My midlife crisis purchase; E86 BMW Z4 Coupe

[DRE7]

Great car, I really miss mine
Did have a problem with corrosion of those wheels even with good maintenance, it’s a good thought to change them
Surprised you needed to add an aux plug as mine had one on the underside of the dashboard between the gear selector and the climate controls

[cerb4.5lee]

I was thinking Sam...if you're not already on the Z4-forum.com, you'll have to come and join a few of us on there too.

[Lotusgone]

A very good looking example, I've only recently started to consider one of these.

I will probably keep my E92 330d going as the daily and move on my E63 645. Your impressions are very informative, particularly the lowness and cosy cabin compared to your own E92. Also the ride on 18" wheels and, presumably, runflats.

The flip-up screen & system is ancient but at least allows for an upgrade.

[Court_S]

christhreadgill said:

Oh wow, nice choice! Surprised to see the E92 depart, but I'm the same as you in terms of once it's in my head, the decision is made.

Always liked the look of these, but 2 seats has never been an option for me. Superb colour choice also.

Cheers. The E92 was a really good car, but it was never going to be what I really wanted (i.e. an M3). Good to see that yours is progressing now (I need to catch up on your thread but saw the picture on the E91 thread).

[Court_S]

cerb4.5lee said:

I'm on the fence with the wheels as well Sam. I wouldn't say that I dislike them, but I wouldn't say that I love them either though.

I love the CSL style wheels, but you've been there and done that though. However I did quite like the standard wheels that came on my Z4M though(224's).

I like the 224M’s but they’re bloody expensive which rules them out. The Z4 seems to be quite a hard car to match wheels too so I may just end up sticking with what I have and at least with 18’s I have more options if I decide to change them at a later date.

They look ace on CSL’s though….

[Court_S]

Jhonno said:

Nice! Love a Z4 Coupe! The 3.0 is a very nice thing.. Those wheels really suit it! What tyre sizes are on currently? I ask as even on the heavy MV2's the E46 rides well on 18's and those are E46 based.. Goodyear Asymmetric 6's work REALLY well and are cheap. I went to 235/40 on the rear and you don't notice the less width, and balances the chassis a bit more.

Thanks - I think they’ve aged really, really well.

It’s on 225/35’s up front and 255/30’s on the rear. I might look at reducing the rear tyres down a bit as long as I don’t end up with stretched tyres

[Court_S]

E63M6 said:

Looks good Sam!! Looking forward to seeing you add your touches to it.

Have you considered some BBS LM style wheels for it? They look amazing imo. A family member ran some on their Z4C.

That does look good to be fair….they’d need to be reps though,

[Court_S]

swanny71 said:

Lovely, congrats.
Quite fancy one myself now the Cayman has gone. I’m also a huge fan of the N52 and this era of BMW’s.

Thanks.

How was Cayman ownership? I was tempted but it’d have to be the S but I just couldn’t face the cost of potential big issues vs. the value of the car vs. my limited attention span.

[Court_S]

DRE7 said:

Great car, I really miss mine
Did have a problem with corrosion of those wheels even with good maintenance, it’s a good thought to change them
Surprised you needed to add an aux plug as mine had one on the underside of the dashboard between the gear selector and the climate controls

Yeah, I’ve seen the corrosion issues. These have been refurbed but I think it’s been done without splitting them.

I think the aux was fitted from 07 on, so a few months after my car was built. It was easy enough to do and works pretty well - it’s nice to stream music from my phone.

I just need to sort out the Bluetooth connection for phone calls because I can’t get my phone to connect. The system is searching for a phone, but I’ll be buggered if I can get it into pairing mode.

[Court_S]

cerb4.5lee said:

I was thinking Sam...if you're not already on the Z4-forum.com, you'll have to come and join a few of us on there too.

Joined last night - it looks like a useful resource.

[cerb4.5lee]

Court_S said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I'm on the fence with the wheels as well Sam. I wouldn't say that I dislike them, but I wouldn't say that I love them either though.

I love the CSL style wheels, but you've been there and done that though. However I did quite like the standard wheels that came on my Z4M though(224's).

I like the 224M’s but they’re bloody expensive which rules them out. The Z4 seems to be quite a hard car to match wheels too so I may just end up sticking with what I have and at least with 18’s I have more options if I decide to change them at a later date.

They look ace on CSL’s though….

Yes Sam and the CSL's looked amazing on your 335i I thought, and they arguably look even better on the Z4 too I think. I bet you're quite a bit tempted by them?

I'll keep trying to spend your money for you anyway!

[Court_S]

Lotusgone said:

A very good looking example, I've only recently started to consider one of these.

I will probably keep my E92 330d going as the daily and move on my E63 645. Your impressions are very informative, particularly the lowness and cosy cabin compared to your own E92. Also the ride on 18" wheels and, presumably, runflats.

The flip-up screen & system is ancient but at least allows for an upgrade.

I’ve always liked them - a friend had one a few years ago in pale grey with red leather on 108’s. He really enjoyed it before trading it in for an M140i for about 10 pence.

I’m pretty sure they’re non-RFT’s. This is on B4 dampers with Eibach pro springs so probably a tad firmer than stock.

[cerb4.5lee]

Court_S said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I was thinking Sam...if you're not already on the Z4-forum.com, you'll have to come and join a few of us on there too.

Joined last night - it looks like a useful resource.

Nice one!

I'm not on there as much as I used to be now in fairness, however they are definitely a brilliant group of folk on there for sure. Plus they have a lot of knowledge as you say.

[Court_S]

cerb4.5lee said:

Yes Sam and the CSL's looked amazing on your 335i I thought, and they arguably look even better on the Z4 too I think. I bet you're quite a bit tempted by them?

I'll keep trying to spend your money for you anyway!

They did look great on my 335i.

Personally I find the smaller 18’s can look a bit odd whereas the 19’s look bang on (I’m certainly not entertaining bigger wheels).

Spending other people’s money is easy and lots of fun!

[d_a_n1979]

Court_S said:

E63M6 said:

Looks good Sam!! Looking forward to seeing you add your touches to it.

Have you considered some BBS LM style wheels for it? They look amazing imo. A family member ran some on their Z4C.

That does look good to be fair….they’d need to be reps though,

Cough...

https://www.bmautosport.co.uk/showroom/product_inf...

[InitialDave]

Ah, nice, I quite like the look of these, and could've been tempted when buying my E89. They look far, far nicer than the soft top variant in my opinion.

I agree on the feeling of being sat quite far back when you're coming from a 4 seater coupe or saloon etc, it's the same for me, does make visibility at junctions a bit of a pain if there's someone alongside you, or knobbish parking close to the junction.

On the wheels, see if Alloy Wheels Direct have anything for you, I got a set of 18" 276s from them for a really good price.

[MDifficult]

Oh yes! I'm late to this particular party but absolutely fantastic purchase!

I'll join the chorus here and tell you that CSLs may be the default option but it's because they're simply the best on that car. Maybe (maybe) some genuine LMs but I'd be going CSLs all day long - yes.. I know I said that for your 335i but I was absolutely right then too

Either way, outstanding purchase and I think you'll get a huge amount of fun out of this once you get it handling right. Enjoy!

[roadie]

Really interesting move with all practicality for the family reliant on one car. There's no way my partner would allow me to completely abandon being able to carry people or things almost entirely!

Did you get a decent price for the 335i?

I have always wanted an E85 Z4 3.0si Sport in silver as a fun car in addition to something more practical. I'm certain roof down N52 noises would be epic!

I really look forward to reading about how you get on with this car and whether you can find a tyre/suspension setup that gives you what you want. I would 100% go with an aftermarket wheel if you are beyond keeping those fitted - how about something like this, albeit with more tyre?

[Gallons Per Mile]

Ooh, good choice of replacement car! Only just seen this thread exists. Have fun with it

[B'stard Child]

Court_S said:

So, now it’s in the process of getting cleaned and looking good, what are my plans? Well I don’t intend to get to carried away with mods in this one, I’ll focus on maintenance and keeping it well looked after.

I mean this in the nicest possible way but the in bold bit

Looks like a good base considering it's age