# Weeekend "fun" car - Opinions on the BMW Z3 M Road



## Justhe1 (Jul 2, 2002)

Doing my weekly trawl through the Autotrader online, half browsing, half STILL trying to figure what car to get for a mixture of occaisional daily drive and weekend roof down motoring (for under Â£20k) and I had another look at a car that I had always scanned straight past, the BMW Z3.

I only stopped and had a gander because I saw a programme on TV a little while ago (with Quinten Wilson I think) and he was hooning around in the M roadster and it looked like it could provide some fun motoring, RWD with BMW M3 (325BHP I think) engine for relativlely not a lot of cash, as these can be had for Â£16k now.

I just wondered if I was going mad and they are striclty just for hairdressers or wide boys, or are they worth a look??

I'd welcome any feedback, esp if any of you have owned or driven one..

Cheers

J


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## Widget (May 7, 2002)

Hi J

The Z3M will be very nice for you.

By the way, what does your husband drive? :wink:


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## Justhe1 (Jul 2, 2002)

yeah ok, fair point  - Its just that i'm fed up of looking at the same old car makes and going round in circles, after something a bit different, I have also been taking an interest in Alfa 3.0 spiders, are they in the same category? am I just getting sad in my old age :? - or do I just go for the TVR and be done with it?!


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## Neil (May 7, 2002)

Sod the girly comments, it's a fantastic car (the M version that is). Mate of mine has one, I've had a go and loved it. To the extent that I am also considering a ZM, albeit the slightly more manly and hairy-chested M Coupe (aka the Breadvan :wink: ). Much prefer the looks of the Breadvan (although I admit it is an acquired taste, but with some of the recent Bangle-inspired BM's it's possibly a real beauty!), it's definitely rarer, and supposed to be an even better drive than the M Roadster.

It's obviously an M Coupe site, but a lot of the comments on http://www.z3mcoupe.com/forum2/index.php will also apply to the M Roadster.

More info on http://www.bmwmregistry.com/model_faq.php?id=17 (Coupe) & http://www.bmwmregistry.com/model_faq.php?id=16 (Roadster).


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## Justhe1 (Jul 2, 2002)

neil1003 said:


> Sod the girly comments, it's a fantastic car (the M version that is). Mate of mine has one, I've had a go and loved it. To the extent that I am also considering a ZM, albeit the slightly more manly and hairy-chested M Coupe (aka the Breadvan :wink: ). Much prefer the looks of the Breadvan (although I admit it is an acquired taste, but with some of the recent Bangle-inspired BM's it's possibly a real beauty!), it's definitely rarer, and supposed to be an even better drive than the M Roadster.
> 
> It's obviously an M Coupe site, but a lot of the comments on http://www.z3mcoupe.com/forum2/index.php will also apply to the M Roadster.
> 
> More info on http://www.bmwmregistry.com/model_faq.php?id=17 (Coupe) & http://www.bmwmregistry.com/model_faq.php?id=16 (Roadster).


Cheers Neil,

I I'll give the sites a gander.

I must admit to having a peep at the "breadvan" as well, i think I like it (looks kinda like a mini evil hearse in black!).

It just my hankering for a softop that led me to the roadster in the main.

Apparently there were only 699 roadsters imported to the Uk (according to an advert)? - and if thats true I guess even less of the coupes, but that number can't be right can it?

if it it it seems a good buy for a rare-ish car that you can smoke the rear tyres up in regulalry, get good grin factor and maintain some reliability....


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## Neil (May 7, 2002)

Justhe1 said:


> Apparently there were only 699 roadsters imported to the Uk (according to an advert)? - and if thats true I guess even less of the coupes, but that number can't be right can it?


I think there was only about 1000 of each of the coupe and roadster made in RHD. The exact numbers are on the last 2 links I posted.


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## Neil (May 7, 2002)

Following on from this thread, I went for a test drive today of a breadvan - I have to say it is superb! An M3 engine in a, err how shall I put it, "unique" (but very rare on our roads) bodyshape, great handling, noise  , excellent brakes, loads of power on tap, low and comfy seats (with good grip), just don't diss these cars until you've driven one :wink:


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

neil1003 said:


> Following on from this thread, I went for a test drive today of a breadvan - I have to say it is superb! An M3 engine in a, err how shall I put it, "unique" (but very rare on our roads) bodyshape, great handling, noise  , excellent brakes, loads of power on tap, low and comfy seats (with good grip), just don't diss these cars until you've driven one :wink:


I love it too, actually - about the only Bimmer I really would warm to (well, the Z8 is nice, but LHD only...)

The one complaint with the shape?

It won't be unique when the 1 series starts shipping... :lol:


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## TTurbo (Jul 5, 2002)

I've driven both the Coupe and Roadster and they are both good drives, the Roadster feels and performs like a TVR would if it was German.

I think EVO managed to get 0-60 under 5 seconds and 0-100 in 11 something in the breadvan!

I reckon they are both sure fire classics for the future (good manufacturer, great engine, striking looks, low numbers), the most sought after will be the very last few which had the slightly more powerful E46 M3 engine.


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## jonno (May 7, 2002)

neil1003 said:


> great handling


Not that I've driven one, but I thought this was supposed to be the poorest handling M car?
Certainly agree on the rest, especially rarity value.


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## Neil (May 7, 2002)

jonno said:


> Not that I've driven one, but I thought this was supposed to be the poorest handling M car?


It may be, but having not driven any other M cars, I thought the M Coupe's handling was excellent. The rest of them are obviously even better then....


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

I really like the look of the Coupe - far more so than the Roadster.

Saw one in the States last week and reminded of how rare they are. that is, because you don't really remember them until you see one.

Looks wise, still reminds me of the Scimitar and the Allegro Estate. And I liked both of those too.


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## Justhe1 (Jul 2, 2002)

Looks wise, still reminds me of the Scimitar and the Allegro Estate. And I liked both of those too.

















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All-Agro estate, now that takes me back :lol: - my Dad had one once, sandy coloured with chocolate brown interior, a truly nasty car  !


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## b3ves (May 6, 2002)

I just spent the weekend at the Nurburgring and did a few laps as a passenger in an M Coupe (breadvan). Great car with easy tail-out action.


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## chowy (Jul 5, 2004)

I do like the M Coupe but unfortunately it was no good to me with only 2 seats as I have 2 kids!!

If you're interested in one, make sure it's got BMW warranty as the earlier 321 bhp engine was prone to VANOS problems which costs around Â£1500 to replace.

In my last M3 evo, my VANOS was replaced 3 times in 20K miles but this was an extreme case as the 1st time they didn't replace the entire unit!! Good job it was under warranty as it would have set me back Â£4500 and that doesn't include a new flywheel and clutch plus other bits and pieces! :?


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## Neil (May 7, 2002)

chowy said:


> If you're interested in one, make sure it's got BMW warranty as the earlier 321 bhp engine was prone to VANOS problems which costs around Â£1500 to replace.


It's only the S50 engines that are affected though isn't it? (OK, a large % of the breadvans on the road are S50's, but the later S54's don't have the VANOS problems do they?)


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## chowy (Jul 5, 2004)

neil1003 said:


> It's only the S50 engines that are affected though isn't it? (OK, a large % of the breadvans on the road are S50's, but the later S54's don't have the VANOS problems do they?)


The later S54's don't have a known problem with VANOS!

There is however a recall for M3's manufactured between 10/2001-06/2003 at the moment!

There have been two identified problems. The oil pump in cars from 10/2001 up to 02/2002 (too low oil pressure due to manufacturing defect) and the connecting rod bearings in cars up to 06/2003 (quality problems and overheating).

I assume if Mcoupe and Z3M fall in this period your engine may go bang!!


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## Neil (May 7, 2002)

chowy said:


> There is however a recall for M3's manufactured between 10/2001-06/2003 at the moment!


Surely if there's an M3 recall then they recall the ZM's as well? :?

Otherwise, as you say....



chowy said:


> I assume if Mcoupe and Z3M fall in this period your engine may go bang!!


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