Buying guide · 2006–2008 · S54 3.2 straight six · 343 PS
BMW Z4 M E85 / E86
Everything that decides whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
29-page guide, A4 and phone · 5-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included
In the guide
What the BMW Z4 M E85 / E86 guide covers
- 01Every fault this engine has, and how much work it is
- 02Why the M3's famous subframe problem is not this car's, and what wears at the back instead — with the differential and the driveshafts at the top of a specialist's list
- 03The one place the Coupé rusts, the weak point in the Roadster's roof, and why that chapter is short
- 04What is simply twenty years old — and can be left alone
- 05The inspection card: the whole viewing on paper, in order, to take with you
- 06What to say to the seller, and what to keep to yourself
From the guide itself
This is how it reads
This is what one of the twenty-nine looks likeLast Real Engines
5 · A click from the dashboard at start-up
An hour or two to diagnose · the repair depends on access to the flap
A service bulletin listed for the 2006–2008 Z4 M Roadster attributes it to "mis-alignment of the fresh air/recirculation flap gears." It sounds worse than it is.
Leave it.
And this is how the card readsLast Real Engines
- 1 · Before anybody starts it
- 2 · The cold start · do nothing else, and nobody revs it
- 3 · The engine bay, cold
- 4 · Round the outside
- 5 · The boot, floor up
- 6 · Roadster: the roof, engine running · hands clear
What €24 buys, put next to what it saves
The rod bearings are two or three days in the workshop on cheap parts — you pay for the access. The VANOS is a day, and what it costs depends on which of several repairs it needs. And the exhaust camshaft hub is half a day to look at and, in the rare case where a broken piece reaches the timing chain, can damage the engine. The guide is €24. It will not stop any of that from being needed — but it does tell you which of them you are looking at before you agree a price, and that is the whole of the difference between paying for a car and paying for someone else's postponed maintenance.
VAT included · sold by Lemon Squeezy as merchant of record · questions first? buyersguide@lastrealengines.com
Start with the free guide
The six questions that decide whether this car is a good buy
- The oil — and therefore the bearings.
- The exhaust camshaft hub — has anybody looked?
- Which VANOS problem, if any?
- The running-in inspection — and the myth around it.
- The back of the car — and why it is not the M3's problem.
- Roadster or Coupé — and what each one asks of you.
Start with the free guide: what this car is, and the questions that decide whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
Before you buy
Questions
What exactly do I get?
The full guide as a PDF, 29 pages in A4, plus a phone edition to read at the car; and the inspection card, 5 pages to print and take to the viewing. €24, VAT included.
How is it delivered?
Straight after payment you get a download link for the guide, the phone edition and the card. No subscription, no account.
Can I get a refund?
EU consumer law gives you fourteen days to change your mind. For digital content that right ends the moment delivery starts, provided you agreed to that at the checkout. If the file will not open, or you were sent the wrong car, write to us and we will fix it or refund it.
Who handles the payment?
Lemon Squeezy, who sell the guide to you as merchant of record. They charge the VAT at the rate of your country, send the invoice, and email you the download link. We never see your card.
Why are there no prices in it?
Because a price we cannot verify is worse than no price, and because a price would be wrong for most of the people reading it: workshop rates across Europe differ by a factor of two or three. What does not change is how much work a job is, so every point says whether it is an hour, half a day, a day, or a week in the workshop. Ask your own workshop for its hourly rate, and every hour in the guide becomes your own number.
Is this advice about a specific car?
No. A guide tells you what to look at; it is general information about the model and not advice about a specific car. Have every car inspected before you buy by someone who knows the engine.
More BMW guides
Going to look at a BMW Z4 M E85 / E86?
Take the guide and the card with you.
29-page guide, A4 and phone · 5-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included