Z3 yeah or nah ?

loz

Hi,

Got some spare cash - and want a 2 seater - thinking of BMW Z3

im confused that there seems to be different versions ?

cabrio, coupe and roadster ? - whats the difference ?

anyone have one ? - experiences or pros/cons ?

much appreciated


Loz

ps - look to cap at 17k no more - seens a few 97/98 with between 40 and 50 k on them

RotalicaV

There's a garage next door to where i work and i was in there at lunch time. There's a 98 Z3 in there at the moment and i was having a look at it.

The inside really is tiny, im not a big guy but even i thought it looked a bit cramped. That'd put me off one anyway

Ernie Ball

Hideous car and the performance isn't as good as either an MR2 roadster or coupe or an MX-5.

Also overpriced...

The cabrio and roadster and coupe are all the same car, I believe. The coupe presumably also has a removable hard top.

FX Meister

Nah, the coupe is a hard top. I've only seen a few of them in Ireland though.
http://images.google.ie/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=bmw+z3+coupe

mike65

tbh.

Mike.

coolcon

mike65 wrote:

tbh.

Mike.

Very true!

RobAMerc

I think the Z3 is one of the nicest cars on the road looks wise.

Unlike alot of the cars out there now, it is unmistakably a bmw with styling cues from beemers of the past without being a totally cynical rip off like some. (one vw in particular).

Ok dynamically they may not be that good, but it should never give trouble and you'll generally forgive it anything once the roof is off.

Unfortunately almost any rag top is going to be called a hairdressers car by some, but given that the MX5 and Boxster are considered a hairdressers cars on this forum and the CRX Del Sol and maybe Mr2 blokes cars, then I'd suggest that hairdressers know more about cars than some others. :rolleyes:

mike65

Twas a joke! The Triumph Stag was dismissed by some as being to girly but I'd have one (with the Rover V8 installed of course).

Mike.

colm_mcm

I drove a Z3 (1.9) two months ago. mopst of the interior is from the early 90's 3 series, and there were loads of squeaks and rattles. It didn't feel that well built, and was quite slow. nice view of the bonnet from the interior.

kdevitt

Ernie Ball wrote:

Hideous car and the performance isn't as good as either an MR2 roadster or coupe or an MX-5.

Also overpriced...

The cabrio and roadster and coupe are all the same car, I believe. The coupe presumably also has a removable hard top.

Dead right - the 3.2 Zm Coupe / Roadster, 3 litre versions & 2.8 litre would have great difficultly keeping up with an Mx5 or MR2 roadster

The cabrio is the roadster, the coupe is hardtopped -

Coupe:


Roadster / Cabrio


The early models should probably be avoided to be honest - the post facelfit ones are fine. If you buy a 1.8/1.9 it probably won't be the fastest - the 6 cylinder models are more than adequate.

junkyard

My sister has one and wouldn't sell it for the world. I sold her the car five years ago and just recently tried to sell her a Merc. 200 Cabrio and she said she would prefer the BMW. In fairness to the car it never gave any trouble considering she's not exactly religious about servicing.

Cyrus

kdevitt wrote:

Dead right - the 3.2 Zm Coupe / Roadster, 3 litre versions & 2.8 litre would have great difficultly keeping up with an Mx5 or MR2 roadster

The cabrio is the roadster, the coupe is hardtopped -

Coupe:


Roadster / Cabrio


The early models should probably be avoided to be honest - the post facelfit ones are fine. If you buy a 1.8/1.9 it probably won't be the fastest - the 6 cylinder models are more than adequate.

Coupe = coolest car ever, only available in m guise if im correct tho and it aint cheap but ill buy one some day

kdevitt

Cyrus wrote:

Coupe = coolest car ever, only available in m guise if im correct tho and it aint cheap but ill buy one some day

Also available in 2.8 and 3 litre guise - but LHD only. Fantastic car!!

Cyrus

i stand corrected

however i wouldnt want a left hooker so for me its m or nuthin!

Funxy

Main question is what are your priorities? Do you want comfortable inside, decent legroom, a boot big enough for a case, leather interior, softop, hardtop, etc. Also how into the feel of driving it are you? Or do you just want a nice looking two seater and not pushed about performance?

I certainly wouldn't mind the hairdresser type comments as they will invariably come. Their usually from boy racers who believe sunstrips improve their cars performance. If they got over jumping on the comment bandwagon and actually driving anything like an mx-5, mr2 etc they would no doubt change their opinion! That wasn't aimed at anyone here Z3 is definitly not my favorite two seater. In fact when i test drove it i found it even more uncomfortable then an opel speedster i also drove. But then again ive never been a beemer fan really

junkyard

I think you either love or hate BMW's tbh, but it has to be said that they make some great driver's car's. I've owned many BMW'S over the years, an 850, 2X M3's, 4X 7series, 5X 5 series, a few ordinary 3 series, an M5 and an X5 which I still have and the only thing I have against them of late is the styling which I don't think I'll ever like. It would be hard to find a better car in my opinion.

Gatster

Nah, unless it's one of the six cylinder jobs. Drove a 1.9 and wasn't impressed, although it handled well enough. Been through the mill on this one recently and was on the verge of biting the bullet on an Alfa Spyder but I didn't think I'd be able to shift it when it comes to resale and was slightly concerned by the possible reliability issues (I need ABSOLUTE reliability for my job [not Alfa bashing here as I loved driving it, but...]).

So, after also seriously considering stretching my budget to a second gen Elise, I settled on an 02/03 MR-2 Roadster, which I'm going to mod slightly up to about 160bhp. I'm in England next week to hopefully put a deposit down on something...

ps. F#ck the hairdresser thing either way - some lad at work said it to me about the MR2 (who has a Starlet Turbo), don't think he even knew about mid-engine layouts, similarities to the Elise...I pointed out that putting a turbo on granny's shopping trolley a 'performance' car does not make

Lex Luthor

The roadster is the one in the pic above with the hatchback look. My neighbour had the Z3 cabrio and he bought the attachable hard roof aswell, but never used it.

He sold it 2yrs later from new with 8k miles on it cos kids came along but never had a problem with it but it wouldn't be my choice. Alfa GT possibly or a 328ci...?

Someone told him once he looked like Pierce Brosnan so he got an idea in his head that the car would make it look more convincing.

smash

I wouldn't buy a Z3, not worth it at all.