WTB Z4 M Coupe

[AssassinGT]

BIMMERPOST / Classifieds

Asking Price:

None

Item Interest

Hey guys, looking into buying a Z4 Coupe.. would like it t be an M. Southern California buyer.

I'd be open to any colors except Red.. (Sorry I just don't want to be a police magnet)
I'd want to keep the price under $25,000 because of my budget. Which means I'll be open to high mileage cars. Just so long as that it's a coupe with 6SPD Manual that would be great. Not open to roadsters, not that I don't like them but I just love the way the coupe shape looks and have always wanted one.

Hope to hear some good news!

[Finnegan]

Higher mileage M Coupes are a tough find. Best bet is to keep an eye on autotrader and the like day to day and be prepared to ship or travel. Not many I've seen here with 75K miles and up, and IMO a car is going to need to be at that mileage at least to hit the budget target. Then again, who knows, maybe someone has a long commute and is itching to sell. Can't hurt to ask like you just did.

[AssassinGT]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

Higher mileage M Coupes are a tough find. Best bet is to keep an eye on autotrader and the like day to day and be prepared to ship or travel. Not many I've seen here with 75K miles and up, and IMO a car is going to need to be at that mileage at least to hit the budget target. Then again, who knows, maybe someone has a long commute and is itching to sell. Can't hurt to ask like you just did.

Yeah I've been seeing them around; but it seems most of the ones I see that I'd want to pull the trigger on, are on the east coast. I got a quote that it's around 1100 to ship the car over to California; so factoring that in with the budget it will be hard to find one with decent miles. I was hoping if anyone could chime in if they have experience with higher mileage ZM Coupes, and the reliability that comes with it.

[txz4]

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

ask and you shall receive. In California.

[AssassinGT]

Originally Posted by txz4

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

ask and you shall receive. In California.

Yeah, I had called the dealership about that inquiry already. I'm going to go take a look at it later in the week. Thanks though!

PS: I'll be honest; I was holding out for something with a navigation.

[Mtxzptlk]

Originally Posted by AssassinGT

Yeah, I had called the dealership about that inquiry already. I'm going to go take a look at it later in the week. Thanks though!

PS: I'll be honest; I was holding out for something with a navigation.

Good luck, hope it works out for you.

Don't worry about the navigation.

It's quite dated now compared to what's out there presently.

[Hoa]

mines have navigation and i never use it because its horrible. it is worse than my phone or garmin. i have the updated firmware and 2011 nav discs as well

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by AssassinGT

PS: I'll be honest; I was holding out for something with a navigation.

Originally Posted by Mtxzptlk

Don't worry about the navigation.

It's quite dated now compared to what's out there presently.

Originally Posted by Hoa

mines have navigation and i never use it because its horrible. it is worse than my phone or garmin. i have the updated firmware and 2011 nav discs as well

[AssassinGT]

Hmmm, well I guess that's news to me. I guess i'll be sticking to my iPhone maps yet again. Thanks for the tip!

[l4zy]

oh sheit another e46 to z4 guy soon! wuddup andrew!

BTW +1 on the gps being dated. dont bother with it! any garmin or tomtom is better....no kidding. its only cool because its motorized...haha

[AssassinGT]

Originally Posted by l4zy

oh sheit another e46 to z4 guy soon! wuddup andrew!

BTW +1 on the gps being dated. dont bother with it! any garmin or tomtom is better....no kidding. its only cool because its motorized...haha

Oh Damn, What's up Dennis! I didn't know you owned a Z4M?! How do you like it?

[Gripster]

With your budget you might want to consider a 3.0si coupe instead of an M. Decent high mileage, well maintained M-coupes under $30k are going to be rare. Service history is a must with the M especially when it has plenty of miles on the clock. You will more readily find a nice 3.0si in that price range - and while a lot of them have automatic trannys, keep searching and you will find quite a few 6MTs. If you want to drive a 3.0si coupe, Carmax has one near you. You might find that it's less of a compromise than you think. The N52 motor in the 3.0si is a torquey little thing and makes for a lot of fun when mated with the 6-speed tranny, Sport mode and DTC off .

I got my 6MT 3.0si with Sport Package, Navi and 76k miles for substantially less than your budget and couldn't be happier with it. As a second car / weekend toy it was hard to justify the cost of the M coupe and the lower maintenance costs are a plus.

All of this said - if you want the M, get the M because you will always want the M!. Just be prepared to spend a bit more dough. And for God's sake, don't buy an M-car with questionable history just because it's in your price range. I went through this on the hunt for a low-priced M3 - there are plenty of bargains, but many had missed the valve adjustment, inspection II etc.. People buy them and don't maintain them. A pre-buy inspection is a must.

Good luck!

[AssassinGT]

Originally Posted by Gripster

With your budget you might want to consider a 3.0si coupe instead of an M. Decent high mileage, well maintained M-coupes under $30k are going to be rare. Service history is a must with the M especially when it has plenty of miles on the clock. You will more readily find a nice 3.0si in that price range - and while a lot of them have automatic trannys, keep searching and you will find quite a few 6MTs. If you want to drive a 3.0si coupe, Carmax has one near you. You might find that it's less of a compromise than you think. The N52 motor in the 3.0si is a torquey little thing and makes for a lot of fun when mated with the 6-speed tranny, Sport mode and DTC off .

I got my 6MT 3.0si with Sport Package, Navi and 76k miles for substantially less than your budget and couldn't be happier with it. As a second car / weekend toy it was hard to justify the cost of the M coupe and the lower maintenance costs are a plus.

All of this said - if you want the M, get the M because you will always want the M!. Just be prepared to spend a bit more dough. And for God's sake, don't buy an M-car with questionable history just because it's in your price range. I went through this on the hunt for a low-priced M3 - there are plenty of bargains, but many had missed the valve adjustment, inspection II etc.. People buy them and don't maintain them. A pre-buy inspection is a must.

Good luck!

You know, it's funny you mention that car because I remember taking a good look at it for a while thinking that is a great alternative. I am still holding onto the thought of it, because that Montego blue is just stunning when it's waxed. For the lower cost of maintenance, how much is lower exactly? Are we talking nearly more than half the price it would cost to service an M?

Another question is, for the PPI(Pre-purchase inspection), did you have a mechanic actually go with you to a dealer? Because seemingly in my situation it would happen that I'd be going to a used car dealer such as a carmax persay. Would they show some sort of documentation of them already getting a PPI do you think or is it better to demand that you get your own?

Thanks for the help! It's much appreciated.

[zBone]

I bought an M Coupe with 42xxx miles on it recently for under 28k, perfectly maintained, clean title etc; has all options except ext leather and nav. I think you can do it, but be prepared to be a slave to autotrader alerts. I was placing 2-3 calls a day to dealerships around the country as soon as I saw they had one in inventory. In the end, I got what I wanted for the price I was willing to pay; it just took me 3 months of work to do so.

Good luck with your search!

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by torabone

I was placing 2-3 calls a day to dealerships around the country as soon as I saw they had one in inventory. In the end, I got what I wanted for the price I was willing to pay; it just took me 3 months of work to do so.

I remember those days, but it seems like it would be much harder now. Autotrader shows fewer than 40 for sale in the US (less than one/state), and it used to be double that regularly; average asking price is almost $31k as well. Ebay always had a lot of M Coupes and now they've got 1 listed and it's been wrecked. Enthusiast Auto in OH has four on their website and a lot of Z3MC owners think they're almost solely responsible for keeping nice examples of those cars priced high as they've been snapping up nice ones for years before the average guy has a shot, then they charge a premium. If they've started on Z4MCs...

[HOG4DNR]

Mine has Nav and I never use it, but I prefer interface for the radio and iPod.

Just my 2 cents

[ruscoupe]

Originally Posted by AssassinGT

You know, it's funny you mention that car because I remember taking a good look at it for a while thinking that is a great alternative.

It's a GREAT freeking alternative! Seriously, the 3.0si is a nice ride and the N52 is a fantastic engine. IIRC, it was (at the time anyway) one of best engines going (light, Ward's Top 10, etc). In Sports mode especially, it just feels crazy fast. I've had an E36 M3 and S52 M, and it's hands down quicker than both of those (albeit some would argue the S52 wasn't a true ///M engine, but I digress). I was open to the MZ4 and the 3.0si Coupe, and obviously I went with the latter, mostly because I found one helluva deal on one I couldn't pass up. But it didn't hurt any that I didn't want to be paying for valve adjustments and such anymore. Been there, done that.

I had the S54 in the old E46 M3 and while it's a badass engine, like others have already said it requires a little more maintenance (read: $$$). The S54 is solid, but so is the N52. And as far as power goes, the S54 is really only going to pull away from the N52 up there in the RPM's.

That said, I agree with what "that other guy" said. If you really want an ///M, get it. Because the last thing you want to deal with is buyer's remorse. I'll give the MZ4 this, cool looking hood, nice front end, and I damn near orgasm over quad exhausts.

But if you're looking for good reliability, enough power for most any 'real' need you're ever gonna have (unless you're a track junkie, then you always want the most you can $$$) and whose rarity is just the same as the MZ4 (except to those MZ4 owners that repeat production numbers in their prayers each night...lol), the Z4 3.0si might be just the car you're looking for.

I'm loving the little bitch myself.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Rus

[txz4]

not exaggerating on the if you want an M buy an M thing. I owned a z4coupe for six months before making the jump to an M. Many on the forum have the same stories, be sure your sure when you buy. they may both be z4's but are completely different drivers, at least in my experience.

[mshanno1]

If the 3.0si had the same hood, bumpers, quad exhaust, and interior as the M coupe, I probably would have kept my 3.0si; however, mine is my DD.

[l4zy]

Originally Posted by AssassinGT

Oh Damn, What's up Dennis! I didn't know you owned a Z4M?! How do you like it?

It's an awesome car! I love the heck out of it!

The other posts are pretty spot on with their advice. Finding a good Z4M in that price range might take a while. As others have said, the 3.0si is a pretty good alternative. It has lots of low end torque so it makes a great city car.

If you are willing to go over your budget a bit here is a beautiful z4m being sold by Nikki. The color is sooo nice in person, if I didn't already have my car I'd be all over this one.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by l4zy

It's an awesome car! I love the heck out of it!

The other posts are pretty spot on with their advice. Finding a good Z4M in that price range might take a while. As others have said, the 3.0si is a pretty good alternative. It has lots of low end torque so it makes a great city car.

If you are willing to go over your budget a bit here is a beautiful z4m being sold by Nikki. The color is sooo nice in person, if I didn't already have my car I'd be all over this one.

I was just going to suggest that too! It's quite a rare and beautiful color too, one that's grown on me over time. Nikki is So Cal as well, so no shipping. The 3.0 option is also a good one, but if you're set on the M, patience will be a virtue in this case.

[Pheonix]

Great advices guys! Go with your heart. The Navi on our cars suck }#€¥£ I hardly use my and wish that it didnot come with it (nor the stereo).