E89 Z4 35is - The most underrated car?
Discussion
My criteria for a "new" car:
- more than 4 cylinders
- has to feel special
- roof that comes off
- makes me smile
- probably less than 10 years old, under 50k miles and up to £25k budget
Now as 5+ cylinder convertibles go, there aren't a lot of choices. It's also worth mentioning that I'm not entirely comfortable with a convertible that wasn't designed as one, e.g. BMW M240i... very tempting, but it just doesn't look right to me. Same goes for a Mustang, I'd only really want the hard top version. What does that leave me with?
SLK 55 AMG - glorious engine but looks too dinky and just doesn't do it for me.
Audi TT RS - anything remotely recent is way out of budget.
Which leaves....
The E89 Z4 35is. Clarkson and friends loved the E89 Z4, but it seems no one else did. Pretty much every review slates it for not being a Boxster and, at £50k new that was probably a fair conclusion. These days however, they're about 2/3 of the price of a same MY Boxster, or even less, which makes them a much more tempting choice.
Does it handle like an Elise? Well, no. It's a bit front heavy and a bit rolly through the bends, but I'm confident that can be fixed. The DCT is brilliant once you get used to it and the twin turbo straight six is sensational, especially with the standard 35is sports exhaust. Plenty of room for power increase through tuning if the 340ish bhp starts to feel lacking.
I believe that cars should be fun, and that fun cars should come in fun colours, so I found a lovely orange 35is on a Z4 forum that seemed to fit the bill. Only problem? I'm in Essex and the car was in Argyll, Scotland. Exactly... Good excuse for a road trip!
A couple of days of driving later and the orange lady was back in her spiritual home.
It's a fairly rare car, with only 400ish 35is in the UK and only 264 Valencia Orange 35is sold worldwide, but I wanted to make it a bit more unique and personal to me - both visually and improving the handling to match the power.
- more than 4 cylinders
- has to feel special
- roof that comes off
- makes me smile
- probably less than 10 years old, under 50k miles and up to £25k budget
Now as 5+ cylinder convertibles go, there aren't a lot of choices. It's also worth mentioning that I'm not entirely comfortable with a convertible that wasn't designed as one, e.g. BMW M240i... very tempting, but it just doesn't look right to me. Same goes for a Mustang, I'd only really want the hard top version. What does that leave me with?
SLK 55 AMG - glorious engine but looks too dinky and just doesn't do it for me.
Audi TT RS - anything remotely recent is way out of budget.
Which leaves....
The E89 Z4 35is. Clarkson and friends loved the E89 Z4, but it seems no one else did. Pretty much every review slates it for not being a Boxster and, at £50k new that was probably a fair conclusion. These days however, they're about 2/3 of the price of a same MY Boxster, or even less, which makes them a much more tempting choice.
Does it handle like an Elise? Well, no. It's a bit front heavy and a bit rolly through the bends, but I'm confident that can be fixed. The DCT is brilliant once you get used to it and the twin turbo straight six is sensational, especially with the standard 35is sports exhaust. Plenty of room for power increase through tuning if the 340ish bhp starts to feel lacking.
I believe that cars should be fun, and that fun cars should come in fun colours, so I found a lovely orange 35is on a Z4 forum that seemed to fit the bill. Only problem? I'm in Essex and the car was in Argyll, Scotland. Exactly... Good excuse for a road trip!
A couple of days of driving later and the orange lady was back in her spiritual home.
It's a fairly rare car, with only 400ish 35is in the UK and only 264 Valencia Orange 35is sold worldwide, but I wanted to make it a bit more unique and personal to me - both visually and improving the handling to match the power.
Edited by Tiglon on Thursday 9th September 22:00
Very nice. 
I always wished that BMW had offered this model with a manual gearbox. I loved that it was the flagship Z4 of the time, but for me personally the DCT was a downside. I also feel the same about the DCT in my F82 M4 and I'd prefer that with a manual gearbox too.
The E89 is my favourite Z4 of all the generations because I personally prefer the folding hard top over a fabric one.
Enjoy it.
I always wished that BMW had offered this model with a manual gearbox. I loved that it was the flagship Z4 of the time, but for me personally the DCT was a downside. I also feel the same about the DCT in my F82 M4 and I'd prefer that with a manual gearbox too.
The E89 is my favourite Z4 of all the generations because I personally prefer the folding hard top over a fabric one.
Enjoy it.
Royal Jelly said:
Great looking front end on that..
Agree. I remember being in a Taxi in London and one of them was following us, and I remember thinking what a great looking car it was from the front to my eyes(especially in comparison to my Z4M because I wasn't completely taken with the front on that). I like the idea of this generation of Z4, particularly the twin-turbo lump, but I think they fell foul of not really being excellent at any one thing in particular (while simultaneously being quite good at quite a few things). It's a classic BMW trait - their cars are, for the most part, solid all-rounders.
They don't handle like a Boxster, and don't give the same level of driving thrill and feedback for purists.
They aren't big or practical enough to be a proper 'GT', even though that's what the torquey engine and soft chassis is best-suited to.
They aren't special in a way that an Elise is to be a weekend car, and aren't practical as an only/daily car.
They aren't lairy enough as standard to be considered a mini 'muscle' car, in the way that an SLK55 might be.
All of the above sounds like criticism, but it's not. All of those comparisons are fundamentally flawed cars, and the Z4 would probably be my choice. It isn't hugely flawed in any respect - but just not excellent at any one thing.
They don't handle like a Boxster, and don't give the same level of driving thrill and feedback for purists.
They aren't big or practical enough to be a proper 'GT', even though that's what the torquey engine and soft chassis is best-suited to.
They aren't special in a way that an Elise is to be a weekend car, and aren't practical as an only/daily car.
They aren't lairy enough as standard to be considered a mini 'muscle' car, in the way that an SLK55 might be.
All of the above sounds like criticism, but it's not. All of those comparisons are fundamentally flawed cars, and the Z4 would probably be my choice. It isn't hugely flawed in any respect - but just not excellent at any one thing.
Edited by C70R on Friday 10th September 12:53
We strongly considered one of these and if a Valencia orange one preferably with a black roof had been available at the time we would have ended up with one.
Got an SLK55 instead which we really like but still admire these.
Your example looks lovely. My son has a 2012 Z4 2.0is and it seems really well screwed together. Very underrated cars.
Got an SLK55 instead which we really like but still admire these.
Your example looks lovely. My son has a 2012 Z4 2.0is and it seems really well screwed together. Very underrated cars.
I had a 35is from new. Did over 100k miles in mine.
Lovely car, sounds fab and quick.
Downsides, poor handling on the limit (it's no Boxster, but has a nicer engine).
I had a full warranty on it as it was new. Needed it. 4x rear cracked wheels, new cat, two new turbos, two new adjustable dampers. The bill for dampers and turbos alone I think was £4k.
Get one, but warranty a must.
Lovely car, sounds fab and quick.
Downsides, poor handling on the limit (it's no Boxster, but has a nicer engine).
I had a full warranty on it as it was new. Needed it. 4x rear cracked wheels, new cat, two new turbos, two new adjustable dampers. The bill for dampers and turbos alone I think was £4k.
Get one, but warranty a must.
Thanks for the kind comments! I was expecting less love for the Z4, given it's reputation for not being a "proper" driver's car.
If a manual was available I probably would have gone for it over the DCT, but the automated manual is better than I expected and you do get a lovely blip of the throttle on downshifts. If I said I don't ever miss a manual, I'd be lying, but I couldn't buy a Z4M because the Mrs hated my old E85 2.0 (it was a really poor example).
The spec on this one is very good, having almost everything available at the time:
Top stereo and speaker system
Cruise control
iDrive/Satnav
PDC
Heated Seats
The only thing I would like to have that isn't there is Android Auto, but there are plenty of people over on the Z4 forum doing conversions so that might be on the list of mods further down the line. It's more of a nice to have than must have for me anyway. The previous owner also fitted a smarttop, so the window and roof opening/closing are now all one touch, rather than having to hold stuff down all the bloody time.
The engine is the N54, twin turbo, rather than the newer and more efficient twin scroll single turbo N55. Plenty of cheap and easy options for remapping when I get bored of the current power & torque. The noise isn't as good as a N/A straight six, but pretty vocal for a turbo and the sports exhaust makes it much louder than the 35i, and it's obviously much meatier than modern cars with PPF.
This one has had the adaptive suspension replaced under warranty a year or 2 ago, and the crack-prone original wheels swapped out by the previous owner to something a bit stronger with Michelin PS4S instead of the god-awful runflats.
There's a reason both photos are of the front end - it's undoubtedly her best angle! The E85 wins hands down on the view from behind.
The drive back via Inverary was beautiful, sadly the Mrs came for the trip and she isn't a fan of fast driving, childish exhaust burbles, or roof down motoring - this slightly ruined the experience
I agree it isn't brilliant at any one thing, and it only works for me as a semi-daily (I have a Focus as well that the Mrs drives sometimes) and as a new car it failed to carve out a niche for itself, when priced similarly to a SLK55, Elise or Boxster S - although, in my personal opinion it looks much better than those alternatives. On the 2nd hand market now though, the same amount of cash would get a 2010-ish 2.7 Boxster on similar miles, or S with much higher miles. What makes it feel special to me is the noise, the interior, the sheer acceleration and the Orange - it makes me smile every day. Also the fact that I'm more used to driving eBay sheds...
I've got a new set of E92 M3 front control arms to be fitted in the next couple of weeks which should help control body roll and, along with the much improved grip from the Michelins (I do wonder what the conclusion from the press would have been if they'd driven it on good tyres when it was launched) - it will never be a Boxster (the big engine is in the wrong place) but I'm hopeful after that it will be pretty good in the twisties regardless. It won't break the bank to stick a couple of anti roll bars in there either. There's also the option of a Quaife LSD, but that's a lot more ££££ so I'm hoping it won't be necessary - I'm not really a ten tenths driver so I doubt it will do that much for me.
Visual mods are well underway, but I'm not going to go for a sneaky remap until a) I'm tired of the current power and b) the handling is improved to be able to, erm, handle it. I might go for catless downpipes in the not too distant future if for no other reason than even more aural drama.
My approved used warranty (carried over from previous owner) expires in a few days - haven't decided yet whether to get a new one. The suspension has already been done and from reading a lot, I get the impression that the later 35is is more reliable than the earlier ones and a lot more reliable than the early N54s in the 3 series etc. Feel free to throw that comment back in my face in a year when I'm whining about a horrific repair bill.
If a manual was available I probably would have gone for it over the DCT, but the automated manual is better than I expected and you do get a lovely blip of the throttle on downshifts. If I said I don't ever miss a manual, I'd be lying, but I couldn't buy a Z4M because the Mrs hated my old E85 2.0 (it was a really poor example).
The spec on this one is very good, having almost everything available at the time:
Top stereo and speaker system
Cruise control
iDrive/Satnav
PDC
Heated Seats
The only thing I would like to have that isn't there is Android Auto, but there are plenty of people over on the Z4 forum doing conversions so that might be on the list of mods further down the line. It's more of a nice to have than must have for me anyway. The previous owner also fitted a smarttop, so the window and roof opening/closing are now all one touch, rather than having to hold stuff down all the bloody time.
The engine is the N54, twin turbo, rather than the newer and more efficient twin scroll single turbo N55. Plenty of cheap and easy options for remapping when I get bored of the current power & torque. The noise isn't as good as a N/A straight six, but pretty vocal for a turbo and the sports exhaust makes it much louder than the 35i, and it's obviously much meatier than modern cars with PPF.
This one has had the adaptive suspension replaced under warranty a year or 2 ago, and the crack-prone original wheels swapped out by the previous owner to something a bit stronger with Michelin PS4S instead of the god-awful runflats.
There's a reason both photos are of the front end - it's undoubtedly her best angle! The E85 wins hands down on the view from behind.
The drive back via Inverary was beautiful, sadly the Mrs came for the trip and she isn't a fan of fast driving, childish exhaust burbles, or roof down motoring - this slightly ruined the experience
I agree it isn't brilliant at any one thing, and it only works for me as a semi-daily (I have a Focus as well that the Mrs drives sometimes) and as a new car it failed to carve out a niche for itself, when priced similarly to a SLK55, Elise or Boxster S - although, in my personal opinion it looks much better than those alternatives. On the 2nd hand market now though, the same amount of cash would get a 2010-ish 2.7 Boxster on similar miles, or S with much higher miles. What makes it feel special to me is the noise, the interior, the sheer acceleration and the Orange - it makes me smile every day. Also the fact that I'm more used to driving eBay sheds...
I've got a new set of E92 M3 front control arms to be fitted in the next couple of weeks which should help control body roll and, along with the much improved grip from the Michelins (I do wonder what the conclusion from the press would have been if they'd driven it on good tyres when it was launched) - it will never be a Boxster (the big engine is in the wrong place) but I'm hopeful after that it will be pretty good in the twisties regardless. It won't break the bank to stick a couple of anti roll bars in there either. There's also the option of a Quaife LSD, but that's a lot more ££££ so I'm hoping it won't be necessary - I'm not really a ten tenths driver so I doubt it will do that much for me.
Visual mods are well underway, but I'm not going to go for a sneaky remap until a) I'm tired of the current power and b) the handling is improved to be able to, erm, handle it. I might go for catless downpipes in the not too distant future if for no other reason than even more aural drama.
My approved used warranty (carried over from previous owner) expires in a few days - haven't decided yet whether to get a new one. The suspension has already been done and from reading a lot, I get the impression that the later 35is is more reliable than the earlier ones and a lot more reliable than the early N54s in the 3 series etc. Feel free to throw that comment back in my face in a year when I'm whining about a horrific repair bill.
It’s a lot of car for the high-teens/early 20s price point, that’s for sure.
Random question; what’s the boot like? It might not be the ultimate GT car, but with a smooth, torquey engine, comfy cockpit and those dimensions, it does look like it could be a great ‘mini GT’ car for the U.K. roads..
Random question; what’s the boot like? It might not be the ultimate GT car, but with a smooth, torquey engine, comfy cockpit and those dimensions, it does look like it could be a great ‘mini GT’ car for the U.K. roads..
Royal Jelly said:
It’s a lot of car for the high-teens/early 20s price point, that’s for sure.
Random question; what’s the boot like? It might not be the ultimate GT car, but with a smooth, torquey engine, comfy cockpit and those dimensions, it does look like it could be a great ‘mini GT’ car for the U.K. roads..
Not as big as you would like for a GT, and it gets a lot smaller if you want to fold the roof down. I had a E89 30i a couple of years ago - it caused a major argument due to not being able to fit all the Christmas presents in when visiting her family, but it did just about have room for a 2 week road trip around France and Italy. Random question; what’s the boot like? It might not be the ultimate GT car, but with a smooth, torquey engine, comfy cockpit and those dimensions, it does look like it could be a great ‘mini GT’ car for the U.K. roads..
The other issue is that the adaptive sports suspension on the 35is, even in comfort mode, is not as comfy as I think a lot of people would want from a long distance tourer. It's fine for me, but probably not going to tick everyone's box in that department. My 30i with softer SE suspension and little 17" wheels was very comfy and probably better suited to the GT role - still plenty of shove when you want to have fun, but absolutely woeful in the corners.
It is a really nice place to sit though, IMO the interior is nice than Porsche/Merc rivals from the same year - both of which will have similar luggage challenges. It's also probably unfair to compare to those cars now with it being so much cheaper second hand than they are. For that £20k-ish price, if you want more than 4 cylinders in a 2013 or later 2 seat convertible, your other options are SLK350 or 370Z. You'd need another £5k+ for a SLK55 or £11k+ for a Boxster S.
I'd love one of these cars and it would have to be a six cylinder model. However, I've read that the N54 can suffer a failure of the high pressure fuel pump. I don't know how prevalent the issue is, which version of the N54 it affects, what the cost of the repair would be or what the immediate consequences are when it fails, though.
More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N54
More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N54
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