I'm curious where you are located. If you will be able to enjoy the top down the majority of the time.
My choice between the two would be the 06 S2000 if you could pick only one. Plus youve already had the ZHP. Go for it and get the s2000.

 

why not try picking up a certified used s2k? you might be able to come closer to what you owe on your zhp and not have the extra 3 yrs worth of payments.

 

OK, I went for it. Traded the ZHP for a 2006 Silverstone S (red/black interior). WOW! Any hestitation I had is GONE. This thing is amazing, so much fun. The ride is much better than I expected, and in some ways better than my ZHP. In the S2K, you can feel the road undulations and dips, but the car never crashes over bumps as my ZHP sometimes did. The car is so light that it just rolls with the punches making road imperfections part of the fun. The noise factor is there, but in every situation but freeway travel it is no problem, again part of the fun. There is a drone on the freeway that I don't like, but it's forgivable when you consider the overall package.

I've tested my daily commute several times, and honestly, I don't foresee any reason why the car won't be a good daily driver. I'm going to LOVE this car!

P.S. The shifter is magical.

 

I just shelled out $1350 to service my 2000 323i. $600+ for 4 leaking power steering hoses (yes every hose in the power steering system was leaking). They wanted $192 to replace the serpentine belt but I told them to put down their pipe. The power windows have never worked correctly, now the driver's window won't go up unless you grab it and help it go, the motor is burned out ($400 to fix that). Had I let them do everything that needed to be done on the car the bill would have been almost $2000. An oil change is $163.

The 3series is a nice car but expensive to maintain and is complicated so needs a lot of it. Fixing it yourself isn't really a viable option unless you are an advanced and trained mechanic. You require a lot of special tools (no reason for this except to make it impossible to service by an amatuer), you can't even reset the service inspection light without a special BMW only computer. The service manual is 2.5 times thicker than that for the S2000 and of course costs more. The electrical system sucks and the computers which control everything buggy and only work part of the time. It has held up well over time so the quality of materials and fit and finish are very good. I find the seats uncomfortable.

The S2000 is simple and basic. The F&F is not as good but par for mid-range Japanese cars. There are few computers and parts are cheap in comparision to German cars. You can fit it yourself with a basic toolkit and few special parts. Regular maintenance is infrequent and cheap. The cockpit is small but not cramped. Driver position is excellent and the steering wheel and seats have an excellent feel and are comfortable. The best thing about the S2000 is the community of owners you inherit as part of the deal. They are the best and being part of the S2KI community will increase the experience of the ride many fold.

If you are prepared to make the lifestyle change required to drive a small car (that is prepared to limit what you carry and live light) then the S2000 is a cheaper and more reliable choice. If you are a drummer and need to carry around a lot of stuff then the S2000 is not for you as a daily driver. It really depends on you and your lifestyle. Not everyone is prepared or able to live with a very small car. It does fine for running around town and buying groceries and you learn to be creative but there are some obsticles you cannot overcome. When I needed a bigger car I had my wife's bimmer to use and if that wasn't big enough then I would rent a truck from uhaul for $50.

 

With so many cars now equipped with navigation systems and other computer control panels, etc., I don't think buyers are taking into account how expensive it will be to repair them when (not if) they malfunction. Honestly, how many nav systems will still be operable in 8 or 9 years? Many will die within 5 or 6 years. When the only way to control the HVAC and tune the radio is via computer mouse and touch screen, what happens when the computer system doesn't work anymore? Can you imagine the expense of getting one of those systems repaired?

 

The bad news is that doesn't wear off. Go away on vacation for two weeks and you'll see what I mean You'll be iching to get home just so you can drive it. I've had mine for 6 years now and I have to admit that as a daily driver the thrill was gone after about 4 years. I guess I just got old and fat because getting in and out of it is a labor now and the convertible thing has gotten old and I find myself driving top-up more and more just to stay out of the sun.

I'm doing the only thing you can really do in that circumstance, I'm turning it into a dedicated track car

 

Cool! I'm glad I made the S2000 plunge too. I've been enjoying it incredibly, even if at first I wasn't sure if I'd be into the convertible thing, but now I'm a beliver. (I may not be allways top-down in the middle of the Texa summer tho) I don't even miss the car I sold, even though it was my baby for 9 years.

I too worry about all the integrated electronic gimmicktry going into cars now. My wife's Acura scares me what may happen when it goes out of warranty.

 

Heh, you are well off and don't mind taking the depreciation hit (by trading a 3 year-old last model year's BMW), who are we to give you advice?

 

Can you imagine finding a replacement panel for a 7 year old car that they stopped making the parts for? Goes to planned obsolescence. The beauty of the S2000 (not the only one but one of them) is the very thing which people often criticize it for; it's lack of doo-dads and "luxury" features. To me spartan really means years, maybe decades, of trouble free operation.

 

Mine had about 50K miles on it and was at the end of warranty. I can see where it doesn't make financial sense to trade after say one year or two years, but three years at the end of warranty seems like a reasonable time to trade if you want to.

How long do you think the average person should keep a car?