Hello – I am Mike Fishwick, a Brit living in the Dordogne region of France, who has just heard of this site, having been a long-term member of the 'Other' Z3 forum and the BMW Car Club Z Register – both of which are effectively dead!
My Z3 is a 2.8 litre model of 1998 vintage in Hellrot 2 with black leather, which I bought in 2000 with only 13,000 miles. Options are 17” wheels, air conditioning, wind blocker, passenger airbag and cruise control (never used or wanted!). It is well-travelled, but has not seen much use for a few years, so even now only has 130,000 miles on the clock. In this period it has been self-maintained, and has only seen a dealer for its first Inspection 1 and a couple of MoT tests.
It is the most reliable car I have ever owned, and has asked only for the usual oil, plug, and filter changes, and is currently on its second battery. The nearest it has ever been to a code reader is when I reset the fault memory by poking a piece of wire into the diagnostic socket.
It has several modifications, mainly aimed at improving handling, but I will describe these in more detail later.
The Z3 shares space with a VW Golf GT-TDI, bought new in 2000, which has currently covered 236,000 miles, and my BMW R100RS motorcycle, bought new in 1981, which has only covered 85,000 miles, as I fell down and broke a leg rather badly about 25 years ago, and now have enough metal in the leg to build a model of the Forth Bridge!
My Z3 is a 2.8 litre model of 1998 vintage in Hellrot 2 with black leather, which I bought in 2000 with only 13,000 miles. Options are 17” wheels, air conditioning, wind blocker, passenger airbag and cruise control (never used or wanted!). It is well-travelled, but has not seen much use for a few years, so even now only has 130,000 miles on the clock. In this period it has been self-maintained, and has only seen a dealer for its first Inspection 1 and a couple of MoT tests.
It is the most reliable car I have ever owned, and has asked only for the usual oil, plug, and filter changes, and is currently on its second battery. The nearest it has ever been to a code reader is when I reset the fault memory by poking a piece of wire into the diagnostic socket.
It has several modifications, mainly aimed at improving handling, but I will describe these in more detail later.
The Z3 shares space with a VW Golf GT-TDI, bought new in 2000, which has currently covered 236,000 miles, and my BMW R100RS motorcycle, bought new in 1981, which has only covered 85,000 miles, as I fell down and broke a leg rather badly about 25 years ago, and now have enough metal in the leg to build a model of the Forth Bridge!
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