BMW Z4, reliability?

[HardDrive]

Hmmmmmm.....anyone have a 2005ish BMW Z4. Any input on reliability? Known flaws?

[LWJ]

My BIL has one. Zero problems. He also may be the single worst person on the planet for doing preventative maintenance type things.

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Hmmmmmm.....anyone have a 2005ish BMW Z4. Any input on reliability? Known flaws?

It's essentially an E46-era 3-series with the rear seats removed. Pretty reliable, but that gen is known for needing a factory water pump every 60k or so because of the plastic impeller, and some VANOS issues. The Z4 misses out on the problems with window motors dying, a German car issue from the period as everyone - Mercedes, VW, and BMW - used the same ones.

What's Z4-specific is the top motor. If the car was kept outside, leaves and debris can clog the drainage holes for the roof, which will flood and short out the top motor. Lots of write-ups on fixing this, but it's a bear to do.

[KNS]

Plan on replacing the water pump, T-stat and expansion tank if no history of having been done recently (the blue BMW coolant is recommended).

[LeRoux Strydom]

The E85 Z4 is basically a 2-seater E46. Preventative maintenance to cooling systems and suspension apply as they do for E46 cars.

I don't know when the N52 engine hit the Z4's in the US, elsewhere in the world Z4's still had the M54 engine in 2005, updated to N52 in 2006 together with the general facelift. On N52 engines, check/clean the vanos solenoids.