Newbie on the hunt (Now an Owner)

[eff1guy]

Hello all
New member here from Great Wyrley in the West Mids. Just joined up today after selling my Z4 a couple of weeks ago over on the Z4 Forum.
I'm currently on the hunt for another Z4 or possibly a Z3 and thought I'd get myself on here to learn a little more about the 3 in case I decide to dip my toe in the water.
Ideally would like a 3.0 but I think a 2.8 may even suffice my straight 6 needs
Any recommendations on specific things to look out for with the Z3, I'm possibly shooting over to Derby tomorrow to take a look at one on Auto Trader, a 1999 2.8 on 70k miles at a dealer. I've had my eye on it for a while and it's recently been reduced in price, but this will be the first one I've looked at since my wife had a 1.9 many many moons ago.
Looking forward to hopefully becoming a more involved member soon.
Thanks in advance for any comments and advice
Cheers
Pete

 

[t-tony]

Hi Pete, welcome from near Lincoln. I'm a Z4 owner but had a 2000 Z3 before this. There have been a couple of members selling various 2.8 Z3 on here. Main things to look out for are corrosion on the sill covers and wing edges. Rear tyre wear on insides and diff. support frame spot welds on the boot floor. Other than those it's just general used car stuff.

Tony.

 

[Shelly]

Hi and welcome to ZroadSter

 

[Jack Ratt]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[Slam]

Hi and welcome from London

 

[Keet]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[PHILIP BAXTER]

Hi, and welcome from me in Cardiff. Good luck with your search.

 

[Jjim]

Hi, welcome from Mansfield

 

[Mazza]

Hi and welcome to the forum from Bognor Regis

 

[eff1guy]

Thank you all for the warm welcome

Hi Pete, welcome from near Lincoln. I'm a Z4 owner but had a 2000 Z3 before this. There have been a couple of members selling various 2.8 Z3 on here. Main things to look out for are corrosion on the sill covers and wing edges. Rear tyre wear on insides and diff. support frame spot welds on the boot floor. Other than those it's just general used car stuff.

Tony.

Any tell tale signs for the diff apart from noise and any leaks, can it cause skipping on full lock?

 

[mwpe]

Hi and from Surrey, some useful advice here.

https://zroadster.org/articles/bmw-z3-general-information-for-potential-buyers-by-mike-fishwick.15/

 

[Craig Machin]

Hi and from Stoke on Trent

 

[t-tony]

Thank you all for the warm welcome



Any tell tale signs for the diff apart from noise and any leaks, can it cause skipping on full lock?

Regarding the Diff. spot welds, if you remove the boot carpet you will see the spot welds tearing out of the floor. As far as I'm aware it doesn't cause any noise at all (unless the mounting has totally failed). Rare to see oil leaks at the Diff. (including driveshaft seals). Some models have Limited Slip Diffs.

Tony.

 

[eff1guy]

Thanks again Tony, I mis-understood. I thought the full stop after the word diff separated it from the "support frame spot welds on the boot floor" I've got some learning to do!

 

[t-tony]

Thanks again Tony, I mis-understood. I thought the full stop after the word diff separated it from the "support frame spot welds on the boot floor" I've got some learning to do!

No, sorry mate, just me being conservative with the typing There is a 2.8 Auto for sale at the moment if that would interest you. @Jjim

Tony.

 

[2DunnsZ3]

what about that beautiful silver M with the maroon top.

 

[Mint]

Hi @eff1guy, to the forum from me too, just up the road in Staffordshire. Good luck with your search .

 

[Brian4]

Hi @eff1guy just a observation but the auto boxes changed around the introduction of the facelifts 99/00 with the newer gearbox being a 5 speed steptronic box. Lever looks like this.

The autos fitted to the newer Z4 are even better and are either 6 or 8 speed.
On all the last 3 boxes if you put them in sport they hold the gear to higher revs before changing.

 

[Stevo7682]

Hi and welcome from me in Scotland

 

[Nodzed]