2003-2007 BMW Z4 opinions and reviews?

[93VR6]

Anyone currently own or have owned an 03-07 Z4, I have been looking a for a nice drop top for the coming summer and these can be had for around 20k with sub 80,000km. I will be getting the 6-spd manual since I have read nothing but horror stories about the SMG in the Z4.

I have been looking around and can't find much that competes in terms of price and performance, but I am open to suggestions.

TIA

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

My dad has an 07 Z4M. It's a lot different from a 2.5i or 3.0i or 3.0si but it has been reliable over the past 4 years/67000km and it's great fun.

[Graham_A_M]

I used to have an '04 3.0I W/SMG Here it was
http://forums.beyond.ca/st/215509/04-bmw-z4-3-0i-smg-maldives-blue/

Yeah stay way the fuck away from the SMG. Much like Communism & the rotary engine: Its a good idea, but only in theory. I had some serious issues with it. The tranny would get lost shifting from 2nd to 3rd, or from 3rd back down to 2nd every once in a while. The only way to get it back in gear was to come to a complete stop, put it in neutral, THEN back into drive then do that all over again. Not exactly fun when you're trying to accelerate in traffic.

Nobody could find out why, and of course it would never do that when I took it into Calgary BMW or whatever. :banghead:
The clutch also shit the bed at 100k km's, which was a measly $1400 to have done. :thumbsdow

Asides from that their pretty good little cars. The M sport package for the 2006+ is one hell of an improvement, but otherwise the 3.0 is still a good little car. Dont get the 2.5, as its almost gutless, and with the 5 speed you will only get as good fuel economy as the 3.0 (w/6speed) on the highway.

It handles great just bone stock. Put some super sticky tires on it and it'll be very quick around the corners. I had some Toyo T1R proxies on those after market rims, and holy shit that car could corner!

There are a few companies that make superchargers for them, but for the cost you may as well just sell it and buy a Z4M. At least then you're getting a much faster/better handling car instead of trying to spend the same amount getting the 3.0 to be as fast.

For mods Id suggest a good STB, and possibly a rear one if you can find it. The OEM BMW ones are the best... .but are hard to find and thus can be costly. Almost all the aftermarket STB's suck... tons of problems with them breaking, or at the very least not helping performance at all. You may want to join www.zpost.com/forums
I used to be on there lots. You may find a few threads in the car audio section & DIY sections I created. Username there is Graham M.
A good set of coilovers may be what you're after. Do some research as to the best ones you can get (Vs. Price). I used to know all this but I sold that a year ago now.


RE-EDIT: I also wouldn't bother with the 3.0SI, unlike both the 2.5 & the 3.0I the SI doesn't share too many parts at all, so finding specific performance parts is a bitch. They only made the SI for a few years, and since it doesn't share the same parts bin as the 2.5 & the 3.0I, most performance manufacturers just didn't bother since they knew very few people would buy them. Not only that but I think the SI's have around 10hp more then the regular 3.0I. Its like who cares... :rolleyes:
Even though a lot of the parts are different there is no difference in performance/handling either.