For quite a while I have been keeping an eye on Z4M Roadster prices here in Oz (with a standing alert on carsales.com.au any time one gets listed) and that search occasionally picks up facelift 3.0 models. It seems that 3.0si models are quite rare and when one popped up near me a few weeks back I saved it. The owner was in a rush to sell and over a couple of weeks dropped the price a couple of times, to a point where it really had my intention, so I went and had a look.
So it's a 2006 silver grey 3.0si with 100,000 kms on the clock. It's got every single option bar satnav and M sport seats. What was particularly interesting was that the owner had had a quad exhaust conversion done (and done very well, I might add). I checked it out and put a deposit down immediately, pending a mechanical inspection. The N52 was very tappy on startup (the car only gets driven on weekends and I was the first to inspect it), but I knew that was a normal sound and couldn't find any other issues.
So a week later I found myself in the possession of two Z4s:
The new Zed definitely provides the visual upgrade I was after. The additional power and torque aren't too bad, either
While the owner had been fairly fussy in keeping the car clean, it was very superficial and any areas that couldn't be seen were absolutely filthy. Under and behind the seats was so disgusting that I ended up pulling out both seats so that I could vacuum and shampoo the carpets. It all came up like new, though!
I've been driving both Zeds since I bought the new one (only a one car garage so the blue one is always outside now). In doing so I've noticed a couple of things about they way the new car drives:
1. The quad exhaust conversion looks great, but sounds terrible. He had the stock muffler replaced with some unimpressive aftermarket thing. It's all exciting when you drive the odd car with a loud exhaust, but living with it sucks. It drones terribly under 2.5k RPM. Sure, I want to hear it scream at 4000+ RPM, but below 3000 I don't want to hear a thing. I expect that's possible; I'm just going to have to find a decent exhaust shop who knows how to tune things.
2. The steering on the new car is far stiffer. It has the M-sport wheel but that won't make a difference. It wouldn't have anything to the M-sport suspension that the car has? I don't think it's a fault with the electric steering, since it's not that hard to turn. I don't like it though so I'd like to work out why it's so much different.
3. Talking suspension, I always knew that the Z4 had firm suspension, but the M-sport suspension seems even harder!
4. The clutch is quite tight. On my 2.5i the clutch is absolutely perfect: not too heavy, not too light. But driving the new car immediately after there is a massive difference and it doesn't feel anywhere near as nice. Would this have any relation to the 6-speed box on the 3L? I have read that old hydraulic fluid can cause a stiffer clutch and since there's no record of a brake fluid change for quite a few years I figure it would be worth my while doing a flush very soon.
Interestingly, with regular driving the N52 hasn't rattled again ever since my first test drive, so I'm happy with that!
Sorry about the long post. By the way, if there's any Aussie readers here who might be interested I will be putting the blue Zed up for sale very soon
Has anybody got any feedback on my comments above?
