Noobs

[B21]

Very nice..welcome!

[maxbaybe]

Hey,
I pulled the trigger on this Melbourne Red 35is. Thanks to everyone that has helped me on this journey! It’s finally here.

[KennyP]

Great choice!
Why did you choose this one and not the other one?
Also you need to buy a stubby antenna quickly
Stubby antenna was my first mod.. i actually bought one before collecting the car... and swapped it right after handoff... before even driving it off the lot.

[maxbaybe]

Originally Posted by KennyP

Great choice!
Why did you choose this one and not the other one?
Also you need to buy a stubby antenna quickly
Stubby antenna was my first mod.. i actually bought one before collecting the car... and swapped it right after handoff... before even driving it off the lot.

Didn’t think of that, going to have to make that my first Mod.
The 35is was more optioned out, and I loved the 326m wheels and how much more aggressive the 35is looked over the 35i.
It also had 20k miles less and the engine seems like it was never touched. All the OEM parts are still installed which makes this even more of an exciting build. MORE to come!

[B21]

Originally Posted by KennyP

Great choice!
Why did you choose this one and not the other one?
Also you need to buy a stubby antenna quickly
Stubby antenna was my first mod.. i actually bought one before collecting the car... and swapped it right after handoff... before even driving it off the lot.

Nooooohhhhhh!

[KennyP]

Originally Posted by B21

Nooooohhhhhh!

What? You like that comically long original antenna? For me it makes it look like a remote controlled toy rc car. Had to get rid of it right away This has to be one of the last cars sold to have such external antenna...

[B21]

The ‘whippy’ is an iconic part of the look of all Zeds…it’s like taking the BMW badge off the boot, bonnet and wings..

The fact that it has little functional contribution to radio performance is irrelevant.

A stubby goes along with c/f exhaust tips, side sill extensions, front splitters, over cambered wheels etc etc !-

In English parlance it’s ‘naff’…!-

[KennyP]

Originally Posted by B21

The ‘whippy’ is an iconic part of the look of all Zeds…it’s like taking the BMW badge off the boot, bonnet and wings..

The fact that it has little functional contribution to radio performance is irrelevant.

A stubby goes along with c/f exhaust tips, side sill extensions, front splitters, over cambered wheels etc etc !-

In English parlance it’s ‘naff’…!-

I wouldnt go that far to call it iconic, but i get what you mean. Z3 and e85 Z4 had it too.. But... Z8 doesnt have one sticking up from its sleek bodywork... Also newest G29 Z4 doesnt have it anymore... So it isnt that uniformly identifiable as a Bmw Z lineup thing like for example front fender badging and gills design is. Also on older cars it was normal to have external antennas, it was a necessity, on more modern ones its a deliberate design or costcutting choice and is just not necessary anymore. On a 2009 or evenmore a 2016 car it feels antiquated IMO.
Im not a big fan of exterior modifications either. My car is almost entirely original.. apart from a few performance mods and that smaller antenna I like what the designers did with this car and i like keeping it that way.. That antenna was the only thing that i wasnt fond of on the Z.
At least changing it isnt irreversible and i can always unscrew the stubby one and put original back on. Takes just a few seconds. i keep the original safely on a shelf and if i ever happen to sell the car ill surely give it to the next owner so they can decide what looks better for themselves.

But i do have to say i had no idea people considered that antenna to be part of bmw roadster lineup heritage. That is interesting.

[B21]

Originally Posted by KennyP

I wouldnt go that far to call it iconic, but i get what you mean. Z3 and e85 Z4 had it too.. But... Z8 doesnt have one sticking up from its sleek bodywork... Also newest G29 Z4 doesnt have it anymore... So it isnt that uniformly identifiable as a Bmw Z lineup thing like for example front fender badging and gills design is. Also on older cars it was normal to have external antennas, it was a necessity, on more modern ones its a deliberate design or costcutting choice and is just not necessary anymore. On a 2009 or evenmore a 2016 car it feels antiquated IMO.
Im not a big fan of exterior modifications either. My car is almost entirely original.. apart from a few performance mods and that smaller antenna I like what the designers did with this car and i like keeping it that way.. That antenna was the only thing that i wasnt fond of on the Z.
At least changing it isnt irreversible and i can always unscrew the stubby one and put original back on. Takes just a few seconds. i keep the original safely on a shelf and if i ever happen to sell the car ill surely give it to the next owner so they can decide what looks better for themselves.

But i do have to say i had no idea people considered that antenna to be part of bmw roadster lineup heritage. That is interesting.

To be fair BMW did offer a stubby as a factory option on E89s…each to their own…as is often said..

[DavesZed]

Oh dear, more rubbish on the antenna again
At the end of the day who cares? It's personal preference, some like it, some don't simple. Personally I couldn't care less, I've thought about changing mine to a shorty but I'm just not wasting money on something I actually never use.
It's how the car was designed in the day, why didn't they make it invisible altogether? Possibly because it wouldn't work as a rear screen antenna (this was technology from 15 years ago now!) that went into the boot (trunk) with a metal lid over it. Having a windscreen version wouldn't be aesthetically pleasing.

Don't forget we used to have antennas that would rise up from the front wing (fender) and be about 3 feet in the air!! Manually was the norm with them becoming electrical later. And lets not even mention if you had a CB radio, as those were huge!