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I was originally looking to buy an E85 3.0si and test drove several of them. I found that in my area many of these cars were high mileage/many owner/deferred maintenance condition and there were very few with manual transmissions. I really enjoyed the feel of the Z4 with its traditional front engine rear wheel drive layout but when I test drove a 2005 Porsche Boxster S, it was an amazing handling car with an equally mesmerizing howl from that flat 6 engine! There also seemed to be more well sorted boxsters with manual transmissions available at reasonable asking prices.
From a reliability perspective, the Z4 doesn't seem to have any catastrophic design or manufacturing flaws but like most other BMWs requires a lot of maintenance (especially the higher mileage ones). The early boxsters on the other hand have the IMS bearing issue but seem to be very well built and don't seem to require as much maintenance as the BMW.
In the end, I chose the boxster over the Z4 for the way it handled and sounded, the roomer interior layout and the additional trunk space.
Either way, they're both fun cars to drive!
-RobT
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