New Z4MR Owner - Insight needed (solved)

[rockstar93]

Well everyone, after years of dreaming I finally had the chance to join the Z community. As a kid I always worshipped my Burago E36/7 M Roadster 1:18 model, I attribute that car to my growing passion (some say obsession) with cars but more specifically BMW ///M cars. Since then I've always dreamed of owning a M Coupe or Roadster, but the time was never right. Either I had the money and couldn't find a clean one, or vice-versa.

October of last year the stars aligned and I bought my first car, an E46 M3 6MT. I absolutely loved it, it was clean and exactly as I wanted. Unfortunately, well on a Bimmercruise with 50+ other cars I was cut off by a girl in an F-250 Superduty as she was pulling out of a gas station. She claimed that she was too busy telling her daughter to put on her seatbelt and distracted by kids on the side of the road. Wrote the car off and left me really heartbroken.



I guess they say everything happens for a reason, a couple days after settling with the scumbags at the insurance company a 2007 Z4MR was posted on kijiji (Canadian Craigslist) and I knew right away it was a deal. Made the 3 hour trek to check out the car and it was immaculate, put a deposit on it and picked it up the next week.

Specs:

2007 Z4M Roadster
Imola Red/Black w/ wood trim
Fully loaded except for extended leather and hard top
12,300 miles - she rolled over 20,000km on the drive home
OEM wind deflector, 'silver' and black roll bar covers, and ///M floor mats all included
3M clear vinyl protection on front bumper, front of the hood/fenders, headlights, mirrors, side skirts, rear bumper behind the wheels, and the trunk sill

I bought it from a lady who got it as a 50th birthday gift at 800 miles. She owned it since 2007 and barely drove it. I'm told wherever she took it she put a car cover over it and she never took it out in the rain. The best part? She had no idea what she had and just listed it for the book value so I got it for a little under $28k CAD (<$22.6 USD).

Some pictures...







I'm beyond in love with this car. Still haven't owned it long enough to decide on whether I prefer the drive of this or the E46 but I'm shocked at the difference considering the similarities.

I have to extend my thanks to all of you on this forum, you've been extremely helpful in my hunt for this car, I checked out a few before this came up. My only 'concern' is the below. This blue piece was found in the front suspension during the safety inspection. This was in the driver's side, broken, and the passenger's side was missing. I have no idea what it is, but my gut says it was put in at the factory to hold the suspension during shipment and wasn't taken out during the PDI. Am I correct or should I be more worried?

Edit: seems it was in fact put in at the factory and supposed to be removed during the PDI but was overlooked. Thanks all for confirming!



I look forward to being part of this community! Just yesterday I was driving on the highway when another Z4MR passed. Both of us were all smiles and thumbs up, greatest feeling ever.

[NickyC]

As an owner of an E46 M3 and now on my second Z4M, you now have a car which is 100x better in my opinion. I've had a ton of fun stuff over the years, and the Z4M is my favorite car of all time. I have no doubt you'll enjoy it as much as the rest of us do, it is no doubt a hidden treasure of a car. However, I'm not sure I agree with the "didn't know what she had" statement. Yes, to you and I the car should be worth double what you paid, but these cars are VERY hard to sell. You're taking a near 10 year old BMW that alone scares people out of their mind, then add in the facts it's a two seater with little to no storage capacity. It's a toy really. Book value is a good sales price in my opinion, but you did do well on a car with that few miles. For comparison, I bought my 06 Z4M last year with 50k miles on it for $19.9k.

I have no clue what that blue thing is however, I've never seen it before. Good luck, I doubt it's anything to be worried about.

Also, if you don't like the wood trim (my second car came with it and I wrapped it the same day I bought the car), you can look into vinyl wrapping the interior pieces. It's fun to do yourself, and everything can be done within a day.

[AmmarYasirA]

Wow. Congrats on the car AND the price. I'd forget all about my color combo for that price/mileage.

[Vanne]

lol the blue thing is still from when the car was transported to the dealer when it came from the factory. I guess that means the miles are authentic as they are normally removed before delivery to the customer. Nice mate, very nice indeed.

[cooticooti16]

Great purchase. Hopefully I have as much luck as you did finding yours.

R.

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by Vanne

lol the blue thing is still from when the car was transported to the dealer when it came from the factory. I guess that means the miles are authentic as they are normally removed before delivery to the customer. Nice mate, very nice indeed.

^whs.
It's a shipping spacer for the springs.
These were missed on a regular basis on newly delivered cars.

Congrats on finding a fantastic car!
Stars were definitely in alignment for you to score this one

[Beedub]

look how clean the underside of that car is!! wow!!! SUPER lucky find, look after it, one like that is definitely collectable!

[Dalecan]

The car looks like top notch condition, excellent find!

[rockstar93]

Originally Posted by NickyC

As an owner of an E46 M3 and now on my second Z4M, you now have a car which is 100x better in my opinion. I've had a ton of fun stuff over the years, and the Z4M is my favorite car of all time. I have no doubt you'll enjoy it as much as the rest of us do, it is no doubt a hidden treasure of a car. However, I'm not sure I agree with the "didn't know what she had" statement. Yes, to you and I the car should be worth double what you paid, but these cars are VERY hard to sell. You're taking a near 10 year old BMW that alone scares people out of their mind, then add in the facts it's a two seater with little to no storage capacity. It's a toy really. Book value is a good sales price in my opinion, but you did do well on a car with that few miles. For comparison, I bought my 06 Z4M last year with 50k miles on it for $19.9k.

Also, if you don't like the wood trim (my second car came with it and I wrapped it the same day I bought the car), you can look into vinyl wrapping the interior pieces. It's fun to do yourself, and everything can be done within a day.

As much as I loved the E46, this is no doubt a lot more special. I have to admit, I think I preferred the mapping on the M3, or maybe I just got used to that. The throttle seemed a bit more smooth when I start rolling. Nothing I can't get used to though.

And there's no denying the E46 was more practical, but at my age and point of life I really don't have any use for the back seat or trunk so this makes more sense.

And to your point, she definitely knew what she had was special but she was new to the buying/selling process and didn't know it's worth. In my area Z4MR's are easily selling for higher. The closest car to this was an 07 IB/Black with 35,000km (~22k miles) and sold for $31,500 CAD. It made me a believer that there are deals to be had if you're quick. I really did get lucky.

Regarding the wood trim, when I saw the picture she posted of it in the ad I thought it definitely needed to go. When I saw it in person my mind changed immediately as it was clear the picture she took was just overexposed and did not do the wood justice. I think I'll be keeping it as is unless I find a good deal on authentic CF pieces (this is what I had in my M3 and thought it looked really nice).

This is the picture she posted of the trim:

Originally Posted by AmmarYasirA

Wow. Congrats on the car AND the price. I'd forget all about my color combo for that price/mileage.

Thanks! Things worked out well for me as I was hoping for an Imola Red car to begin with. I was close to buying a Silver Grey/Imola before this was posted just because the price/condition was right but I'm glad I held out. The only combo I think I would prefer is Interlagos/Black, I've always had a soft spot for that colour.

Originally Posted by Vanne

lol the blue thing is still from when the car was transported to the dealer when it came from the factory. I guess that means the miles are authentic as they are normally removed before delivery to the customer. Nice mate, very nice indeed.

That's what I thought it was, glad I was right and it isn't anything to be concerned about. I had heard manufacturers put spacers in the suspension during transportation to keep it from bottoming out so assumed this must be it.

[yousefnjr]

Great car and smoking deal, welcome aboard!

[Finnegan]

What a find and price!

Welcome, and enjoy!

[kaybat]

nice find! I have the imola red as well,enjoy.