Morning all!

[Legend83]

Greetings from Hertfordshire!

A little recent history - back in Covid (remember that?) having loved every minute of owning my "practical" RX8 I agreed to sell it as it hardly got any use and was essentially burning money sitting outside the house. A brilliant but ruinously expensive second car for a family with three children, we decided after much life-reflection to prioritise super-cheap motoring and allocate more of our resources to holidays and time with the children etc.

Enter the Mazda 2...or as my wife dubbed it, the "student's car".

Fast-forward to now, triggered by some recent tragic bereavement and further life-reflection (with the conclusion life is short), some discussions have been had about replacing the Mazda 2.

Initial conversations were shockingly directed towards a newer, safer, more comfortable 5 door hatchback like a Volvo V40 or Mazda 3....god help me.

Last week however I raised the question of "do we think we could manage with a two-seater?"...and I was not shot down in flames

A very rapid shortlist based on a budget of £6-10k was pulled together:

- original Boxster ("too expensive, too showy")
- Mk3 MX5 ("we love them but have had two already")
- Nissan 350Z ("meh")

Z4??? ("mmm yes I do like them")

So here I am on the initial stages of a Z4 hunt. My biggest dilemma is wind-in-the-hair Roadster v "that-shape" Coupe...

I can tell already this site is going to be a) an absolute treasure-trove of information; b) an enemy to my wallet

Regards!

L83

[MikeyH]

Hi, welcome to the forum, you’ve come to the right place for Z4 buying advice. Yes the E86 is a nice looking car but you can’t put the roof down enjoy your search

[buzyg]

Great introduction, welcome on board. A serial Nissan and Mazda Owner. her. I have a Mazda2 sat on the drive along side an mx5 mk3.75 HT and a mk4 sport sat in the garage. Our Mazda2 is nicknamed the bus.

Mazda3 great car as is the 6. tried them all. We don't need a family car any more retired.. , we do need practical, the bus, do need driving fun, the mk4.

Despite owning many Japanese cars, the most reliable car I have ever owned was my Z4. It was also the most pampered. (probably related) Find a good one and get enjoying driving again.

[Legend83]

Thanks MikeyH and buzyg.

Yes there is something about the Mazda brand I can't put my finger on but I just love it - had 2 x MK1 MX-5, one was a Dakar special edition (nothing special about it really other than the colour which was a beautiful deep navy), the other in red was supercharged...gosh I miss that car.

The RX8 was the same deep navy and that was a wonderful car. Not fast, but hitting the 9.5krpm limit with the Militek exhaust I had attached was addictive...as was it's penchant for petrol stations!

Buying a Z4 would be my first venture into BMW ownership. I have hankered after one ever since my mother purchased a 316 Compact M-Sport - slow as a bulldog but looked amazing.

It will be a long drawn-out process full of procrastination (it always is with me) but will keep this board updated on my progress!

[Mr Tidy]

I can tell already this site is going to be a) an absolute treasure-trove of information; b) an enemy to my wallet

To be fair it seems to be a combination of both, but welcome aboard anyway.

I bought my first BMW in 2005 and haven't been without one since, probably mainly because there aren't too many RWD alternatives with a manual gearbox.

The Roadster/Coupe debate will last as long as the forum even if there is no right or wrong answer, just personal preferences.

I've just never had or wanted a convertible, and anyway I just fell in love with the looks of the Coupe.