Deeply considering a E86 Z4 Coupe for future track car ... your help?

[TouringM3]

Hey Buds –

I'm the psycho who dismantled two cars to build a 6-speed manual "F81" M3 Touring here in Portland. The scrap parts became my wide-hipped carbon roof 328xi "competition" daily driver. I have a car issue.


Fast forward, and now i have a job that brings me to LA every 3 weeks and i'm sick of taking Lyft / Uber. It's time to get a "shitbox" commuter for a couple of years that will eventually become a dedicated track and canyon car.


I considered a bunch of options but keep coming back to the E86 Z4 Coupe (3.0si) – ideally with a 6-speed manual, but if i need to swap it eventually that's not a problem.

Regarding my "shitbox" comment – i mean it. I would buy a super high mileage, fucked up interior, bad paint, or even a well sorted salvage car as long as the frame isn't out of whack. I want this thing to be both cheap and reliable, so it can daily for a while and then i'll have no guilt stripping the shit out of it, caging it, and racing it.


So – is this a good idea, a bad idea? What wisdom does the braintrust here have to share with me to keep me on a good trajectory?


THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!
~David

[wdb]

It's a good idea, although finding a 3.0si manual will be the hard part. 828 total made for the North American market. The 3.0si is a very reliable and robust car -- for a BMW. Great motor and transmission, race car stiff even without a cage, definitely a sound platform for a track toy.

There used to be a white one with salvage title floating around for sale occasionally, might be a good candidate if you can find it. Good luck and keep us updated.

[86Zed]

In terms of track platform you are looking at a very low volume production chassis. Anything shared with an E46 / E46 M3 is readily supported in the track aftermarket (engine, brakes, cooling, etc.). MANY items are unique to the Z4 and folks have found custom solutions to support their track hobby - cage, aero, suspension, etc.

Those running the E86 and E86M as HPDE or wheel-to-wheel racecars do so because they love the car not because it is the fastest, cheapest, or most reliable solution. It has been done and I am highly envious of those who have gone down the path.

https://www.zpost.com/forums/showpos...9&postcount=71

Good luck! And TouringM3 that is one rad F31 I followed along on Social Media for a while.

[grannyknot]

If you want a cheap reliable shitbox, get a Honda Civic.
Even if you find a Z4 in terrible cond. with a cheap price tag the last thing it is going to be is reliable, not until you throw some money at it.

[Coi]

The 3.0si is definitely more reliable and cheaper to maintain than a Z4M. I haven't even tracked my Z4MR and despite service records and me doing a lot of preventative maintenance it's become bit of a money pit in my first couple years of ownership.

I'm sure you know all this, but the 3.0si is obviously pretty similar in reliability to any other N52 BMW. Lots of resources about common issues on these engines. Only mechanical difference with the Z4 is the power steering system. If you go through and replace the common leaky gaskets (valve cover, oil filter housing, etc.), replace mounts/bushings with something track-worthy (esp motor mounts and transmission mounts), and upgrade the cooling (water pump, thermostat, radiator, oil cooler) then you could have something relatively reliable. Will probably want to do all fluids, belts, pulleys, and maybe even coils/plugs right away considering the age of these cars. Electrical issues are always a possibility, but I think the LCI cars are generally ok as long as the battery and alternator are working properly. I guess if you're ripping a lot of the electronics out issues will be less likely. There's not much of an upgrade path in terms of power but I know some people here have done a lot with suspension, braking, and even aero.

By chance, someone just posed a salvage-title manual 3.0si manual coupe with under 100k miles on the classifieds of the forum a couple weeks ago: https://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1989738

They're a new forum member though with not much post history, so proceed with necessary caution. I've never looked at non-M Z4 coupe prices, let along salvage title ones, so I have no idea what a fair price would be. Maybe someone else could speak to that. Seeing as how people are saying it's an extremely rare spec, and therefore even rarer so with a salvage title, might be worth pursuing if the value proposition is there.

With a quick search I also found one in Georgia with 164k and a clean title listed for $14k: https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/1...-56cfc9aa98a2/

[Our03z4]

I have one that I might be willing to sell for the right price. Love the car but rarely drive it any more since getting my A8. 08 Z4C 3.0si in blue. Auto box though. Clean title as well. 102k miles has a few issues but I would/do feel safe driving it any where. Let me know your budget and if we are near the same page we can talk about it more.

[ADent]

There a Z4 coupe on Craigslist in Loveland, Colorado - $20K for 105,000 miles.

[dre99gsx]

3.0si electronic steering is not a detriment! It's not as "vague" as you think and has very good feel on the track. I have no complaints