OK so I was debating whether to start this ownership thread as any previous endeavour seems to have simply resulted in me selling the car after a pitiful number of updates - but at the end of the day we can only live in hope so here goes.
I sold my first Zed back in 2018 so this is Zed number 20 and represents the 9th Z3 I have owned since I sold my previous one yesterday - there’s an interesting story to this one but to be honest there usually always is especially with the Z3’s.
I bought the car from Group 1 BMW in Farnborough (previously Barons I believe) but obviously not the main sales site rather from a BMW tech who was employed in their MOT & service centre. The car had been owned by an elderly chap for the previous 20 years and although he had done 34k miles in that time he had only done 4k miles in the last 10 years but despite that he had it serviced regularly and tested annually. It’s last 2 services in 2022 and 2024 had been conducted by Group 1 but shortly after the last one and before the MOT was due the car through an EML and the owner through the towel in suggesting he was considering scrapping the vehicle rather than incurring the additional expense quoted by Group 1 that would be required to pass the MOT.
Enter the BMW tech, I guess in situations like this they are ideally placed to make an offer to the customer to buy the car privately which is what the chap I bought it from did. Apparently he had bought it with the intention of gifting it to his father after carrying out all the necessary re-commissioning work. So one new front suspension strut, brake calliper and crankshaft sensor later the keys are with his dad who I think quickly realised that Z3’s aren’t necessarily the most practical of cars to live with on a daily basis.
Enter me, I spot the add which is essentially for a Z3 being sold less than a month after the current owner purchased it and has a heavy focus on the issues with the car. So I contact the seller and quickly establish the background summarised above and satisfy myself that this is an ideal opportunity to purchase an unmolested, low mileage, late (M52TU), widebody example. The fact it was being sold with the matching hardtop was also a bonus.
So last week I made the train journey in to London, then on to Waterloo and out to Farnborough. The seller had agreed to collect me from the station and highlighted that because he wasn’t allowed to park the car onsite we had to drive to a public carpark nearby where it would be waiting. In addition the bonnet cable had snapped (this was highlighted in the for sale advert) so I wouldn’t be able to look at the engine. Are the alarm bells ringing yet?
We arrive at the carpark, I have a good look round the car, take it for a short drive, transfer the money and we do the V5 online. All done it’s mine and these were the photo’s I captured on collection - multiple scuffs / scratches on the bodywork (also mentioned in the advert) clearly from the extended use of a car cover and being stored in a small garage, filthy alloys, missing wheel centre caps and plenty of bird s***. Clearly the lad was busy the dad wasn’t interested and the car was obviously not getting the attention it deserved.
On leaving the car park my first stop was a local petrol station to check the tyre pressures and fill up the tank.
All the tyre pressures were spot on and it only cost me £40 to fill it up because it was already half full.
Couldn't resist a stop at Newport Pagnall on the way home to try out the cup holders - never thought I'd see the day, functional cup holders in a Z3
As expected I completed the 180 mile journey home without a hitch and the car returned an admiral 36mpg
I sold my first Zed back in 2018 so this is Zed number 20 and represents the 9th Z3 I have owned since I sold my previous one yesterday - there’s an interesting story to this one but to be honest there usually always is especially with the Z3’s.
I bought the car from Group 1 BMW in Farnborough (previously Barons I believe) but obviously not the main sales site rather from a BMW tech who was employed in their MOT & service centre. The car had been owned by an elderly chap for the previous 20 years and although he had done 34k miles in that time he had only done 4k miles in the last 10 years but despite that he had it serviced regularly and tested annually. It’s last 2 services in 2022 and 2024 had been conducted by Group 1 but shortly after the last one and before the MOT was due the car through an EML and the owner through the towel in suggesting he was considering scrapping the vehicle rather than incurring the additional expense quoted by Group 1 that would be required to pass the MOT.
Enter the BMW tech, I guess in situations like this they are ideally placed to make an offer to the customer to buy the car privately which is what the chap I bought it from did. Apparently he had bought it with the intention of gifting it to his father after carrying out all the necessary re-commissioning work. So one new front suspension strut, brake calliper and crankshaft sensor later the keys are with his dad who I think quickly realised that Z3’s aren’t necessarily the most practical of cars to live with on a daily basis.
Enter me, I spot the add which is essentially for a Z3 being sold less than a month after the current owner purchased it and has a heavy focus on the issues with the car. So I contact the seller and quickly establish the background summarised above and satisfy myself that this is an ideal opportunity to purchase an unmolested, low mileage, late (M52TU), widebody example. The fact it was being sold with the matching hardtop was also a bonus.
So last week I made the train journey in to London, then on to Waterloo and out to Farnborough. The seller had agreed to collect me from the station and highlighted that because he wasn’t allowed to park the car onsite we had to drive to a public carpark nearby where it would be waiting. In addition the bonnet cable had snapped (this was highlighted in the for sale advert) so I wouldn’t be able to look at the engine. Are the alarm bells ringing yet?
We arrive at the carpark, I have a good look round the car, take it for a short drive, transfer the money and we do the V5 online. All done it’s mine and these were the photo’s I captured on collection - multiple scuffs / scratches on the bodywork (also mentioned in the advert) clearly from the extended use of a car cover and being stored in a small garage, filthy alloys, missing wheel centre caps and plenty of bird s***. Clearly the lad was busy the dad wasn’t interested and the car was obviously not getting the attention it deserved.
On leaving the car park my first stop was a local petrol station to check the tyre pressures and fill up the tank.
All the tyre pressures were spot on and it only cost me £40 to fill it up because it was already half full.
Couldn't resist a stop at Newport Pagnall on the way home to try out the cup holders - never thought I'd see the day, functional cup holders in a Z3
As expected I completed the 180 mile journey home without a hitch and the car returned an admiral 36mpg
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