What should I look for?

[wadh0070]

Off to test drive a Z4M Coupe tomorrow (sorry for the late notice!) and wondered what any of you owners like / don't like so that I can focus on those areas tomorrow.

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow / Monday.

Cheers,

Jez

[Shunt]

Jez,

What's the spec and price, there's some really cheap ones on the trader at the mo, less than £30k.

The one thing I'd check is that the 1200mile running in service was completed on time, if not walk away, the warranty is void.

After that it's down to personal choice, I wouldn't touch one without sat nav, you can upgrade the disk so it spots speed cameras too (£20). I'd avoid a black interior without a sunroof they can get a bit dark.

I'd also be concerned if it was an ex press car from when they were released, the only other thing I can think of are a few annoying rattles, but they're hardly a deal breaker.

I'd be going in low on price though, time of year and such a niche car means they're not shifting. Best of luck, let us know how you get on.

[wadh0070]

The one I'm driving is a main-dealer ex-demo (in fact, it's currently still the demo) and they haven't given a price but are very keen to stress how keen they'll be with the pricing. TBH, I don't expect that they'll be that keen, being a main dealer, but I'm pretty sure that I'll have all of the warranty ticks!!!

I'm told that it's well equipped, which I would expect from a demo. And I'm hoping the timing will help. Why would you not "touch one without sat nav?". For ease of for the speed cameras, or some other reason?

[Shunt]

Sounds OK, do a national search on autotrader:

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/BMW+Z4/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-58-160-4294965351-4294967202/search.action?&postcode=wn7+3lr&radius=1501&showMoreOptions=&page=2

They appear to start at £28k, print some of these out and take with you for bargaining power.

The Sat Nav and Bluetooth phone prep is a really nice to have, the cars without seem to sell for much less and linger for sale longer. Just my choice, but I wouldn't be without it.

[top pup]

As Shunt said amke sure it's got the 1200mile running in service done.

Sat Nav seems to really make a difference to the price of these cars, any money you save by buying a car without Sat Nav (£1500?) I think you will loose come resale time.

Finally make sure you drive the car through some stop start traffic, the clutch and gearbox take some getting used to on these cars to drive them smoothly and if you can't gel with them after an hour or so I'm not sure you will.

[wadh0070]

So I've had my test drive. Overall impression was good - it pulls smoothly throughout the range and although I didn't get a great chance to give it a go through the twisties, the handling felt sharp.

I didn't see top pup's comment before I left, but the clutch was very different to my current audi, albeit that I did get used to it. More time would no doubt be required. I even tried it in sport mode in some traffic, as I'd heard that it was very unforgiving - it was!

I was pleasantly surprised that the ride wasn't too hard, although I struggled to get completely comfortable in the seat. I'm sure that could be achieved with a bit more playing with the seat controls. I was also happy that there was plenty of headroom - I'm 6' 3" and really struggled in the RX8 when I considered that as my last purchase.

Now I know that this isn't a car that's bought for practicality, but I was a bit disappointed that the boot space was so compromised by the battery / tyre kit - I must admit that I didn't know that - is that the same on the 3l version? It will be my only car and I have some reservations about the ability to get a week's worth of kit into the back.

Will I be buying the one that I drove? No - Unknown to me, it was already on t'Internet for sale (despite it still being the demonstrator), and it's basically the most expensive one there! It was well specced (Sat Nav, Cruise control, heated seats) but I'm not sure that all of those extras and the low miles are worth the best part of £10k (compared to the cheapest ones around).

It was a lot of fun - but I don't feel that I *MUST* have it. I'll have a think about it and perhaps try some of the obvious competitors (new TT, Cayman) before I dive in.

Jez

[Shunt]

The battery in the boot is only on the M, to make way for the slippy diff. The clutch action can take some getting used to but a small mod of removing the clutch delay valve (CDV) can improve the feeling no end - it was the first mod I did to mine.

Sounds like you picked an expensive one and it was worth trawling the classified to see what's on offer. At least you've had a run in one though.

I also tried a Cayman, very impressive handling, not quite as quick, but much more expensive. You could get a fairly well specced Z4MC for £32k whereas you'd need to add £10k to that for the Cayman. IMO just not worth it, and I'd struggle with the badge image with work.

Best of luck in your search.

[outrun]

Shunt,

What's the CDV valve mod entail? I've had mine remapped which smoothed the kangaroo effect in first and second a little but i'm interested if i can do this CDV thing? What is it? Is it ok to remove? what effetc does that have etc?

Also how do you upgrade the NAV disc to contain camera locations?

Sorry for the thread hi-jack.....

[Shunt]

The CDV is a clutch delay valve, if you log onto www.z4-forum.com and search for CDV you'll find a thread on removing it. The CDV can either be deleted altogether, or replaced with a blank. I sourced a blank (it's had a small piston removed which restricts the fluid flow) from www.zeckhausen.com/CDV.htm although you can remove the piston yourself.

The difference is very noticeable I would recommend this mod highly.

The NAV disks are from Mick, email him telling him the model and year and for £20 you'll get a much improved disk with UK and Europe cameras and vastly improved mapping / traffic diversions and POI information. email - MickG ® gilluley@hotmail.com

Have you sussed out how to set your NAV to 3D perspective view yet, if not search Z4-forum for that too.

Good luck

Steve

[outrun]

Will do,

Cheers