Convertibles

cool said:
I had a Z4. I find convertible is not suitable for Canadian weather. Even in summer, its getting too chilling at night for top down. Its not like with bikes, you get to wear your gears to keep warm.
Click to expand...

Wait, what? You can't wear a sweater or light jacket? Turn on the heated seats or heat in a Z4??
 
-D- said:
how are they for winter driving and rusting?
Click to expand...

Mine were all daily drivers, year round. Great weight balance, so they were fantastic, with winter tires. Not optional /discussion.
Mine didn't have a spot of rust anywhere. I sold my '02 e39 530i in 2011/12?, and there wasn't a single spot. BMW uses a lot of aluminum everywhere, so they stay nice and rust free. Not like the underside of my '16 Wrangler, which was probably showing visible rust before it finished going through the assembly line.

Neil_V said:
Surely you mean Valve cover gasket. Head job is 19 hours ++

Rag tops will always be **** for winter driving. If you want best of both, look to hard top convertibles, there's a few options out there
Edit: Rust is a non-issue for most BMW's
Click to expand...

You're correct. I was working on something else when I responded. VCG indeed.
While my hardtop e93 was better in the winter, the metal roof is heavy (and really high on the car), the mechanicals are far more complicated, and when top down, all you had room for in the trunk is a sandwich and a credit card.

RockerGuy said:
Another thing is on the e46 BMW recommends replacing the rotors with the pads. Parts are not cheap & if you can't afford to buy one new, most likely you can't afford to maintain one
Click to expand...

You can get far superior aftermarket everything, for a fraction of the price. Don't buy anything from BMW, unless you enjoy watching guys in lab coats charge you an extra $300, because they're BMW techs in lab coats.
If you can't do the work yourself, go to Eurotech on Belvia in Etobicoke. Best import mechanics in town.
 
cool said:
Old school mentality without proper knowledge
Click to expand...

Old school is turning a rotor... which I have not seen anybody do for some time. I'm sure there's more than one person in Ontario that still does it
 
Rotors have become a consumable, like the pads. You can true one up a bit or deglaze one , on some cars, but tolerances have become so tight rotors just get changed out.
Depending on the vehicle it may cost less to switch a rotor than pay a guy to watch a brake lathe.

I really enjoyed to my first convertible, but I was 17, the second not so much as it was a useless vehicle when the hardtop took all the trunk space. Have one now that lives at the cottage and always look forward to taking it out when I can get there.
 
daught said:
Take a look at this.


https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/the-most-and-least-expensive-cars-to-maintain-by-maddy-martin

BMW is on top, but 2-10 is interesting.

Maybe you should do a test run with a sebring :) If you can keep it on the road for a year you can own a BMW.
Click to expand...

I guess I must have won the car lottery when bought my sebring convertible in 2003. It was a 2002 dealer demo. Have driven it year round ever since and never needed more than routine maintenance doing to it.
 
99CBRF4 said:
Wait, what? You can't wear a sweater or light jacket? Turn on the heated seats or heat in a Z4??
Click to expand...


I dont always bring a jacket with me when its high 20s in mid day.

No matter what excuse i had, i kept the car for 4 yrs.
 
Another peeve with BMW I had was you had to replace the whole control arms. You can't just pop the ball joints in there. They were made of aluminum... What a waste
 
RockerGuy said:
Another peeve with BMW I had was you had to replace the whole control arms. You can't just pop the ball joints in there. They were made of aluminum... What a waste
Click to expand...

I find newer cars also start to do this. ( not just BMW)

Probably so the service industry can charge more while doing less.
 
malamute62 said:
I guess I must have won the car lottery when bought my sebring convertible in 2003. It was a 2002 dealer demo. Have driven it year round ever since and never needed more than routine maintenance doing to it.
Click to expand...

I must have won the lottery too with my last three Mercedes, including the two (coupe and roadster) that I'm running now. A 4th one, the first one I ever bought, not so much.
 
Considering picking up a newer Miata for the gf to drive in the summer.

Also, I always take out the trailer hitch when not I use as I both hate the look and don't want to bust my shin on it.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
Considering picking up a newer Miata for the gf to drive in the summer.

Also, I always take out the trailer hitch when not I use as I both hate the look and don't want to bust my shin on it.
Click to expand...

The new one looks very nice too. I'm glad Mazda finally go back to the Miata root.

The past couple gens have been stupid.
 
Hardwrkr13 said:
Considering picking up a newer Miata for the gf to drive in the summer.

Also, I always take out the trailer hitch when not I use as I both hate the look and don't want to bust my shin on it.
Click to expand...


It seems to be a car with a lot of potential. There is a dedicate racing series and shops that build the car just for that series.

Make the care it a bit wider/muscular and change the name from Miata and they will get more customers.
 
cool said:
They're not comparable. The new Miata is hard to beat for being a true sport car.

With the FR-S, some punk kid will pull next to you and want to race.
Click to expand...
170 Wheel HP
140 Wheel Torque.
A Torque dip from 3-5K RPM
Stock with Prius tires
It's not really much of a race. Wish more people on the road knew this. It would take a civic though.
 
Last edited:
Is there is real difference besides body design with the FRS and BRZ?

A few mods and a turbo should make it a nice gofast cart
 
-D- said:
Is there is real difference besides body design with the FRS and BRZ?

A few mods and a turbo should make it a nice gofast cart
Click to expand...
Not really any differences just different suspension setups

Turbo kits for the the car sell for upwards of 5gs. Then you gotta get a tune, exhaust, Labour for installation. Probably like 7-10 all in. Sometimes even more depending on how properly you want it done.

For that hassle I'd rather just get a wrx.

Sent from my SM-G530W using Tapatalk
Forum Sponsor
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom