Finally! My own Z4 35is!

[jager]

A dream has finally came true

I have just purchased this beauty! The condition is incredible for a 13 years old car!!!

Can't wait to sort out the paperwork and get the registration plates!!!

[maxbaybe]

What a beautiful spec! I really appreciate you sharing, I am actually in the works of looking for a z4 35is in the states. It’s nice to see people still trying to go for the e89 after all of these years. I found it to be difficult to find a low mileage z4. How many miles and what year is your z4?

[jager]

Originally Posted by maxbaybe

How many miles and what year is your z4?

It’s a 2011 model, with 120.000km (74.500 miles) on the clock. All services by BMW, all invoices provided. Very well kept and maintained. A very nice find, I was looking for a perfect match according to my pocket during the whole winter! This particular model was my dream since it was released. Now, finally, I owe one!
There are very low mileage 35is in Germany but boy, they still keep their value! Those with under 30k miles are amazing, but not for my wallet
I hope you’ll find your Z4 very soon!

[MRCW]

Welcome to the club. The 35i/s MSports are quite rare, especially fully loaded.

Mine is a 2013 with 26k miles. I flew 1800 miles to buy the car and drove it home

[B21]

Welcome and enjoy!

[maxbaybe]

Originally Posted by jager

It’s a 2011 model, with 120.000km (74.500 miles) on the clock. All services by BMW, all invoices provided. Very well kept and maintained. A very nice find, I was looking for a perfect match according to my pocket during the whole winter! This particular model was my dream since it was released. Now, finally, I owe one!
There are very low mileage 35is in Germany but boy, they still keep their value! Those with under 30k miles are amazing, but not for my wallet
I hope you’ll find your Z4 very soon!

Thanks, I can’t wait! The one I am looking at is also a 2011 in Melbourne Red with (47,000miles). Not going in for a buy until May, so hopefully no one pulls the trigger on it before I can.

[jager]

Originally Posted by MRCW

Welcome to the club. The 35i/s MSports are quite rare, especially fully loaded.

Mine is a 2013 with 26k miles. I flew 1800 miles to buy the car and drove it home

Wow! I can consider myself lucky I had to travel only 200km to get this car.

Unfortunately, I am still waiting for the appointment with the traffic authorities to get my reg. plates. Since corona, they are accepting only online booked visits. And the first available was in 3 weeks! I wasn't even able to pick up the car, it's still with the dealer...

[jager]

Originally Posted by maxbaybe

Thanks, I can’t wait! The one I am looking at is also a 2011 in Melbourne Red with (47,000miles). Not going in for a buy until May, so hopefully no one pulls the trigger on it before I can.

Gorgious in RED!

BTW, why waiting till May? It may "develop legs"...

I wish you get it anyway

[Marcoose]

Yay !

[maxbaybe]

Originally Posted by jager

Gorgious in RED!

BTW, why waiting till May? It may "develop legs"...

I wish you get it anyway

I’m just way too busy to travel out of state right now, but I have high hopes! It’s really the only thing I can think about right now is buying the car, so it’s going to happen it’s just when. Hopefully the car registration works out just fine, three weeks and its all yours!

[maxbaybe]

Okay, kind of in a little rut between two awesome Z4’s. One is Melbourne Red (2011 Z4 35is) with 46k miles, the other is in the same color (2014 Z4 35i) with 62k miles. Just want an opinion and what vehicle you’d choose. I know the 35is has an over boost at a certain rpm, does it really make a difference? How much different is the 35i vs 35is?

[MRCW]

Originally Posted by maxbaybe

Okay, kind of in a little rut between two awesome Z4’s. One is Melbourne Red (2011 Z4 35is) with 46k miles, the other is in the same color (2014 Z4 35i) with 62k miles. Just want an opinion and what vehicle you’d choose. I know the 35is has an over boost at a certain rpm, does it really make a difference? How much different is the 35i vs 35is?

I had some similar questions and finally decided that it didn't matter to me... the 35is has a few upgrades (slightly bigger brakes) and some boost advantage as I recall, but nothing that was a deal breaker for me. I found my 35i they way I wanted it..(MSport, mineral white, merino leather, fully optioned out) I have a stage one tune that works fine and likely gets close to the is output.

I bought my Z4 for a fun topless drive, it's quick, handles well and stops fine.

[maxbaybe]

Originally Posted by MRCW

I had some similar questions and finally decided that it didn't matter to me... the 35is has a few upgrades (slightly bigger brakes) and some boost advantage as I recall, but nothing that was a deal breaker for me. I found my 35i they way I wanted it..(MSport, mineral white, merino leather, fully optioned out) I have a stage one tune that works fine and likely gets close to the is output.

I bought my Z4 for a fun topless drive, it's quick, handles well and stops fine.

Thanks, I may consider the 35i. Though the 35is (2011) does have 20,000 miles less than its 35i (2014) counterpart. Also the older vehicle with less miles was driven less, may be more taken care of.

Thankfully both the 35i and 35is are in the same lot, I can test out both vehicles if I wanted to.

I also attached both vehicles to this thread just so that based off of photos and given year and miles what seems more appealing. Thanks for the insight!

First Three Photos 35is 2011 (46,000m)
Last Three Photos 35i 2014 (62,000m)

[KennyP]

It comes down to spec, options and your taste, doesnt it?

which car has better options? is anything missing?
keyless access, hifi professional sound, idrive, lighting package,storage netting package, heated steering wheel, wind deflector, adaptive headlights, self dimming mirrors?

Do you like wooden trim in the is or prefer the aluminum look?
wooden trim is more expensive option, scratches can be somewhat polished out from its laquer... but some think its too oldschool for their taste...

Which paddles you like more? Older style pushpull that allows you to control the gears with one hand from one paddle both up and down or you like newer more standard +- layout style paddles in the 2014 car.
i personally think older paddles were superior..

Do you like chrome grille or black grille?
I personally prefer chrome.. though you can easily swap the grilles out..

Do you like the wheels?
IS has better wheels on it IMHO...

35i seems to have some mods on it... probably tuned, has intakes. Seems a bit lowered aswell but i may be wrong. i would check if it has stock intercooler and downpipes on it or are they aftermarket aswell...
If you want your n54 tuned then thats all great... but if you really want a stock car then not so great. IS seems like its stock but hard to tell...
I wouldnt stay away from a mildly tuned car that has well known aftermarket upgrade parts on it... a mild tune doesnt really hurt the longevity of these cars imo...

White interior has those nice alcantara strips on seatbacks... these are hard to keep clean... brown interior dont have that and seats are all leather...
But that alcantara does look nice on doors for example...

White interior probably also has extended leather... dash and doors upper part is covered in leather. Also sun visors are covered in leather with this package... It does look nicer... but if you need to replace sunvisor(say mirror breaks) it gets expensive.. standard sunvisor is cheap on ebay... also leather dash can have its glue fail and form airbubbles under the leather...

Maintenance records? can you see whats done to them say during the last 2-3 years? If one has alot of bigger maintenance recently done then thats something to consider.. like valvecover gaskets, oilfilter housing gaskets, waterpump, coilpacks... things like that...

Has DCT been serviced? at 60k miles it should have... at 40k miles its coming up, but may have been done due to age...
BMW says DCT has lifetime fluid, but different sites say 50k or 60k miles the fluid should be changed in a street car.. track toys even sooner...
BMW GT4 racecars change DCT oil every 30k kilometers(ca 18600 miles) for example...

Also worth checking the injectors and their index and see if they are index 12... 2014 car probably has, 2011 may not. Big bill if they are not and you have to replace them out of your own wallet. 2759 usd on fcpeuro for a index 12 fuel injector kit for example...

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...-13538616079kt

you can check it by taking the engine beauty cover off... 3 or 4 bolts to do that...
and read the markings on the injectors...
Notice that "-12" on the injector in the picture below... This tells you what index they are... if its 08, 10 then they arent index 12...


In the states biggest + for the IS model are the bigger brakes. Yes maybe smaller 35i brakes are ok aswell.. for a stock car... but if you have it fullbolton stage 2+ mapped with 450hp.. then you will probably appreciate is bigger brakes quite a bit more...
Those smaller 35i brakes is a USA only thing btw... in Europe both models have the same bigger brakes. My 35i has for example same brake parts as 35IS models... so for some reason 35i brakes got downgraded for us market...

Other differences between 35i and 35is are minor...

[maxbaybe]

Originally Posted by KennyP

It comes down to spec, options and your taste, doesnt it?

which car has better options? is anything missing?
keyless access, hifi professional sound, idrive, lighting package, heated steering wheel, wind deflector, adaptive headlights, self dimming mirrors?

Do you like wooden trim in the is or prefer the aluminum look?
wooden trim is more expensive option, scratches can be somewhat polished out from its laquer... but some think its too oldschool for their taste...

Which paddles you like more? Older style pushpull that allows you to control the gears with one hand from one paddle both up and down or you like newer more standard +- layout style paddles in the 2014 car.
i personally think older paddles were superior..

Do you like chrome grille or black grille?
I personally prefer chrome.. though you can easily swap the grilles out..

Do you like the wheels?
IS has better wheels on it IMHO...

35i seems to have some mods on it... probably tuned, has intakes. Seems a bit lowered aswell but i may be wrong. i would check if it has stock intercooler and downpipes on it or are they aftermarket aswell...
If you want your n54 tuned then thats all great... but if you really want a stock car then not so great. IS seems like its stock but hard to tell...
I wouldnt stay away from a mildly tuned car that has well known aftermarket upgrade parts on it... a mild tune doesnt really hurt the longevity of these cars imo...

White interior has those nice alcantara strips on seatbacks... these are hard to keep clean... brown interior dont have that and seats are all leather... [...]

This is exactly the response I was hoping for! I am strongly leading towards buying soon so this will definitely help. May keep updating on my buying journey on here or make my own post. If there is any more things that I need to lookout for don’t hesitate to share, I really appreciate it all.

[B21]

KennyP did a good write up there..the brakes are a bit of an issue on a tweaked 35i..maybe check to see if they have been upgraded....the other thing is to type the VIN into a vin decoder such as https://www.mdecoder.com/ and see what they came with..

[maxbaybe]

Originally Posted by B21

KennyP did a good write up there..the brakes are a bit of an issue on a tweaked 35i..maybe check to see if they have been upgraded....the other thing is to type the VIN into a vin decoder such as https://www.mdecoder.com/ and see what they came with..

Exactly, his response was everything I needed and plus yours will help a lot. This Z4 will technically be my first ever car purchase and I couldn’t have thanked y’all enough for helping me out with this. I have always been a huge BMW lover ever since my dads e30 325i in the early 2000’s, just everything about him driving fast and shifting through those gears was always a memory that has stuck with me till this day. The fact that really soon I’ll have made my first car purchase and it’s a BMW Z4 is everything I could ask for, bringing the kid in me again. I hope I’m not being too soppy but I’ve always thought this day would never come and here I am about to pull the trigger. So really, every comment and message I get has been greatly appreciated, it all just gets me excited all over again.

[B21]

Originally Posted by maxbaybe

Exactly, his response was everything I needed and plus yours will help a lot. This Z4 will technically be my first ever car purchase and I couldn’t have thanked y’all enough for helping me out with this. I have always been a huge BMW lover ever since my dads e30 325i in the early 2000’s, just everything about him driving fast and shifting through those gears was always a memory that has stuck with me till this day. The fact that really soon I’ll have made my first car purchase and it’s a BMW Z4 is everything I could ask for, bringing the kid in me again. I hope I’m not being too soppy but I’ve always thought this day would never come and here I am about to pull the trigger. So really, every comment and message I get has been greatly appreciated, it all just gets me excited all over again.

Hope it is all you hope for..

[KennyP]

I dont know exactly how good is your knowledge on n54 engines Max...

i suggest you read this following blog:

https://bmwtuning.co/bmw-n54-ultimate-guide/

it basically tells you everything you want to know about this engine...

what makes it great... what are the negatives.. what maintenance you will probably have to do and what things may cost...

Also it gives you an overview of the tuning potential, upgrade paths and what each tuning part is for. Also lists some more popular brands for you for each part..

This might be useful when you are trying to understand the modifications done to the 35i...

overall a very good read for someone getting into n54 engines

[maxbaybe]

Originally Posted by KennyP

I dont know exactly how good is your knowledge on n54 engines Max...

i suggest you read this following blog:

https://bmwtuning.co/bmw-n54-ultimate-guide/

it basically tells you everything you want to know about this engine...

what makes it great... what are the negatives.. what maintenance you will probably have to do and what things may cost...

Also it gives you an overview of the tuning potential, upgrade paths and what each tuning part is for. Also lists some more popular brands for you for each part..

This might be useful when you are trying to understand the modifications done to the 35i...

overall a very good read for someone getting into n54 engines

Thanks for the N54 bible