BMW Z8

Another one that does pretty well as compared to its immediate succesor (sadly as a wanna-be owner!) is the 993 Turbos. They really just stay where they are largely. Same prices as a 996 usually, which is a good 4+ years newer.

I have an 2001 Z8 and it is a great car. It is not superfast by today's cars standards but fast enough.Contrary to what some of the members here have said,the chassis is very rigid and there is no cowl shake .When you cross railway tracks there is not a squeak or rattle that comes from the car.

All the other talk about shock towers is bullshit.Fit and finish is excellent,engine sounds great and the handling is pretty good although a little soft.

It is not a sportscar but very livable and reliable for a daily driver.

The brakes are not very good and could use an upgrade.

IMO it is the last great BMW and that is why the values have held.

I have an 2001 Z8 and it is a great car. It is not superfast by today's cars standards but fast enough.Contrary to what some of the members here have said,the chassis is very rigid and there is no cowl shake .When you cross railway tracks there is not a squeak or rattle that comes from the car.

All the other talk about shock towers is bullshit.Fit and finish is excellent,engine sounds great and the handling is pretty good although a little soft.

It is not a sportscar but very livable and reliable for a daily driver.

The brakes are not very good and could use an upgrade.

IMO it is the last great BMW and that is why the values have held.

Thanks, that's good to hear, your opinion means a lot to me. I do love them, but the more I've read online I don't know what the hell to believe. I'm not looking at one as a track car or daily driver. I just want a unique convertible to play with, something I don't see on every other block down here.

 

They do seem to hold their value very well. There are some very nice examples for sale, I need to go drive one and see for myself.

Thanks, that's good to hear, your opinion means a lot to me. I do love them, but the more I've read online I don't know what the hell to believe. I'm not looking at one as a track car or daily driver. I just want a unique convertible to play with, something I don't see on every other block down here.

 

They do seem to hold their value very well. There are some very nice examples for sale, I need to go drive one and see for myself.

 

 

Whatever you do,don't get an Alpina car. It has a 375hp motor and automatic transmission just to keep the americans happy.The car loses it's soul with the slush box.

1st gear is really short and you will hit the rev limiter in no time.As a convertible daily driver you cannot go wrong as it is a rare sight on the road and a lot of fun to drive.

My car is silver with black interior.A friend of mine has a topaz blue with crema interior and it looks stunning.Also,there are some black cars with red interiors and they look great too.

The Z8 forum has a very good classified section.

Whatever you do,don't get an Alpina car. It has a 375hp motor and automatic transmission just to keep the americans happy.The car loses it's soul with the slush box.

1st gear is really short and you will hit the rev limiter in no time.As a convertible daily driver you cannot go wrong as it is a rare sight on the road and a lot of fun to drive.

My car is silver with black interior.A friend of mine has a topaz blue with crema interior and it looks stunning.Also,there are some black cars with red interiors and they look great too.

The Z8 forum has a very good classified section.

No, I wouldn't be interested in the Alpina with the automatic... I like the original version with the 6-speed.

Black over red is stunning.

Black over red is stunning.

 

love that last shot....hopefully they were riding with you, or soon will be! Very cool cars...and keeping value is a plus, I WOULD consider the Ford GT = very similar in concept!

Black over red is stunning.

Yes it is... Topaz blue is as well, and you can't go wrong with silver on a German car.

they hold the value, they really do

but i do not like them SO much....at their cost there are so many interesting cars

 

for the same money you could find some more beautiful, more fast and more fun lambos

my 0.02

THe Z8 has retained its value well (hasnt gained or lost) since it came out it looks........... I remember looking at buying one for the same they sell now way back then.

 

http://www.dupontregistry.com/autos/Search...mp;modelname=Z8

 

Most seem about $120k

I guess this depends on what the car sold for. I remember my father purchased a bmw at the time the z8 had just been released, and according to the dealers, collectors were paying almost twice sticker price for them (yes, $250k!). I don't know how many of them actually sold for that much, but it sounded like a lot of them sold for a lot higher than $125k.

 

Haha I remember the first one I saw on the road was outside armani cafe on newbury street in boston. I made sure to sit outside so I could hear what it sounded like as the owner drove it away. The owner walked up to the car, was probably about 24 years old (a lot younger than I would have expected due to the target market of this car), and revved once or twice, and as a crowd gathered around the car he grinded the gears twice trying to pull out. Ha, was pretty entertaining, but the engine/exhaust sounded great.

 

Very unique looking car though. Cerainly has its differences in terms of resale, and the attention it draws!

We've owned a 01 Z8 for over 2 years now and though I don't admit I drive it much when I do it is a fantastic touring car! It is a bit sluggish with its weight but driving on the highway is a pleasure. My wife saw one a number of years ago and when she takes notice of a car, it's serious! We bought it with 19K miles and now have over 27K without any issues. I've seen guys track this car, but there are sooooooo many more cars for the track that I wouldn't consider it. It is not your throw around the curves type of car.

We've owned a 01 Z8 for over 2 years now and though I don't admit I drive it much when I do it is a fantastic touring car! It is a bit sluggish with its weight but driving on the highway is a pleasure. My wife saw one a number of years ago and when she takes notice of a car, it's serious! We bought it with 19K miles and now have over 27K without any issues. I've seen guys track this car, but there are sooooooo many more cars for the track that I wouldn't consider it. It is not your throw around the curves type of car.

Thanks for your comments. No, I would not track one, and would not drive it daily. I just want a unique convertible to play with, something I don't see on every other block to drive up and down the coast on nice afternoons.

The Z8 in the pictures Saleenfan posted is my Dad's. He bought it about two years ago. I absolutely love it! I've driven it a couple of times and have been very impressed. It's a very easy car to drive. Apart from the speedo and tach not being right in front of you, it's really no different from any other BMW. Having put a lot of miles in the Z3, you can definitely notice the difference in chassis stiffness in the Z8. The comments others have made about the chassis being flexible is not true, as BMWracer mentioned. From what I've heard the chassis just doesn't not stand up well to the high stresses of track driving. Before this my dad had an E46 M3 convertible, then had the Z4 M roadster before finding the Z8. I drove the M3 a decent amount and drive wise they aren't terribly different. The M3 is certainly more nimble, but the Z8 has more power. But, again, the Z8 is no more difficult to drive than the M3.

 

The exhaust sounds great, even if it is a bit quite. The interior is gorgeous, and the off set speedo isn't too hard to adjust to. The only interior issue, and i believe this is fairly common, is that the leather nearest the cowl just under the windshield can kind of bubble up. I'm not sure if BMWracer or Georgegv have experienced this, but my dad's has a couple spots where the leather has separated from the dash a little bit. It's not hugely noticeable but it might be something to look out for if you get one.

 

As far as looks go, I still think it's one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Especially in this day and age where many car designs are hugely aggressive, fussy, or just plain weird, there are few cars that have the classic style of the Z8.

 

As for value, they are holding pretty well. My Dad got extremely lucky with his. It came from FL, the guy who sold it apparently had two and didn't drive this one much so it had a little over 700 miles when my Dad bought it. Since then, the market value is about thirty percent higher than what he paid for his. My dad has since put, I believe, about 15,000 miles on it doing cross country trips in the summers without any issues.

Thanks for your comments Jim, it sounds like it will be fine for my purpose.