The Random E46/ZHP Question Thread

[Sockethead]

I got the Lemforder versions of the ZHP LCA and LCAB as a kit from FCP Euro...

[bandwagn]

Any way to swap bases on the mirrors - my passenger mirror broke and looking to see if I can keep the gloss black trim.

JB Weld has failed.

[John in VA]

Get a mirror from a member parting out a car here on the forum & swap over your painted backing if the used one isn't the correct color.

[YoitsTmac]

I hate to be THAT guy, but I must ask as I play around with the idea.

I'm quietly shopping and saving for a new E46. My requirements are that it is steel gray facelift coupe with M54 (M56 is a concern in CA). Naturally, this gives me some ZHP's. In a perfect world, I would love to have 6-speed as my signature suggests, but these typically seem to be ZHP's, and ZHP's seem to be remarkably inflated. I've seen one with 150k miles for $7.5k, one with 99k for 6k, and some well north of $15k. It just goes all over the place. Do you guys have a buyers guide or a suggested "don't pay over xx" for a ZHP? thanks

[BMWCurves]

I hate to be THAT guy, but I must ask as I play around with the idea.

I'm quietly shopping and saving for a new E46. My requirements are that it is steel gray facelift coupe with M54 (M56 is a concern in CA). Naturally, this gives me some ZHP's. In a perfect world, I would love to have 6-speed as my signature suggests, but these typically seem to be ZHP's, and ZHP's seem to be remarkably inflated. I've seen one with 150k miles for $7.5k, one with 99k for 6k, and some well north of $15k. It just goes all over the place. Do you guys have a buyers guide or a suggested "don't pay over xx" for a ZHP? thanks

Here's a graph on what members have paid vs mileage for their ZHPs in the last three years. This is a very rough estimate and doesn't account for coupe vs. sedan, manual vs automatic, number of previous owners, condition, etc:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...at=interactive

A spreadsheet of all the data can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...Jr7lGTmtw/edit

I'd say that yes, ZHP prices are highly variable. Manual sedans will normally command the highest price since they're the closest BMW came to selling a factory E46 M3 sedan and is what enthusiasts are most often after. Personally I have found that convertibles have the lowest average miles (they were most likely a second car meant more for pleasure drives than daily duty) and tend to have a higher price (both from the mileage and they had the highest base MSRP of the three body styles), but I believe they are often inflated as I would think the convertible appeals to a much smaller group of people. Coupes are somewhere in the middle.

Furthermore, low mileage examples are becoming increasingly rare. They are now 11+ years old minimum for coupes and verts, 12+ for sedans. That's pretty old for a car that many people daily drove. If owners only drove 5k miles/year, that's 55k miles, and most people drove much more than that. That increasing rarity of low mileage examples are raising selling prices, while the number of ZHPs entering 100k+ miles are increasing and I think their prices are falling or at least flattening out for that reason. I personally don't think the price premium is worth the low miles. I bought my one owner coupe (really a two owner but the second owner only kept it for two weeks) two years ago with 49k miles and a manual transmission for $14k. At the time I thought it was still high but I'd been searching for ages and this one had everything I wanted short of four doors which I haven't really needed. Despite the low mileage, I basically did all the preventative maintenance I would have done on a car with twice the mileage because the car was nine years old when I bought it (plastic becomes brittle and rubber dries out). So I paid a several grand premium for a car that would most likely be just as mechanically sound as a car with much more mileage because I would have done a similar amount of maintenance. That said, I don't regret my decision in the slightest. But it's all up to priorities. If I had to do it again, I would widen my search for cars under 125k miles in good condition with good maintenance history and use the saved money for maintenance.

[YoitsTmac]

Thanks for the thorough and in-depth reply, I truly do appreciate it. It looks like I might not be ready for a ZHP quite yet....I'll have to see how this year plays out.
I have noticed there's a plethora of convertibles. I guess when I have the funds, I'll just be checking every week for when the right one comes on the market!

[az3579]

You sure you got the color right? There are no factory steel grey ZHPs that I'm aware of. (And no, Stiggisimo's car doesn't count - that is a converted car )

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[YoitsTmac]

You sure you got the color right? There are no factory steel grey ZHPs that I'm aware of. (And no, Stiggisimo's car doesn't count - that is a converted car )

Yes I am! https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/ctd/6096812782.html
^^that's one I was looking at. Body looks pristine. That's all I want - a good facelift steel gray coupe. I don't care what M54 is under it, be B30, B25 or ZHP. M54's are a dime a dozen for when you blow one or want more power

[704sw]

Yes I am! https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/ctd/6096812782.html
^^that's one I was looking at. Body looks pristine. That's all I want - a good facelift steel gray coupe. I don't care what M54 is under it, be B30, B25 or ZHP. M54's are a dime a dozen for when you blow one or want more power

Am I missing something? The coupe in that link is Silbergrau...

[John in VA]

Yes I am! https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/ctd/6096812782.html
^^that's one I was looking at. Body looks pristine. That's all I want - a good facelift steel gray coupe.

Both the CL ad & VIN decoder state it is Silver Gray. Good luck with your search!

2004 BMW 330CI ZHP M-Sport 6-Speed Manual
VIN: WBABD534X4PD97495
Mileage: 153,260
Exterior: Silver Gray Metallic
Interior:Black Leather
Engine: 6-Cyl
------------
Vehicle information
VIN WBABD534X4PD97495
Type code BD53
Type 330CI (USA)
E series E46 (2FL)
Series 3
Type COUPE
Steering LL
Doors 2
Engine M54
Displacement 3.00
Power 170
Drive HECK
Transmission MECH
Colour SILBERGRAU METALLIC (A08)
Upholstery STANDARDLEDER/SCHWARZ (N6SW)
Prod.date 2004-03-08