It'll be 20 years this coming March, since I passed my driving test (ouch I'm getting old!) and I've owned 15 cars in that time. The shortest ownership period being just three weeks (that car, a Citroen C4, was very broken, don't ask!) with the longest being around 4.5 years (an absolutely indestructible and entirely faultless Vauxhall Astra).
I've owned some cars that are traditionally a little more towards the car enthusiast end of things, including two Alfas (both 156's) and a very niche (OK, weird!) Honda Legend 3.5 V6. I've also had 'family' cars that are a little more rare / unusual e.g. a Mazda CX-7 and a Honda HRV EX (I'll never understand why the latter were not significantly more popular - a great car), but until this BMW Z4, I'd never had a purely fun / weekend car, and you know what, most of the time I love it! That said, (as you'll see if you go back through my posts on here), my first Z4 ownership has not been without its challenges.
So going back to the thread title, what have I learned in the past 18 months, and if I could go back in time (back to the future style) to my past self, what would I say?
- Do not buy the first one you see locally that's cheap!
- Service history and condition matter far more than mileage, the M54 engine is capable of doing high mileages
- 20 year old rubber components, (in lots of places) will have perished
- Ditching the run flats and changing the engine mounts will absolutely transform the ride of these cars (and I mean by A LOT)
- The Real OEM website and this forum (and the members of it) will be your new best friend(s)
- The 6 speaker standard stereo really is pants
- If you need to use your Z4 in the Winter, don't get one without heated seats!
- Don't be cheap (like me!) and attempt a cable repair on a window regulator, just buy the whole new part (I think I still have finger injuries from that repair!)
- If the vendor of a Z4 you like is throwing in a car cover with the sale, don't think glass half full, he/she must look after it well (like I did), be cynical, and assume the roof leaks (ask me how I know!
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- The 103 style alloys are a sod to clean well and 106 and 107 styles are the best wheels for this car, no question. I'll die on this hill!
- The cruise control retrofit is very easy on early cars (with the wiring already present) and even an absolute amateur (like me!) can do it. Also check the price of them new, for me there was little in it between a new one from my local dealer and second hand ones off Ebay.
- Invest in a decent trickle charger, keeping the battery topped up seems keeps the car electronics and alarm happy (an overnight charge just once a month works for me)
- Possibly slightly controversial this one, but the pre facelift cars look much better, particularly from the rear!
- The earliest cars (like mine) are now 21 years old, and things will inevitably go wrong. Think about what you're not spending on monthly finance / lease payments for a newer car and budget for some of those savings to be used on repairs
- Check for rust underneath, particularly on the rear subframe
- With the automatic gearbox and having ditched the run flats, the Z4 can be more of a GT car than an outright sports car experience. (I've kind of come to the realisation that actually a GT type car is more my style anyway. I don't need an out and out sports car)
- Members of this forum will have some parts in their garages / sheds that have long since been out of production from new (special thanks to Enuff_zed for his sterling work tracking down the incredibly rare grey interior cup holder fascia panels!)
I think that's most of it! As I've said above, I'll keep my Z4 for as long as I can, though in the Summer I hope someone on this wonderful forum can take it off me and continue the work / significant investment I've already put into improving it.
I will definitely buy another convertible at some point (a four seater), potentially either a BMW 6 series or Merc CLK / E-Class cabriolet. Or possibly a Peugeot 306 cabriolet - I've always loved the look of them, particularly in the right colour, plus our main car is a Peugeot 3008 (the rare 300bhp Hybrid one naturally, 2 seconds faster to 60mph than my Z4!
).I'd never rule out a return to Z4 ownership in the future though, perhaps E89's might be nearer my (typically low!) budget by the time I'm ready to get back into one.
