MD13 469 Report post Posted May 28 (edited) My son is shopping for his first car and is looking at this pretty hard z3 Went out to Waiheke the other weekend (good weather) for a look and a drive. Beautiful sound and drives nice and tight. Anyone know this car? Edited May 28 by MD13 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1548 Report post Posted May 29 No msport suspension but LSD optioned. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gjm 3222 Report post Posted May 29 First car? Get an E46 with the M43 engine. Seriously. It'll handle well enough as stock, and the handling can be improved. That's a big plus. The engine, gearbox and drivetrain are reliable, and easy to work on. Parts are readily available. Parts are cheap. No - it is not the glamour that a Z3 might be, but it's a better, more practical and more suitable car for a first car. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Palazzo 451 Report post Posted May 29 In a Z3, there’s only one other person to say “Watch this!” to. 2 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1548 Report post Posted May 29 48 minutes ago, gjm said: Get an E46 with the M43 engine. Kinda the opposite issue, way to slow\heavy imo. Parents manual one struggled to keep up with traffic and my auto was even worse with failed DISA diaphragms. E36 318is would be ideal you got 10k to drop and didnt want a 1.9 Z3 or 318ti. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 469 Report post Posted May 29 I hear you all - not practical at all. But then I'm not buying the car he is with his own money. He's been working part time for 2 years and saving. As we all know it's pretty hard to find a car in manual these days and I can't say I agree with his "taste" in some regards - straight no to golf, polo, 1 series etc. Just thought I'd check here in case someone knew the car from yester-year 🙂 I was thinking he might want to keep (buy off me) the e39 he's been learning in but it's too big he says. Will have to list that shortly for the garage space if he pulls the trigger on the z3. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vass 735 Report post Posted May 29 That's an epic first car! Should be easy enough to work on and maintain, and heaps of fun to drive. If anything, your first car should be memorable, not some run-of-the-mill banged up Corolla. All power to him. Had a Saab 93 convertible as the first car I ever bought and paid for myself. Absolute money pit but damn was it awesome cruising down the motorway at night with the top down and the Milky Way stretching out across the sky above you. Still remember it fondly despite the financial disaster it turned out to be. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harper 485 Report post Posted May 29 12 hours ago, Eagle said: E36 318is would be ideal Agree. Jealous of the green coupe my dad's been tinkering on. Not fast but plenty of fun to drive, cheap on gas, would be a great first car. I must say though, getting into an E36 feels like a pretty old car these days even compared to an E46 which feels a lot more modern and safe inside. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neil McCauley 301 Report post Posted May 30 A twin cam E30 vert with a slightly shorter wheel base... What could go wrong! Seriously though, my first car was an E36 318iS which quickly got chopped for an E30 and they were great to fang around without getting into too much trouble in the early 2000's. I think rather than the handling or power aspects of any first car, more thought should be put into skill set building. I remember that at 16 we were lucky enough to have driver training offered around the old Manukau Super Stage with properly setup cars, on adjustable dollies to mimic differing driving scenarios. Having that knowledge of how cars react in certain situations and how to recover from them saved my bacon many a time as a teen - because teens do dumb sh*t, and it's a bit late to work things out when there's unexpected rotation at the point of diminishing talent. The bonus of buying a manual 6 cylinder Z3 is that he'll definitely not lose money on it! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1548 Report post Posted May 30 8 hours ago, Harper said: Agree. Jealous of the green coupe my dad's been tinkering on. Not fast but plenty of fun to drive, cheap on gas, would be a great first car. I must say though, getting into an E36 feels like a pretty old car these days even compared to an E46 which feels a lot more modern and safe inside. Yeah safety im sure E46 is way ahead. E36 is more old BMW ethos for sure, but has plenty of advantages over the E46 while still having comparable handling and power. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SmackJackTheCrackerMan 54 Report post Posted May 30 I have an 2004 E46 325i msport sedan up for sale in the next week or so. Just over 100k on the clock. Really nice car 🚗 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
str8_6 273 Report post Posted May 30 (edited) On 5/29/2024 at 8:59 AM, MD13 said: My son is shopping for his first car and is looking at this pretty hard z3 Went out to Waiheke the other weekend (good weather) for a look and a drive. Beautiful sound and drives nice and tight. Anyone know this car? Owned this car for a short period in 2022. I wanted a small manual run around and this felt like it needed rescuing at the time off its owner. Definitely not a fan of the black wheels it’s currently wearing! From memory it had lived most of its life in Wellington and was dealer serviced. I sold it because I didn’t really have the garage space and didn’t enjoy leaving a soft top outside - the car had been garaged its whole life up until I owned it. Edited May 30 by str8_6 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 469 Report post Posted May 30 Nice! Thanks Aaron 🙂 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 469 Report post Posted June 3 It's now in my garage. Happy son. Does mean I will need to sell the e39 though... 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1548 Report post Posted June 4 2 hours ago, MD13 said: Does mean I will need to sell the e39 though... I'll buy it it's cheap enough Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 469 Report post Posted June 4 Was thinking around $8k. Took some photos yesterday will post a for sale thread this week. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30 325i Rag-Top 2933 Report post Posted June 5 On 6/4/2024 at 10:10 AM, MD13 said: It's now in my garage. Happy Son. I should think so! Pretty good place to start in terms of car ownership. Whilst I’m not a huge Z3 fan, I certainly see them as a lot of car, and fun, for the money. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
