You dont have to get new wheels because of scratches... you could just send them off to get refurbished and they will look like new. These wheels dont look bad and do fit the car quite well dont they? i have refurbed my wheels twice... scatches are normal wear and tear if you use the car.
Yep sport + and manual with paddles is how i drive mine almost all the time... normal mode to warm it up before... Only in bad winter conditions i use regular sport to keep all the aids on... and maybe when im using cruise control on the highway... you have to use normal or sport with that. Cruise control doesnt work in sport+ mode...
no need to go crazy with mods..
If you think its not sharp enough handlingwise, there are a few mods that make it sharper and sporty. But it will come somewhat at the cost of comfort. If you have bad roads then really think what your goals are.
If you want some extra power.. also there are some easy to do and well established mods. you probably saw them already on the second z4 you were considering.
Main thing is good maintenance with these... and some of it is costly. Be prepared for that.
I like what Matt Farah from Smoking tire once said in a video about m3 vs isf... It was something along the lines of this: Always keep couple of grand on the side for when things go wrong... and they will go wrong in the bmw at some point.
Understand what things cost ahead of time. Recently there have been users who hadnt done that, drive around in ignorant bliss and then when their adaptive shocks fail they get a big suprise
and start looking for shortcuts...
I knew how expensive those shocks were before i bought the car.. i did my research before... i was mentally prepared for it and knew that they were eventually at somepoint going to fail...
Anyway.. enjoy the car. Ivory interior is nice!