Z4 Advice prior to purchase?

[rob board]

Hi. Been trawling internet for info etc, and would appreciate some decent advice experiences on a Z4. I intend to have a serious look at one after xmas (£24K max budget), and like the 3.0L.(That and the S2000, and the elise are on my short list). The different driving experiences are irrelevant at the mo' as I'll decide once I've driven them all! However my main reson for enquiring is to see if there are any build/reliability issues any owners have encountered. I did have a new 140 BHP Roadsport Caterham, but it was returned to Caterham after a year as it was always breaking (Bloody K series!), so I don't want to go through all that again.
I've done many searches, but would appreciate your opinions/experiences both good and bad.
Many thanks.
Rob.

[gwatson]

I have a Z4 3.0, had it for over a year and love it... great all round sports car that does everything. I didn't test drive the Elise as it wasn't what I wanted coming from a Westfield. Drove the S2000 back to back and much prefered the Z4. The S2000 is like driving a 1.2 below 6000 rpm which gets very tiresome... and not what a sports car should offer. 3800rpm in 6th gear at 75mph (what's that all about?) No options to speak of... tacky digital dash.... I won't go on but you get the picture

Take a look here.... www.z4um.com

G

[StuB]

The car is loads better without the Run Flat tyres which come as standard. I also personally found the sport button made the throttle very harsh, other than that I think it's a pretty good car if you like the styling and can put up with limited interior storage space.

There's a re-style recently, which you might use as a negotiation point on an older model and the BMW warranty needs to be extended for peace of mind, which is now a bit of an expensive do.

The 3.0'S (M54) are bullet proof motors and are very smooth and sound great.

Check out www.z4um.com or www.zroadster.net for loads more info (in fact maybe too much on z4um).

HTH & good luck.

Stu

[gwatson]

Yeah good point Stu. I replaced my run flats and it's like driving a new car... so don't worry about the harshness if you take a test drive. They are much cheaper than RFT's and handle much better it he wet and dry. I keep a can of tyre weld and a 12v pump in the boot.

G

[Sortie 10]

Speak to your local BMW dealer(s) to establish if any cars are being traded in soon (there should be - facelift Z4, and new reg in 6 weeks). As they are not physically in stock, they do not appear on the internet. I had this experience about 18 months ago and got my car at a very good price, because they did not need to advertise it, and I managed to get a few goodies thrown in (inside and outside cover, plus other bits). Without having the car in stock, the dealer only knows what the car was delivered with and not after purchase dealer-fit accessories - again I saved a packet as mine came with the top spec windjammer and a Tracker; by the time the car arrived, I had agreed the price and paid a deposit (subject to viewing/test) so dealer could not renege.

Good luck, and make sure you find a dealer with good after sales service - they are very variable!