Description
Excellent Condition, v. original, MOT to October 2025 , 79K miles, Atlanta Blue exterior and beige leather interior. James Bond Goldeneye specification! It has the 1. 9 M44 16v engine. Front fog lights and electric windows. Comes with full V5 logbook, service history going back to 2000, and 2 x sets of keys.
Always garaged, no rust, stacks of service history 13 stamps in the book. No leaks and manual hood, which was replaced with a brand new one in 2018, at 63K miles. It comes with rare matching tonneau cover. Drives beautifully and is a very well sorted example.
I bought this last November and have spent the past year restoring and enjoying it spending over £2K on it.
I took it on a tour of France and the Black Forest in May, covering around 1200 miles. To prepare for this trip I fitted 4 brand new premium tyres, had a new reconditioned steering universal join, airbag squib, front wheel alignment, and a full service incl. plugs, gaskets, oil and filter, gearbox and differential oil with EP90 grade. I also replaced the rocker cover gasket and the thermostat. I had fresh coolant flushed through. I have all the receipts for the work. No warning lights or issues. HPI Clear.
The leather seats have been restored this year and the carpets have been professionally removed and shampooed. It has a wind deflector which is great for motorway driving. It also has a Sony DAB Bluetooth radio, which has 3 microphones so it is hands free.
It has also been featured twice in Classic. Retro. Modern. Magazine and the articles will be included in the sale.
A couple of minor issues: the drivers' side inner door grab handle is faulty and has been temporarily glued into place, and the steering wheel leather is a little worn / cracked. There is also a stone chip on the windscreen but not an issue for the MOT.
Selling due to loss of storage and impending house move. Sensible modern classic. A superb example of a beautiful show winning classic, which is bound to appreciate. Owes me much more than advertised.
More photos available on request. Viewing by appointment. Message for more info. Please no timewasters, thanks. The same specification as the James Bond Z3 in Goldeneye, finished in Atlanta blue over a tan interior. Very original and well looked after example. Featured in last months' Classic. Retro. Modern Magazine, extract below.
"It’s a classic design. Long bonnet? Tick. Seats so far back they’re almost over the rear wheels? Tick. Wide rear arches? Tick. Rakish windscreen? Tick. For me, though, it is its distinctive flowing swage lines that run from the headlights all the way to the tops of the doors and round to the back of the hood that does it. The unmistakeable kidney grille flanked on each side two sweeping headlights also give the Z3 that traditional BMW image, one that oozes confidence and masculinity (something missing from BMWs of late). And, while the Z3’s design was polarising, and remains so even today, like Sophie Ellis Bexter it has overcome allegations of cheesiness to gradually become increasingly well-liked.
But the Z3s enduring popularity can also be attributed to how well the design has mellowed with age. What might’ve been seen as a bit forced-retro 30 years ago, today it seems like an old school 90s roadster worthy in its own right. In fact, ahead of its 30th birthday the Z3 is now having a bit of a comeback, with prices steadily rising. But you’ve not missed the boat - they are still competitive. It’s not too late to bag a bargain as there are still over 12, 000 in the UK as of 2023.
There was another reason why many people flocked to the Z3, myself included last November, and it wasn’t only to do with Pierce Brosnan’s chiselled jawline, (well…not entirely, given I opted for one in Atlanta blue with the beige interior): the fact that BMW made drivers’ cars. And while they’d not had much experience in the two-seater roadster department, they knew how to make a rear wheel drive car and make it handle well. This was when ‘the ultimate driving machine’ was king. The M44 1. 9 DOHC engine, while not the spriteliest of the bunch, it has a fantastic ability to rev, and you have to work it quite hard with both peak power and torque found beyond 5, 000rpm. While this might not sound ideal for a sports car, I confess, to me, it is absolutely sublime, and genuinely harks back to true great roadsters of yesteryear, just without the mechanical issues.
Pushing the car to the upper band of its rev range is tantalising, addictive even, especially when your right foot is flat down. Dropping into third while accelerating out of a tight hairpin turn is, simply put, bloody good fun. And while the M44 engine is by far the final word in torque and speed (I would have liked a bit more power given the c. 1300kg kerb weight), it is nonetheless a characterful and peppy unit when it needs to be. Most will tell you to avoid this engine, but it has charm. And, if you are thinking about the weight distribution, it is this 1. 9 16v early unit which is the pick of the bunch, and, having pushed it to 110 on the German autobahn I can tell you, it does shift. I’ve not driven the 6-cylinder versions, but the 2. 8 and 3. 0 are the known favourites.
The absence of scuttle shake is also a welcome surprise, and it won’t surprise you when I say that the overall finish and feel of the Z3 is studier and more solid than any MX5 that I’ve driven – perhaps this is the trade-off for a lighter kerb weight for the Mazda. In addition, the Z3 doesn’t have the same tendency to rot either, they suffer far less from rotten sills, and when they do go, replacement panels are relatively cheap and mostly, easy to fit as they bolt on. [...] Having recently taken mine on a 1400-mile trip across Europe to Laon and the Black Forest, I can attest that each twist and turn was an absolute joy to be behind the wheel. Simply just drop the roof, and the gear you’re in, and you’ll be shaken (not stirred) for all the right reasons. "
