just a little z4 info from Japan

[rusty_sojah]

not super relevant to most people but i just found out something very amusing to me yesterday.

so i bought a 04 z4 3.0i (automatic, as couldn't find a manual 3.0 in my price range) about a year ago and now i'm hooked. i keep reading and seeing the possibilities for the z4m on this site so i decided to do a search to see what was available.

the site Goo cars is like the largest online site for cars here in japan, its like the autotrader site in the states.

there is 1 single z4m in manual for sale in all of japan (there are a ton on non manual and non M's presently) right now on that site, and its is $36,000 dollars roughly,, ummmm no.

i was surprised that there were so few manuals. but not really if i think about it, as at some point in the last 10 years japan has made a strict distinction in their drivers licenses. it is very expensive and difficult to get a license here in japan and the base license only allows the operation of automatic cars, to get a manual you have to pay more and take additional classes and behind the wheel lessons apparently; plus exams. so in the last 10 years japan has sold a lot less manual cars and produces/imports even fewer for the JDM masses... so in older cars you can find a lot more manuals available but in newer models they seem few and far between,, so sad....

[StickMon]

That is sad. Very sad.
Don't you just love when the government does things like this "to keep you safe"?

[chickdr]

FYI the Z4M is only available in manual form. $36K doesn't sound outrageous since there is only one available. Some of them(low mileage garage queens) are priced like that over here as well. I was expecting you to say it was priced at $50k USD.

[Gladius]

Given the supply, 36k is not unreasonable. Out of your budget, maybe, but not unrealistic. How many miles on it?

[rusty_sojah]

36k plus shipping and all the inspections fees would prolly run more like 39k$. for a used z4 that is too expensive. i would rather get a 911 or try to find a newer spyder for that. i might even consider the lex IS-C (350 sport) and do a second vip car (but this would have defeated the purpose of getting a sporty fun to drive weekend convertible)

but if it was in the low 20's and i can sell my current one, then 'upgrading' would not be out of the question.


@chickdr yeah you are right all the other manuals were hard tops on second look...

[604skyline]

somewhat off-topic....

there was a local '07 m coupe here in vancouver, white on red with 41,000km's on it, lasted one day at the dealership and then was sold, was listed for $41,900 canadian....

[rusty_sojah]

anything on red is my least favorite combo,, pretty much anything with red interior or saddle (not sure if BM uses saddle) is not gonna make my list.

but i guess these cars can be in high demand it seems in the right combo.

[chickdr]

Originally Posted by rusty_sojah

36k plus shipping and all the inspections fees would prolly run more like 39k$. for a used z4 that is too expensive. i would rather get a 911 or try to find a newer spyder for that. i might even consider the lex IS-C (350 sport) and do a second vip car (but this would have defeated the purpose of getting a sporty fun to drive weekend convertible)

but if it was in the low 20's and i can sell my current one, then 'upgrading' would not be out of the question.


@chickdr yeah you are right all the other manuals were hard tops on second look...

What I mean is ANY Z4M (coupe or roadster) is manual only. The only way to get an automatic 2003-2008 Z4 is to get a non-m. An IS-C is not even in the same ballpark as a Z4(M or not). You could look for a Z4 3.0si manual which should be cheaper than an M version and still lots of fun. Not preferring the white over red will save you some money as that seems to be the rare and valuable combo. That is what I wanted when I got mine, but none were available.

[rusty_sojah]

well sweet, i found an 06 (says made in oct '06; japan is weird about putting the exact month and year a car is made) z4m in manual (obviously right¿) for $25,000 here in japan. only problem is that it is LHD and red interior:

http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/used...002/index.html

if i could sell my current one i think i could make this happen,, but it has red interior and LHD,,,

or the next cheapest just now is a rhd 07 z4m black interior less mileage (is kiloage a word) for $31,000... not sure the wife could be convinced that my second weekend car needs to cost $31k

which would you prefer ^ ^ ^ (keep in mind we drive on the left side of the road here).

http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/used...001/index.html

[Nate4641]

That black and red looks pretty good to me. Although being LHD might be weird over there.

I'm also a little bias towards the IB roadster. The nav in that is different too, wonder if thats just an asian version or something else.

[Yvette]

Originally Posted by 604skyline

somewhat off-topic....

there was a local '07 m coupe here in vancouver, white on red with 41,000km's on it, lasted one day at the dealership and then was sold, was listed for $41,900 canadian....

yeah no need to sell z4m below 30K even privately here in vancouver.

[rusty_sojah]

Originally Posted by Nate4641

That black and red looks pretty good to me. Although being LHD might be weird over there.

I'm also a little bias towards the IB roadster. The nav in that is different too, wonder if thats just an asian version or something else.

What exactly is IB roadster?

And i believe the nav is the same just different software, unless it was changes out with aftermarket which is the most common mod found in japan.

[Nate4641]

Interlagos Blue. Same color as my roadster.

Are you Okinawan or military stationed there?

[Arsonism]

I have to support the price. That's a loose feeler price probably as well. It is something that could be negotiated down but the fact that it's the only one in Japan should say more about that price to begin with.

I almost like the idea of requiring extra licensing credentials for manual drivers but at the same time I feel it should be a requirement for a base license (to get qualified on driving a manual). It just makes people better drivers in general as they understand more about what makes a car work and not just that left is stop and right is go.

[rusty_sojah]

@nate - i am actually a civilian, was AF here for my first assignment from 02-04 and got out 07. i wanted to come back to live in okinawa from the moment i left and finally in june 2012 i got a nice civilian job here. life is good again

@skiddish - i think learning to drive on a manual should be a requirement for all drivers because i also feel that it makes folks better drivers. but it seems like they intentionally tried to make it more difficult here in japan to obtain the manual authorized license, since it is added classes, added money, an additional behind the wheel test, and written test. this puts off most people and probably hurts a few that would like to own stick shift cars.

honestly after hearing from many how difficult it is to obtain even a straight up base license here in japan i would think they would all be on Ken Gushi's level, but it is very much the contrary on these roads here in okinawa.

in mainland in or near major cities driving is a luxury not a necessity so those that have cars either want them or have extra means and well still want them. here in okinawa cars are a necessity since there is no reliable mass transit so pretty much you have a bunch of bad drivers all on a small island.

i came from the dc area prior to moving back to oki and believe me we had our fare share of bad drivers in the dc area but here in oki it is on another level of bad. it just seems like a big lack of caring about ones driving skills. most locals have such 1d tunnel vision they just stare at the brake lights of the car in front of them and nothing more... this is my biggest pet peeve of living here... i love it other than the horrible drivers

[rusty_sojah]

back to cars though, i know there is a master list of NHTSA approved vehicles that are allowed to be imported (i check it regularly; don't ask). but the 03-07 z4's are never on it. i know these cars are obviously in the states driving no problem so does this mean that it is allowed to be imported into the states and therefore not needed to actually be on the nhtsa list?

what i'm getting at is that if the black '06 LHD was allowed to be shipped back to the states (titled/registered at a DMV) then i could very easily justify the 25$k since well if i was somehow told i had to go back to the US i could just ship it back there.

[Twixboy]

Originally Posted by rusty_sojah

i was surprised that there were so few manuals. but not really if i think about it, as at some point in the last 10 years japan has made a strict distinction in their drivers licenses. it is very expensive and difficult to get a license here in japan and the base license only allows the operation of automatic cars, to get a manual you have to pay more and take additional classes and behind the wheel lessons apparently; plus exams. so in the last 10 years japan has sold a lot less manual cars and produces/imports even fewer for the JDM masses... so in older cars you can find a lot more manuals available but in newer models they seem few and far between,, so sad....

Was the law passed to dissuade the young drivers from becoming dorifto king wannabes?

[nemex12]

Originally Posted by rusty_sojah

36k plus shipping and all the inspections fees would prolly run more like 39k$. for a used z4 that is too expensive. i would rather get a 911 or try to find a newer spyder for that. i might even consider the lex IS-C (350 sport) and do a second vip car (but this would have defeated the purpose of getting a sporty fun to drive weekend convertible)

but if it was in the low 20's and i can sell my current one, then 'upgrading' would not be out of the question.


@chickdr yeah you are right all the other manuals were hard tops on second look...

in Colombia you can't find one under 50000 so consider yourself lucky

[rusty_sojah]

i really don't know why they are doing this in japan but every year they are making less and less manual cars. i hardly know any japanese people who are even qualified (who have taken the manual license test at their dmv equivalent and have it stamped on their license) to purchase and operate one.

i was also searching for audi and porsche 911's in manual and wouldn't you know there are only a handful in all of japan that are in newer models. most are a little above, okay a lot above my price range ATM.

i just sold my white toyota crown athlete (in the sig pic below) and bought another vip car last week (toyota crown majesta). the car arrived from kobe but the body kit won't be here for another week or two more.

this pic below is the catalog pic of what the car i bought with the kit i just bought will look like. it will soon have air susp on it and will hopefully be able to sit this low as in the pic below.




this pic is of the wheels i just bought on a similar looking car, just for reference.

i also just bought a used set of aimgain G 19" wheels with like 3.5 and 4.5" lips. they are used but when they came in they looked better than most used wheels i've ever seen in the states. they were like 1/5 the price they were when they were new so i couldn't resist. man one thing about japan is that stuff really gets cheap when it is 'used' here. its like no one wants used stuff and the value is little to nothing. well that is fine for me since i've been scooping up all the parts i can from UPGARAGE.com since finding this out. too bad they don't have many bmw parts on there. i got my stock m6 19" wheels (like a month old) with tires (like a month old) on that site last year for like 500$.

[Finnegan]

Man, and we think government intrusion is bad here! (It is, but comparatively!)

So still no chance of importing?

[chickdr]

I never understood the "dragging the ground" look on a luxury car. Seems like that defeats the purpose of the smooth ride. I watched a video from Japan once with a bunch of those type of cars leaving a parking lot. Every one was dragging the ground on the way out and some lost their bumpers.