Anything to look out for in a 1999 BMW Z3?

[gus6464]

My father-in-law has a friend from church who is selling his 1999 BMW Z3 with the 2.5L I6 and 5sp manual and is thinking about buying it. The car only has 40k miles and has been kept in garage entire time. It was strictly a weekend car. He will sell it to him for $6500. Anything specific things to check on the car for a BMW this age?

 

[pauldun170]

Yes
Check the z3 bimmer forums. Something about vanos and water pumps and some suspension thingy.
I want that car now please.
Give it to me


(sorry for not contributing, I have an irrational desire for the early Z3's, especuiall the clown car Z3Ms)

 

[monkeydelmagico]

The vanos problem is either there or it isn't. If the guy has the service history you can find out. If it was BMW dealer serviced thats a big +. Water pump should have been replaced. If not, needs done.

Check the top carefully. A new one is expensive

Make sure radio works. Locked out unit = $$$$

Check wipers. Motors are silly expensive for some reason

You will be replacing window regulators periodically. Learn how to do it or prepare for wallet rape

If you/he are not semi-mechanical is there an indie BMW shop around you? Dealer service is pricey.

A garage queen that looks, runs, drives well? Price negotiable? Maybe get it for under $6k? Jump on it.

 

[Drako]

I have a 2000, and the only issues I've had is the glove box falling apart, and the passenger side airbag coming loose. Whoever was on the right side of the assembly line that day must not have had their wrench calibrated. :\

 

[OSULugan]

I've owned a '98 Z3M since August of last year. I've not had any significant issues other than discovering the inside rim of a rear wheel was bent, and caused a tire to fail. The Style 40 17x9 wheels aren't a cheap replacement. Luckily, the Z3 has the 17x7.5s in the front and back (the //M has a staggered set standard). There are some items I've listed below that concerned me when I bought the car, but for the most part aren't huge deal-breakers.

If they're the motorized seats, they will rock on starts/stops unless the seat is pushed all the way back. This is a fairly cheap fix if you are okay with pulling the seats out yourself and replacing some bushings, which can be had for about $25 total for both seats.

The glove box will sag. There is a guy on the z3 bimmerforums that is producing a plate to fix the sag issue. Right now he's charging $5 for the part shipped (and is probably losing money on the deal), but there's a line to get the replacement part.

When checking the top, look for a crease in the rear window. If there is creasing going on, you will likely have a replacement in your near future. The window only costs about $200, so if that's all that's wrong with the top, no biggie. It zips in, and looks pretty straightforward (I have this on my to-do list).

If the radio is locked, you may be able to unlock it, for free, if you ask around on the bimmerforums. There is a guy that will take the serial number and can get you the unlock code, if you ask nice and catch him.

The manual transmissions sometime have an issue where, on a cooled down transmission, the stick will lean to the right (between 5th and where 6th would be) when in neutral. After the transmission warms up, this will adjust back to the center. I'm told that this isn't a big deal to worry about.

 

[Sluggo]

Where the rear differential mounts to the trunk floor is a problem area. Some cars have had issues with the suspension mounts tearing away from the body, requires some very skilled welding to correct.

http://www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=66501

 

[uOpt]

Well, something *will* be broken about the glovebox. That's good, it proves that it is a real BMW and not a chinese knockoff.

Sound matters. A sick 6-cylinder BMW sounds sick. Make sure it sounds like it should. This covers a lot of ground.

In addition to the top opening and closing make sure somebody put a rubber maintenance stick to the seals every now and then. Are they shiny and flexible? Did the owner do anything?

Any vibrations or shaking, with or without braking? Many of the suspension parts are made to ride well but don't last endless. And especially with low profile tires you can bang them up, too.

Read codes, including past codes. You can buy a $15 interface that sends blutooth to your phone. Many cars that have been standing a lot might throw random codes from corroded sensors, this might or might not be a real problem.

 

[gus6464]

Awesome thanks for all the tips guys. I will relay all this info to my father-in-law. I think we found a shop in town that works on BMW's only so we are probably going to take it there for a thorough inspection as well.