[rocknpop]

Here's the deal - I'm looking to buy a fun car. I want it to be a BMW. I like the roadster....

There is a 2000 Z3 2.3 in great condition (manual) that I could buy today but I would have to drive almost 2 hours for it ($8.5K). What is top of mind is this Would this Z3 2.3 MT be "fun enough" or have the power I'm looking for with only 170hp?

My logic (need to test if this is sound) is that 170hp in a small and lightweight car is more than enough. I'm NOT looking to track the car and not looking to take it on long 3+ hour drives. THis is literally a summer car that is fun to drive. A toy. but the question is - is it "fun enough" or does it leave you wanting more? Is the BMW driving experience there?

Yes.... I can validate all this by drving one. The one that is available is 2 hours away so the purpose of this post is to get opinions before wasting 5 hours of my life

[br2wdc]

To me it would definitely be worth it! But to avoid wasting an entire day, you could reduce that to a few hours and check locally to try and drive one first to see if it makes sense for you.

Doing a quick search on cars.com for Zip Code 60623, there were nine Z3's, with five of them having manual transmissions:

https://www.cars.com/shopping/result...=&mileage_max=

Good luck!

Originally Posted by rocknpop

Here's the deal - I'm looking to buy a fun car. I want it to be a BMW. I like the roadster....

There is a 2000 Z3 2.3 in great condition (manual) that I could buy today but I would have to drive almost 2 hours for it ($8.5K). What is top of mind is this Would this Z3 2.3 MT be "fun enough" or have the power I'm looking for with only 170hp?

My logic (need to test if this is sound) is that 170hp in a small and lightweight car is more than enough. I'm NOT looking to track the car and not looking to take it on long 3+ hour drives. THis is literally a summer car that is fun to drive. A toy. but the question is - is it "fun enough" or does it leave you wanting more? Is the BMW driving experience there?

Yes.... I can validate all this by drving one. The one that is available is 2 hours away so the purpose of this post is to get opinions before wasting 5 hours of my life

[tracer bullet]

What's your previous car ownership history?

If you owned a Miata or Celica, vs. if you owned a Mustang or Camaro let's say, will make a big difference on what others can predict.

[TAZ007]

Originally Posted by rocknpop

Here's the deal - I'm looking to buy a fun car. I want it to be a BMW. I like the roadster....

There is a 2000 Z3 2.3 in great condition (manual) that I could buy today but I would have to drive almost 2 hours for it ($8.5K). What is top of mind is this Would this Z3 2.3 MT be "fun enough" or have the power I'm looking for with only 170hp?

My logic (need to test if this is sound) is that 170hp in a small and lightweight car is more than enough. I'm NOT looking to track the car and not looking to take it on long 3+ hour drives. THis is literally a summer car that is fun to drive. A toy. but the question is - is it "fun enough" or does it leave you wanting more? Is the BMW driving experience there?

Yes.... I can validate all this by drving one. The one that is available is 2 hours away so the purpose of this post is to get opinions before wasting 5 hours of my life

By your logic, think Miata. It may not be the most powerful out there, but the suspension and all around zippiness is great. You will have no worries that iti is not powerful enough.

[DanG]

A Z3 2.3 is pretty gutless. I definitely would go for a Z3 3.0. It shouldn’t cost much more.

[rocknpop]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

What's your previous car ownership history?

If you owned a Miata or Celica, vs. if you owned a Mustang or Camaro let's say, will make a big difference on what others can predict.

I owned an Acura CL 3.2 Type-S, manual. But it was front-wheel drive, heavy, and high to the ground.