FS Z3M Roadster, 50k miles, SOLD
Posted: Thu 11 Aug, 2011 21:18
I’m selling my June ‘98 M Roadster that I bought last October. Date of first registration 30.01.1999. Arctic silver with all black interior, with a sensible 50,600 miles (rising slowly as I use it on sunny days!).
I viewed 5 roadsters before buying this one, and ended up driving to Cornwall (from Liverpool!) for it after a lengthy exchange of e-mails \ phone calls \ pictures. MOT 1st March 2012, will tax to end of February 2012.
I’ve not owned the car very long, but I bought the car for a specific reason; to do this year’s road trip to the Alps in with my other half and a group of car loving friends. It didn’t miss a beat on the trip and didn’t use a drop of oil in the 3k mile trip. It makes a good noise too!
The car’s service history is comprehensive; I have a thick file of receipts and I’ve summarised the history in a spreadsheet. The car has been well cared for by its previous owners, and I too have looked after the car, and have spent a significant amount of time and money refurbishing it underneath. I’ve probably spent over 100 hours working on it and bringing it to what is hopefully mechanically great condition, with some very subtle improvements. It lives in a carpeted garage and the previous owner also garaged the car, and apart from the holiday it hasn’t seen rain while I’ve had it.
The service history is as follows, I’ve noted when the Vanos filter has been changed by the independent garages. The main dealers will have replaced the filter as required. As you will see, the car has been serviced at very short mileage intervals –
23/09/1998 – 0 miles, BMW Blue Bell, Crewe, Pre-delivery check
10/09/1999 – 1,387 miles, BMW Blue Bell, Crewe, Running in check (very important this is done at c1200 miles).
13/10/2000 – 7,739 miles, BMW Blue Bell, Crewe, Oil service
19/01/2002 – 13,676 miles, BMW Blue Bell, Crewe, Inspection 1, brake fluid
02/07/2004 – 18,597 miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York, Oil service incl. Vanos filter
24/03/2006 – 28,332 miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York, Inspection 2 service incl. Vanos filter, brake fluid, coolant
09/05/2007 – 32,531 miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York, Oil service incl. Vanos filter, front discs \ pads
04/03/2009 – 35,522 miles, GRS, Burnley, brake fluid change
05/06/2009 – 43,895 miles, Hickleys, Bridgewater, Inspection 1
I purchased the car 23rd Oct 2010 at 45k miles -
18/11/2010 – 46,009 miles, David Paul BMW Specialist, Warrington, Inspection 2, Vanos filter, brake fluid, coolant tested ok
The car is currently showing 2 green lights, so won’t need another service for a while, and won’t need another Inspection 2 for a long time.
In addition to the above regular services, the car has had the following items attended to prior to my ownership, along with other smaller items not listed –
29/10/2004 – 21,367 miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York - Install AC Schnitzer suspension, £744 fitted
20/11/2004 – c22k miles, BMW Scotthall, Leeds, new rear window, £116
01/04/2006 – c28k miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York, new roof pump, £223
27/06/2006 – 29,816 miles, GRS, Burnley, Install H&R anti roll bars, £353
Since buying the car last October at 45k miles, I have comprehensively refurbished the front and rear suspension and brakes, and have attended to numerous other items –
New windscreen wipers
Autoglym hood cleaner and protector (50% left, will include in sale)
Autoglym leather cleaner and protector for interior
4 Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres, cost £440 whilst on promotion (was £550 originally) – premium tyres, only done 4k miles
Installed nylon seat bushes to cure rocking seats (common Z3 problem)
Fitted magnetic stone guards to protect the rear arches
Fitted a tonneau cover (£80)
Fitted front and rear poly bushes, including poly differential bush which I modified to be more stable (£150)
Rolling road, 3 power runs, average 318bhp flywheel, 255bhp wheels, 250ft\lb torque. Healthy engine, Vanos perfect.
Fitted Rogue Engineering rear shock top mounts, a known weakness on many BMW’s (£110)
Fitted new rear discs, handbrake shoes, handbrake mechanism refurb kit (£150)
Front and rear brake calipers refurbished, painted, new seals and springs (£70)
ETB yellow stuff front and rear pads, really improves stopping power and pedal response & less dust than standard (£120)
Bosch Silver battery (£70)
Seam welded the rear chassis cross member as a preventative measure, as Z3’s can have problems with popped welds (£110).
Also added welding to the ARB mounts and diff mount, again purely preventative as it’s an area of possible weakness.
Modified the rear suspension subframe to allow adjustment of camber and toe at the rear. Lowered Z3’s have too much negative camber and wear out the inner edge of the tyres. This mod solves it, tyre wear is nice and even after 4k miles.
Fitted camber adjustment bolts on the front suspension, again preventing uneven tyre wear problems.
4 wheel suspension alignment set to AC Schnitzer settings – report is in the history file. Feels planted and secure.
Many suspension and brake components sandblasted and powder coated, or cleaned and painted.
Front and rear wheel bearings replaced (£150)
New ball joints, inner and outer fronts, and new tie rod ends for steering rack (£80)
ARB drop links front and rear replaced (£40)
Exhausts removed, painted with heat resistant black paint, polished tailpipes.
Fitted a steering rack from a standard Z3 (£200) as it’s a quicker ratio. Excellent upgrade, steering response is much sharper.
Fitted Goodridge braided stainless brake hoses all round £70, plus new brake fluid.
Allow wheels refurbished with new centre badges.
‘BMW’ business CD player, actually a Rover CD player with M badge. Same one as offered as an option originally (£80).
Upgraded Pioneer front component speakers (£110)
Arctic silver touch up paint purchased, included in sale. Stone chips on bonnet all filled in and then polished.
Air conditioning regassed before the holiday, with full system check. 100% perfect working order.
Front bumper resprayed in June 2011 due to stone chips (£240).
New main dealer number plates.
1 litre M spec oil - not opened as didn’t use any oil on the trip.
Loads of other little things done, bought lots of new nuts\bolts\screws from BMW and used stainless where I could.
Negatives –
The bonnet has got 2 very small (<5mm) dents at the front where I dropped a spanner on it, I’m going to try to get them removed in the next few days, but there’s a crossmember behind them so it might not be possible.
I spent a weekend filling, sanding and polishing stone chips on the bonnet, it’s not 100% perfect but having seen a few other Zed’s of this age I’m happy that it looks pretty good. It’s an honest car with some front end stone chips.
As you will see, I’ve spent a lot of time and about £3,000 in refurbishing the car, servicing, tyres, etc since I’ve had it. I’ve had a lot of help from this forum as well, for which I’m very grateful.
I would hope that people on this forum can appreciate the time and effort invested in bringing it to a state of excellent health for a 13 year old car. I know colour choice is personal, but I believe that the silver paint and plain black interior still look contemporary.
Final price reduction to £7,495 including 6 months road tax.
If you have any questions please get in touch.
Thanks, Ian
I viewed 5 roadsters before buying this one, and ended up driving to Cornwall (from Liverpool!) for it after a lengthy exchange of e-mails \ phone calls \ pictures. MOT 1st March 2012, will tax to end of February 2012.
I’ve not owned the car very long, but I bought the car for a specific reason; to do this year’s road trip to the Alps in with my other half and a group of car loving friends. It didn’t miss a beat on the trip and didn’t use a drop of oil in the 3k mile trip. It makes a good noise too!
The car’s service history is comprehensive; I have a thick file of receipts and I’ve summarised the history in a spreadsheet. The car has been well cared for by its previous owners, and I too have looked after the car, and have spent a significant amount of time and money refurbishing it underneath. I’ve probably spent over 100 hours working on it and bringing it to what is hopefully mechanically great condition, with some very subtle improvements. It lives in a carpeted garage and the previous owner also garaged the car, and apart from the holiday it hasn’t seen rain while I’ve had it.
The service history is as follows, I’ve noted when the Vanos filter has been changed by the independent garages. The main dealers will have replaced the filter as required. As you will see, the car has been serviced at very short mileage intervals –
23/09/1998 – 0 miles, BMW Blue Bell, Crewe, Pre-delivery check
10/09/1999 – 1,387 miles, BMW Blue Bell, Crewe, Running in check (very important this is done at c1200 miles).
13/10/2000 – 7,739 miles, BMW Blue Bell, Crewe, Oil service
19/01/2002 – 13,676 miles, BMW Blue Bell, Crewe, Inspection 1, brake fluid
02/07/2004 – 18,597 miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York, Oil service incl. Vanos filter
24/03/2006 – 28,332 miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York, Inspection 2 service incl. Vanos filter, brake fluid, coolant
09/05/2007 – 32,531 miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York, Oil service incl. Vanos filter, front discs \ pads
04/03/2009 – 35,522 miles, GRS, Burnley, brake fluid change
05/06/2009 – 43,895 miles, Hickleys, Bridgewater, Inspection 1
I purchased the car 23rd Oct 2010 at 45k miles -
18/11/2010 – 46,009 miles, David Paul BMW Specialist, Warrington, Inspection 2, Vanos filter, brake fluid, coolant tested ok
The car is currently showing 2 green lights, so won’t need another service for a while, and won’t need another Inspection 2 for a long time.
In addition to the above regular services, the car has had the following items attended to prior to my ownership, along with other smaller items not listed –
29/10/2004 – 21,367 miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York - Install AC Schnitzer suspension, £744 fitted
20/11/2004 – c22k miles, BMW Scotthall, Leeds, new rear window, £116
01/04/2006 – c28k miles, Atlas BMW Specialist, York, new roof pump, £223
27/06/2006 – 29,816 miles, GRS, Burnley, Install H&R anti roll bars, £353
Since buying the car last October at 45k miles, I have comprehensively refurbished the front and rear suspension and brakes, and have attended to numerous other items –
New windscreen wipers
Autoglym hood cleaner and protector (50% left, will include in sale)
Autoglym leather cleaner and protector for interior
4 Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres, cost £440 whilst on promotion (was £550 originally) – premium tyres, only done 4k miles
Installed nylon seat bushes to cure rocking seats (common Z3 problem)
Fitted magnetic stone guards to protect the rear arches
Fitted a tonneau cover (£80)
Fitted front and rear poly bushes, including poly differential bush which I modified to be more stable (£150)
Rolling road, 3 power runs, average 318bhp flywheel, 255bhp wheels, 250ft\lb torque. Healthy engine, Vanos perfect.
Fitted Rogue Engineering rear shock top mounts, a known weakness on many BMW’s (£110)
Fitted new rear discs, handbrake shoes, handbrake mechanism refurb kit (£150)
Front and rear brake calipers refurbished, painted, new seals and springs (£70)
ETB yellow stuff front and rear pads, really improves stopping power and pedal response & less dust than standard (£120)
Bosch Silver battery (£70)
Seam welded the rear chassis cross member as a preventative measure, as Z3’s can have problems with popped welds (£110).
Also added welding to the ARB mounts and diff mount, again purely preventative as it’s an area of possible weakness.
Modified the rear suspension subframe to allow adjustment of camber and toe at the rear. Lowered Z3’s have too much negative camber and wear out the inner edge of the tyres. This mod solves it, tyre wear is nice and even after 4k miles.
Fitted camber adjustment bolts on the front suspension, again preventing uneven tyre wear problems.
4 wheel suspension alignment set to AC Schnitzer settings – report is in the history file. Feels planted and secure.
Many suspension and brake components sandblasted and powder coated, or cleaned and painted.
Front and rear wheel bearings replaced (£150)
New ball joints, inner and outer fronts, and new tie rod ends for steering rack (£80)
ARB drop links front and rear replaced (£40)
Exhausts removed, painted with heat resistant black paint, polished tailpipes.
Fitted a steering rack from a standard Z3 (£200) as it’s a quicker ratio. Excellent upgrade, steering response is much sharper.
Fitted Goodridge braided stainless brake hoses all round £70, plus new brake fluid.
Allow wheels refurbished with new centre badges.
‘BMW’ business CD player, actually a Rover CD player with M badge. Same one as offered as an option originally (£80).
Upgraded Pioneer front component speakers (£110)
Arctic silver touch up paint purchased, included in sale. Stone chips on bonnet all filled in and then polished.
Air conditioning regassed before the holiday, with full system check. 100% perfect working order.
Front bumper resprayed in June 2011 due to stone chips (£240).
New main dealer number plates.
1 litre M spec oil - not opened as didn’t use any oil on the trip.
Loads of other little things done, bought lots of new nuts\bolts\screws from BMW and used stainless where I could.
Negatives –
The bonnet has got 2 very small (<5mm) dents at the front where I dropped a spanner on it, I’m going to try to get them removed in the next few days, but there’s a crossmember behind them so it might not be possible.
I spent a weekend filling, sanding and polishing stone chips on the bonnet, it’s not 100% perfect but having seen a few other Zed’s of this age I’m happy that it looks pretty good. It’s an honest car with some front end stone chips.
As you will see, I’ve spent a lot of time and about £3,000 in refurbishing the car, servicing, tyres, etc since I’ve had it. I’ve had a lot of help from this forum as well, for which I’m very grateful.
I would hope that people on this forum can appreciate the time and effort invested in bringing it to a state of excellent health for a 13 year old car. I know colour choice is personal, but I believe that the silver paint and plain black interior still look contemporary.
Final price reduction to £7,495 including 6 months road tax.
If you have any questions please get in touch.
Thanks, Ian