Z3 Buyers Guide

Book review

 

Words by Alan Jones Z Register Captain

 

I was contacted by the office to see if I would mind doing a review of a book called ‘The Essential Buyer’s Guide: BMW Z3’ by Mike Fishwick, who I’m sure you know is the Z3 Captain within the car club. Mike had mentioned the book to me in the past, but I didn’t think that I would be asked to do a review of it.

The book is published by Veloce Publishing Ltd (website www.veloce.co.uk). If you wish to purchase a copy of the book, I’ll cover this later in the review. The book is an essential guide for anyone who is looking to purchase a Z3, or who already has a Z3 and is looking for a little more background information about their car.

The book is well written and very informative. It starts off with a few facts and figures covering the Z3 production years, and a little bit of the background including the fact that it was used as a ‘James Bond Car’ in the film GoldenEye. Then the question is asked, ‘Is the car right for you?’ The following section informs you of what the car will and will not do once you have made your purchase, with cost considerations regarding the tools you may have to purchase to service your vehicle.

The next few chapters cover what you should do before and during your potential purchase of a Z3. The advice is very informative and logical, and I’m sure it would be good to follow whatever car you are buying. One of the chapters has a section containing questions against which points can be scored. If you are viewing a few cars before you make your purchase, you can compare each car’s points and the car with the most points should be the car to buy.

The paperwork side of buying a vehicle is also covered. It’s boring, I know, but if it’s not correct a lot of time and effort may be spent correcting it if necessary. Towards the end of the book, the topics covered include buying at auctions, lack of use problems and even places where you can ask for advice, such as the BMW Car Club and online forums.

You may ask who would buy this book. I would say anyone who has an interest in the Z3, whether you are thinking of buying one or just want more information about the car that you already have. One of the things I like about the book is the fact that it doesn’t cover the 3.2 litre M version, as most publications seems to concentrate on the ‘M’ car even though they were small sellers compared the normal version of the same car.

The book costs only 12.99 plus postage and packing from www.veloce.co.uk (ISBN 978-1-845842-90-1), which seems to be a bit of a bargain considering it could potentially steer you into buying the right vehicle, one which will hopefully give you many years of happy motoring.