New member in search of a ZM coupe

[jonnysideways]

Welocme.

Originally Posted by Redpersian

budget of 30k.

Think you will find a nice car for that. Good luck with the hunt.

[Equistar]

Originally Posted by petecossie

Welcome to the Forum Adrian, glad to see you took my advice in looking over here. Just keep an eye on the For Sale section as there always new cars coming up for sale hopefully there maybe one which will be in your budget and specification. Also there is the advantage that some of these cars are owned or are known to Forum members.
Good luck with your search.

This is definitely the best approach.

These cars do rust on jacking points / sills. I sold mine recently (imola red, 110k miles) and it was generally in good condition but... starting to go at the jacking points and so needed some work to resolve. I'd imagine a large proportion will now have rust in these areas and not necessarily mileage dependent.

I wasn't equipped (with the space or talent) to sort this out myself but if you keep an eye out you may be able to pick up a car from a forummer who has given it some TLC in these areas already. 30k is a good budget so I would just be patient and wait for the right car - a number of the cars you see online have been for sale for a long time for a reason.

It is getting a bit later in the year now but you may find a few more come to market in spring, particularly if the COVID effect bites a bit more over the winter and people start cashing in on some of the cars they have "tucked away".

[urquattrogus]

I'd say be wary of the 30k car that is no better than a 20k one and don't discount cars with slightly higher mileages.

23-25k can get you a quite nice s50 at the moment, 30 should get you an excellent one.

But if it were me I would be tempted to find a good 25k car and then spend a little on it; that way you know about the quality of the work.

You could just as easily buy a 30k car and then end up spending the same amount on it!

Or even better find some fool like me who'll spend and spend and then decided they want to sell (hopefully not for a while yet!!)

[Redpersian]

Thankyou to everyone for the kind advise it's much appreciated!
Having had many e36 m3's I have found they all suffer from the same problems around the jacking point area regardless of mileage,nightmare!
I think you are spot on with the value and what to spend on a zed m and also what to expect which is realistic and reality which I must agree having viewed two rusty and rough cars already is the reason they have been for sale for a while and not sold.
Will this drive prices down for lower end cars in particular?
As you say especially with this covid pandemic going into spring some owners might be forced to sell and might even struggle to do so if the price is high.
I will wait for the right car I'm sure it will come along?
I worry about paying too much however and getting done over for a car that is potentially a money pit which someone wants rid of.
The later one sold at Munich Legends looked perfect for me in imola/black leather with 67k miles low owners,that car was under offer at 26,000 and was under offer for a week then sold. Shame I missed it

[137699]

Originally Posted by urquattrogus

I'd say be wary of the 30k car that is no better than a 20k one and don't discount cars with slightly higher mileages.

23-25k can get you a quite nice s50 at the moment, 30 should get you an excellent one.

But if it were me I would be tempted to find a good 25k car and then spend a little on it; that way you know about the quality of the work.

You could just as easily buy a 30k car and then end up spending the same amount on it!

I couldn't agree more with this advice. I bought a £26k car knowing it needed a little work but I could see the foundations of the car (structurally & engine wise) were spot on. Knowing the 3 previous owners had all been members on here gave me confidence & I could trace the history of the car's previous 15 years or so via this very forum.

Noting that things like VANOS and strengthened boot floor were done could allow me to forgive a little blistering on the paintwork and knowing that there were a few cosmetic mods done which weren't to my taste.

Since buying the car in Feb, I spend £1800 with Munich Legends who went right through the car and attended to anything not quite right & then a further £2500 on things like paintwork, wheel refurb, chrome reinstatement etc. Now I have a car that's basically mint again - painted by my trusted bodyshop who's work I know to be 2nd to none, wheels refurbed by a company I have been using for years & who's work I trust implicitly, and mechanically sorted by ML who are arguably THE top M Coupe specialists in the UK.

So I have now got a £30k car but knowing all the work has been done to "my" standards means I'd rather have this than buy a £30k car that looks fine on the surface....

[Dave P]

Watching the forum for members selling privately before cars go to auction or end up at dealers can save you thousands also many cars are documented on here with previous for sale threads.

[abid]

Possibly thinking of selling mine high mileage as it’s now ticked over 130k.

Not sure yet as I have it back out as a daily driver but having bow had the z4m a month and few thousand miles I can see myself parting with the Z3M in the near future.

Going in for a detail in 2 weeks time.

[Scream1]

Redpersian you have a PM

[Boatserv]

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1283604

[Boatserv]

I have mine for sale.


https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1283604