I had a 2005 Roadster from new. I probably would have had it today if it hadn't been for that dangerous mishap with the steering. It had a needle bearing just before the steering wheel. It started to scratch and after a day the steering wheel was completely blocked.
Apart from that, and I'm just writing it down so you're aware that you should have that needle bearing checked, it's a fantastic car. The Getrag transmission is a real pleasure. At the time, nobody knew that the later transmissions were much less suitable. The transmission, with its correct gear ratios and shifting feel, is a unique selling point. A small weakness is that on mine, the seals between the manifold and the catalytic converter broke three times every 6000 km within two years. But apart from that, it was the best roadster. A lot of energy and effort had been put into its development. After all, the first roadster had to be as good as possible because it had replaced the Plus 8. To sum up, I would go for a first series roadster like this.
