Well after 10 months of owning my s2000 i decided to sell up for various reasons.

I am planning to bank some cash and buy another roadster. I am very tempted by the z3m. Just wondered what peoples opinions were on them. I like the look of them, they go like stink and are cheaper to insure than my S. I have done a few searches on the net, but cant seem to find any decent BMW forums to do any research. Im after a low mileage example and have found a couple,plan to spend Sunday travelling to view them. Anyone know anything about them and what i should be looking for. the first time i am buying private so a little nervous!

Cheers

Paul

 

Haven't driven a Z3M, but a Z3 never the less. Didn't really like it. Looked dated and cheap inside for what once was an expensive car.

 

Not my cup of tea but I can see the attraction. This is far superior to the standard Z3 and I expect you'd get a lot for your money now.

I've not been in the soft top but have had several enjoyable experiences in the 'Bread van' version. They rumble so much the car shakes

 

You may struggle if you are tall.

My stepdad had a 3.0 Z3 and the cabin makes the S feel spacious

I think the Ms are still the same size.

I've never driven one, so couldn't comment

 

Dan are you mad? I had a breadvan which can't have more head room than the roadster can it? (esp with the roof off!) I was ok and I'm 6" 4'+ (was a snug fit though).

AFAIK, the roadsters need cross bracing otherwise they'll feel a lot more wobbly than the S2k, but braced up they'll handle pretty well. Power will feel very lazy, given the very flat and spacious torque curve. They still like to be revved though, so not too different.

Gear change will feel, err.. 'different' and you'll only have 5 to play with, but that should matter as it pulls so well in gear and really gets into its stride above 100.

Given the choice of the breadvan or the roadster, I'd get another breadvan. Only thing you need to worry about is the maintenance. Don't be too put off by the 'dreaded VANOS' comments the S54 roadster is very rare I think, so an S50 might be your only choice, but there are plenty of other bits to break on it other than the VANOS to keep your mind off of the big one

Not sure if there are any roadster specific forums, ask on the z3mcoupe forum if you want to find out a starting point, the mechanics/engine stuff is obviously similar/the same.

Rob.

 

thanks,

I still wondering if ive done the right thing!

The problem is they are quite rare, especially one with sub 50k on the clock, ive arranged to view two on sunday. Im hoping cabin space isnt a problem, im 6'2" and 16st and fitted in the S ok. my budget wont go far enough for the 'breadvan'! Im determined not to have a loan.....!

Ive been reading up on the vanos issues and im paranoid now!!

One car im viewing has had a new vanos system within the last few k miles, and im awaiting a reply about the other one, which is the one im tempted by most as its only got 44k on the clock and has the hard top, what you think;

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/200385.htm

this is the other one

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/187396.htm

 

Have you had a look at auto-trader.co.uk?

I did a search for M Roadster- (not sure if the url will work)

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/cars_...1&hassearched=Y

first one on the list is a '99 for 11k, with 17k miles..

 

yes i have seen that one, may be worth a phone call tomorrow . Looks abit too good to be true tbh! it also 165 miles away from me

 

It wasn't the head room that was the problem.

It was leg room.

Even with the seat all the way back he found he could never get completely comfortable.

He's about 6', maybe he has long legs and a stumpy body and you're the other way round


Oh and how the hell do you fit in the Westfield?

 

I have long legs (34") it IS a tigher fit, but there is a trick to putting the seat ALL the way back in the Z3Ms - they're electric and sit against a diagonal bulk head, so if you put it back and then lower it, you get about 1" less legroom than if you lower it and then put it back!

Certainly enough room though, IIRC you sit a bit lower down too

Ref the westy, floor mounted pedals (+1.5" legroom), sports seats (All the way back (+1" legroom), just need a hoop on the roll bar before a trackday comes along. Oh and it's a wideboy (which are also slightly longer in the cockpit)..


Darlo, don't get too worried about the VANOS, whilst everyone goes on about them, I think I only heard of 1 VANOS failure on the z3mcoupe board whilst I was on it (about 2 year). They tend to start rattling and people think they've gone - of course dealers are more than happy to relieve them of some cash. I good mate of mine had one which he bought with a rattly engine (pretty usual) and left it well alone and it was still fine 3 years later when he sold it for E30.

Put aside some money to replace it should it actually fail completely and in the meantime get a warranty to cover things like oil/air pumps, electric windows, aircon condensers.

You'll probably want to replace the stock discs and pads too, they're good, but the pads suffer from fade on a fast blat and the discs can warp if you put very good pads on (as I learnt to my cost)..