Shimy Type R

Im thinking about a change of car and had a BMW Z3 M Power in mind and was wondering if any of you guy's have ever owned one or driven one and your opinion on them?

Cheers Shimy.

Mr Pants!

I had one of these beasts once, I truly miss it....


http://www.mad-als.com/mycars/pages/MCoupe2.htm

It would p1ss on my STi off the mark has masses of low down torque. Brilliant car.....

the Z3 roadster was prone to quite bad scuttle shake and not too hot on the corners.

Two words of warning with these beasts though, make sure you have warranty, the VANOS systems are reknown for letting go and it costs a fortune to fix and get one with DSC, these motors are leathal in the wet!!!

www.z3mcoupe.com is the place to go if you want to chat to those guys, they really know there stuff.....

enjoy....

Shimy Type R

Thanks for the advice mate.

What is the vanos system? ive heard it mentioned before...
And how much would it cost to repair?

Do you know anyone selling one? im looking to spend around 13K.

Cheers Shimy.

mn_angrybeats

Why ?? Any powerfull RWD car demands respect in the wet not just the Z3M.. its not rocket science

Shimy Type R

Im confused...

Mr Pants gave me his opinion on a Z3M and in return you've given attitude!

Please correct me if im wrong.

Shimy.

gregjd

I'm considering one too. Prefer the coupe over the soft top myself. Seems to be a bit rarer.
Torn between one of these, an early Boxster S or a new Golf GTI. Can't make my mind up!

mn_angrybeats

Apparently its lethal in the wet and it isnt

attitude LOL

Mr Pants!

I brought my ZMC for £29,000 as it was an '02 model. I sold it a year later for £28,000 to a dealer, who then sold it for £32,500!!!

These cars are very rare indeed, especially the newer '02 versions.

The dealer said that you can get really good money for these if you are prepared to wait for a buyer. I think he had it on his fore court for 2 months, but BMW Hexagon love dealing in these motors.

In terms of the rear wheel drive warning, I know all cars are twitchy on the back end if they are rwd cars, but its the masses of torque that bite you. I pride myself as being a fairly safe and careful driver, I gave it a fraction too much gas, in the wet, in a straight line and the car just wants to kick its 4rse out, luckily the DSC kicked in and saved the day! But I have heard of loads of people flinging these things off the road and they never have DSC.

The VANOS is the variable valve system, not sure on costs, you will find it on that site I mentioned above.

Also, on an inspection II you will not come away with much change from a £1000.

Good luck with your car hunting.

Shimy Type R

oohh now I understand, sorry got the wrong end of the stick.


I've had alot of rear wheel drives so it should'nt be a problem to get to grips with.

mn_angrybeats

It's called the right pedal, easy on it when it's wet...

However never had a problem driving the Cerbera at a reasonable lick when it was wet, you learn to know what you can get away with.... bit different to the early Mrk2 MR2, now they were lethal I used to swap ends without even using the throttle..

Shimy Type R

Yeah, I was thinking about a Coupe, but I think im guna go for the soft top just for the fact you dont get any extra seats with the Coupe and I like the idea of taking my roof down every so often

Out of your options, i'd go for the BMW. The Boxters arn't that great! It just didnt impress me when I drove a 3.2 one. And I wouldnt go for a golf, even the R32 golf's arnt all there made up to be.

I've been a passenger in a Z3M and it was f**king quick!

Cheers Shimy.

Shimy Type R

bit different to the early Mrk2 MR2, now they were lethal I used to swap ends without even using the throttle..[/QUOTE]



I'd have to agree with that!

I've had a rev3 MR2 turbo before and it was terrible in the wet!

Shimy.

Brendan Hughes

Cue sonu and I think churchwa...

FletchCSL

Used to have one. Black is the colour to have. I'd also hunt for one with the AC Schnitzer susp set up too like i had. Never compared it to standard setup (at the same time) but was much better controlled than my previous M3 Evo. As said watch out for the VANOS cost around 1K to put right without warranty. Theres lots of talk about it on BM3W.co.uk 70k miles seems to be the safe point with VANOS issues.

To be honest though i'd be suprised if you could find one for 13k

Jap2Scrap

Only if you didn't know what you were doing.

Lift off oversteer was the danger. It caught me out once but not again. Once you're in a corner you have to stay committed - do that and they were fine. Loads of feedback, great handling things. The softened up rev 2's and 3's were fine for the hairdressers, journo's and women but the rev1 was the driver's car.

Shimy Type R

Thanks for your thoughts fletch.

I think to be honest i'd probably buy some warrenty from BMW.

I dont mind going further than 13 grand, its just that I buy and sell cars for a living and I've come across a few good one's recently for around 12-13K.

I agree with you there! Black is definetly the colour to go for! Im after a Black one with red and black leather, and a hard top to put the iceing on the cake
I'd be happy with a Sonic Blue one though, I never realy took a shine to this colour until I got my STi Type R.

Cheers Shimy.

Shimy Type R

bttt.

Edcase

WOW, can you get me one for £12k!!!?

Cheapest I have ever seen is £15k. Dealer examples go for minimum of £20k as far as I have seen when looking for them.

Best version is the most recent (2002+) which has the current M3 engine in it! Awesome vehicles

Pauleds2

The VANOS system is minimum £600 to replace. I've done a little bit of research on these too as i was considering one or an M3 before i got my Scoob.
I have owned some quick beemers in the past and found them superb cars,good luck my friend.

Paul.

wilf

Its a great motor v fast in a straight line but I found it demanded great respect with its combination of rwd and power. (Unlike many I dont pretend I'm a great driver.)

EVO mag had a long termer and wrote in one of their reports that everyone who had driven the ZM Coupe ended up having an unwanted tail out experience.

In comparison to the ZMCoupe my old P1 was a pussycat to drive.

I kick myself now as until late 2001 when they received alot of positive publicity their residuals were not as strong as they are now. In summer 2000 I almost bought a 99 T plate from Sytners in Nottingham 1 owner 5k for £25k and looked at several other cars for similar money.

Edcase

Careful on the wet corners

churchwa

Totally amazing car, i got an 01 with the later S54 engine and the traction control. It will wipe the floor of an M3 and even a CSL.

Have a look that this site for loads of pics with different rims.

http://www.zvolution.com/Z3Faq/wheels/wheels.htm

Brendan Hughes

churchwa, not thinking of selling any time soon then?

sonu

Brendan asked, so I'll join in

Yes, top motor, had one for 5 years and won't sell it. As stated before, need to get Schnitzer or KW suspension on one if you do track stuff. Useful also to get some driver training as the backend does talk a lot.

matchmaker

Ever driven an early 3 -series? Tail happy was never in it. Scariest moment of my life was in a 320i - the 4 cylinder one - I lost it big time on a long wet bend at 1am. On one side of the road was a cliff - going UP - and on the other side a 150 foot drop. To this day I don't know how I kept it on the road. Sure wasn't driver skill!

FletchCSL

Dont mean to sart a my cars faster than yours etc but having owned all three the CSL is the quickest car by some margin. In a srtraight line the ZM will get close, but ultimately theres nothing between it and an E46 M3.

Back on topic, i'd definately go for BMW warranty if you can get it - if you look at all those after M3 Evo's out there most will walk away if it hasn't got it, so i'd assume the same applies to the roadster

Shimy Type R

Thanks for all the advice lads...

I think im definitely going to get one! Even if its just through summer, cause if I want to come back to the scooby world I always can.

Yes mate, if you did want one I've come across a few on R's and S reg's for around 12-13K.

This Vanos thing doesn't worry me to much cause with a scooby I kind of budget my self a good 2 grand possible bill with the common crank issue's they seem to suffer with!

I've considered a few cars to go to next and the M power Z3 keeps on coming back to me so I think im going to follow my heart...

Cheers Shimy.

Shimy Type R

Does anyone know how much warranty is to buy on a BMW?

Shimy.

Dieseldog

The official BMW one's circa £700 this year. Must be bought before last years (about £500) runs out iirc.

Used to have an S54 Coupe - engine's sublime, chassis less so (funny pitch / roll accelerating out of corners) but I believe there are aftermarket susp kits to sort this

churchwa

Fletch, when you get to this level, it is down to drivers.

I can take out any of my mates M3's in a line, including my friends 330 supercharged.

I have gone head to head with a csl and all i can say is that i way pulling away, around a track it would have killed me. Each to their own, maybe my car is about to blow up