Price of Z3's falling

[Lazzzydog]

£1500 for a 2.8 with an MOT and 100kish sounds about right.
Z4 much more desirable and will keep z3 prices down. Don't forget that most people think the z3 is an ugly car, not the thing to say on a z3 forum but sorry, ugly they are.
2.2's worth less and 1.8's hard to give away.

Excellent trolling. Keep up the good work.

 

[5harp3y]

£1500 for a 2.8 with an MOT and 100kish sounds about right.
Z4 much more desirable and will keep z3 prices down. Don't forget that most people think the z3 is an ugly car, not the thing to say on a z3 forum but sorry, ugly they are.
2.2's worth less and 1.8's hard to give away.

Not actually that wrong

I would agree that the general car buying world does not see the Z3 as desirable over something like a MK1 TT, MX5, S2000, Boxster or SLK

The Z4 is that much more modern that it will appeal to more people and be more accessible

prices of Z3s 2.8s that are selling on ebay (not always the best barometer but the easiest) are between £1100 for a ratbag project (ideal for ripping apart or turning into a kit car) to £5,000 for a low mileage minter

but overall they are all cheap cars, this is the prices over the past few months of cars that have sold

1.8 = £1500 -£1800 (but only 2)
1.9 = £500 - £2000
2.0 = £500 - £3000
2.2 = £1500 - £3500
2.8 = £1100 - £5000
3.0 = £2500 - £5000
Z3M = £10000 - £15000

 

[Nodzed]

Everything is dropping, including property prices. The country is nervous about the next 12 months. They will either climb again or fall off the cliff when we can see what Brexit looks like along with all other assets.

Not sure I agree with you on that, just had my place valued and its gone up 35k in 3 years (there are some local factors involved to be fair. but they haven't added that much.

 

[Nodzed]

Is it just me or does the price of Z3's seem to have dropped, I have been watching a number of 2.8s over the last few months and they are certainly not making the sort of money they was, a few very nice sub 100k and they seem to have peaked at around the £2.5 k mark, these where making around £3k shortly after Xmas, the same can be said for the 3.0l as well

Yep agree Sean, sadly M prices are falling too

 

[Ryan]

I paid £4,200 for mine but it only had 36,000 miles so i saw the future investment in it...hopefully

 

[jaguartvr]

I've got 4 on the drive
2.8 110k miles paid £750
2.8 auto 140k paid £750
2.2 100k paid £1350
2.8 52k paid £1600

There is a nice 2.8 on the forum asking for £8k. To put it into perspective, I paid £5.5k for a 2005 mercedes SL350 with 52k on the clock nearly 3 years ago.
I don't mean to p*** anyone off but owners clubs can be a bit blinkered.

 

[NigelM]

I'm not sure the forum members are blinkered, I think they're possibly the most realistic out there.

I have recently bought an M Roadster. I looked at the market for a long time, put together spreadsheets of every car for sale in the market from the big sites to the forums. I went to see 5 cars out of the 18 or so on the list and put together a formula to work out value dependant upon age, miles and condition.

The two best value cars available on the market were both forum members cars. Best condition and sensibly priced. Many of the others were 10% to 50% higher in price and some of them significantly worse in terms of condition.

We all know how important condition is as you can soon burn a few grand if you bump into a major problem, and forum members cars are generally better cared for than non forum cars, and if you trawl back through posts you often get a very good record of all the work they have done and the problems they have had.

My experience isn't limited to this forum, it includes Porsche and Lotus forums as well.

 

[Redcon1]

Wow, seems like prices are lower over the pond than here in the USA. I paid equivalent of 2600GBP for my 2.5 with 78K miles and considered that a smoking deal. Most of the 6-cylinder cars in decent shape I looked at were in the 3500GBP range.

 

[jaguartvr]

I was looking at a LHD 2.8 to put a kit on and was surprised how much more expensive they were in Europe.

 

[5harp3y]

I don't mean to p*** anyone off but owners clubs can be a bit blinkered.

This is often the case in my experience.

 

[Robert Wiles]

I think one of the factors that may also be affecting Z3 values is that they're not a favourite of the 'classic' motoring press. Pick up any old car magazine and there'll be an article extolling the virtues of the MX5, the S2000 or sometimes the SLK. The Z3 just doesn't really get rated alongside them.
It also has to be said that the Z3 had something of an image problem when it was current, despite the James Bond connection. My sister knows NOTHING about cars and when I proudly sent her a pic of my shiny new Z3 just after I'd bought it, her reply was 'Very nice. When are you starting your hairdressing course?' Made me laugh, but says it all really....
Mind you, when I was a boy the Sunbeam Alpine was always seen as a hairdresser's car. Try finding a nice one now for less than £15k. The world's gone mad....

 

[kyrix1st]

Depreciation on these cars are pretty strange IMHO. We are seeing increase in price of NB roadsters here and while they are solid cars, I don’t feel the driving experience is as good as the Zeds stock to stock.

It’s hard to find a car that feels this good with all the basic goodies installed (LSD, 2.7 lock to lock rack) and is easy to maintain due to rear being e30 as opposed to e36 coupes.

I've observed Interesting phenomenon though. Bulk of M44s are priced higher than 2.0s here. Maybe it's the power-weight ratio?

 

[Jack Ratt]

@kyrix1st what is an NB roadster ?

 

[kyrix1st]

@kyrix1st what is an NB roadster ?

Mazda MX5.

 

[5harp3y]

Mazda MX5.

Specifically the 2nd generation

Which I’ve had both NA and NB mx5 and apart from power and engine noise are miles ahead of the z3 as a drivers car

The steering
The braking
The suspension
The pedal layout
The driving position
The feedback
The gearchange

100% better than the z3

But they rust like an old boat

 

[kyrix1st]

Specifically the 2nd generation

Which I’ve had both NA and NB mx5 and apart from power and engine noise are miles ahead of the z3 as a drivers car

The steering
The braking
The suspension
The pedal layout
The driving position
The feedback
The gearchange

100% better than the z3

But they rust like an old boat

Have you driven them stock to stock? Even the ones with BP-VE felt like a boat in terms of suspension geometry. Z3 1.9s have much better turn in, feel more planted and are easy to know the limits.

 

[5harp3y]

Have you driven them stock to stock? Even the ones with BP-VE felt like a boat in terms of suspension geometry. Z3 1.9s have much better turn in, feel more planted and are easy to know the limits.

I've never driven a 1.9 Z3

I cannot imagine its better than a mx5

 

[kyrix1st]

I've never driven a 1.9 Z3

I cannot imagine its better than a mx5

Try it. 50kg~ lighter engine makes hell of a difference.

It could have been difference in camber, but neither NA nor NB's steering felt as precise as the Zed I have.

Lap of Central circuit with a quite heavily modified NB8C (4.3 Cusco 1.5way, Tein coilovers,etc..) on slick tyres. Notice the maximum straight line speed on NB8C is 157km/h for the main straight and 141km/h for the back straight. This is with a considerably higher cornering speed (= higher exit speed.)

Below is the data of one of the laps on my very first track day at the very same circuit with the Zed. Not on slicks, just some good old Ventus R-S4s on stock suspension. Yes, it understeers a lot with the stock suspension, but you can see that the car picks up pace fairly quickly regardless.

On the other hand, I will be putting in M3 3.0's LCAB real soon for the ultimate track setup as well...
Can't wait to feel the difference in feedback..

 

[Pingu]

Stock v. stock is a valid test. Tuned v. tuned is not. It is more a test of how the tuner has set the car up than the car itself.

 

[t-tony]

I was looking at a LHD 2.8 to put a kit on and was surprised how much more expensive they were in Europe.

@hard top would back you up on that I think. He's our European barometer

Tony.