Newbie looking for a 35i or M40i

[JoshsZ4M]

Hey there, it’s probably not of interest, but I’ve got a particularly clean, well (rare) spec’d, historied, relatively low mile and highly maintained Z4M in Interlagos blue for sale in the for sale section… not sure if it’s on your radar

[Argyll Andy]

I have been keeping a very close eye on the M40i market also and I can’t recall an M40i sub £40k for quite a considerable time and the ones just on the top side of that are frequently low spec’d and/or higher mileage. You’d be astonished by the amount of M40i’s with just the comfort pack. I was told by the dealer it was a common thing to keep the pcp payments low.

Looks like with the popularity of PCP poorly specced cars are going to be the norm whereas in the past a good portion of premium car buyers would spec it well particularly as poorly specced cars were harder to shift. Not so good news for second hand car buyers for the future then.

It seems to be a double whammy, as mentioned PCP spec is low but there’s another small issue. If/when a dealer orders a car/secures a build slot like mine for example. I’ve ticked all the options boxes but for some reason I decided to pull out. Once passed a certain point the dealer can’t cancel that order so cancel all but one of the option packs (they seemingly need to retain one) and they leave either comfort or Shadowline on the car as the cheapest ones and take the car into stock. This was mainly why we ordered a new one with all packs ticked. Firstly because the stock cars available were mostly poorly spec’d and the discount didn’t reflect that enough and secondly we hope that a fully loaded M40i isn’t that common a sight that come resale time we will hopefully see a better return at the other end due to limited supply. I’m also thinking now given the deletion of some extras on new builds means and the availability issues the spec will stand out slightly more

[Argyll Andy]

I've driven a couple of 35i and 35is and the handling is wayward..with the cash I would save maybe a few grand on LSD, decent suspension and so on may help

If you’re looking to do mods like that it’ll definitely make a huge difference. You might be better concentrating on the 35i rather than the 35iS as the iS’s came with adaptive suspension as standard and if you’re removing no point in paying the premium. The 35i is also available as a manual if that’s important to you. The lsd is one of the major differences in the M40i compared to the 35.

Since you’re looking at modding anyway, a £300 remap will take the power of you 35i above the iS.

For me things like an upgraded stereo were important too. You’ll often find both models of 35’s with a base stereo and no extras like PDC/iDrive/Wind deflector etc.

The search is half the fun.

[ronk]

Im going to change my username to splinter man!

I always used to be indecisive but Im not so sure now!

[Argyll Andy]

Im going to change my username to splinter man!

I always used to be indecisive but Im not so sure now!

Don’t be doing that Ron because when you get off that fence and buy your M40i it’ll not make any sense

[The.Analyst]

Hey there, it’s probably not of interest, but I’ve got a particularly clean, well (rare) spec’d, historied, relatively low mile and highly maintained Z4M in Interlagos blue for sale in the for sale section… not sure if it’s on your radar

Hello. thanks for the approach.

Much as I like the look and sound of the Z4M its not for me.

My dimensions don't sit well with the smaller cabin of the earlier Z4s and I'm looking for an auto.

I prefer the surge and torque of the turbo cars these days.

Apart from that (and the colour) its fine.

[The.Analyst]

I've driven a couple of 35i and 35is and the handling is wayward..with the cash I would save maybe a few grand on LSD, decent suspension and so on may help

If you’re looking to do mods like that it’ll definitely make a huge difference. You might be better concentrating on the 35i rather than the 35iS as the iS’s came with adaptive suspension as standard and if you’re removing no point in paying the premium. The 35i is also available as a manual if that’s important to you. The lsd is one of the major differences in the M40i compared to the 35.

Since you’re looking at modding anyway, a £300 remap will take the power of you 35i above the iS.

For me things like an upgraded stereo were important too. You’ll often find both models of 35’s with a base stereo and no extras like PDC/iDrive/Wind deflector etc.

The search is half the fun.

Andy again thanks for the advice.

I'm after an auto or DCT as its called on the 35i.

I have a large garage and used to do quite a lot of maintenance as you would do with a Fiat or Jag.

Its just splitting out those modifications you can do yourself from those that need factory level support.

I'm seeing a couple of Z4s in my price range this weekend so we will see how they go.