WTB: Z4 M Coupe

[The Hunter]

Hi all, I'm on the hunt for a low milage Z4 M Coupe. I've been a long-time E46 M3 owner, but after driving the M Coupe I just can't get it out of my head, so I'm hoping the right car is out there.

Here's what I'm looking for, but I'm flexible as long as it's clean and well maintained:

Mileage - prefer <35k miles
Exterior Colors (in order of preference) - Interlagos Blue, Silvery Gray, Monaco Blue, Space Gray (open to others, but less interested in TiAG or black)
Interior Colors Prefer imola red for silver/gray cars, or black for blue cars, but this is flexible also
Options - prefer carbon or silver interior trim and no navigation
Condition - clean, well maintained, regular oil changes with records, no cars that have seen lots of inclement weather, no accidents
Mods - Open to cars with bolt-on mods, but prefer stock
Location - I'm in the Los Angeles area, prefer West coast or Southwest cars, but will travel or ship for the right car

Thanks!

[308tr6]

I searched for a few months for Space Gray and ended up with Monaco Blue, which I frankly didn't even know existed. Awesome color - doesn't photograph that well, most of the time it looks black or generally dull, but in person it is fantastic. It is THE rarest color I believe. I love it, and it is for sale for.....1 million, no...1 billion dollars! (Dr. Evil quote).
Cheers and good luck - in my experience you will need a bit of patience, but ya never know.....

[spockcat]

PM sent

[Semajuw]

http://www.alphacars.com/web/used/BM...etts/29154405/

Says "Pending" but it's worth a shot, the color scheme is not to my taste, but hopefully it's just vinyl, and easily removable...

[The Hunter]

Originally Posted by 308tr6

I searched for a few months for Space Gray and ended up with Monaco Blue, which I frankly didn't even know existed. Awesome color - doesn't photograph that well, most of the time it looks black or generally dull, but in person it is fantastic. It is THE rarest color I believe. I love it, and it is for sale for.....1 million, no...1 billion dollars! (Dr. Evil quote).
Cheers and good luck - in my experience you will need a bit of patience, but ya never know.....

Thanks! I love Monaco Blue also. Such a unique color. I think patience is good advice. I'm definately willing to wait for the right car. Let me know if you change your mind about that asking price .

Originally Posted by Semajuw

http://www.alphacars.com/web/used/BM...etts/29154405/

Says "Pending" but it's worth a shot, the color scheme is not to my taste, but hopefully it's just vinyl, and easily removable...

Thanks for the recommendation! I also share your dislike of the color scheme and assumed it was paint, but you're right, it's worth a shot. I'll give them a call.

[Semajuw]

I skimmed through the description, found the following:

If you are not a fan of two-tone exterior look, we can revert it to the original if desired.

Now let's just hope it isn't sold yet!

[The Hunter]

Originally Posted by Semajuw

I skimmed through the description, found the following:

Now let's just hope it isn't sold yet!

Sounds like they have a sale in progress , but they confirmed that it is paint, so I guess that's the silver lining... or light blue lining.

[boydgti]

I have a red one with 16000miles on it if u are interested.

[The Hunter]

Originally Posted by boydgti

I have a red one with 16000miles on it if u are interested.

PM Sent

[The Hunter]

I've come across a few great M Coupes, but still haven't found "the one".

I did come across a Monaco blue car, but it has around 60k miles and has had four owners, with little documentation of service history. Does anyone have a guess for a fair price for that car? I'm guessing $25-27k based on zwest1's graph, but not sure.

[RickySixx6]

Originally Posted by The Hunter

I've come across a few great M Coupes, but still haven't found "the one".

I did come across a Monaco blue car, but it has around 60k miles and has had four owners, with little documentation of service history. Does anyone have a guess for a fair price for that car? I'm guessing $25-27k based on zwest1's graph, but not sure.

If it's the one in Texas you'll be disappointed. Its been enjoyed more than it has been taken care of if you know what i mean.

[The Hunter]

Originally Posted by RickySixx6

If it's the one in Texas you'll be disappointed. Its been enjoyed more than it has been taken care of if you know what i mean.

I saw that one on autotrader and got that impression also. The one I found was not for sale, but I convinced the owner to consider parting with it . It looks like it's in really good shape, but I would prefer a car with lower miles and fewer owners. The question is whether to compromise or be patient .

[crfine88]

Originally Posted by The Hunter

I saw that one on autotrader and got that impression also. The one I found was not for sale, but I convinced the owner to consider parting with it . It looks like it's in really good shape, but I would prefer a car with lower miles and fewer owners. The question is whether to compromise or be patient .

Be patient and snag the one you want

[The HACK]

Originally Posted by The Hunter

I did come across a Monaco blue car, but it has around 60k miles and has had four owners, with little documentation of service history. Does anyone have a guess for a fair price for that car? I'm guessing $25-27k based on zwest1's graph, but not sure.

For a car like that, I would take it to a local mechanic and have them go over it with a fine tooth comb. At least with the MZ4 Coupe, anything that should have a tell tale sign of being seriously abused will show up...And anything that doesn't, a pampered car isn't going to be any less susceptible to the problems that can't be seen with a PPI.

The advantage to such a car, is if you can buy it for a little bit less than say, a pristine '08 with 20,000 miles that's been babied, is BOTH car is going to require a good mechanic to tear down the pan to inspect the bearing, and both car is going to require a mechanic to take the head off to inspect the VANOS bolt and the VANOS unit tab. So, a 60K mile car with 4 owners, at $25K plus $4-5K worth of tear down for bearing replacement AND VANOS work, will probably run as strong and for as long as the 20K mile garage queen that will likely command $32-35K.

Of course, if the mechanic finds signs of a leaky head gasket, transmission, or a variety of other repairs for the $25K, 60,000 mile car without documentation? Negotiate down. There's nothing on this car that is going to require a metric butt-ton of $$$ to fix that can't be seen. It's pretty simple mechanically and fairly stout. The MZ4 Coupe sits on the precipice of when BMWs gets too complicated and too hard to fix for most. It's the last of the "mechanical" BMWs where you can still fix a wide variety of things without having to involve special hardware AND software.

[The Hunter]

Originally Posted by crfine88

Be patient and snag the one you want

I think you're right. Tough to wait though. Must...be...strong...

Originally Posted by The HACK

The advantage to such a car, is if you can buy it for a little bit less than say, a pristine '08 with 20,000 miles that's been babied, is BOTH car is going to require a good mechanic to tear down the pan to inspect the bearing, and both car is going to require a mechanic to take the head off to inspect the VANOS bolt and the VANOS unit tab. So, a 60K mile car with 4 owners, at $25K plus $4-5K worth of tear down for bearing replacement AND VANOS work, will probably run as strong and for as long as the 20K mile garage queen that will likely command $32-35K.

Good points, thanks for your input!

Asking $32-35k for a 20k mile car seems reasonable (and what I was expecting). I have had several people reach out with low milage cars and all of them have been in the $38-40k range. As much as I love the Z4M, that kind of money makes me think 911.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by The Hunter

Asking $32-35k for a 20k mile car seems reasonable (and what I was expecting). I have had several people reach out with low milage cars and all of them have been in the $38-40k range. As much as I love the Z4M, that kind of money makes me think 911.

If you want a 911 you should buy one. They sold over 13,000 911s in North America in 2007 alone so you should have an easy time finding one that suits your tastes.

[The Hunter]

Originally Posted by wdb

If you want a 911 you should buy one. They sold over 13,000 911s in North America in 2007 alone so you should have an easy time finding one that suits your tastes.

I think you misunderstood. I'm a BMW enthusiast, and not interested in a 911. I just don't think that's where the Z4M market is right now (see this thread). I have seen several cars with around 20k miles come up for sale in the $32-35k range, so I think I would be a fool to pay $40k rather than waiting for the right car for a fair price. The cars priced in the high $30k's and low $40k's with 20-35k miles seem to sit on the market until the seller realizes it's over priced and sell lower. That kind of money is reserved for collector quality cars with <10k miles.

See the M Coupe Buyer's Guide website tracked sales, sorted by ascending milage.

[The HACK]

Originally Posted by The Hunter

Asking $32-35k for a 20k mile car seems reasonable (and what I was expecting). I have had several people reach out with low milage cars and all of them have been in the $38-40k range. As much as I love the Z4M, that kind of money makes me think 911.

To be fair though, back when E30 M3s were in the low teens, I thought of picking up a relatively low mileage one for sh*ts and giggles, only because that was the car that made the boy in me fell in love with cars in general. Came across a handful of 76-100K mile examples and the owners all want between $12k-18K for it, and I balked at the idea, at the time, of paying nearly $20k for a 15 year old car.

Then the market for E30 M3s started to take off, and those same condition cars star to fetch $20k easily. I had a few more opportunity to buy real clean E30 M3s, but always thought the owners were smoking crack for demanding THAT sort of premium.

Fast forward another 5-8 years, now even if I wanted to buy a beaten down E30 M3 and clean it up and restore it, I can't afford it. It's at a point where any running copy will fetch $50k, easily. Now even if I want one bad enough, I can't justify a $50k purchase, then sink another $15-20k to fix it up, just so I can drive and own my childhood dream car occasionally.

I wouldn't quite turn the guys that want $38-40k for their coupes away just yet. If they're just reaching out to test the waters, they're unlikely to budge. If they're selling at that price because of life changes, like a pie in the oven or leaving the state for good because FBI, I would just reach out every 5 days to see if they'll reconsider their price.

[The Hunter]

I think you're right. I have found that if you wait and reach out again later, they are much more flexible on pricing. But when someone starts at $40k, I don't even counter offer because we would be so far apart, I don't want them to think I am low balling them. And if they can get that price elsewhere, then more power to them.

I had the same experience as you did with the E30. Part of the reason I'm looking to buy now is because I have seen what the E30 M3, E28 M5, clown shoe M Coupes, air cooled 911, and such markets have done and regretted not buying those when I could afford them. I think the same thing is now starting with the E46 M3s, particularly the ZCP cars.

[zoomzoomvaroom]

I am testing some of your theories by posting my 10k garage baby for $41k. I love the car and love to drive it which is a problem because it is a low mileage car. I don't expect to get much activity on it and am perfectly ok with that. My advice to you is not to settle and to wait for what you want. I think some of us posting low mileage cars for above average prices are a lot like me and are looking to justify keeping it. The price we attach to it may not have much basis in reality but were ok with that. Good luck on your hunt. Mine took me a few years to find.

[The Hunter]

Originally Posted by zoomzoomvaroom

I am testing some of your theories by posting my 10k garage baby for $41k. I love the car and love to drive it which is a problem because it is a low mileage car. I don't expect to get much activity on it and am perfectly ok with that. My advice to you is not to settle and to wait for what you want. I think some of us posting low mileage cars for above average prices are a lot like me and are looking to justify keeping it. The price we attach to it may not have much basis in reality but were ok with that. Good luck on your hunt. Mine took me a few years to find.

Best of luck! And thanks for the words of encouragement!

[SDCoupe]

Originally Posted by RickySixx6

If it's the one in Texas you'll be disappointed. Its been enjoyed more than it has been taken care of if you know what i mean.

Anything wrong with that Texas car? Somebody check it out already?