Unrealistic budget?

[patrickbateman]

I've scraped £8k together to buy my dream car and this is a big buy for me, coming from an r53 mini cooper s which I've just sold and bought a 1-Litre shopping trolley to get about in,

Planning to garage the Z3 and just use it at weekends in the summer and keep it in nice condition,

So I have a few questions to ask,

Is limited mileage insurance or a classic type insurance policy an option for this model of car please?

Am I being unrealistic in my budget of £8k?
Been planning this buy for a year now and watching Z coupe prices, I've seen quite a few sell for around £6/7k so thought up to £8k would get me a decent standard car,

Could I ask for a little advice please?

Anything I should look for or be aware of? I've researched a fair bit and am very well versed with cars so am confident to be able to look for issues but thought I'd ask,

Thanks so much for any advice proffered, this is a really big thing for me and am very nervous of making a mistake!

[mr wilks]

Ive insured most of my Zs with Classicline on a future classic policy , £325 ish per year garaged - 4000miles
As for your £8k budget ?
That should get you a well specced , well kept 80k/90k Si Sport E86 (Si Se pay 10% less) , you just have to be prepared to travel as these cars aren't always for sale locally .
Have you viewed any possibles ?

[mr wilks]

Not listing these for any other reason than gauging what is currently out there at what money
92k manual but low spec at £7495 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified ... 0hr&page=1

92k this time Se but a dealer , again low spec but in a rare colour (stratus grey ) £7950 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified ... 500&page=1

This 69k one would appeal to me but not at the sellers ask clues are there though he's admitted wheels are shot & a small flake of lacquer on bumper plus more importantly says open to offers . Get the main info over phone & if its worth taking to next stage take a look , i think you could drive this away for £7500 , spend up to £1k on it over a period of time & a 70k Z4C in black with red trim should hold its £8500 very well if not a touch more https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified ... 500&page=1

I could go on , there are lots out there right now

[patrickbateman]

Thanks for the advice,

I don't mind waiting a little longer for the right car,
I'll message the guy about the black one, says he's close to me in Yorkshire after the 18th so it might be worth a look,
Was supposed to be viewing a black/red seats car this weekend but it's a grand over my budget and I don't want to waste the guys time,

I've viewed a couple in dealerships but they're way over my budget, both were in lovely condition though, main thing was to see if I could actually fit in one,

Thanks again for taking the time to reply,

[Mr Tidy]

FWIW OP when you get one you won't regret it - I'm on my second! (It's a long story).

But you aren't going to find mint low mileage ones at your budget, although the black one "mr wilks" has linked to in his 2nd message looks promising - even if it has issues that is a low mileage one so if service history is good and there is a deal to be done it could well be a good deal. And if you don't like the wheels you could always buy another set and sell those ones on to recoup much of the cost!

If you like the "M-Sport" seats that the Sport models had don't consider an SE with a view to swapping them - used "M-Sport" seats will cost you at least all of the 10% saving you may get from buying an SE.

Good luck with your search though.

At least you've probably picked a good time of year to be looking for a sports car.

[earthdweller]

Mine is insured with Adrian Flux .. modern classic policy 5k pa and agreed value

The Si engine is a peach, happy hunting

[buzyg]

Fitting in shouldn't be an issue. The Z4 is both roomy and comfortable. I'm 6ft 4ins and fit easily. As above 8k should find you a decent 3.0Si Happy hunting.

[Mr Tidy]

I just noticed this OP:- https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified ... ual&page=1

Looks like a reasonable deal to me, assuming it has some history and is as good as described!

[Capa]

I can tell you I bought a tidy Z4C for just under your budget about two months ago from a dealer. Stratus Grey with Champagne leather on about 90k.

Assuming the market is as it was then, you're very much the one in control. Make offers and be prepared to walk away, only to come back a week or so later with a very slightly improved offer. Originally, the dealer on mine wanted 10 grand...

But yes, it's definitely possible to buy with your budget. If you're prepared to travel, you could choose to be picky on a few things too.

[step_change]

Fitting in shouldn't be an issue. The Z4 is both roomy and comfortable. I'm 6ft 4ins and fit easily. As above 8k should find you a decent 3.0Si Happy hunting.

My advice to you if you are tall like buzyg and myself (6'3)? Get one with cruise control if you think you will drive longer distances because it starts to get uncomfortable after an hour or so without it. I am retrofitting it to mine and the next car I buy - a E89 - CC is a definite must-have.

[ph001]

You don't say whether it's an E85 (roadster) or E86 (coupe) you are looking for. I generally tend to see a lot more coupes for sale but having come from a S54 Z3M myself I knew I needed the roof down option for a special occasion car like this. Saying that, I use my Z4 as my daily now and have an E46 M3 for the odd Sunday blast.

Manual E85 3.0Si cars rarely come up for sale at sub 70k mileages so you certainly may have to travel a bit, but £8k should bag you a good one with a bit of haggling.

Essential options I would suggest are:

Heated sports seats
Xenons
Sat nav
Cruise (but this can be retrofitted fairly easily from a member on here)
Factory wind breaker

[Scooba_Steve]

Buy on condition, high miles may need a bit of work replacing consumables but I've seen plenty of low mile cars with poor histories.

[buzyg]

Fitting in shouldn't be an issue. The Z4 is both roomy and comfortable. I'm 6ft 4ins and fit easily. As above 8k should find you a decent 3.0Si Happy hunting.

My advice to you if you are tall like buzyg and myself (6'3)? Get one with cruise control if you think you will drive longer distances because it starts to get uncomfortable after an hour or so without it. I am retrofitting it to mine and the next car I buy - a E89 - CC is a definite must-have.

I can drive mine from dawn till dusk and beyond without any aces & pains. Do you have sports seats?

[step_change]

Fitting in shouldn't be an issue. The Z4 is both roomy and comfortable. I'm 6ft 4ins and fit easily. As above 8k should find you a decent 3.0Si Happy hunting.

My advice to you if you are tall like buzyg and myself (6'3)? Get one with cruise control if you think you will drive longer distances because it starts to get uncomfortable after an hour or so without it. I am retrofitting it to mine and the next car I buy - a E89 - CC is a definite must-have.

I can drive mine from dawn till dusk and beyond without any aces & pains. Do you have sports seats?

No mate, it's an Si spec so standard seats. Fine for tootling around but on a longer drive the right leg gets uncomfortable.
Deffo M sport and CC for next car that I a currently on the look out for.

[pvr]

I could have sworn he mentioned a Z3 and not a Z4 ...