Need BMW regulars' information: BMW Z4 Coupe 3.0Si

[centurion]

For the red belts, it will be aftermarket. It sounds really good!

[centurion]

boris, thanks for the congrats. I'm currently getting more crap (personal) for the porker even though if I bought a BMW at twice the price none of this crap would have happened at all. What is it about porkers which really changes people's perceptions about the owner? Hah talk about anguish.

I agonized about the 3.4 for the most stupid reasons

Resale. With the 3.4, I speculate that it will sell MUCH easier, and the price fetched would be higher, and the residuals might actually be higher than the 2.7. Why? People love the HP! They adore it. The more the merrier. Very few people even evaluate, because of the lack of a metric, how fun is a useful powerband, how fun it is to shift cogs. Probably why the incredibly fun Smart Roadster got discontinued. That car could rev at max all the time and you'd still be within the speed limit.

Traffic Light Races. Another reason is the STIs, Evos and 350Zs. They will eat the 2.7 for breakfast lunch and dinner. I even thought hard on, how am I going to communicate with these guys when they pull up beside me at the traffic lights, to wit `Bro, please don't race me, I am only 2.7L and have 245HP, you have 280, 280, 309HP respectively, I will surely lose!' If I had the 3.4 I'll eat them for breakfast but in about 20 races I'll probably crash the car or get a ticket, or get a driving ban.

My personal agonizing gave me the following excuses to stick with the 2.7

Resale point - null and void. I'm going to keep this car if it's not a lemon. For 25 years probably.

Traffic Light Races - I'm not going to spend S$40K more to race with these guys, once or twice a day. And it saves my license or my life too. Gr8!

And happy enough with the 2.7 with the lighter pistons, crankshaft and the puny 17" wheels. I've put in what I miss most in the S, which is the 6-speeder Getrag (as opposed to the 5-speed VW trans) and added in PASM, so I'm not gonna miss anything at all.

Originally Posted by BorisRS

Thanks for involving us in the personal mental anguish that you have gone through to make (from my ever so slightly biased point of view) the right decision. Given your initial 3 choices, I would have gone with exactly the same brand, same colour combo but would most probably have gone with the 3.4 despite knowing that the 2.7 would have

1. saved money
2. had a more usable performance envelope
3. been a sweeter car

But I suspect you are certainly not going to regret buying the 2.7....

[BorisRS]

Resale: Look on the brightside, your will be one of a few (or maybe even the first?) 2.7 manual. AFAIK, all the manuals registered thus far thru Stuttgart have been 3.4s.

Traffic Light Races: Forget about it. Even in a 3.4 manual. Firstly, your gearing is a heck of a lot longer. Secondly, you dont have the torque or power to weight ratio of the Jap rally monsters. So on this count, either one would have been rather pointless. If traffic light races really were your thing, you can use the 40k savings to buy a Duc.

You mentioned earlier Cameron Highland drives. If that is your thing, join the Porsche Club. They have Cameron drives on average twice a year. And if B road drives are your thing, there are official monthly sunday morning drives as well as unofficial ones (more fun usually cos of the mixed types of cars and usually a smaller group) practically every Sunday morning.

[centurion]

The Porsche club membership is a must, though I would probably not have time for 9 outta 10 of their jaunts. The loveliest drives is the old Cameron Highlands roads (though I'm warming up to the medium speed corners of the new roads), the crazy drive up Frasers Hill, and the beautiful drive east Coast Malaysia all the way to Cherating and beyond. Finally I can do it all again in a car with some feel. The last few years I've been doing it in a limo.

[The Mixmaster]

Originally Posted by caySman

The Porsche club membership is a must, though I would probably not have time for 9 outta 10 of their jaunts. The loveliest drives is the old Cameron Highlands roads (though I'm warming up to the medium speed corners of the new roads), the crazy drive up Frasers Hill, and the beautiful drive east Coast Malaysia all the way to Cherating and beyond. Finally I can do it all again in a car with some feel. The last few years I've been doing it in a limo.

Hi

If you plan to do any of these drives, do let me know.

I am planning o drive to Cameron sometime later in the year.

[fastcar]

Just curious....does stuttgart give discounts over the list price on the online car configurator? Eg a resonably speced up Cayman S comes in at 330k( xenons, tip, leather, cruise control, electric seats, bose) ...etc.....any discounts when u finally place the order with them?

[centurion]

sure, if the BMW forum can form a convoy much the better. Gotta take leave from family though

[centurion]

Originally Posted by fastcar

Just curious....does stuttgart give discounts over the list price on the online car configurator? Eg a resonably speced up Cayman S comes in at 330k( xenons, tip, leather, cruise control, electric seats, bose) ...etc.....any discounts when u finally place the order with them?

I guess so. Everybody gives discounts. It's just a matter of quantum.

[foxfrc5]

Originally Posted by caySman

The Porsche club membership is a must, though I would probably not have time for 9 outta 10 of their jaunts. The loveliest drives is the old Cameron Highlands roads (though I'm warming up to the medium speed corners of the new roads), the crazy drive up Frasers Hill, and the beautiful drive east Coast Malaysia all the way to Cherating and beyond. Finally I can do it all again in a car with some feel. The last few years I've been doing it in a limo.

Don't forget to get the Porker Visa credit card too so that you can get discounts on stuff from Stuttgart. Ask your salesperson for the application form.

There's a breakfast drive coming up this Sunday. It's a long one -- return ETA in Singapore is estimated to only be at 1:30 pm.

[R33Devil]

Originally Posted by foxfrc5

There's a breakfast drive coming up this Sunday. It's a long one -- return ETA in Singapore is estimated to only be at 1:30 pm.

want to go?