WTB: Non-convertible & manual ZHP

[Trackerpo9]

Year(s): any
Budget: 10-12k
Desired location of vehicle: Midwest (live in Milwaukee, WI)
Desired Mileage: <120k
Transmission type: 6MT
Desired number of Doors: Prefer sedan but not a deal breaker. Hard top for sure!
Desired Color combos: Love: Mystic Blue, Black, Imola Red, Like: Alpine White, Gray (Charcoal? :dunno)
Desired Packages: Heated seats (Cold weather package nice but really just want heated seats :thumbsup)
Funds lined up? Partially, so I suppose that counts as a no. Summer car for sale now, can get "bridge loan" from family
Have a car you need to sell first? Yes

Hey everyone! I need your help finding my ZHP :begging! Been looking for about a month now and have only seen 3 ZHP's in Wisconsin and only one was to my liking (was posted on here by a member). Willing to go further for the right car but still semi-afraid of buying cars I haven't seen in person. Test drove a convertible/auto today and confirmed that I need a hardtop/manual to be satisfied (see post in classifieds for info on that car).

[danewilson77]

Good luck with your search.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

[BMWCurves]

Good luck on your search! It took me seven-ish months to find mine and I was trawling through AutoTrader, forums, and Craigslist all across the country. But don't let that discourage you! Just be looking constantly, the right one will pop up.

[bandwagn]

What he said - also, don't limit your search to the zhp keyword - sift through all the listings and know what to look for (trim, gauge cluster, etc) and the vin archive will become your best friend - and be ready to pounce

The search is half the fun - until you get the right zhp

[Trackerpo9]

Yeah I have been on here, Autotrader, and "allofcraigslist" or whatever it is pretty much everyday both at work during lunch and once an evening. Sifting through 330i listings is annoying but that is where the deals appear to be. After driving a ZHP today I'm starting to get antsy but would never impulse buy anything. Good news is if I can show enough self-restraint, I can wait until about October/November before this becomes a need rather than a want. I owe you, BMWCurves, a thank-you for posting all of those CL postings with miles, price and transmission! I'm going to try to post some that I look at and pass on that might be perfect for someone else to attempt to give back to a forum about a car I know little about!

[wstr75]

I found searching on ZHP to not be as fruitful as doing the following search via Autotrader, Cars.com, Carmax:
Search on 2003 to 2006 BMW 330Ci
Look at every one meeting your budget, mileage, location or other criteria
When you find cars meeting your criteria, look at the photos for type 135 wheels (ZHP wheels), then look at interior dash pictures for red/orange needles (odometer, tachometer). After finding a car with the red/orange needles, copy the last seven (7) VIN digits and put into the BMW VIN decoder to get the car's build data http://www.bmwarchive.org/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html
Look for S767A Performance Package.

This search method landed me my 2004 ZHP convertible. It was a trade in to a nearby VW dealership and was listed on Autotrader but without pictures. I put the VIN information into the BMW decoder and, voila, it was a ZHP. I quickly made contact with the dealership and bought the car. They did not know it was different from a standard 330CiC convertible.