I've been looking into getting a new car to replace my '94 mustang convertible and have stumbled upon a 2001 z3 2.5 with 20k miles for right around 25k dollars certified pre-owned through BMW.

What I want to know is what kind of reliability you have gotten with yours and how much out of pocket expense there has been. I guess noone would have gotten out of the warranty yet, but a repair history would be helpful.

 

a friend of mine has one of these. awesome car. no mechanical issues or or stupid quality problems. his only regret...he didnt buy one a little newer with the bigger engine.

 

try

www.roadfly.org

Otherwise i know Amir here had one before.

 

Also that seems pricey for a 2.5l.

Why not get a e36 m3 or a Mcoupe.
Also im sure you can get a m-roadster

 

cool car but it's really small

 

My mom has a 99 M roadster. Its a really nice car, but the one thing iv'e heard every review complain about in the z3 was the suspension. It is pretty small, but i like the seats. The m roadster is heavy thou like 3300 lbs i think.

 

basically, the reasonw we're at the z3 is because we're looking for a convertible. reasonably new and still under the original factory warranty to get the services taken care of for the next year.

 

2.5 is anemic

 

the z is for the woman, so performance is a very minor point. by far styling and reliability are #1

 

the other thing i remember which they considered a flawed design was the seat belts. Atleast the ones in the 99 m roadster. Not sure if the z3 are identical, but id assume so. Im also not sure if they made a fix for it either. Not that they dont work, just that they dont go back up and get twisted.

 

That does seem a bit high for a 2.5. You could probably look around and find a 3.0 for that amount and the extra power is certainly noticeable.

We had my wife's E46 328i in for service and we got a Z3 3.0 for the loaner. It was a 5-Speed manual too. This was on Friday and the service advisor called late in the day to tell us her car was ready. I asked if it would be OK if I picked it up on Monday and he was fine with it. So we played around in the Z3 all weekend and had a ball.

In fact, that is why I will soon be looking for an M Roadster as a 3rd vehicle and one to really dive into messing with it. A 450 WHP Turbo M Roadster would be interesting.

 

they arent bad cars, but arent too powerful?

 

You should get a 2002 if you can since they upgraded from the old 97-99 m3 motor to the new one in the m3 now. So it went from 240hp in 99-01 to 315hp in 02. They aren't easy too find thou since most people who bought the 02s dont wanna sell em.

 

Actually the '01 went the 315 HP (derated from the M3 due to exhaust limitations) engine versus the previous 240 HP. But I am really not too concerned as I will be tearing it down and rebuilding anyway. I'd rather save up front and put more into the build.

 

So it was the 01 and 02 with 315. I thought it was just the 02

 

Correct, they got the M3 engine the same year the E46 M3 came out:

http://www.supercars.net/cars/2001@$...Roadsterg.html

 

Have you looked into used S2000's? They are definately coming down in price (low 20's for an 00' or 01').

 

my girlfriend has a 99 2.5 Z3 i drive it sometimes, compared to the CLS it is a slug, but so are a lot of cars, it's a nice ride, and nothing beats a convertible in nice weather, the negative is that the car is undrivable in the winter months here in NY, but I doubt you have to worry about that in TX.

by the way her sister has a 00 M roadster, now thats quick

 

thanks guys. i think we're gonna go ahead and get it this weekend. i think we got them down to a good price so cross your fingers.