I have $20k, what’s the best year for the E89?

[ourlee]

…and what year/configuration is a no go? This is for cruising around locally, I’m 100% open to the 4 cylinder. The hope is to get as solid a car mechanically as possible. Also open to manual or auto but don’t want to get into maintaining a dual clutch (if even offered)
Thanks for the guide.
Rick

[dryadsdad]

I am ***not*** an expert or even knowledgable but a new purchaser. I did what research I could before buying. My initial targets were both the Z3 and Z4 but went Z4 because I wanted a car biased toward the GT side rather than the hardcore sports. I came down on the E89 due to the hardtop convertible to open top despite the risk the complex top mechanism posed.

My budget was the same as yours but I bumped it up due to finding the somewhat rare manual 6 speed which to me was a must have plus one with almost no visible wear and low miles.

I found no significant differences between years of the E89 but instead found the asking prices varied due to condition, specific model and mileage. I also wanted a naturally aspirated engine because any of this generation Z is fast enough so I hoped for a less stressed engine than the turbos. I ended up with a 2011 3.0 M6 with the miles in the 30s.

In my 10 days of possession, I've only put 500 miles on it but enjoyed every one of them.

[KennyP]

If you just want to cruise with the top down... i think naturally aspirated 6cylinder would be nice...
you would have that straight 6 sound when top down instead of a 4pot... and n52 engine has quite a good reputation...

If you like to go faster then 35i is the way to go... bit more maintainance though...

NA sixes are earlier cars though and got replaced with 28i, 20i 4pot engines at some point...

biggest regret for me when i bought my car was that i did not know that early 2009 cars dont have bluetooth audio streaming... they only have calls... in 2010 some modules changed and with it came bluetooth streaming... so had i known that... i would have searched for a 2010+ car...

aside from the engine condition and spec matters the most... there isnt really a bad year. Just know what options you really want it to have and go by that...

key things...

keyless go lets you drop the roof from the fob... also fob has changeable cr2032 battery not inbuilt rechargeable battery that eventually deteriorates and dies... so even for that fob its a good option to have...

M-adaptive suspension... lowers car 10mm... looks nicer imo... without it the car looks too high... expensive to replace shocks though... and they do fail...
also ability to change stiffness on the fly is cool... or just get a coilover kit...

Better soundsystem with idrive would be nice to have...

sportseats would be great too... dont have to be electric though...
thats about it...
storage pack for extra netting inside... and lighting pack for extra lights all around the car...
ah wind deflector between the hoops would be nice to have aswell... can buy from ebay but prices are high AFAIK.

[B21]

As was said the cars didn’t really change much over time feature wise..

The later ZF8HP auto is a great box, trouble free and very smooth and capable…that came with the 4 pot 28i

If you like ‘goodies’ then you need to hunt down a ‘fully loaded’ car..

I’d avoid a 35i /35is as they can be very expensive to fix.

The earlier 6s are very reliable but the older the car the more likely seals and plastics tend to age.

You can always list possible candidates to get some critical analysis ..

Enjoy the search..

[ourlee]

Thanks!

[KennyP]

one more tip... try to avoid extended leather option on older cars... it gives you leather covered dash and upper parts on doors, and also leather sunvisors...

Now it does look nicer, but..
1)should you break a mirror in a sunvisor then new sunvisor is crazy expensive while non-leather ones are reasonable on ebay...
2) when car gets older the glue that hold the leather covering in place on the dash starts to fail and youll start getting air bubbles under the leather...
there are ways to fix it but... i would just avoid the headache all together...

[Hejnfelt]

Had a 6MT 28i as my first Z4 and that thing was chill as a cucumber. Slow, but a great cruiser and MT made it feel a lot faster than it was.

Features are subjective and the more you have, the more you need to maintain. Personally I disagree with KennyP on the leather dash. The risk of bubbles is far outweighed by the fact that the the extended leather package elevates the interior from midrange to luxury car by deleting all plastic from touch and view.

It adds very nice leather touches along entire upper dashboard (black leather with stitching), lower dashboard, driver and passenger arm rests, passenger door handle, entire upper portion of doors (black leather with stitching), center console arm rest and the area that runs down passenger side of center console as well as the afforementioned sunvisors.

When you've been in a car with it, you instantly notice the difference.

Take it to the highest level with the Pure Fusion Design Package which is basically a more exclusive version of the Extended Leather Package but adds Alcantara seats and door panels as well as upgrading all leather trim to Premium Nappa leather. I think it was only available on Life Cycle Improvement cars (2013 onwards).

[Marcoose]

Every time I see somebody on a budget looking at E89s (and BMWs in general), I wish I could share my credit card ledger.

The Z3, Z4s and cabriolets in general are super fun. And overall, BMWs are reliable cars. But proper maintenance and repairs are NOT cheap. Unless you do it yourself.

From my experience with the E85 and now the E89, if I had $20K, I'd look for a 2008/2009 low mileage E85 2.5, and save money for the Indy's boat payments. OTOH, if money wasn't an issue, I'd buy a 2016 35is E89.

But that's just me. I've been guilty of being very negative.

[ourlee]

As long as my boat is better than his we good

[rjahl]

All things being equal, mileage, age, maintenance potentially the most reliable for the bunch would be the Z4 3.0 - N52 NA motor with manual gear box. Except for the typical BMW gasket leaks and the now aging Disa valves the N52 motor is a "tank". Easy 300K.

For fun factor the fully loaded 355IS is the way to go. Be prepared to deal with the N54 problems and potential DCT leaks. Awesome car but can be expensive to own. I keep throwing money at mine but for the most part much less then payments on something newer. I splurged this year and refreshed the tired metallic red paint. Florida sun had taken it's toll. It now looks new again and easily shines against some of the new car models available.

I almost bought a new Z4 earlier this year and decided to keep my 2012 and bought my wife a new Mercedes instead.

[ourlee]

I’m going to pass on the IS

[SpectreMech]

I paid exactly $20K for a one owner 2011 35is. It had 68K on the clock, but the guy was an IT exec and the car was pristine. It's my sunny summer driver, and I average about 500 miles a year. In four years I've done nothing but routine maintenance. It's beautiful, there's no denying that.

All said and done, I'd much rather have a manual and a ragtop. My 2001 Z3 3.0 was a jewel, I loved that car, and the Z4 auto just doesn't fill the void. Added to that, I have the older paddle shifters and those things are just plain horrible.

My experience, for what it's worth.

[KennyP]

Hmm i actually enjoy those older style paddles that allow you to control gears with one hand... pull for up, push for down. You dont have to check the orientation of the steering wheel for example because it doesnt matter which paddle you use...just use the nearest... With +/- you have to do that.
One handed use for say when i have something in my hand... say coffee for example is great aswell...

When i get into other cars that use +/- style paddles i just hate them.. mainly cause im used to shifting up and down with one hand and then i just cant do that and have to do that both paddle thing and just get frustrated...

Im sure Bmw engineers designed a superior paddle system but then people who found it confusing complained, probably because they were used to +/- on other cars and finally BMW gave in and went with the mainstream flow...
Some stuff has to be idiot proof and with clear markings on them...

But if you hate them so much... maybe your daily driver is +/- configuration and you dont like to rewire your brain every time you jump in the Z to the new shifting method. then you can just swap a few wires and youll have one side be + and other - in both push and püll if you want...

[MRCW]

Originally Posted by KennyP

Hmm i actually enjoy those older style paddles that allow you to control gears with one hand... pull for up, push for down. You dont have to check the orientation of the steering wheel for example because it doesnt matter which paddle you use...just use the nearest... With +/- you have to do that.
One handed use for say when i have something in my hand... say coffee for example is great aswell...

When i get into other cars that use +/- style paddles i just hate them.. mainly cause im used to shifting up and down with one hand and then i just cant do that and have to do that both paddle thing and just get frustrated...

Im sure Bmw engineers designed a superior paddle system but then people who found it confusing complained, probably because they were used to +/- on other cars and finally BMW gave in and went with the mainstream flow...
Some stuff has to be idiot proof and with clear markings on them...

But if you hate them so much... maybe your daily driver is +/- configuration and you dont like to rewire your brain every time you jump in the Z to the new shifting method. then you can just swap a few wires and youll have one side be + and other - in both push and püll if you want...

I'm just the opposite. On many other cars the right up and left down are the norm. My Aston Martin is fixed paddles on the column and you pull both paddles back for neutral. I find I do this out of habit... I'm not a fan of pushing a button wheen driving the car hard. Then again I used to be an exclusive manual only driver but started compromising years ago so my wife and daughter could drive all my cars...

[SpectreMech]

Originally Posted by KennyP

Hmm i actually enjoy those older style paddles that allow you to control gears with one hand... pull for up, push for down. You dont have to check the orientation of the steering wheel for example because it doesnt matter which paddle you use...just use the nearest... With +/- you have to do that.
One handed use for say when i have something in my hand... say coffee for example is great aswell...

When i get into other cars that use +/- style paddles i just hate them.. mainly cause im used to shifting up and down with one hand and then i just cant do that and have to do that both paddle thing and just get frustrated...

Im sure Bmw engineers designed a superior paddle system but then people who found it confusing complained, probably because they were used to +/- on other cars and finally BMW gave in and went with the mainstream flow...
Some stuff has to be idiot proof and with clear markings on them...

But if you hate them so much... maybe your daily driver is +/- configuration and you dont like to rewire your brain every time you jump in the Z to the new shifting method. then you can just swap a few wires and youll have one side be + and other - in both push and püll if you want...

Do you happen to have a thread reference for that mod? I'm reluctant to start rerunning 12 year old wiring that has probably taken a hard set, but if it's been done successfully I'm game (retired aircraft electrician).

[KennyP]

Originally Posted by SpectreMech

Do you happen to have a thread reference for that mod? I'm reluctant to start rerunning 12 year old wiring that has probably taken a hard set, but if it's been done successfully I'm game (retired aircraft electrician).

Looked around a bit.. but you have to do some searching yourself... i know its possible seen it on this forum before... but cant find the correct posts now..but...found this:

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=97985

Also apparently you can buy later +- paddles and retrofit them as they are plug and play... they cost like over 400 usd. So if you want to do it properly then you can... if you dont want to spend the money switching some wires work aswell...

https://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=825480

[SpectreMech]

Originally Posted by KennyP

Looked around a bit.. but you have to do some searching yourself... i know its possible seen it on this forum before... but cant find the correct posts now..but...found this:

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=97985

Also apparently you can buy later +- paddles and retrofit them as they are plug and play... they cost like over 400 usd. So if you want to do it properly then you can... if you dont want to spend the money switching some wires work aswell...

https://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=825480

Thanks for that. I'm seriously entertaining the paddle swap, it's really not that much to resolve a longstanding issue.

[AmuroRay]

Originally Posted by rjahl

All things being equal, mileage, age, maintenance potentially the most reliable for the bunch would be the Z4 3.0 - N52 NA motor with manual gear box. Except for the typical BMW gasket leaks and the now aging Disa valves the N52 motor is a "tank". Easy 300K.

For fun factor the fully loaded 355IS is the way to go. Be prepared to deal with the N54 problems and potential DCT leaks. Awesome car but can be expensive to own. I keep throwing money at mine but for the most part much less then payments on something newer. I splurged this year and refreshed the tired metallic red paint. Florida sun had taken it's toll. It now looks new again and easily shines against some of the new car models available.

I almost bought a new Z4 earlier this year and decided to keep my 2012 and bought my wife a new Mercedes instead.

DCT leaks?

And I agree about the N52 - I miss mine, but torque and 150whp more is fun too.

[AmuroRay]

Originally Posted by rjahl

All things being equal, mileage, age, maintenance potentially the most reliable for the bunch would be the Z4 3.0 - N52 NA motor with manual gear box. Except for the typical BMW gasket leaks and the now aging Disa valves the N52 motor is a "tank". Easy 300K.

For fun factor the fully loaded 355IS is the way to go. Be prepared to deal with the N54 problems and potential DCT leaks. Awesome car but can be expensive to own. I keep throwing money at mine but for the most part much less then payments on something newer. I splurged this year and refreshed the tired metallic red paint. Florida sun had taken it's toll. It now looks new again and easily shines against some of the new car models available.

I almost bought a new Z4 earlier this year and decided to keep my 2012 and bought my wife a new Mercedes instead.

DCT leaks?

And I agree about the N52 - I miss mine, but torque and 150whp more is fun too.

[Drummer$Dude]

I thought I’d share a bit regarding my 2009 35i with the n54 and 7 speed DCT.

Current mileage is at 144,500. I have driven it from Michigan to Kansas 4-5 times so about 2,000 miles round trip each time. The car has never broken down on the road, no limp mode, etc.

Mechanically it’s had the valve cover replaced, injectors replaced (index 5 to index 12), Precision Raceworks n54 ignition kit, Bilstein’s front and rear, brakes, stainless brake hoses, and a few other bits and pieces. No tune needed as it’s plenty fast for me and that only stresses the turbos and drivetrain.

I don’t have the service records prior to my purchase but my local German service shop looked it over and said it was in great shape, and that was in 2017.

So, maybe my Z4 is an outlier but I think if you maintain the car and don’t push it to 500 or 600hp then it should last and not drain your bank account.

[Sachak]

I will chime in here too. I bought my first Z4 35i 2009 in 2017, The previous owner really didn't look after it and modded the snot out of it. He fitted a massive single top mount turbo and pushed the car to 650whp. It is a 7 speed DCT.

Since I took ownership of the car. I replaced the turbos with hybrids, just small 14t hybrids, so stock housing machined to fit slightly bigger internals. I replaced a ton of parts on the car to get her looking pretty much brand new again, inside and out. I did a complete colour change on the car from black to white but it was done properly as in every single panel was removed from the car and sprayed, the paint job looked factory finished.

I then proceeded to mod the car over the years, one mod at a time, charge pipe, bigger intercooler, BOV, CP methanol injection, direct port methanol injection, exhaust etc. But my main thing was maintenance, I changed the oil very often, made sure the car was always parked in the garage. After every drive I open the bonnet and let it cool down so the plastics and rubbers don't cook (you will be surprised how this actually helps keep all the plastics and rubbers fresh!).

What I can tell you is that if you look after a N54 and maintain it and don't try push it past 350wkw then the motor will last and the car will be super reliable.

N54 has a bad rep only because the E90/92/93 and 1 series N54 have become very cheap to buy second hand in most countries and this allows people who don't have "BMW affordability" to buy them, they cannot afford to maintain them properly and their primary goal is to make power, because the platform is so capable of making massive amounts of power with little effort they mod the snot out of them and don't maintain, the car starts falling apart and they simply can't afford to fix or replace parts and big ticket items start giving up and they blame N54....

In reality it's actually a super reliable platform, my car was heavily modded and it never gave me a days problem and I drove the car pretty much every single day since buying it in 2017 and it was heavily abused before that. I drove it far distances often and allot of town driving and often drove it pretty hard and the thing just never gave up. I sold the car yesterday as I purchased a 2013 Z4 35is LCI now and I am super happy as I really wanted the LCI, despite what others think I am in love with the LCI headlights and the mineral white paint colour.

[B21]

Originally Posted by Sachak

I will chime in here too. I bought my first Z4 35i 2009 in 2017, The previous owner really didn't look after it and modded the snot out of it. He fitted a massive single top mount turbo and pushed the car to 650whp. It is a 7 speed DCT.

Since I took ownership of the car. I replaced the turbos with hybrids, just small 14t hybrids, so stock housing machined to fit slightly bigger internals. I replaced a ton of parts on the car to get her looking pretty much brand new again, inside and out. I did a complete colour change on the car from black to white but it was done properly as in every single panel was removed from the car and sprayed, the paint job looked factory finished.

I then proceeded to mod the car over the years, one mod at a time, charge pipe, bigger intercooler, BOV, CP methanol injection, direct port methanol injection, exhaust etc. But my main thing was maintenance, I changed the oil very often, made sure the car was always parked in the garage. After every drive I open the bonnet and let it cool down so the plastics and rubbers don't cook (you will be surprised how this actually helps keep all the plastics and rubbers fresh!).

What I can tell you is that if you look after a N54 and maintain it and don't try push it past 350wkw then the motor will last and the car will be super reliable.

N54 has a bad rep only because the E90/92/93 and 1 series N54 have become very cheap to buy second hand in most countries and this allows people who don't have "BMW affordability" to buy them, they cannot afford to maintain them properly and their primary goal is to make power, because the platform is so capable of making massive amounts of power with little effort they mod the snot out of them and don't maintain, the car starts falling apart and they simply can't afford to fix or replace parts and big ticket items start giving up and they blame N54....

In reality it's actually a super reliable platform, my car was heavily modded and it never gave me a days problem and I drove the car pretty much every single day since buying it in 2017 and it was heavily abused before that. I drove it far distances often and allot of town driving and often drove it pretty hard and the thing just never gave up. I sold the car yesterday as I purchased a 2013 Z4 35is LCI now and I am super happy as I really wanted the LCI, despite what others think I am in love with the LCI headlights and the mineral white paint colour.

Whereas I agree with the sentiments ref old N54 being abused by indifferent owners here in the UK where the Z Forum captures many Z4 E89 owners the story over time is different..these cars tend to be maintained at least to BMW standards..and when compared to either the 23i/30i N52 or the later N20 18i/20i/28i a number of things do stand out..

The N54s do sufffer frequently from..

Worn adapative dampers
Injectors leaking
Coils and plugs wearing faster than on other platforms
HPFP failures
Waste gate rattles
Coking up of inlets
DCT gearbox leaks
DCT gremlins




Things that are common but probably happen more frequently are

Water pump failure
Thermostat failure
Cam box cover failure
Cracked cam covers
Oil leaks from oil thermeostat



With weight, power and age
Discs and pads wearing out faster
Suspension bushes getting worn and tired
Dampers failing
Springs breaking

In contrast the N20 powered cars with the exception of bad cam chains on pre 2015 variants are pretty trouble free.

I've had a N20 for 5 years and 30k miles (25k miles old when I bought it, 4 years old) and it needed nothing doing..I did mod it a lot but it wasn't needed

My N54 35is I've had for 2 years and 20k miles (50k miles old when bought, 10 years old)

When I got it it had

Worn adpative dampers
Incorrect fitment of one Index 12 injector in place of Index 9
Worn steering bushes
Worn tie rod bushes
Worn RTAB
Leaking DCT

But so far most of the other likely failures haven't happened.

For an umodified car IMHO a good warranty is a good idea on the N54 cars.