Steve Perriam

last week it was my sister with the MX5 questions.........and yes she's bought one, gets it tomorrow !!

Now my parents have just seen a Z3 they want to buy !! Cant be mid life crsiis, cos they're too old

dunno where they get their money from but i need some to, infact i reckon they're spending my inheritance

i know nothing about Z3's. never been in one even !

they've decided they would like a convertible again.....back years ago they had a few e-types and other stuff. since then normal cars !

they are looking to spend 12-13k maximum.

the car they saw is a Z3 1.9 T plate with just 20k miles. Solid Red colour. Its got leather / cd player and roll bars which i am assuming are standard ?

they are not wanting something which is very quick or the absolute dogz danglies for handling etc. I'm not even sure of the bhp / torque etc of this one ?

this ones up for £13,500 but the dealer would accept £13,000 for a cash sale.

Views on Z3's - pros / cons / things to look out for and prices generally plus for this one specifically ?

Should they go to BMW dealers or will that be a rip off price for not a better car ?

Whose had one / got one and what do you think ?

And of course the big Q................wot else to consider for them ?

Steve Perriam

no one !

simb 2

iTrader: (3)

Was looking this time last year in buying one for my partner, managed to get a nice Montreal blue one a few months later. It's best for them to look at a few on the Autotrader website as your be suprised at the amount of extra's you can get for these.

Nothing is standard in these, not the leather or the roll bars. The only think I would say to check is the struts as I heard they can be prone to wear and tear early on in life, i'm sure their be fine if the car's only done 20,000. Also check the 'green' service lights on the dash, these indicate how long it is until the next service. Five being the most and then they start disapearing as the mileage creeps up. One good thing is though, they do not need a cambelt change as it's a chain.

As for price I think it's fair looking at the mileage but prices should be a bit more season friendly now, so again look on the Autotrader website for simular cars as there are 100's.

simb

Steve Perriam

yeah simb2 seen a couple newer ones at bmw dealers for 14k so this one seems overpriced all things being equal......ie newer cars / better specs but mileages between 35-45k on 2000-2001 cars.

carl

Wouldn't get the 1.9 if I were them. OK, so the M roadster may not be required, but at least get one of the sixes. 2.8/3.0 are around 200 bhp -- I think there's a 2.3 as well.

Alas

Had a 1.9 and performance was ok. Make sure the seals around the door are'nt perished and I hope the have no mobility problems as getting in and out can be a prob. I've got a dodgy knee and it was hellish getting in the drivers side.
If the seals are dried up can be cured by a stuff called gummi-phlege.
Other than that good car but needs a lot of polishing cause of the colour. Ours was red too.
Alas

Steve Perriam

nope, convinced them to look for a 2 or 2.2 car now.

RichH

Gummi-phlege is no longer available...

Watch out for the struts as already mentioned, and the alarm can be a pain in the **** on earlier cars, usually down to the bonnet switch, otherwise they're not too bad. Shouldn't have any wear issues on anything with only 20k on the clock. The 1.9 twin cam isn't that bad, but obviously the 6 pots are a *lot* better. The 2.2 is the same engine as in later 320s.

Get a wind deflector!

Rich