BMW z3 Review

BMW Z3

Longing for a sports car, I started purusing Craig's List for cars. BMWs, Porsche's, I
was open to anything, though I am a Porsche guy by heart. I started seeing some BMW Z3's
come up in my price range ($3,000). The first one was a 4 cylinder and it was far away.
I've owned several 318ti's with that particular engine and grew to hate it, so it had to
be a 6 cylinder. Then next one was another 4 cylinder and it had a hardtop. I called and
the owner said it did not run. Then another one turns up at a local dealer. Close by, a
1999 with a 6 cylinder for $3,000 with 140,000 miles on it. I've owned several new and
used BMWs so I had a good idea what problems to look for and when to avoid a car. The big
issues being an engine or automatic transmission leaking oil, the car overheating, and
the a/c not working. I get to the dealship and it's a sad looking car, dusty with an
opaque rear window that had several holes in it, and with both door handles / pulls
detached from the doors. I get in and start it up. The dashboard is lit up like a
Christmas tree. Every warning light is on, ABS, brake pad wear, airbag, traction control,
check engine, etc. So from it's physical appearance, I can see why the dealship priced it
so low. I pop the hood and a see a dry engine covered in dust. Bone dry. I don't think
I've ever seen a BMW engine with this many miles on it not leaking oil. GREAT! So the
salesman and I go for a test drive. It seems to drive fine, revs nicely, no clunking from
the transmission. A/C works fine as long as the car is moving. Engine is not overheating.
And I know from experience that most of the dashboard lights are easy to fix. I look the
car over once more and it's got leather seats (in very good condition with no rips or
tears), a power top, automatic transmission, and a CD player. It has some dents, but they
don't bother me. Black with a tan interior. So I start trying to figure out what it's
going to cost me to get it fixed up. I've never investigated Z3's before so i guesstimate
$300 for a new rear window (installed), and then another $1,000 for maintenace (coolant
flush, transmission fluid flush, new fuel filter, oil change, spark plugs, air filter,
new brakes, etc). Most of this stuff I can do myself. I call my wife to check with her
and then buy it.

We pick the car up after dusk and as I drive it home I try to fix some of the dashboard
lights. I press the traction control button a few times and get that light to turn off,
and after a few miles the check engine light turns off!

So far, so good.

We get it home and I hop onto the internet to figure out how to fix the rear window (my
biggest concern because I'd like the car to be waterproof). After some searching I
discover that the window zips out and I can get a new window for $95 shipped. I order my
new window, it arrives, and my wife and I install it in 45 minutes!

The interior, exterior, and engine compartment are covered in a layer of dust, so I start
cleaning. Takes a couple of days, but i get it nice and shiny. I have the coolant
flushed, transmission fluid changed, and fuel filter changed by a local shop.

I take the wheels off and discover new brake discs and pads! The brake pad wear sensor
light is on due to a disconnected sensor. I re-connect the sensor and that warning light
goes away.

I change the spark plugs, air filter, brake fluid, differential fluid, and polish the
headlights. I also decided to get new tires.

After some more internet searching, I discover that the a/c does not work if the
auxillary fan is not blowing. So I check the fuses. Blown aux fan fuse. I replace it and
still no aux fan. I check the wires and they're all torn up. I re-connect the wires and
the aux fan starts working again.

The car was also making a whistling noise and I discovered a hole in the intake boot, so
I changed that out (two intake boots actually).

All of the BMW badges on the car are faded from the sun so I replace them as well.

The door handles / pulls are disconnected from the door panels so I pick up some epoxy
and glue the handles back onto the panels. I also cleaned and recondition the door panels
at this time. And since there is room for two tweeters on the door and my car only has
one tweeter, I added the extra two speakers. The windows were not working, but all they
needed was some grease on their tracks.

On a spirited drive I notice the suspension bottoming out and discovered that the car
needs new shocks, struts, lower control arms, and ball joints. So I ordered the parts.
Bilstein struts for the front, KYB shocks for the rear. I also bought the rear shock
tower reinforcemnt plates. The shocks and struts were pretty easy to put on but I had a
very difficult time replacing the passenger side ball joint. And of course, the car rides
like a dream after installing the new suspension parts.

So what is it like to own and drive a Z3? First off, it's a real sports car. It doesn't
pretend. At first I thought it would be an e36 3 series with it's roof chopped off, but
it's not. It's a real, hariy chested, make a wrong move and you're dead sports car. No
stability control safty net on this baby. You screw up, you pay the consequences sports
car. And I love it!

You may think that only having the smaller 2.5 liter 170hp (or so) engine would make this
car boring. Not at all. You may think that an automatic transmission would make this car
boring. Not the 4 speed. Always hooked up, always ready to go. Put that top down, let the
sun shine in, and you're in another world.

It was my own personal go-kart. It's so small and responsive. One of the best sports cars
I've owned. And a great deal at $3,000.  Sold it for $6,000 to buy my 911, made a $1,000
profit after figuring in the cost of parts. First time I ever sold a car for a profit.

How did I do on my estimating and inspection of the car? I thought it needed new brakes
but it did not, and I missed the hole in the intake boot and the fact the it needed a new
suspension. Other then that I think i got most of it.

The original MSRP on the car was approximatly $40,000. I paid $3,000, which works out to
be a 92.5% drop in price over 13 years (a 1999 model year car purchased in 2012). So the
car held 7.5% of it's value after 13 years.

1999 bmw z3 2.3

$30,520

schwatrz II

black top

tan leather

ASC+T

side airbags

roll over bars

limited slip

auto transmission $975

fog lights $260

on-board computer $300

cruise control $475

cd player $200

alarm $500

premium package $2,000

power top

leather

wood trim

total: $35,230