BMW Thread: this is the bmw thread. we drive blue cars

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > BMW Thread: this is the bmw thread. we drive blue cars

change my name: Aug 27, 2007; Legends die but anime is forever.

RIP The Lost Otakus.

I was looking at a 96 z3 with 79k miles on it in great condition for 7 and a half grand from a dealer and a clean carfax report, is there a ton of extra expenses I'll have to pay down the line? It looks great now but for such a low price am I missing something? I'm fully aware it's only the 4 cylinder 138hp model

# ¿ Mar 31, 2009 02:44

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 14:58

change my name: Aug 27, 2007; Legends die but anime is forever.

RIP The Lost Otakus.

peterjmatt posted:

That's a ton of money for that car, low mileage or not.

The M44 is a great engine (though seriously gutless) and will last nearly forever, but pretty much every gasket goes on them after 10 years or so. Resealing that motor costs quite a bit of money so make sure it's already been done.

Other issues are mostly top related: the rear window either goes foggy, cracks, or comes un-stitched necessitating replacement, the seals start to leak and occasionally the top itself tears or comes un-stitched at the A-pillar.

It's a fairly simple car (it's essentially a parts-bin car made of e30 and a few e36 systems) so nothing really catastrophic usually goes wrong with them, but there's no way in hell I'd pay that much for a first year z3. There's tons of low mileage examples out there (the Bond movie had just come out and everyone thought they were buying collector cars) so I'd look for a better deal if that's the car you want...but I'd look for a later model m52 powered example if I were you.

It was actually the cheapest one I could find around here, 7 was kind of my limit and the newer ones are around 12-15 grand for some reason, it just doesn't seem right. I'm aware of the manual top thing too which seems kind of annoying but I could live with it. Guess I can wait a few months and see what else pops up.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2009 03:29

change my name: Aug 27, 2007; Legends die but anime is forever.

RIP The Lost Otakus.

peterjmatt posted:

If you're willing to live with an underpowered, impractical, tiny roadster, just go with a Miata. Sure you have to forfeit your balls on delivery but it's as much fun to drive as a 1.9 z3 and a hell of a lot cheaper all around.

And I'm very much a BMW guy so this isn't biased advice.

Even less of them around here, which is odd because I see them around all the time. Again I'll see what opens up in september and definitely consider it

# ¿ Mar 31, 2009 04:44

change my name: Aug 27, 2007; Legends die but anime is forever.

RIP The Lost Otakus.

My friend's ex jumped on top of her 99 5-series and crumpled the top. The garage says it's going to take about 3 grand to fix, would it just be cheaper to get it turned into a convertible? Is it even possible?

# ¿ Apr 4, 2009 01:21

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