Which Z?

[Bellypopper]

Hi all

I am looking to buy a Z4 and have two cars to view locally. Both are the same money. The first is a late 2016 with 65000 miles, and the other is an early 2013 with 15000 miles. If you were buying would you prefer newer and higher mileage or older with lower mileage? For info these cars are 4 cylinder (a 28i and a 20i). I would love a 6 but as I need a manual it really cuts the choices down.

Cheers

[B21]

The later one should have the later camchain which is really the only negative issue on the N20 4 cylinder..

I'm not sure a10 year old car with 15k miles is necessarily in the best of engine health..condensation, rust etc..

If you want a manual there are bucket loads of 23i and 30i around..

[Big Bad Boris]

Just out of interest why do you “need” a manual?

[Mr Tidy]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I think they only made the 23i and 30i straight 6 (N52) models until 2011, but they are a great engine. After that the only straight 6 option was the 35i which had a different (N54) engine with twin-turbos that can have some issues.

18i, 20i and 28i all had the same N20 4 cylinder engine so the 18i and 20i can be remapped for 28i+ power, although the 28i had bigger front brakes.

It's your call but I'd try to find a good 30i.

[Pondrew]

Having sold a 2013 N20 recently and just bought another 2016 N20 (for a lot more money with similar low miles), I would take the lower mileage older car any day(as long as it's a facelift with the LED halos and arrow side indicators). For £250 you could change the reg and no-one would know; they are virtually identical to all intents and purposes.

A low mileage 20i with a £300 remap will be a better car to drive than a standard 28i any day, whatever the mileage!

[jenniferlouise]

Neither. Six cylinders all the way.

[Bellypopper]

Just out of interest why do you “need” a manual?

The car is for my Mrs, who is coming from an MX5 and is only really happy driving a manual. That said I had a chat with her about it today and she said she would consider an auto, but auto or manual, it can't have red leather Women are complex aren't they?

[buzyg]

Get her another Mx5.

[Mr Tidy]

Get her another Mx5.

What! This is z4forum, not Mazda world.

[buzyg]

Fun is fun.

[Bellypopper]

Cheers for responses so far…
With the N20, is the chain replacement purely based on mileage, or does age come into the equation? I understand the chain won’t perish like a belt, but the guides are plastic which could become brittle with time I suppose

[B21]

Cheers for responses so far…
With the N20, is the chain replacement purely based on mileage, or does age come into the equation? I understand the chain won’t perish like a belt, but the guides are plastic which could become brittle with time I suppose

See my post on the subject..

[flybobbie]

I would try and drive a few, auto and manual.
If had a choice now......possibly go auto, my manual box can be horrible at times, it's not slick, ruins the drive.
Don't know if it's just my car, it never got any worse or better in 70k miles driving.

I think it was designed around the International Standard Atmosphere, 15 degrees ambient seems optimum temperature for the gearbox.

[Bellypopper]

Thanks everyone for your input. I have now purchased an Abarth 595 instead. Good luck with your Z4's and happy top down motoring

[Mr Tidy]

Oh well thanks for letting us know how it turned out.

I hope your Mrs loves it - my sister loves her Twinair.

But I won't be doing any top down motoring.