Buying a E85 Z4M

[tom2021]

Hi all,

Looking into buying a 2006 E85 Z4M roadster.
2006 is the first production year.
As always there were glitches.
However, after 18 years, I presume previous owners fixed the issues already.

I will ask for a pre-purchase inspection before committing to buying.

Should I avoid the 2006 E85 Z4M roadster?

Any thoughts?
Thanks.

[wdb]

I wouldn't worry about the year. Everything in the car had been around for years before it went to the Z4M.

[onebluemcm]

I'll second that, not a whole lot actually new to it in 06. S54s made before late '06 probably still have an early version of camshaft bolts that have had limited reports of breaking. My '07 M coupe with build date of October 6 2006 had the early bolts which I swapped when I was in there for VANOS preventative work. I almost hate mentioning the cam bolts because the fail rate seems really low. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything else the 06s had that the latter ones don't.

[pokeybritches]

One difference with the ‘06 is that it uses the wheel speed sensors to monitor for low tire pressure rather than TPMS sensors. I prefer the reduced parts and complexity of the earlier cars.

[maupineda]

Mine is an 07 and uses speed sensor. I think it was a market thing.

[onebluemcm]

Speed sensor vs TPMS, yep, that's a good one, forgot about that.

I think whether they have speed sensor or TPMS is build date dependent, like the cam bolts. My 07 with that October 3 2006 (not 6 as I said before) has TPMS however, the other 2 cars like mine that are silver gray/sepang brown/carbon leather trim were built 8/29 and 9/19 2006 and those both have speed sensor. So the switch over happened in that time frame more than likely.

[maupineda]

Makes no sense, mine is a 4/2007 build and has no TPMS. Unless they reverted the change back

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by maupineda

Makes no sense, mine is a 4/2007 build and has no TPMS. Unless they reverted the change back

Nope. My 3/2008 build has TPMS

[garz747]

06 should be fine with a few caveats i.e. frequent oil changes with correct 10w60 and records to show, trans fluid change/upgrade,rear diff 75W140 change/upgrade, brake fluid, radiator , etc. How high is the mileage?

[onebluemcm]

Well, just when you thought you understood something about BMW....I have no idea the rhyme or reason with the TPMS stuff then.

[Piper1]

Originally Posted by maupineda

Makes no sense, mine is a 4/2007 build and has no TPMS. Unless they reverted the change back

My build date on my e86 is 4/3/07 and it does have tpms in wheels. My e85 has a build date of 11/13/02 just a plug I think I still have the oldest here