I have had my Z4 for a year and a half. It's fun to drive, but a different kind of fun than my 80. On a nice day, its great to put the top down and go for a ride zooming in and out of traffic. Some days I still grab the keys to the 80 to drive to work.
I had been slowly researching and evaluating other cars for commuter cars so when the time was right I could get the right one and not be in an impulse buying mode. I researched Toyota's, Honda's, Lexus and BMW's over the last few months.
I decided I wanted something sporty, better gas mileage and fun to drive. Something completely different that the 80 as I still plan on driving that to work during bad weather and when I feel like it.
I was looking at older (mid 90's) BMWs. There are a lot of BMW sites like mud and found a lot of good technical info on the different BMW series. I was debating between a sedan or a convertible and found their roadster Z3 which was pretty cool and still expensive for a 10 year old car. In 2003 the roadster had a major redesign in the Z4. Z4's are like $50K and I was just browsing through ads to educate myself on the BMW line when I find a 2003 Z4 for $16K from a private seller. Call the seller to ask a few questions and they said it was just out of the 4 year warranty except for the engine which was replaced to an internal problem. The engine has a 2 year warranty on it.
I check the records at the dealer and no big trouble issue had to do with an exhaust valve cracking and rather than tearing down the motor to get at it, BMW decided to just replace the whole thing. No problem on PM because under the warranty period, all PM was free and they kept up on it.
So I go and look at this and it's like brand new. It was more than I was planning on spending but this was such a great deal and they guy decided to go down to $15K because I asked what his buy today price was.
This 2003 Z4 was cheaper than most of the late 90 Z3's and $10,000 less than comparable Z4's. I had to get it and daughterofromer agreed
Drove it home and it is awesome on the highway. Sun peaked out for a bit and the top goes down in 7 seconds with the push of a button. Sweeeet
I know, it's not a Toyota.
Now I own a $50K Lexus (80) and a $40K BMW, But paid less than $15K for each. It pays to buy these expensive vehicles used.
I had been slowly researching and evaluating other cars for commuter cars so when the time was right I could get the right one and not be in an impulse buying mode. I researched Toyota's, Honda's, Lexus and BMW's over the last few months.
I decided I wanted something sporty, better gas mileage and fun to drive. Something completely different that the 80 as I still plan on driving that to work during bad weather and when I feel like it.
I was looking at older (mid 90's) BMWs. There are a lot of BMW sites like mud and found a lot of good technical info on the different BMW series. I was debating between a sedan or a convertible and found their roadster Z3 which was pretty cool and still expensive for a 10 year old car. In 2003 the roadster had a major redesign in the Z4. Z4's are like $50K and I was just browsing through ads to educate myself on the BMW line when I find a 2003 Z4 for $16K from a private seller. Call the seller to ask a few questions and they said it was just out of the 4 year warranty except for the engine which was replaced to an internal problem. The engine has a 2 year warranty on it.
I check the records at the dealer and no big trouble issue had to do with an exhaust valve cracking and rather than tearing down the motor to get at it, BMW decided to just replace the whole thing. No problem on PM because under the warranty period, all PM was free and they kept up on it.
So I go and look at this and it's like brand new. It was more than I was planning on spending but this was such a great deal and they guy decided to go down to $15K because I asked what his buy today price was.
This 2003 Z4 was cheaper than most of the late 90 Z3's and $10,000 less than comparable Z4's. I had to get it and daughterofromer agreed
Drove it home and it is awesome on the highway. Sun peaked out for a bit and the top goes down in 7 seconds with the push of a button. Sweeeet
I know, it's not a Toyota.
Now I own a $50K Lexus (80) and a $40K BMW, But paid less than $15K for each. It pays to buy these expensive vehicles used.
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