Which £5000 roadster?

I am considering getting a slightly more 'grown up' roadster for some time. I have a limited budget of £5000 which seems to flag up quite a few late 90's early 00's cars and was considering the Boxster, the Z4 or the SLK. I am not looking for anything over 2.7 lt for track days - but a fun car for windy roads where I live that wont completely break me to look after on an annual basis. My concerns are possible expensive mechanical problems and re-sell value after a couple of years. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Asked on 3 August 2015 by Andylondon

Answered by Honest John
A Z3 2.8i or Z4 3.0i is likely to be the least trouble of these, but looks sportier than it is. The 1.8/1.9 Z3 was not a sports car at all. Curiously, the lowest power, earliest Boxster 2.5 was the most reliable because more power led to expensive failure of an engine component. SLK is solid enough in the powertrain but the 4 cylinder automatics are not sports cars and are now developing expensive problems with their power tops. The V6 manual was more fun.
Dear Honest John,

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