Noobs

[cdmulders]

Originally Posted by solgain@mac.com

Welcome cdmulders to the forum, nice car! In case you have not seen the post(s) on special Z4 luggage one can get in Germany. Here is the site in case you like to get a set before your return to Canada.http://www.carsuitcases.com/

Thanks solgain. This is excellent luggage, and in fact shortly after ChuckB posted about it, I purchased the RoadsterBags direct from the guys at Roadster Concept (before Christmas). Now, I just have to convince my wife that we must go on a road trip before we leave Europe. As a matter of fact, I consider it essential that we visit the BMW Welt in Munich.

[cdmulders]

Originally Posted by yoonskim

I see that's a US/Canada spec Z4 with the mandatory orange sidemarkers along the fender lines. Did you buy the car in NA and bring it over to Belgium? And bring it back?

Good question. I purchased the Z4 through diplomatic sales at NovAuto in Mons, BE, so it hasn't seen North America yet. It is a Canadian-spec car (ordered that way from the factory), so I shouldn't have any problems bringing it to Canada. I've been living here, in Belgium, for almost three years now. I hate to leave, as my wife and I have had an incredible set of European experiences.

Cheers.

[Serge_Ch]

Hello everyone,

I have already made a few posts but have not had a chance to introduce myself. Think it is very good idea to give this opportunity to new members of the forum.

I am Sergey from Vienna, Austria. I have 2010 Z4 sDrive23i, black/black leather, automatic, navigation, plus bunch of other options. The car was delivered and registered on 16 April 2010, and since that time my wife and I made abt. 2500 km, mostly in Austria but also travelling to Italy and Hungary.

Have a great impression of the car (Das ist fantastisch!, as Germans would say), especially taking into account that it is my first bimmer. Yes, I drove a lot of cars over years – GMs , Audi, MBs, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jaguar, and so on, but never BMW before this Z4. So, I am really in love with this roadster.

Cheers

[ChuckB]

Like several others, I've been here for a while and made a few posts which hopefully helped a few as I have been helped. My name is Chuck out of Newark, NJ, and currently working Germany and have some newly discovered relatives in Wales. I currently have a German spec 2007 120d Limited Sport Edition and a 2009 sDrive30 with a few additions, listed in my garage, so I won't post any more pics here

[KrisNL]

Also some made on my iphone. Still gotta wait 6 weeks, but that's mine! (sorry poor quality but I will post some pro ones when I got it)

[T89]

She looks great KrisNL!


T

[6MT4me]

Another noob here, just introducing myself. Handle says it all, offered good deals on 3.5is, but not available with the most important option any "real" sports car or roadster should have...3rd pedal on the floor. Have driven M3's and M5's at M school and "SMG" and "DCT" just doesn't cut it. Paddles and shifter are not instinctive and especially the method BMW uses. Confusion reigns on a track. Anyways, off my soapbox, Black sapphire and extended ivory with premium and sports package with no navi or idrive, those are for my M3 sedan (2009). Having JL C5 speakers and JL amps placed as we speak and hopefully will add some "balls" to the basic system. Flash drive for wav files and definitely an upgrade to any Ipod I have tried and well worth the effort, boy and girls. Car is a hoot to drive and let's not worry about the "P" word, have driven them all and they maybe better on the track but not in day to day driving, no way. A little aftermarket tuning(relatively cheap compared to P), and some suspension work, and the track could be owned, but that's a subject for another time. Keep up the good work.....

[Roadstergal]

[quote=6MT4me;7577806]Another noob here, just introducing myself. Handle says it all, offered good deals on 3.5is, but not available with the most important option any "real" sports car or roadster should have...3rd pedal on the floor.

I couldn't have said it better. I have always had manuals in my roadsters, was tempted to get the dct in this one. I waited to place my order until I could find a dealer that had a dct to test drive. After driving the car with the dct, although it was a great tranny, the fun factor wasn't there for me and I knew that if I bought my car with the dct, once the novelty of it wore off, I would surely miss driving a manual.

[Memphis1]

maybe it has to do with age. i always wanted a DCT because I wanted to be like Schumacher when I was a kid and when the camera would switch to the drivers view, and all I would see is Michael going thru gears and never taking his hands off the wheel. granted it was an SMG but the concept is the same.

[6MT4me]

Roadstergal, right on, slushamatic is slushamatic no matter what the car companies try to do and gets old after awhile, nothing like controlling the vehicle with a great downshift and moving through a sweeping curve and letting loose as you go thru the gears. Oh, and memphis, I can promise you I am older, but all my cars since 1973 have been 3 pedals on the floor!!!!

[MDLFCS]

On more expensive vehicles, I would expect a car to do a lot for me to make driving comfortable. So, I would get automatics, especially in traffic.

Otherwise, I do not mind a manual on a lower price point like a Mini, for example.

[mcbeee]

Yep, there's nothing quite like crawling down an interstate at 3 or 4 mph, feathering the clutch in a Z or M3 and I've done lots of both. That's why I have a DCT now. ...Plus no-one can shift as fast as my DCT.....

This thread has been hijacked.....sorry to continue it but...

[richard in NC]

Originally Posted by 6MT4me

Roadstergal, right on, slushamatic is slushamatic no matter what the car companies try to do and gets old after awhile, nothing like controlling the vehicle with a great downshift and moving through a sweeping curve and letting loose as you go thru the gears. Oh, and memphis, I can promise you I am older, but all my cars since 1973 have been 3 pedals on the floor!!!!

As much as I liked manuals, the DCT is no slushamatic. It is a dual clutch computer controlled sequential manual transmission. The auto mode is as smooth as an automatic and great for around town. Yet put it in manual mode and Sport or Sport+ and shifts are lightning fast and crisp, without the head snap of the SMG. You can use the gear shift like a manual (just pretend to always go 3-4 and 4-3) or the paddles. I like the push pull arrangement. One can best appreciate the DCT paddles on a twisty road such as the Tail of the Dragon. 318 curves in 11 miles. There's hardly a straight the entire distance. Drop to 2nd for a turn, shuffle steer, power thru while unwinding the wheel, pull a paddle for up to 3rd and 1 second later, on the brakes and back to 2nd for the next curve. Never once taking your hands away from the wheel to shift. A good many stretches are 2nd gear only (30-50 mph max) and one or 2 are 3rd gear only, otherwise you're likely shifting 100 times in 15 minutes, sometime not in gear more than 1-2 seconds. I know I'm faster thru there with the DCT than I would be with a manual.

[Vintage]

Originally Posted by richard in NC

As much as I liked manuals, the DCT is no slushamatic. It is a dual clutch computer controlled sequential manual transmission. The auto mode is as smooth as an automatic and great for around town. Yet put it in manual mode and Sport or Sport+ and shifts are lightning fast and crisp, without the head snap of the SMG. You can use the gear shift like a manual (just pretend to always go 3-4 and 4-3) or the paddles. I like the push pull arrangement. One can best appreciate the DCT paddles on a twisty road such as the Tail of the Dragon. 318 curves in 11 miles. There's hardly a straight the entire distance. Drop to 2nd for a turn, shuffle steer, power thru while unwinding the wheel, pull a paddle for up to 3rd and 1 second later, on the brakes and back to 2nd for the next curve. Never once taking your hands away from the wheel to shift. A good many stretches are 2nd gear only (30-50 mph max) and one or 2 are 3rd gear only, otherwise you're likely shifting 100 times in 15 minutes, sometime not in gear more than 1-2 seconds. I know I'm faster thru there with the DCT than I would be with a manual.

you said everything I wanted to but better

[alan64]

Originally Posted by VintageBMW

you said everything I wanted to but better

had lots of standard cars over the years, this dct is absolutely brilliant. A manual cant even compare, and feels dated by comparison. I would never go back to manual. The dct does everything manual does, but faster, more exhilarating, and drops down to an easy pleasure to use when in traffic. Its a no brainer. Get the dct.

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by richard in NC

As much as I liked manuals, the DCT is no slushamatic. It is a dual clutch computer controlled sequential manual transmission. The auto mode is as smooth as an automatic and great for around town. Yet put it in manual mode and Sport or Sport+ and shifts are lightning fast and crisp, without the head snap of the SMG. You can use the gear shift like a manual (just pretend to always go 3-4 and 4-3) or the paddles. I like the push pull arrangement. One can best appreciate the DCT paddles on a twisty road such as the Tail of the Dragon. 318 curves in 11 miles. There's hardly a straight the entire distance. Drop to 2nd for a turn, shuffle steer, power thru while unwinding the wheel, pull a paddle for up to 3rd and 1 second later, on the brakes and back to 2nd for the next curve. Never once taking your hands away from the wheel to shift. A good many stretches are 2nd gear only (30-50 mph max) and one or 2 are 3rd gear only, otherwise you're likely shifting 100 times in 15 minutes, sometime not in gear more than 1-2 seconds. I know I'm faster thru there with the DCT than I would be with a manual.

Originally Posted by VintageBMW

you said everything I wanted to but better

Originally Posted by alan64

had lots of standard cars over the years, this dct is absolutely brilliant. A manual cant even compare, and feels dated by comparison. I would never go back to manual. The dct does everything manual does, but faster, more exhilarating, and drops down to an easy pleasure to use when in traffic. Its a no brainer. Get the dct.

I agree with all you guys. IHMO, the problem is partly perception and finding the proper definition that people can sink their teeth into. Sources like Kelly Blue Book, and car magazine wacko's writing articles are already labeling dct's an automatic. I think for some it's confusing when you read a car's spec's and even BMW dealerships lists the DCT as an automatic.

Automatics today are far better than the ill reputed "slushamatic". My dad bought a DeSoto to keep as a pet: man - talk about slushy. On the other hand, when applied to a dct I don't know if the word "manual" strictly applies either, because we don't physically control the gear changes with a shift lever.

There is a very big difference between a fully automated transmission with a torque converter, that utilizes planetary gearsets with fiction clutch packs vs fully synchronized cut gears with electro-hydraulic actuation and a dual 'wet" clutch. Hmmm. . . not sure if either of those blow my dress up.

[Algie]

Evening folks,

I'm brand new to the forum (signed up about an hour ago!). I'm looking at buying either an sDrive23i or sDrive30i with my other half and wanted to hear about real life experiences from other owners so thought I'd sign up.

My name is Mark and I live in Surrey in the UK, I've noticed there aren't many UK E89 owners on here.

So far I've been in touch with the dealer and looked through the options list.

It looks like we can just about afford a 30i M Sport but I I'm really disappointed to see you can't order the 293 alloys on M Sport models, which is a real shame as I particularly like them!

I'll be lurking around on the forum for a bit and I'll let you know when I order the car

[mcbeee]

Hi Mark, there is another forum that is about 90% UK members called Z4-forum.com. Both forums are a must if you want to have a Zed...lots of good info on both.

[Algie]

Thanks mcbeee,

I'll have a look over there as well

[Burbakki]

Hey all,

Long time since I joind the club here. But finally my car is here. Well still needs to be uncuffd and washed and what do I know....
I'm so happy the car was built bevor the germans lost... so probably everting works fine

Took some pics just a few hours ago....

[KrisNL]

Beauty!!!

[Dr Stig 2]

Memories!
Ahh that takes me back... beautiful car!

They debadged it already?
The naked ass look is growing on me, I'll have to admit.