Quote:
Originally Posted by noirmiaskratch
May have found a really good deal on a 1999 M Roadster hitting the century (100K miles) mark. I have owned two Z4's in the past but am really attracted to the retro styling of the Z3. I have no experience with the Z3, and particularly the M roadster. Are there any known major issues with this vintage?
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Things to consider:
- rear subframe attachment point welds can fail. I had mine preventatively re-enforced for less than $2k.
- the VANOS is known to need work. I have not had mine worked on yet (I have less than 60k miles), and mine is quiet and working fine. This might be more of an S54 issue than for the S52 in your candidate car
- seat tracks deteriorate causing a sliding motion when accelerating and under braking. DIY fixes exist that are cheap and <2 hours.
- interior mirror can leak fluid on the console
- seat belt guides crack, but there are some cheap, easy fixes out there
- glove box door sags, but this is a problem for all of the e36-series. Here is my favorite fix after trying a couple:
http://www.donewhenimdead.com/garage/gbfix
- most shops recommend getting the rod bearings replaced, but you can do a Blackstone oil analysis to stay ahead of them. Still, I think this is definitely an S54 issue and not an S52 issue, but I haven't paid much attention to S52's