I finally bought a Z4 - Ownership thread!
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 10:34 am
So, after coming close a few years ago when looking for a track car (viewtopic.php?t=91202), which ultimately ended with me buying and pouring a load of money into a supercharged Mini...
...I decided at the end of last year that I was going to buy a Z4 over the winter (viewtopic.php?t=132187), either to replace or live alongside my Mini.
I ended up buying a June 2003 3.0i auto in sterling-grau from a lovely chap in Surrey, who was selling to fund a house move. I wanted an auto because I was fed up with driving my (stiff, noisy, uncomfortable) Mini around SW London where I live. I do have a 2020 Volvo XC40 hybrid too, but it's very competent and not much fun.
A group of friends who I do things like trackdays, Le Mans trips, NC500 trips etc. with are booked onto a trip to Italy in June, so we can spend a week following the Mille Miglia around (in between vineyards and pasta binges, of course). My goal is to get it into tip-top shape for this trip (2500 miles, or so), and then work out whether I want to keep it or not when I get back (the MOT is due a week after we return).
The car had clearly been well cared for in its life. The bodywork was in lovely condition, the wheels were freshly refurbished and wearing matching Michelin Pilot Sports all round (always a good indicator), and the service history was so extensive that it came in a box!
It was also pretty much my perfect spec. Parking sensors, heated seats, xenon headlights, auto lights and wipers, electric folding mirrors, DSP stereo system, OEM wind deflector, no nav screen. The only thing it was missing was cruise control (more on that to come).
It had ~101k miles, which is a drop in the ocean for an M54-engined car.
Here it is (alongside the Volvo) on the day I picked it up, 3 days before Christmas last year.
...I decided at the end of last year that I was going to buy a Z4 over the winter (viewtopic.php?t=132187), either to replace or live alongside my Mini.
I ended up buying a June 2003 3.0i auto in sterling-grau from a lovely chap in Surrey, who was selling to fund a house move. I wanted an auto because I was fed up with driving my (stiff, noisy, uncomfortable) Mini around SW London where I live. I do have a 2020 Volvo XC40 hybrid too, but it's very competent and not much fun.
A group of friends who I do things like trackdays, Le Mans trips, NC500 trips etc. with are booked onto a trip to Italy in June, so we can spend a week following the Mille Miglia around (in between vineyards and pasta binges, of course). My goal is to get it into tip-top shape for this trip (2500 miles, or so), and then work out whether I want to keep it or not when I get back (the MOT is due a week after we return).
The car had clearly been well cared for in its life. The bodywork was in lovely condition, the wheels were freshly refurbished and wearing matching Michelin Pilot Sports all round (always a good indicator), and the service history was so extensive that it came in a box!
It was also pretty much my perfect spec. Parking sensors, heated seats, xenon headlights, auto lights and wipers, electric folding mirrors, DSP stereo system, OEM wind deflector, no nav screen. The only thing it was missing was cruise control (more on that to come).
It had ~101k miles, which is a drop in the ocean for an M54-engined car.
Here it is (alongside the Volvo) on the day I picked it up, 3 days before Christmas last year.