Thinking about buying

[JxmesW]

Hi guys, I've been contemplating purchasing a 2.2 Z3 sport for a while. I'm just not quite sure what a fair price to pay for the car is.

It's topaz blue but has a black wrap with lots of imperfections on the wrap and not the best wrap job, and you can see lacquer peel on the paint through the wrap and potentially some rust on the sills covered by the wrap. It's got 125k miles, 8 owners, serviced independently by the current owner for the last 3 years but no records of service history before that. I did check with my local BMW and they do not have any service records on their centralised system for this car either.

The owner has covered 4k miles in it. Upon scanning the OBD, it threw up a P1619 thermostat MAP cooling low signal code and a P0102 MAF sensor low input.

Mods include, bolted on aftermarket rear spoiler, lowered, aftermarket exhaust and air intake. Softop is okay but not 100% watertight. Does drive okay too, however the MOT showed that the rear subframe bushes are worn and there was a slight knock when going over bumps during the test drive. Overall it's not the cleanest Z3 around, looks a bit rough in person. It's being offered at £2500 and the owner won't budge much on this, is this worth it? Any advice would be really greatly appreciated as this is my first purchase of a "sports" car and I'm finding it quite daunting and can't quite figure out if it's a good price or not. I don't have any family or friends that know enough about cars to offer me advice on this.

Thanks for your time for reading this

 

[Mus Musculus]

to the forum!

IMHO not worth it. I would look for something with less issues at a possibly higher purchase price.

But, I am happy to defer to someone more experienced than myself...

 

[colb]

Too many issues with this one, all fixable but it would cost a lot. Better out there with less issues.

 

[AntStark]

Run away! …for so many reasons

 

[t-tony]

Hi guys, I've been contemplating purchasing a 2.2 Z3 sport for a while. I'm just not quite sure what a fair price to pay for the car is.

It's topaz blue but has a black wrap with lots of imperfections on the wrap and not the best wrap job, and you can see lacquer peel on the paint through the wrap and potentially some rust on the sills covered by the wrap. It's got 125k miles, 8 owners, serviced independently by the current owner for the last 3 years but no records of service history before that. I did check with my local BMW and they do not have any service records on their centralised system for this car either.

The owner has covered 4k miles in it. Upon scanning the OBD, it threw up a P1619 thermostat MAP cooling low signal code and a P0102 MAF sensor low input.

Mods include, bolted on aftermarket rear spoiler, lowered, aftermarket exhaust and air intake. Softop is okay but not 100% watertight. Does drive okay too, however the MOT showed that the rear subframe bushes are worn and there was a slight knock when going over bumps during the test drive. Overall it's not the cleanest Z3 around, looks a bit rough in person. It's being offered at £2500 and the owner won't budge much on this, is this worth it? Any advice would be really greatly appreciated as this is my first purchase of a "sports" car and I'm finding it quite daunting and can't quite figure out if it's a good price or not. I don't have any family or friends that know enough about cars to offer me advice on this.

Thanks for your time for reading this

Walk away. There are much better cars out there. Be prepared to travel, to pay a sensible price and, if you can, buy from an enthusiast who has owned the car for a few years. Finally, do not be in a hurry to buy.

Tony.

 

[JxmesW]

Thank you so much everyone for your help so quickly! Been looking for some advice for ages and I've clearly come to the right place.

Just thought I'd attach some pictures and add a little bit more info if that changes anything, but seems like something I'll be walking away from

I am personally okay with buying a car that needs some work done, always wanted to work on a car myself but at the same time I have to be realistic with the price and if I'd be able to sell it for a similar price down the line. It's got 12 months MOT and the only advisory was just about the rear subframe bushes being worn but not resulting in excessive movement

Seller is offering lowest price at £2300

 

[t-tony]

Where is the car located? There could be a member who lives nearby who may be willing to go and look over it with you.

Tony.

 

[JxmesW]

Where is the car located? There could be a member who lives nearby who may be willing to go and look over it with you.

Tony.

It's located in Ferndown, near Bournemouth

 

[Jam03]

If you need to do the beam bushes, chances are you’ll need to do other age related suspension work and it could escalate if it’s rusty underneath. The warning signs for me are the mirrors, exhaust and rear spoiler. That car could easily owe you £5000 by the time you’ve fixed a few things and fitted new tyres, I think.

 

[ktnez99]

IMO, you pay for what you get.
If you buy this, then are you buying it as a project to keep? A project to sell on? Or simply run it as it is?
Once you’ve decided, and if it’s Option 1 or 2, then be prepared to have deep pockets. You’ll start on one aspect and then discover something else. You also need to be aware that as the car is. I’m guessing, twenty years old then to get it up to standard and then maintain won’t be a cheap exercise as it will almost always need something doing.

 

[JxmesW]

IMO, you pay for what you get.
If you buy this, then are you buying it as a project to keep? A project to sell on? Or simply run it as it is?
Once you’ve decided, and if it’s Option 1 or 2, then be prepared to have deep pockets. You’ll start on one aspect and then discover something else. You also need to be aware that as the car is. I’m guessing, twenty years old then to get it up to standard and then maintain won’t be a cheap exercise as it will almost always need something doing.

Thank you, this is very useful advice. There is a local BMW specialist that offers a "vehicle health check", they're called DGMaps and seem very reputable. It's only £60 for the health check. Do you think it seems reasonable to get this done to find out if there's anything alarming with the car, and just find out a bit more about the condition. Or should I just not bother as, as you said I'd potentially need "deep pockets" for a project like this.

I'd be looking at buying this as a project to keep for at least a few years, and storing it in my garage during winter. Preferably to do work such as the rear subframe bushes in winter and servicing. Due to the thermostat code, I thought I may aswell immediately replace the water pump and thermostat if I was to buy the car.

More info, if that helps, it's had a new radiator fitted, new battery, new brakes (discs and pads) all around.

Again, I do value your opinion greatly so if you'd advise against it still, I'll walk away. Thanks

 

[Shelly]

 

[Nodzed]

Personally I would be very careful with this one. Keep looking IMHO, this sounds like it's been crashed through a Halfords shop front.

 

[Z Victor 1]

If you've got a barge pole handy, don't put it anywhere near that car. I wouldn't pay £1k for that!

 

[Richard29]

I agree with zvictor1

 

[Jack Ratt]

I'd avoid any car that's been fitted with a "boy racer" boot spoiler, especially one that's bolted through the main body of the boot lid. There are loads of Z3's available in better condition than this one. It makes me suspect that the car has been messed with

 

[AntStark]

I wouldn't pay £1k for that!

..and the wheels are worth £700 of that

 

[Z Victor 1]

Yes, buy it cheap to sell for parts, not £2300 .

 

[JxmesW]

Yes, buy it cheap to sell for parts, not £2300 .

What sort of price do you think would be acceptable for this car to be worth in parts? Considering it's the sport and does have the LSD

 

[Z Victor 1]

Best to ask someone with a lot of experience in this regard. Eg; @spurs fan in a coupe .