WOW Test Drove 35i Today!

[teagueAMX]

Just went to look and ended up driving a 35i at BMW of Riverside, CA. The sales people were very nice, with absolutely no pressure what so ever. The Z was fantastic!

Didn’t really know what to expect and wasn't sure if I'd feel claustrophobic with the roof up.

The MSRP was right around $60K US so it had a lot of what I wanted, except nav, iDrive, Premium Sound, Keyless entry, smartphone, and a couple of other things.

Orion Silver Metallic (prefer blue) $550
Black Kansas Leather (prefer beige extended) $0
Brushed Aluminum trim (prefer Ash) $0
Premium Package $2,500
Sport Package $2,300
7-Speed double clutch Transmission, $1,525
w/ Sports leather steering wheel with paddle shifters
Destination & Handling: $825
Total MSRP as Built $59,350

I have to say it would take a little practice getting in and out. I found the manual seats easier to adjust than the power seats. I fiddled with power sport seats in one model and think the range of adjustment was about the same. The sport seats are a little narrow in the back and I found the standard seats more comfortable.

People talk about the long hood but that’s an understatement. One gets the feeling of being enveloped or completely immersed in the cabin. The console and controls sit about chest level and the top of dash is just below your eye line. The hood was barely visible so I assuming that I needed to adjust my seat position a little higher. I think this car has to grow on you because I didn’t get any visual cues of where my corners were at.

They had several Z’s, both 30i’s and 35i’s so I was jumping from one to another, checking out the various option levels. It felt great with the roof up or down. I liked driving with the roof down, and there was no sense of claustrophobia with the roof up. The trunk is very small. You'd be lucky to get two small bags in there with the top down, as the roof absolutely dominates the truck space. I’m thinking packing/unpacking the trunk for roof down driving is a two stage operation: 1) Elevate the roof, raise the safety tray, place bags in trunk. 2) lower safety tray, lower roof (reverse process to remove bags).

So putting aside all minor gripes and groans, I have to say the car is absolutely stunning to look at and to drive. The engine bay was a work of art, and I love the clamshell hood (or bonnet). I drove it in Sport mode, manual shift for the entire test, and I have to say the 35i has plenty of power on tap for really spirited street driving, and the grip to back it up. The salesman assured me that a curve marked 20 MPH could be taken at 50 mph with no trouble and I got very close. I’m sure that a better seating position and being familiar with the car’s corners would really help in that department. The exhaust note with the top down was pretty good, but I was caught off guard with the blips in the note when shifting. With the DCT you get the feeling you’re driving an automatic, but those exhaust note blips give it away for sure.

The car’s ride is excellent. There was very little difference in ride between Normal, Sport and Sport+ modes, although I didn’t drive in Sport+ very long because traction control is switched off and the salesman was afraid I’d lose it in the curves. The streets were dry and there was so much grip I don’t see why, but maybe he would have felt better if I had already signed the dotted line – LOL. I’d read a lot about the run flat tires but the 18” were fantastic.

I have to say that my first impression driving a BMW sports car was a good one because I had an excellent car to drive. Being an old time Porsche fanatic it was interesting driving past the Porsche dealership in route to BMW. There were some beautiful Cayman's and a Turbo that made my mouth water. I'll still love Porsches because they have a slightly sharper edge in the handling department, but the Z4 is so classy, refined, powerful, fun to drive, I wouldn’t have any trouble buying it instead of a Cayman.

[richard in NC]

A few comments on your comments:
The power seats make it easy to raise the seat and easily see over the hood. There's plenty of headroom to do so. My only issue, is I like a bit of recline, especially on a long trip and you can't do much recline if tall.

Loading the trunk would be a problem with the top down but Comfort Access adds a way to do just what you decribed (put the top partially up to access the trunk).

I find significant difference in sport mode on a bumpy road, pot holes or tar strips, etc.

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by richard in NC

A few comments on your comments:
The power seats make it easy to raise the seat and easily see over the hood. There's plenty of headroom to do so. My only issue, is I like a bit of recline, especially on a long trip and you can't do much recline if tall.

Loading the trunk would be a problem with the top down but Comfort Access adds a way to do just what you decribed (put the top partially up to access the trunk).

I find significant difference in sport mode on a bumpy road, pot holes or tar strips, etc.

Yes I noticed as well the ability to incline the seat was limited.

I suppose if I drove the car longer the ride quality in Sport mode may have been more apparent. It was low on gas, and I didn't want to push the issue because I wasn't making a purchasing decision that day. I would have liked to get it out on the expressway and really put it through paces. But oh well, it was good enough to confirm the direction I'll go.

Thanks for your input.

[yabbanoname]

Well, I can tell you the dct and sport + and pedal to the metal makes a huge difference with sport and normal, great sensitivity in gasresponse

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by yabbanoname

Well, I can tell you the dct and sport + and pedal to the metal makes a huge difference with sport and normal, great sensitivity in gasresponse

That so true! I forgot to mention that.

The throttle was a little bit lazy in Normal mode, but put it in Sport or Sport+ and there's a big difference - very quick.