Matthew's BMW Z4 Sport (2 litre content)

[Matthew]

Hi,

After selling my Golf GTI on Saturday, I went on the hunt for a Z4 this morning. I had a few "must haves" to find; facelift, full service history, less than 80,000 miles and under £7,500.

I went to see two cars today that fit this. The first was a 2006 2.5 Z4 Sport in silver. This was the first choice due to the engine, however when I got there, it's general condition was tatty. Scratches, stone chips, rear tyres very worn, cabin smelt of smoke, headlight clouded from the inside.

The worst thing was the engine; it was SO loud. Tap tap tap tap. Really bad. After some Google research and a thread on Z4 forum, it became apparent it had the "dreaded tapping" fault on this engine which is a major repair. Needless to say I decided to walk away.

The next car was a 2007 Z4 2.0 Sport in dark blue (not sure what the name is). This was newer and less miles, also had a full service history. It wasn't the engine I would have wanted but after a good test drive, it felt fine. I'm not too bothered about the lack of big pace, it's purely for mooching about in at 20 mph in town, and a weekend drive to the dales. It felt fast enough to me anyway.

So after some negotiation I managed to bag some winter discount

Picking the car up on Tuesday with a full 12 months MOT and six months tax. Also with 3 month warranty

Some iPhone pictures.

Untitled by Matt Walker 1986, on Flickr

Untitled by Matt Walker 1986, on Flickr

I will keep this thread updated with any progress and/or mods I make during the course of my ownership.

Matt

 

[con1981]

V nice makes me want anther cab

 

[Stan.]

Looks great Matt, love the blue too, suits it for me.

 

[imprezaworks]

Yeah, like that

 

[Matthew]

Cheers! It's very much like Monaco blue (I actually think its called Monaco blue too).

 

[leeds_182]

It's got pose appeal.

 

[philmots]

Looks nice to me.

 

[Crybert]

Very nice. Get some csls on that thing and it will look awesome

 

[Paul.M]

Lovely looking car

What 2.0 engine do these use?

 

[Matthew]

A BMW one? Ha. God knows mate ha!

150bhp that's about all I know.

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

Not bad Matthew but i do get the feeling you'll be left disappointed with that engine! As Rob said, its a sports car, it must have the engine to go with!

That said - as long as you're happy buddy!

 

[Matthew]

Cheers Danny. I thought I would be, but the test drive was a right laugh. It's a little revver that's for sure. Reminded me of the 182 engine really.

I've missed a revy engine after the Golf's turbo lump.

The heated seats are awesome too

 

[Tommo.]

Nice car. Haven't actually seen one in this colour before- I like it.

Surely the 2.0 is still reasonably nippy?

 

[Matthew]

Yeah it's nippy. Roughly 7.8 secs to sixty and near enough 140mph top speed. Same 200NM torque as the 182s.

 

[Tommo.]

3.0 would be nice. But sounds like the 2.0 has enough go to have some fun!

Enjoy it mate

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

What do they weigh at all? Is it a 6cylinder 2.0?

 

[Matthew]

No only a four pot unfortunately. About 1200kgs. Handles really well though. Your arse is right on the floor, great driving position.

 

[Sir_Dave]

It looks nice, but a 4 pot BMW is very much "OMG i must have a BMW badge" imho.

You're very much missing out by not having the correct number of cylinders :dapprove:

 

[Sargara]

Won't your GTI be quicker, should have got the 2.2 (or is it a 2.5 in the facelift?) for the 6 cylinder! Did you test drive any of the other versions for comparison?

Still you cant knock the sense of speed with the roof down i bet

 

[Matthew]

It looks nice, but a 4 pot BMW is very much "OMG i must have a BMW badge" imho.

You're very much missing out by not having the correct number of cylinders :dapprove:

Dave, I got the car for the looks/driving top down experience. Not too bothered about the lack of six pot. I'm not a driver so to speak.

This was by far the cleanest car that fit my criteria/price range. I went for the best car a available over the best engine.

If that makes sense?

 

[Sir_Dave]

Dave, I got the car for the looks/driving top down experience. Not too bothered about the lack of six pot. I'm not a driver so to speak.

It does kinda make sense, but the 6 pots are no fire breathers, they just add to the pleasure of mooching about, with a lovely burble/bassy drone. The 2.0 sounds like a bag of spanners from memory.

 

[Chi]

Just don't go racing any clios. Lol

 

[Matthew]

To be fair the six pots I saw, were utter dogs. I'm sure if I was willing to wait (with a Corsa hire car probably) I would have found one eventually but after a test drive the two litre car was actually quite nice to drive. Very happy to rev.

Over on the Z4 forum the consensus seems to be the two litre cars are really under-rated!

 

[STICKER TWONK]

Lovely looking car, broke the first rule of buying a BMW though, always go straight 6 as a bare minimum.

 

[Matthew]

If I get on with the car, and only having two seats, who's knows I might look for a six pot 3 litre down the line. They were out of my budget though so it's a moot point.

 

[Uncle_Gravy]

Looks gorgeous that, I'm on the hunt of a Z4, albeit the 3L.

With a budget of between 6-7k, after a little research my budget suggests an 03-05 car with under 75k miles, MUST HAVE...Heated seats and the sat nav would be an added bonus.

Just need to test drive one now.

 

[RDH]

Realistically doesn't sounds too far off 1*2 pace so can't really say it is underpowered!

 

[Sir_Dave]

Realistically doesn't sounds too far off 1*2 pace so can't really say it is underpowered!

I had an e92 320i (the 170bhp version of the 150bhp in the Z4) and it had difficulty pulling up onto the curb outside my house lol.

They are massively underpowered. On the flipside, they are quite revvy and its nice being able to thrash the absolute t1ts off a car without being anywhere near the speed limit.

 

[Vish]

I remember reading some reviews that said the 2.0 wasn't too bad because it meant the car was lighter, and is happy to be revved. But that was mainly compared against the 2.2/2.5.

Fair enough if you're not going to drive fast, but the wafty surge of six pots with the burbly tone really do add to the drive, even when pottering about.

Either way it's a nice car, looks great and people will think you're doing well for yourself. Sluts will love it too.

 

[_Tom]

Looks nice but I couldn't live with it being a 2.0. Why buy it now anyway? Golf would have been lovely for winter.

A mate of mine has the 320si which is a tuned version of what you have. My mrs smart car feels like it has more go...

 

[jesus]

I like that, nice colour.

 

[Rob]

Very nice Matthew, nice seats too.

I do agree on the engine front, but understand your reasoning. I'm guessing you got a great price given the time of year too?

 

[Matthew]

Thanks for the comments. With regards to it being under powered, it felt the same as any of my Clios. Might not be quite as quick but it's not slow! It's a fairly light car, it's not like a three series!

I got a good deal on it being winter, so come spring I won't be paying convertible tax!

 

[Nigel]

I love the look of it. My biggest worry would be the appeal to others when I came to sell it. As shown on here most want the larger capacity or 6cyl at the least.

 

[con1981]

When your cruising for the honeys it doesn't matter how fast it goes. Woman love a topless model! I presume your single if not your wife/gf ain't going to be happy about the attention you will get in that

 

[Matt W]

Looks very nice. Enjoy!

 

[Gally]

See I don't understand the 2.0 hating. It's a cheap way into a cracking drive? No one moans about an MX-5 and it's power. If anything it's a great idea for his first RWD?

 

[imprezaworks]

Tbf the mx5 has weight on its side. Lovely car though Mathew, enjoy the drive back tomo

 

[leeds_182]

Come on the drive on the 24th - would be nice to have a look at it.

 

[chris_p]

Sorry bud, but I too feel you've compromised in the wrong department!
I won't harp on about it, but it has to be said.

Apart from that, lovely. They look like M sport seats to me? What extras did you get?

Should have bought mine!

All the toys, around 180bhp/ton, you know you love the orange deep down