the rear arches – it truly feels a special place to be. The Z4 was one of a kind, a lot of tech was borrowed from the E46 generation M3 but every piece of the interior is unique to the Z and so even at a standstill you feel you are in something bespoke.

Outside the car has a muscule car look to it, a mini GT car with a long bonnet and short rear overhang, squat and purposeful it hasn’t aged a bit. The paint is in great condition given the age, I also recently had it ceramic protected to keep the winter salt & road grime at bay. There are a couple of stone chips on the front wings and my intention in the fullness of time was to have the front bumper repainted into the bonnet and wings but as you can see from the photos it cleans up exceptionally well and I am reliably informed by the original owner that it’s all original paint.

Mechanically the car has been maintained as you would expect, through the BMW network after purchase to preserve warranty and then at a number of different garages in central London, the history is made up of a mix of stamps in the books and more recent history is all invoiced.

Cooper BMW Wimbledon Jan ’08 Oil Service 14185 miles

Cooper BMW Thames Ditton Mar ’10 Insp 1 33382 miles

Cooper BMW Thames Ditton Jan ’12 Oil Service 51675 miles

James Paul BMW Specialist Nov ’13 Insp 2 70528 miles

James Paul BMW Specialist Mar ’16 Oil Service 85876 miles

James Paul BMW Specialist Mar ’17 Insp 1 91951 miles

German Tech 98022 Insp 2 Apr ’19 98023 miles

Waterfall Garage Wimbledon May ’20 Insp 2 99290 miles

Kwik Fit Wimbledon May ’21 Oil Insp and AC recharge 100083 miles

Waterfall Garage Wimbledon May ’22 Oil Insp and brake fluid 101484 miles

Waterfall Garage Wimbledon May ’23 Insp 2 102453 miles

Kwik Fit Kingston Upon Thames Feb ’24 Oil Insp and battery 104446 miles

As you can see it was done as per the schedule at the outset every 2 years then became every year more or less, only completing around 6000 miles in the last 5 years. I have a feeling that owing to the ever-decreasing mileage the insp schedule wasn’t strictly adhered to in more recent years. There aren’t many big ticket items or weak points with this car, the engine used across nearly the whole range of BMW models is massively understressed in this application. However the often talked about electric water pump has been done and I have a bill for that, the windscreen surround which sometimes fail has been tended too as well. The starter motor was replaced in May ’23 with an invoice for that, the car also had a new battery in February 2024, brake fluid was changed in May ’22, spark plugs were done in Apr ’19 at 98023 miles so have plenty of life left in them yet.

The only other weak points on the engine are the oil filter and oil cooler gaskets, along with the valve cover gasket. I have replaced the oil filter housing and oil cooler gasket with genuine items from BMW, the coolant system was drained and freshly refilled with the correct coolant for the aluminium block and bled through. I have also purchased from BMW a new valve cover gasket, eccentric shaft gasket and brand new headbolts (they aren’t re-useable) however I haven’t got round to replacing these as yet. Being more complex than the other two I did consider waiting until it went in for its next service and having it done at the sametime but if you are handy with the spanners and have the space it seems a relatively straightforward swap. I have also MOT’d the car on the 28th February which it sailed through without an advisory, the tester said he had to check the plate on the car when he was testing it as its condition belies its age!

The car was originally fitted from new with the style 108 Star alloys which were a 2 piece rim manufactured by BBS, the internet is awash with stories of how soft and prone to cracking these wheels are, I also think they date the car quite heavily. To avoid any wheel issues, satisfy my personal belief that these cars were designed with CSL wheels in mind and to also ditch the hideous run flat tyres, I fitted the car with 19” CSL replica alloys from BM Autosport. I went for a slightly more aggressive offset on the rear as I wanted the face of the rim to be flush with the arch without needing to run a spacer on it. These were clad with Uniroyal Rainsport 5’s and have only covered around 200 miles. At the same time they were fitted with genuine OE centre caps and a new set of bolts and lockers. The purists will tell you the wheel is too big and it ruins the ride however it’s not measurably different from the 18” run flats and the trade off with how it looks, particularly when looking from a rear corner is worth it alone.

When I bought the car the centre transmission tunnel fascia (piano black) was cracked, on account by the previous owner who used to sit down into the car and drop her handbag on the centre tunnel before putting it in the passenger seat. The little metal studs on the base of a handbag eventually caused the trim to crack/chip. I was super lucky and found someone selling a compete set so was able to purchase a replacement and swap out the cracked one so this is now like new.

I have also replaced the front and rear BMW roundels with genuine items as the originals were starting to corrode and let the car down. The front headlights were hazy and yellow so using the Auto Glym headlight kit I wet sanded them through the different grades and finished with a polish and a seal.

The troublesome fog lights which fill with water and corrode from the inside out have now been removed and replaced with genuine OE BMW fog light blanking plates as fitted to the M model. This cleans up the front end a huge amount and avoids the same happening again if replacements were sourced which are hard to come by second-hand or extremely expensive new, all the wiring remains intact if someone wanted to reverse this.

No car is perfect and this being nearly 20 years old also has a few blemishes –

- The front bumper as mentioned would benefit from a repaint/blow over into the bonnet/wings.

- There is a light scratch on the rear offside three-quarter panel.

- The underside of the front bumper has caught on things over the years due to being so low – this could be rectified at the sametime as painting it.

- The drivers seat bolster has wear but conducive with mileage/age.

Other than that the car is completely stock, as BMW intended, the engine sounds sweet and the exhaust note is just right. It really is a joy to drive and has received some really positive feedback from people – it just simply hasn’t aged. When I bought this I intended to keep it for sometime and slowly address the minor cosmetic issues and tend to the preventative maintenance bits knowing that a 2 owner E86 would always be a valuable commodity, especially in such a rare colour combination. There is a very active owners group on the internet which is a mine of information, knowledge and helpful people that live and breath E85/6.

The car is complete with a full book pack, toolkit, warning triangle and two keys. I am not looking for any part-ex and test drives will be offered but undertaken by me for as far as you wish, the asking price is fixed and sits nicely in the middle of the market, sale due to releasing funds for house renovation.