1997 BMW Z3

You mean negative camber?

Not sure what the specs are from the factory, or recommended.

 

I've had two of them. One was returned under the Lemon Law because of a recurring problem with the fuel sending unit (9 different repairs). Other than that, both cars were very reliable. The fuel sending unit is the achilles heel in these earlier cars. The failure rate was extraordinary, however, they fixed it in later years and I imagine there is a retrofix if your daughter should have a problem. Although both of mine were manual, from what I know, The auto transmissions do not last forever, and you are probably going to be dealing with that in the next 30-40K kilometers. Did you get the 4 or 6 cylinder. If you got the 4 cylinder, there is a guy named Shawn Fogg who did some really impressive do-it-yourself modifications that would gain your daughter 20HP (airbox is way to restrictive on the 4 cylinder), just enough to help the 4 cylinder get out of its own way. If she got the 6, she should be in good shape on that front. The best place to post your questions is probably roadfly.com They have an entire forum devoted to BMW Z3's and I learned a ton there back in the day.

 

Joes post is good but overall the cars were solid. I'm sure it's a 4 cyl and your daughter should be safe with it but it is a small car, a low car and can still reach killing speed like any oher car today, let her know that.

Tell your mechanic to check the car out very well, call him now if you must. If he was told to swap some parts out and write up the bill, it's not the same as a thorough PPI. A very big issue on an 11 year old car that may have had the snot run out of her. Other than that piece of mind is down to the insurance.

AC should be checked out, they blew strong and many still do but there have also been a lot of people saying "F*** it" when it comes to repairing them because they can get expensive quickly.

As for the brakes, seems like wear and tear.

The negative camber is an issue. The tires will wear quickly and the back end won't be firmly planted in a straight line {in case of emergency steering cases} if you can tell that the rears have that much lean. Have an alignment done and make sure whoever does it has the specs from the dealer BMW alignmnets can be an absolute surgical procedure and if someone just throws it on the track. lines up the lasers and signs off on it, I'll bet you a thousand that you'll wear your tires off like cotton balls. There will be guidelines for the alignment and room to play. Lean the tires closer to the positive side for the rear I doubt your daughter will be tracking the car and if she does, I doubt she'll notice the difference.

I hate the look of the stereo and A/C controls, they're so outdated but somehow still classic BMW, if she can live with that she'll love the car and after the PPI you shouldn't have any gremlins lingering from previous owners, what's the history like for service records? That will tell you the lifeline of the car and if anything is missing, or shouldn't be on there I would know.

 

Dealer specs for the alignment,a must if you're having one done. Also you can lean them back near positive without a concern.

 

OK they only do PPI's but that's different from being knowledgeable about a certain car. It wasn't clear in your post of this PPI shp was the one with the long time BMW mechs. If so you should be golden.

Also

If your car needs an alignment {you should be able to tell from the service history, tires and by the way it handles} you can't do that yourself at all. You need a $100,000+ machine, the software from BMW and the $75,000 computer to go along with it, most likely a few sand bags and a full tank of gas too.

How's the rear window looking and the condition of the soft top?

 

I have had a 97 since new it has about 60,000 miles on it. Mine is a 6 cyl. So far the only problem seems to be with a senser for the air bag. i have had to replace it twice. Also a common problem with all the early Z3s is plastic bushings in the seat sliders. The seats end up getting about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch play in them. There is a guy on one of the bmw forums that makes replacement bushings foraround $25 if that happens to you. Other than that it has been a great car. I thought about selling it a while back because I had to many cars but their value has dropped so much I decided the enjoyment I get driving it was worth more then I could get selling it. Sounds like you are getting a pretty good deal on it. I test drove a four when they came out and since my order was not in yet I waited till the six came out the four seemed a little sluggish. Considering it is for a young driver though that is probably a good thing.

 

I have a '97 Z3, but mine has the 2.8 liter 6. It has been very reliable and a whole lot of fun to drive. I average a bit over 30 mpg in the mountains & more like the mid 20's in the 'burbs of Chicago. Only thing that ever gave out was the thermostat & I replaced that myself for very little money.

Decided to drag the 964 with me this trip, so the Z3 is locked away in a garage somewhere for the winter.

 

I forgot about those loose bushings, not a major problem but it does include a noticeable percentage of cars.

 

I had a Z3 M Coupe (321hp version) ... it was a great car.

The seat bushings I replaced just before I sold the car. Don't have that taken care of at the dealership. It costs a bunch. Just buy the bushings from BMW (there is a parts list for this out there on different forums - don't have a link now) for roughly 20-30bucks and do it yourself. Takes about 25min each to do. (And with the roadster its a lot easier to get the seats out than in the coupe).

You might also want to replace the speakers in the car, as they tend to get pretty ugly-sounding compared to new ones. (Either aftermarket or just replacements from BMW - the difference is unbelieveable)

And about the negative camber: All the Z3's had a relative high negative camber. I had my suspension alignment done at BMW of Vienna (the largest BMW dealer in austria) and it came back with some mean negative camber on the rear axle. It's a cornerning machine!

And with a car that old you might want to replace the airbags - I read a while ago that 10 years is the average life expectancy for a reliable airbag system. They might still work perfectly, but who wants to find out? (Especially if the car is for your daughter - I'm sure you'd rather be safe than sorry)

- Alex

 

What color is it? 007 was Atlantic Blue Metalic IIRC. I got mine in dark green/tan. Only mistake I made was getting it in Automatic. I had several manuals before it and was tired of them. Now I wish I hadn't made that mistake. The manual would be much more fun. Then again the Auto is still a lot of fun.

 

I can't help much with the hard top I never got one for mine. The the soft top just has two latches on the top of the wind shield. I will see if I can find out something for you.

I guess the hard top is going to be good for those hot Kuwait summers. I will say the AC in that thing is very cold. I have to turn it down when I use it here. Otherwise you could hang meat in the thing. Same goes for the heat it is damn hot.

Here is removing instructions for the hardtop. Maybe this will help.

http://www.waycoolinc.com/z3/essentials/fixit/hardtop/Z3hardtopDocumentation.pdf

 

you mugged somebody!

 

I didn't have much experience with hard tops at all, I've seen maybe two with the hard tops on, the rest were all soft tops.

 

You mugged 'em, held 'em down, took all their clothes and the car keys!