- Seller: Jesse M
- Location: Boise, Idaho
- Mileage: 116000 Shown
- Chassis #: 4USCJ3329WLC12148
- Title Status: Clean
- Engine: 2.8 Inline Six
- Transmission: 5-Speed Manual
After owning a couple Porsche Boxsters, we thought we would give another iconic modern roadster, the BMW Z3, a try. If the Boxster is underrated, the Z3 is a wildly underappreciated gem. It offers excellent performance and fun handling, and is easier and more affordable to keep on the road. We found this 1999 BMW Z3 in Boise, Idaho and have enjoyed it for the past few months. We are deep in several restorations right now and need fewer distractions so that we can focus on getting those done, so this fun driver needs to go. If you’d love to have it, cast your bids below and let us know if you have any questions.
The Z3 is a truly unique car, especially for a company like BMW. Their typical conservatively designed sedans try to strike a balance between functionality and fun, with things leaning a bit more towards versatility. The Z3 is based on a shortened version of the E36 3-Series chassis. Parts were also pulled from the old E30 parts bin to keep costs down. Styling was unlike anything else in BMW’s lineup, and it was their first product to be built solely in the United States.
The interior is similar to the 3-Series it’s based on, but with its own signature look. Something that struck us when we first looked this one was how clean the interior was. The steering wheel is a little worn from a cover that was previously installed. The biggest issue was worn out seat bushings, which allowed the seats to slide forward and back. We replaced the bushings, so the seats don’t slide around anymore and we deep cleaned the carpets and they look great now. We also installed new BMW floor mats. All of the gauges and switches work as they should, including the power convertible top!
The base four-cylinder Z3 may have been a bit of a let down, but under the hood of this car you’ll find BMW’s fantastic M52 inline six! It’s rated at 190 horsepower and 207 foot pounds of torque. Power delivery is smooth and is more than enough to make for a fun top down driver. Unfortunately, we don’t have detailed service records, but it was serviced by one of the best BMW specialists in Boise (Hurless Bros). The transmission was leaking at the shifter selector seal, so a new seal and shifter bushings were installed. That seems to have stopped the leak and improved shifting. The shifter doesn’t seem to center perfectly, so the transmission may need new detents eventually, but it shifts through all five gears as it should.
During our ownership, we’ve installed new tires and replaced the fluids. It’s ready to drive as-is, but it could use a new convertible top or at the very least to have the rear window corners restitched. Here’s a copy of the CarFax and the car comes with the factory luggage rack. With early Miata prices getting a little too high for what they are, these Z3s look like a bargain. You get more power, more comfort, and more quality for less money. The weather is perfect for top down cruising and this Teutonic hot rod is ready to play. We had better stop thinking about it or we might just end up keeping this one!
Bid On This Auction
mrmopar2 bid $5,700.00 2025-04-04 13:07:56
PRA4SNW bid $5,400.00 2025-04-04 13:05:55- mrmopar2 bid $5,300.00 2025-04-04 13:03:54
- PRA4SNW bid $5,200.00 2025-04-04 13:01:17
- mrmopar2 bid $5,100.00 2025-04-04 12:59:26
- PRA4SNW bid $5,000.00 2025-04-04 12:58:53
- mrmopar2 bid $4,800.00 2025-04-04 12:55:37
- PRA4SNW bid $4,700.00 2025-04-04 12:54:57
BobVon bid $4,500.00 2025-04-04 12:48:14
Cal bid $3,650.00 2025-04-04 12:19:41
Paul F bid $3,500.00 2025-04-04 11:11:25
JJ bid $3,300.00 2025-04-03 17:48:49- PRA4SNW bid $3,200.00 2025-04-03 17:42:00
frank Paz bid $3,100.00 2025-04-02 14:49:06
William Warner bid $2,800.00 2025-03-31 13:22:23
Mike W bid $2,500.00 2025-03-29 16:14:37
Suave79 bid $2,400.00 2025-03-29 15:36:43
PaulEJLin bid $2,200.00 2025-03-29 14:25:22- Cal bid $2,100.00 2025-03-29 12:03:37
TIM74 bid $2,000.00 2025-03-29 11:40:25- William Warner bid $1,000.00 2025-03-29 09:53:18
Hawkalizer bid $400.00 2025-03-29 08:44:57- William Warner bid $100.00 2025-03-28 11:01:33
Keep it ! The Z3 is so much fun !
We would like to, but we are trying to get our ’62 Mini Cooper back on the road and our Lotus 7 project is gathering dust, so we need to clear out space in the shop and reduce the number of distractions. This one is really fun, so much so that I find myself not wanting to work on projects and instead going for drives in it. We probably should just cut the projects loose and keep the Z3, but the Mini and the Lotus are bucket list cars that you don’t find very often, so we want to see them through to the finish line.
I cant blame you Josh considering your options. Best of luck !
I cant wait !
Josh, 2 questions.
Do the windows (I assume electric) work well on both sides?
Does the Air conditioning work? I re read a couple time and thought it something about blowing cool, but not Cold? Thanks, mrmopar2
Windows work well. AC works great too.
Hey Mike, what year is yours and what do you think the white one will go for?
Good morning Gregg. Mine is a 2000. Hard to say in an auction setting. 6 to 9 K. A lot of life left on this one. Give Sweetie Pie a big wet one for me, take care.
See you this summer, I want to see your collection of iron. Remember I’m bringing beer and ribs and baked onions. I’ll get Sweetie Pie to make her famous cheesecake.
Hey Mike,
I love the look of your Z3 and always get a kick out of that license plate – LOL!
I lost your email address, if you still have mine, would you mind sending me an email so I have it again? This car has caught my eye and want to ask you about yours.
I will send an Email now Dennis.
My nephew has the exact same car except in silver. Truly amazing. I remember being awed by the first one I ever saw on the road. At a Dairy Queen in beautiful Lake City, Minnesota. I knew it was a four but I didn’t care. (Of course by then I was older and 500 HP under the hood was less important to me. Maturity tends to do that to a person) I felt it was a bigger sized Miata, that I had lusted over but I was too big to get into. My wife actually told me I should look into one, but the drive to find a Bimmer dealer near us was unreasonably far, and that would make servicing hard. This car looks pretty nice.
Luggage 🧳 rack 👍
I will snap some photos of the luggage rack and the convertible top cover, both are with the car and included.
I always liked the Z3 even with the 4 cyl, but the 6 is better! Great lines and a neat car! I do NOT like the styling of the Z4 regardless of its performance! It looks like a baby shark on steroids (to me)! Sometimes on a no reserve, if the auction is not seen by many, the winner may walk away with a steal! This could be one of those!! It’s a bit too far for me in the Northeast!
PS. To the owner…… you should keep it!!
Hey? I have an idea. Let’s run a car to death at over 100,000 miles then put it up for sale and let someone else deal with it.
This isn’t an American car, it has a lot of life left in it.
Made in Spartanburg SC so it kinda is.
Good one, that’s true! So made in America but with Bosch components and higher build quality. Sounds like the perfect combo to me! Trust me, these are not worn out at 100k unless they have been severely neglected.
Ah yes, seat bushings. I had that issue in mine. But that was the only issue in 24 years of ownership. Sold it for something that could be used in snow. And the fact that it seemed to get lower every year.
In a former life I was a BMW service manager. On day a strange looking car pulled up outside my office and my BMW rep. got out. I asked what that was and he replied that it was a Z3 Coupe on test from Germany. Here’s the keys,go take it for a run. What a nice driving car. I am normally very careful wirh vehicles that aren’t mine. But since this was in my country for a test, I worked it very hard. I loved driving it. It was also the same week that I got to spend some time in a Corvette from GM R&D. Both in the same week! It took a month to get the smile off my face! I’ve been very blessed to drive vehicles on test or from R&Ds from Porsche, Audi, Chevrolet, and Ford.
You are lucky, Wayne! Sometimes just driving a car once (for me) is all that is needed for the experience. I don’t have to own everything! Many, many people buy a car and drive it once only for the experience of owning it, not driving it. To me, that’s a shame! Cars, all cars were made to be driven! I have a friend who has a large automobile collection (valuable and not valuable cars) and in that collection, he has a valuable Allard. He told me the car is beautiful and collectable yet (in his words), ‘One of the crappiest cars he has ever driven!’
I drove an M clown shoe once to test it for a friend who was considering buying it from afar. What a fun car, with heavy, mechanical attributes. I don’t need to own one but driving it was very fun!
Do you know if it has been driven in the winter? The undercarriage looks good, but just checking.
Do all of the HVAC controls work properly?
Does the A/C blow cold?
Looks like the stock radio / tape deck is in place – does it work?
Any way for you to provide a close up of the part of the top that need a restitch?
Did you inspect / flush the cooling system? Have you had it for a long run and stop/go traffic to see if it runs cool?
I doubt it has been driven in the winter but even if it has, winters are mild here. AC and heat have worked great during my ownership. As does the radio. We will get a photo of the top. I have not flushed the cooling system but I’ve driven the car a lot and never had any issues.
Hello I’ll make a move tomorrow morning. That BMW has been working on my mind and we will know the rest of the story Friday
That is one sexy ride!
I just added photos of the rear window corners and the trunk. Getting close now. Good luck!
Again – poor door design not allowing vent windows to open up.
Why would you need vent windows? Just put the top down!
Some of the plastic bits might be brittle. Especially if they get hot. But maintenance is straightforward on these.
I would have liked to have gotten it, but the cost of shipping from Idaho to Georgia put a limit on what I could bid.
I feel that the buyer, if closer than I am, got a great deal!
Thank you for the comments. I have shipped cars before and also driven a number of them back from San Antonio. I just sold a 57 Cadillac Eldorado Seville at Barrett Jackson in early Feb. (my shipper messed me up really bad as the car didn’t get there until 1 hour before staging.) Lost a lot of sweat equity on that one. I was pretty sure about this one and my wife got even mor excited, so once past $5k, my bid was to show serious, but perhaps my last bid I’m sure.
Thank you for the comments. I have shipped cars before and also driven a number of them back from San Antonio. I just sold a 57 Cadillac Eldorado Seville at Barrett Jackson in early Feb. (my shipper messed me up really bad as the car didn’t get there until 1 hour before staging.) Lost a lot of sweat equity on that one. I was pretty sure about this one and my wife got even mor excited, so once past $5k, my bid was to show serious, but perhaps my last bid I’m sure.
Thank you for the comments. I have shipped cars before and also driven a number of them back from San Antonio. I just sold a 57 Cadillac Eldorado Seville at Barrett Jackson in early Feb. (my shipper messed me up really bad as the car didn’t get there until 1 hour before staging.) Lost a lot of sweat equity on that one. I was pretty sure about this one and my wife got even mor excited, so once past $5k, my bid was to show serious, but perhaps my last bid I’m sure.
Same here! That last one was final bid and farther than I thought I uld go. But my wife was really excited about this one too. I was surprised, so that opens the door to find something closer. That almost 2K in shipping to GA was killing me.
So glad to hear that you and the wife will be enjoying this one!
I got thoroughly ripped off by the shipping companys the last time. As much as I have driven cars bask from Texas to Chicago, at 72, I
m going to have it shipped. I have a guy that owes me badly, it was his driver that messed me up, but they all have lots of drivers available…
Yeah sight unseen and not driven has its risk, but so does driving an unknown car that far does also. Thank for the good thoughts…
PS Just saw a 01 Z3 on Haggarty acutions… 91K miles just a clean or tiny bit better….. asking $15K,,, ouch!! Later, mrmopar2 Leonard Hahn
There was a No Reserve ’01 Z3 3.0i on BAT that was ending at the same exact time as this auction (weird). 86K in a nice dark green. Close up photos showed that it was dinged up and the interior was not nearly as nice as this one.
The bidding was slow until the very end and it sold at $8369.
My search will continue – they are out there.