talizman

iTrader: (1)

Out of the following 2 seater convertibles, which one would you chose, and why?

1) BMW ZM Roadster
1999 - T reg
320 bhp 3.2 litre straight six
£16,000

or

2) Porsche Boxster S
1999 - V reg
260 bhp 3.2 litre straight six
£20,000


Your thoughts?

Dracoro

From what I've read over the years - the Boxster because it's better. Z3M will be faster in a straight line, in all other aspects I'd say the boxster has it. Lot's of reviews will point this way.

For your budget you can get a 2 seater roadster which will be newer and very reliable yet more fun. Won't be as fast as the Z3 but will match the Boxster almost exactly. Can you tell what it is yet? clue, it revs to 9000rpm.

Old_Fart

Porsche. There is a far deeper market for them, so come resale it will be much easier (plus hopefully will retain more dough) It suffers less scuttle shake..the Z3M is more of a straight line drag racer (though it is fast) Ultimately the Boxster would prove the quicker point to point car IMHO...despite the BHP deficit.
Both cars can be considered to have an image problem...hairdresser versus arrogant ******, which would you rather be labled as? LOL
RGds
Chuck
(I've a speed yellow C4S, arrogance comes as standard )

Raks

I drive a Z3M, and would take the Boxster S anyday as that's what I was looking at previously. Unfortunately my budget wouldn't stretch to the spec I wanted.

However, Z3M does deliver all the goods. Yes, people think you're a hairdresser. But off the lights, that's quickly retracted, as are they in your rear view

Vate

I you enjoy driving then the Porsche is by far superior in terms of balance and handling. Even the weight of the pedals and steering/gearchange has a lovely balance. The Boxster is poetry to drive compared with the Z3M.

foz01

How many miles will an Porker S for 20k have though?!?
Z3M just looks a bit, erm for me though although //M does toughen up the looks.

how about an S2000?

Martin J Stirling

S2000 mate. Forget the badge snobbery for one second and go test drive one.

Go on, nuthin' to lose!

mart.

talizman

iTrader: (1)

I'm not a fan of the S2000's looks at all though....

davyboy

Where can you get a Boxster S for 20k?

foz01

TVR Tamora

will whup almost anything and does 100 in 9 odd seconds

in fact i am fancying one myself

Brendan Hughes

surely the Boxster is a flat six, not a straight six?

Faire D'Income

The straight six is in the Beemer. My advice would be to go for the Boxster, purely for the driving experience as straightline speed is nice but having a car that can go round corners is nicer.

talizman

iTrader: (1)

So does the ZM3 really corner that badly?

Cost is the main issue here.

I did a search on Auto Trader yesterday and there was 1 boxster s at 20k, but today its gone and the cheapest is 22k

BM is £6k cheaper........

Raks

They don't handle that badly
you can uprate the rear suspension and then they're fine.

I personally wouldn't go near a 3.2 which was low £20k's. There's a questionable reason why it's there...

Dracoro

From what I've read the Z3M corners well in the sense that it has lots of grip. However the handling isn't great at all. Not gonna be a dull drive though I'm sure.

TBH, I've driven 2000miles in a week in a 2.2 Z3 and although it didn't set the world alight, it wasn't as bad as the media make out. Not a patch on some of the competition though (S2000, boxster etc.).

CustomScoobyIOM

Boxster but you need to spend more money to get a good un.

Z3M is fun

I love my 255bhp SLK230k TBH though, but need suspension and engine mods to make it go well

Oh and exhaust.... Interior retrim...... sounds....etc.etc.

Raks

How is yours 255 ? What have you done to it ?

Dapster

There is nothing as expensive as a cheap Porsche.

Personally I wouldn't go near a £20k S, you need to spend more like £25k to get a reasonable one. Just think of the risiduals - you'll get more back for the S than you would for the Z3M making the Beemer the more expensive long term prospect.

Watch the service costs thought. An OPC (dealer) will charge you £300-£500 for an interim and £500-£700 for a major (£100 of that will be Mobil 1) - also, despite the reliability, if anything does let do, it won't be cheap.

The S was launched in '99 and with Porsche's I would recommend getting a car a year or so into its launch.

Why not consider a non S? A bit more than £22k would get you a fantastic 2.7 with all the bits and reasonable miles - about 40k - sure it's not the quickest but as a driving experience, its fantastic.

I've had a 2.7 for 3 years and its been amazing - just keeps getting better each time I drive it. As I can't afford a 911, I can't see why I would ever get rid of it.

talizman

iTrader: (1)

No doubt a pretty accurate theory.

My budget shouldn't really stretch to Boxster territory, but when I saw a couple at around the £20k mark it got me thinking.

The ZM3 handling issue......

I wouldn't have thought it'd be that much of an issue as its more of a posing machine than a point-and-squirt racer!

If I were to buy one, my reasons would be.....
Convertible - summer posing!
That engine sound - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Looks - a personal thing, but I like them
Outright power - 320bhp must feel pretty fast in a 2 seater?

I would drive it completely differently than my past Scoobs, whereby they are functional and their main purpose is to get from a-b in as little time possible!

In the ZM, quickness would be less of an issue, and more an opportunity to savour the drive, with the top down and the straight six 300+ horses soundtrack!

talizman

iTrader: (1)

LOL, anyone with an estoril blue ZM Roadster wanna p/ex with the nicest RB5 on the planet?

CustomScoobyIOM

Uprated the cold air feed
Uprated the supercharger pulley
Relocated the MAF sensor
Uprated Fuel Pump
Remapped ECU
Uprated Sparks

Few other things.

Suspension is Carlsson
Tiptronic conversion is Carlsson
Retrim is by Hide and Fidelity (Birds UK)

It goes very well and is the car it should of been from day 1. Love it.

kieron

the best thing to do is to forget the z3m roadster and go for the z3m coupe, much much better car, faster,better handling, looks better, holds its value, and wont be a hairdresser.

0-60 4.3 sec
0-100 around 10 sec

www.z3mcoupe.com

talizman

iTrader: (1)

I know what you are saying kieron, but I'd like a rag top to play with for a while.

Raks

and all that got you 50HP+ !? hmmm, would suggest the platform is not highly strung in the first place. is this the case ?

i'm assuming conversion was less than £1k ?

Raks

taliz

you wouldn't regret it mate. i'm not....

the best bit is once the exhaust system and gasses are up to temp and you nail it....

.. the sounds goes from a hum-to-zing ! glorious straight 6 !!!

i'm not biased though

Mmmmm

Have a Boxster S now (2nd one), had a Z3 2.8 and had 2 test drives in the ZM (98,03) and also in the z3 3.0 (pretty quick)

Boxster S is lovely, great steering and chassis, better of the two

But the ZM handles well, is noticably more powerful at least a couple of seconds to 100.

Top gear.

http://www.topgear.com/servlet/tg?DE...Number=16.html

"In the afternoon we tried it at the Jerez GP circuit where the copious grip experienced on the road gave way to moderate understeer, leery oversteer, wafer-thin brake pads, chafed tyres and wide grins all round. That said, there's no question; this car can lap swiftly. The turn-in is crisp, the grip impressive and the suspension and brakes superb. But the steering just lacks that last degree of feedback, that fraction of feel, that an Elise, a Caterham or even a Boxster delivers. In this respect the M Roadster is, in essence, much like an M3; terrific for a saloon, but not quite state-of-the-art for a sports car."

The Z has a very small boot, the boxster has two which give it a surprising amount of storage space.

Hood down you get a more wind buffeting in the Z3 even with the wind deflector, a net stocking type job that you slip over the roll over bars, the Boxsters is a nice plexiglass screen more effective and doesn't affect your rear vision.

The Z3 only does about 200-240 miles on a tank from memory, whereas you can get the S to do 300 miles.

Driving the ZM gave me an instant buzz, excellent acceleration, great engine, the Porsche has more depth.

The Porsche is better day to day, but for the money the ZM is an excellent buy just now

talizman

iTrader: (1)

Cheers Mmmmmmmm

Raks

Good summary M's !!

my94

HONDA S2000

CustomScoobyIOM

You mean highly tuned? No lightly blown through the Eaton supercharger.

Thats quite a few mods, and it didnt cost under £1k. Retrim itself was £3500.

Engine stuff was £3k.