Anyone own a Z8?

Considering one and wanted to hear opinions.

 

Never became an owner, but looked hard about 10 years ago and moved on due to the "hassle factor."

Since so many components on the Z8 are unique to the model, sourcing parts might be onerous and discouraging to some owners. At least that seemed to be the situation back then; suspension items verged on unobtanium, especially OEM. Possibly the situation has changed with new vendor offerings. Thus, you might want to research that issue in 2025 before pulling the trigger if you want the car to be a driver.

Otherwise, a nice car that seemed to be ahead of its time.

 

Agree and have considered one, kind of the final evolution of the classic post-WW2 drop top.....the scarcity of parts issue because of the rarity is of course one reason we want to buy cars like this, it is part of the value equation. I own a 2005 Ford GT (amazing car BTW), and it too suffers from parts availability....even though it is a FORD. My Diablo Roadster just got out of the shop yesterday after 3 months because of lack of parts, the work itself was like a 2-3 day thing.

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I thought BMW said they are supporting parts for 50 years on the car? Expensive, but they can get it for you. Like the ridiculous neon taillights that fail. Yes...neon and not LED. Poor design imo.

The biggest issue with this car is like other BMWs of that time...really poor chassis design and weak. E36 and E46 with their own strut tower and rear subframe support panel failed designs. The Z8 itself is a weak aluminum chassis to the point some owners had to get entirely frames due to the struts crinkling up. I do want to get a Z8 one day, but only an Alpina variant. It would have to have the performance package that includes the front strut brace and larger metal discs on the towers to spread the force on the strut bolts. Just like with the E39 M5 and even the regular M62 engine you need to make sure the timing chain guides are in good condition/replaced.

edit: 2053 year for parts in press release https://www.presstopic.bmwgroup.com/en/bmw-classic-blog/buyme/text/LICENCE-TO-DREAM-9661.html

 

Good point. Hope BMW is honoring their vow.

 

Original owner of a Z8 ask any questions you may have about the car. It is a roadster version of the E39 M5. I had the Performance Package installed in 2006 when it was released. I have not had any major issues with the car. I am surprised how few BMW Z8's have the Performance Package. BMW required the car to be inspected by a BMW Dealer to confirm the car was within factory specifications before you could order the Performance Package. I got an official letter from BMW with the inspection report confirming car was withing those specifications and eligible for the Performance Package.

 

Thanks! Do you know if BMW or the dealer said the Alpina car suspensions were adequate enough to not need that package as well? I'm looking for an Alpina specifically myself and I've read posts on other forums with people saying that suspension was good enough to not need it, but then I've seen some the Alpinas with that strut bar.

 

The biggest issue with the Z8 was that BMW was experimenting with Run-Flat tires in early 2000 and the Z8 was one of the first cars offered by BMW with RFT as standard equipment. From what I have heard it was a very late development decision to sell the car with RFT. RFT tires of those era were very stiff. This in combination with the Z8 suspension caused increased impact on the frame/suspension components when hitting deep pot holes causing the frame damage. During testing/development the Z8 was driven with normal tires and no one anticipated that the stiff RFT could cause potential frame damage. The Alpina version of the Z8 had a softer suspension setup and was sold with non-RFT. This alleviated the frame damage issue and reduced the necessity for the Performance Package retrofit. Therefore an Alpina Z8 can get away with missing the Performance Package more so than a standard Z8; but I would still have it checked and eventually installed it as it is cheap insurance on a expensive car.

 

Thanks again. The Z8 I want (Alpina technically) does not have the performance package installed, but now I'm thinking that may be a good thing as some people I've seen install it many years later and I don't think they are doing it correctly. See this video on Hoovie's car for instance I think is wrong.



From what I see, it's not only missing the gasket (NLA) under that ring bracket on top of the strut, but also missing the shock tower support underneath (p/n 31330422175). My understanding is that the strut tower portion of the kit is three pieces. A part under the tower and then that metal ring on top with the gasket under it to stop the ring from scratching the paint under it. Like this diagram: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=EJ13-USA-09-2001-E52-BMW-Z8&diagId=03_1866 Can you confirm that piece under the tower is also replaced/new in the install and not just the metal black ring in the engine bay on top?

Also in that video you can see the strut bolts on the driver side are splayed apart, which is what the failure looks like (starts at 3:17 mark in video and 3:53 close up it's clear). I will avoid any car with the bolts splayed out like that. At least the guy points out it is failed already. This link has a good photo of the three bolts no longer parallel and pointing outward:

https://medium.com/motorious/moskys-musings-the-2000-2003-bmw-z8-and-the-2005-2006-ford-gt-a-comparison-in-two-parts-38f260d57766

edit: screenshot attached

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I do not recall seeing the exact parts that were installed. I will take a picture of my car later this week to see if i can decipher what was installed.