Our new "Sunday" car

[Tom Martin]

Will a medium mileage (50,000) 2007 Z4M make a reliable "Sunday" car??

[nicknaz]

I would only consider if I personally knew the owners of the car since new. Otherwise there is too much risk in my opinion that it was someone's track toy and/or that it was flogged all day every day since it left the dealer lot.

[KK328]

Go to the dealer before you buy it, get them to give it a through check and give you a report about the condition of the car, based on that report you will be able to tell if it was cared for or not.. Also you can ask about warranty options from the dealer

[rconti]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

I would only consider if I personally knew the owners of the car since new. Otherwise there is too much risk in my opinion that it was someone's track toy and/or that it was flogged all day every day since it left the dealer lot.

Why the risk, just because it's an M car? Or is this just your general opinion of all used cars?

Obviously, the usual caveats apply.. but I don't see this as being a bad choice.

The Z4Ms are more costly to maintain (eg, brake rotors are vastly more expensive than on my Z3M), but it seems like a fine choice for a weekend car.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by rconti

Why the risk, just because it's an M car? Or is this just your general opinion of all used cars?

Obviously, the usual caveats apply.. but I don't see this as being a bad choice.

The Z4Ms are more costly to maintain (eg, brake rotors are vastly more expensive than on my Z3M), but it seems like a fine choice for a weekend car.

2 seat, fixed roof M car.. and you don't think it has been used hard.....

In addition to the previous owner, there are also all the auction / dealer / shipping people who had access to it. Pretty sure that, everyone who got the keys took a turn revving it hard as much as they could.

And you can take it too the dealer and it will show up as maintenance done, "multi point inspection ok".

If OP is really set on it, at a minimum needs a leakdown and compression test, and drain all oils and check for wear materials (particularly differential and gearbox).

As an aside, I know someone who recently turned in their Cayman S PDK, which had been used at many track days over a 4 year period and generally hammered on at all possible times, and it had a PDK fault (was it low voltage... or 4 years of hard use) right before turn in. It was sold by a franchise dealer as CPO since it was pretty close to mint cosmetically and was a 1 owner full service history car.. good luck to the new owners......

[BavarianFanatic]

Go for it and learn not to come to Internet forums for advice.

[F32]

If you're wealthy enough to buy a used, out-of-warranty German car, go for it. But if you're like the rest of us and can only afford a brand new one, get a Cayman or wait for the M4.

[rconti]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

2 seat, fixed roof M car.. and you don't think it has been used hard.....

In addition to the previous owner, there are also all the auction / dealer / shipping people who had access to it. Pretty sure that, everyone who got the keys took a turn revving it hard as much as they could.

And you can take it too the dealer and it will show up as maintenance done, "multi point inspection ok".

If OP is really set on it, at a minimum needs a leakdown and compression test, and drain all oils and check for wear materials (particularly differential and gearbox).

As an aside, I know someone who recently turned in their Cayman S PDK, which had been used at many track days over a 4 year period and generally hammered on at all possible times, and it had a PDK fault (was it low voltage... or 4 years of hard use) right before turn in. It was sold by a franchise dealer as CPO since it was pretty close to mint cosmetically and was a 1 owner full service history car.. good luck to the new owners......

First of all, he didn't specify coupe or roadster. I assumed roadster because they're far more common.

Your post comes off like the guy who was terrified that revving the engine on his brand new car to 4000rpm would somehow be bad for it. Come on, man, cars are meant to be used for christ's sake. A few people "driving it hard" as a reason not to buy it? I'm sorry, no. It's not a fragile piece of art, it's a car.

As I said originally, get it inspected like you would any used car, and buy it if it seems solid. Enjoy.

Sounds like the problem with your friend's Cayman is a fragile POS transmission, and a dishonest dealer. It doesn't much matter; if they're CPOing the car, any failures should be covered by warranty, and they shouldn't be covering up any known faults.

This is why people smart enough to buy used cars get killer deals; too many new car buyers don't know a thing about cars and are terrified of the possibility of a few bucks in repair bills.. so instead they finance a brand-new car at twice the price. BRILLIANT!

By the way, my Z3MC has 140k miles and I've run it hard ever since I bought it at 58k. Track days, lots of autocross, you name it. Guess what? It works just fine!

Frankly, most people buying $50k+ 2 seat toys *don't* beat on them because they don't know a damn thing about cars anyway! For every Cayman or M Coupe at the track, there are 100 being driven like a Camry.

[intoflatlines]

Originally Posted by F32

If you're wealthy enough to buy a used, out-of-warranty German car, go for it. But if you're like the rest of us and can only afford a brand new one, get a Cayman or wait for the M4.

[elerner61]

Originally Posted by rconti

The Z4Ms are more costly to maintain (eg, brake rotors are vastly more expensive than on my Z3M), but it seems like a fine choice for a weekend car.

Not if the lead count in the oil is off the charts...not if the VANOS is making a racket. Unfortunatley, the devil IS in the details with our cars.

You want a reliable 50K car? Look to the rising sun.

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by elerner61

Not if the lead count in the oil is off the charts...not if the VANOS is making a racket. Unfortunatley, the devil IS in the details with our cars.

You want a reliable 50K car? Look to the rising sun.

Snipes and Connery can definitely help

[zubydafa]

lol. i had a 75k mile highly abused and tracked mz4. no issues (except for damn it was hard to tune)

wrecked it

bought a 60k mile maybe equally abused tracked mz4. not worried - some small stuff maybe, but nothing that's a buying deterrent

[zubydafa]

my honest opinion on these cars is don't be afraid of high miles or how hard the car was driven. they absolutely are meant to be driven hard and respond well to an aggressive driver.

as has been mentioned many times before, just make sure vanos is playing nice, maybe get a blackstone oil report, and check to see the service intervals are within reason.

and enjoyy!

[strokeoluck]

I purchased an '07 Z4M Roadster that had four previous owners before I became # 5 in August of 2012. Only 22,000 miles on it when I bought it; now it has 28,xxx. Like you, my intent was to mostly drive it on weekends and treat it like a garage queen. At the same time, I wanted to know it was well taken care of prior to me. It checked out at the dealership in terms of maintenance records, and it LOOKED to be in mint condition. I decided to take a chance on it, and it's been just perfect...no issues whatsoever. As someone above me said, these cars seem to be built to be "abused" (so to speak)...even though I mostly just give it a little spirited driving now and then.

When I took my MR to the high end import/racing shop and had them do a pre-track-day inspection I was asking some rookie questions. What if I get it over 6,000 RPMs, what happens to the brake fluid after a 25 minute session, will this track day trash my tires?! The service tech I deal with is very patient and very knowledgeable about M cars. His advice to me: "Chill out man, there's very little you can do to this car that it isn't built to handle." And then when I got to the track I had a 10+ year veteran BMW owner/track driver who pretty much told me the same thing. When I felt I was really whipping the car around the track, he said I was only using about 60% or 70% of it's abilities. Unfortunately due to the distance to the track, and other commitments, it was my only track day. But the point is that I wouldn't hesitate at all to buy someone else's trailer/garage queen, or even one that had been gently used. Personally I would shy away from a car that had been heavily tracked but only because I don't wrench on my own cars and have little interest in replacing/fixing things on my own and would prefer to avoid paying the shop if I don't have to do so.

Good luck to you!

[seank]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

I would only consider if I personally knew the owners of the car since new. Otherwise there is too much risk in my opinion that it was someone's track toy and/or that it was flogged all day every day since it left the dealer lot.

If this was the case, very few of us would own this car. Just craziness.

Get it checked out. It's a great car and I smile mon-sunday when i get in it.

For you, Sunday's will be a great day that you can't wait for.

[chickdr]

In opposition to the "be scared of a 50k car" you have this guy: http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=878682 who bought his car with 1K miles(no time to be abused) and lost his motor at 4,400 miles. There is no guarantee with a used car. For a weekend car why NOT by a 50k used ///M? Just get it checked out and only buy one with complete service records.

[silverfishZ4M]

Originally Posted by Tom Martin

Will a medium mileage (50,000) 2007 Z4M make a reliable "Sunday" car??

Yes, it's been working out fine for me.

[SCHMOUPE]

since when everyone traded in their big boy pants for skirts? Get a PPI, if everything checks out, buy it.

[rconti]

Originally Posted by elerner61

Not if the lead count in the oil is off the charts...not if the VANOS is making a racket. Unfortunatley, the devil IS in the details with our cars.

You want a reliable 50K car? Look to the rising sun.

I wouldn't know; I've never owned a car with a warranty or a BMW under 50k miles.

I don't want a used Japanese car any more than I want a new Japanese car. (I jest, sort of: I've got a Miata that's a ton of fun).

I guess as long as the chicken littles with more money than sense want to keep promoting "used cars are gonna kill your firstborn", it keeps used car prices down.. fine with me.

[Vanne]

I bought a high milage Mcoupe, no dramas, just make sure you have a good look..

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by rconti

First of all, he didn't specify coupe or roadster. I assumed roadster because they're far more common.

Your post comes off like the guy who was terrified that revving the engine on his brand new car to 4000rpm would somehow be bad for it. Come on, man, cars are meant to be used for christ's sake. A few people "driving it hard" as a reason not to buy it? I'm sorry, no. It's not a fragile piece of art, it's a car.

As I said originally, get it inspected like you would any used car, and buy it if it seems solid. Enjoy.

Sounds like the problem with your friend's Cayman is a fragile POS transmission, and a dishonest dealer. It doesn't much matter; if they're CPOing the car, any failures should be covered by warranty, and they shouldn't be covering up any known faults.

This is why people smart enough to buy used cars get killer deals; too many new car buyers don't know a thing about cars and are terrified of the possibility of a few bucks in repair bills.. so instead they finance a brand-new car at twice the price. BRILLIANT!

By the way, my Z3MC has 140k miles and I've run it hard ever since I bought it at 58k. Track days, lots of autocross, you name it. Guess what? It works just fine!

Frankly, most people buying $50k+ 2 seat toys *don't* beat on them because they don't know a damn thing about cars anyway! For every Cayman or M Coupe at the track, there are 100 being driven like a Camry.

Nice. love the assumptions in your post. I've used all of my cars for open lapping. Best example is my old E90 328, which had 84 miles on the odometer when I first took it to sears point.

My usage is the reason for my hesitation..

As I said in my last post, If OP is really set on it, at a minimum needs a leakdown and compression test, and drain all oils and check for wear materials (particularly differential and gearbox).

[jophish17]

Wait - aren't you supposed to wait 1200 miles to change fluids and let the car break-in before pushing it?