1998 BMW Z3 Roadster from UK and Ireland - Comments

Steering problems.

Windscreen leaked.

Warped and scorched brake disc after a stone flew up and lodged in the disc.

Didn't always start first time.

A big disappointment and I should have brought another Audi. The BMW Z3 may as well have a Skoda badge on it as it's only the BMW name that sells it. My old Audi was far superior on performance and comfort (especially if you are over 6ft) and was more of a sportster than the Z3 could ever hope to be. As a colleague of mine once said, "It's a girls car".

I have noticed that when there is a review of a car and a specific reference to a "far superior" car the reviewer tends to have written the review just to make himself feel more comfortable about the quality of his car.

And, dare I say it, how does an Audi A4 come across as better perfomance than a Z3 2.8?? short of owning an S4 that is...

A colleague of mine has an A4 1.8T (about the quckest A4, the 2.8 is lazy) and that is not even close.

Best Reg's.

Karl.

I'm a "girl"...and I absolutely love the Z3 3.0 roadster. It handles better than my 1994 Mercedes SL500 and has more "zip" as well. Perhaps a "guy" would like an Audi better, but I don't like the looks at all. Someone else commented that there was not enough trunk space to take this car to the grocery store. I've done it and it holds a week's worth of groceries just fine in the trunk alone. The steptronic transmission was a pure joy in mountain driving. My next car will be a BMW.

The BMW Z3 is a dog ugly car with a price tag that can only be justified when it is in the BMW showroom. (take it out of the showroom, and see what it's worth 2 years later!)

It'll be one of those cars that BMW will hope to forget in the future. Or will they? You couldn't exactly say a BMW has cutting edge styling. Imagine where they would be without AUDI to copy from...

I own a BMW Z3 and it handles and drives like a dream. I drive my cars hard and to the limit and I can honestly say that the Z3 is a true sports car and a head turner. I will always buy a BMW and am looking forward to upgrading to a M3 in 2004, the most powerful 6 cylinder naturally aspirated engine. For all you Audi and Mercedes fans, just look at the Formula 1 season this year, BMW POWER is right behind Ferrari!!!

I don't think anyone doubts BMW's engineering ability, but the Z3 is not an example of it. It's a purely marketing driven product, designed to appeal to those who want to boast that they own "a BMW sports car". The Z3 uses the suspension from the standard (not M) E30 3 series which dates back to the early eighties, and was only average then. The rest of the underpinnings are very much "budget" oriented too. Despite this, it still commands typically inflated BMW screen prices, and the upshot is, in smaller engined trim at least, it's just not as good to drive as any of its two seater rivals. An MX-5 is more involving and capable (if slower), an MR2 is more exciting, and a Honda S2000 blows it away. Fitted with the 321bhp 3.2 litre M Power six (the best engine in the world IMHO) the Z3 becomes a seriously exciting performance car, but that engine is so awe inspiring, it could make a milk float exciting if someone took the time to fit it to one.

I'm sure many people are happy with their Z3's, but if you really seriously crave excitement, you can do so much better. I looked long and hard at the Z3, S2000 and others, and ended up with a second hand TVR Chimaera. I saved a packet, and I finish every fast drive with a cheshire cat grin and a pulse rate of 150! Now THAT'S what a real sports car should do for you!

Well first of all its 2003 and BMW are to introduce the Z4 later this spring. This makes the Z3/M3 something of the past.

As a lifetime sportscar enthusiast, I've seen a long, passing parade of design and engineering "greatest's".

Most of these have followed their natural path to obscurity.

What remains of the recent still existing big-make designs that are considered true classics and that still excite? Jaguar:E-type, Mercedes: 300SL, Opel:GT, Renault:Alpine 130, Audi:TT, VW:1303 cabriolet., MG:MGA, AUSTIN:All cars way back from the Healey co-operation period and a few more.

Finally to BMW. Besides the Z8, BMW have not produced a classic design since the pre-war 328. Besides some very "limited production" designs (507) and specials nothing approaches the very achieved lines of the Z3.

Throw in the appropriate 2.8 or 3.0 power unit and you have the perfect combination of pure sportscar design, performance and technique.

The long bonnet, body line curves and roundness are truly classic in that it takes into account the few successful designs from the 60's-90's.

Now that the Z4 is looming on the horizon, the Z3 will drop in value during 2003 giving the perfect opportunity at obtaining a late model Z3/M3 at a reasonable price.

I would envisage that the value of the Z3 will decline for a year or three and then level out before becoming a newcomer on the collectors market.

Does anybody agree with me?

Hmmmm well I drove and was driven (insanely) by my fiance's uncle in a 2.8 Z3 recently. All I can say is WOW the power and pull of the engine is incredible, the ASC is a godsend as we were in the wet and the rear end refused to come out until we switched it off! The car is fairly well built just felt a bit fragile inside? This is an R reg by the way and he got it for 10K which is a bargain if you ask me. Roll on the summer :)

I have owned a Z3 for a year. It's the imported 2.8 1997 model with flared arches and the decent front spoiler. I saved and struggled to buy it and that makes it all the sweeter to drive. I'm not up on technical bits and bobs, but the car is fast and capable, a great head turner on a nice day (especially living in a small Welsh Valley town) and my girlfriend thinks it is just fantastic. Mazdas and MGs just don't make it in my book (and the roofs usually leak). My advice: listen not to the so called 'experts', buy the car you like, look after it as well as you can and wave to every other Z3 driver you meet!

I recently had a 2.8 Z3 for 5 months. I have sold it now and lost 3000 pounds? why did I sell it?

It was a low mileage 1998 model and had some good points.

Good, very good brakes. Very fast, but BUT the handling was very poor and not sports car like at all. The roof leaked a lot and filled the boot with water. The back end clonked and sounded worn out. Surely it couldn't have been!!It is the first BMW I have owned and I am now 32 years old.

It will also be the last as it truly is the worst car I have ever had for handling and quality. I have just bought a new Toyota Celica which I know many will laugh at and say that it is inferior. It is certainly better in every way. The handling is better, the interior quality is better

(with no leaks) and it is far more fun to own. The brakes may not be quite as good, but everything else is far superior.

I am saddened to say that the Z3 was awful. I hoped the BMW would be all I expected, but it was not.

I can't believe it's taken several years to pick a bone with one of the points of this article. Glad I looked in. If you had merely pulled over to get the stone out of your brakes you would have saved your expensive brake disc, and not held your mistake (yes, your mistake) against BMW. It's happened in a few of my cars over the years, and I've never had to replace any partsover it.

Just bought a 2001 Z3 3.0i. Will be writing a review in a few months after I get a feel for it.