What would have made the 35iS a 'true' M car?

[john-e89]

My comment was tongue in cheek, but you're not joking are you John - why do you think the chassis is fundamentally flawed?

Drive one Colin..

Imo the Wheelbase is too long and narrow, pick up points will be wrong as a result, plus it has a very soft chassis. It’s designed for cruising, which it does very very well, but adding more power and different springs/dampers etc are papering over the cracks, the thing would need a complete redesign. I don’t want to keep harping on about Boxsters but the simple truth is that Porsche manage to make an extremely stiff chassis yet the ride is supple and exact.

Of course it all depends on what you want an M car to be, add on bits to try and improve what’s there or back to the days of proper M cars.

Hmm, not sure bout some of those statements?
The e89 has a 1mm longer wheelbase than the e85 & actually has a wider track
BBE85C16-D70F-4010-AA42-2D6368716B0E.png
Rob

But why are you comparing it to an E85 Rob? Totally different car mate. Question was what would make the E89 a true M car.

[Nictrix]

Drive one Colin..

Imo the Wheelbase is too long and narrow, pick up points will be wrong as a result, plus it has a very soft chassis. It’s designed for cruising, which it does very very well, but adding more power and different springs/dampers etc are papering over the cracks, the thing would need a complete redesign. I don’t want to keep harping on about Boxsters but the simple truth is that Porsche manage to make an extremely stiff chassis yet the ride is supple and exact.

Of course it all depends on what you want an M car to be, add on bits to try and improve what’s there or back to the days of proper M cars.

Hmm, not sure bout some of those statements?
The e89 has a 1mm longer wheelbase than the e85 & actually has a wider track
BBE85C16-D70F-4010-AA42-2D6368716B0E.png
Rob

But why are you comparing it to an E85 Rob? Totally different car mate. Question was what would make the E89 a true M car.

I would guess its because there was an E85 M car and that people class the E85 as a sports car.

[Trav]

It would need anything the 1M had. Which means they would have came with there own car storage pack, to be put away for ten years undriven.

[IRD]

Virtually the same bhp and 0-60 as the ZMR/ZMC so all that's missing is this:
m badge.JPG

When I bought mine it already had those badges on it! Ouch!

[Smartbear]

Drive one Colin..

Imo the Wheelbase is too long and narrow, pick up points will be wrong as a result, plus it has a very soft chassis. It’s designed for cruising, which it does very very well, but adding more power and different springs/dampers etc are papering over the cracks, the thing would need a complete redesign. I don’t want to keep harping on about Boxsters but the simple truth is that Porsche manage to make an extremely stiff chassis yet the ride is supple and exact.

Of course it all depends on what you want an M car to be, add on bits to try and improve what’s there or back to the days of proper M cars.

Hmm, not sure bout some of those statements?
The e89 has a 1mm longer wheelbase than the e85 & actually has a wider track
BBE85C16-D70F-4010-AA42-2D6368716B0E.png
Rob

But why are you comparing it to an E85 Rob? Totally different car mate. Question was what would make the E89 a true M car.

Oops, thought the comparison was against the e85?
My mistake
Rob

[Z4M-2006]

With a bit more power it could have easily had an M badge and quad pipes always have always been an designated M styling thing.

Suspension needs to be better,but it does on most M cars, the Suspension on a Z4M is one of the worst on any car i have driven.

I personally think exaggerated arches would have made it look more individual.

[buzyg]

I don't know much about the e89 compaired to the E85.

What I do know is that the Z4///M is a vastly different car from the any of the other E85/86s. Many chassis tweaks, a completely different engine, a LSD, completely different brakes, only shared with the M3 CSL, different gear ratios, completely different hydraulic steering, that alone make a huge difference. The bonnet, the side skirts the front and rear bumper s. The little aero tweaks under the car, the exhausts. Oh and some Badges that the marketing men like to stick everywhere they can.

If there are such engineering differences between the 35is and it,s siblings then perhaps it too should be festuned, if not then, tis just another very fine and fast Zed.

[Player 1]

Nothing.

The chassis fundamentally flawed, it’d need a complete redesign to make it worth bothering.

I implore you to come and drive mine John
With the E92 M3 front end, M4 brakes, stiffer roll bars and a remap it's completely transformed. Gone is the understeer, gone is all the body roll, all of a sudden it'll demolish a flowing road at a very similar rate to my friends 997 C2S, in fact it'll pull out of a corner better thanks to the mountain of torque.
My VX220 absolutely wouldn't see which way it went

To answer the original question, if they built the 35is now they'd stick an M badge in front of it regardless because it's a status symbol for status people. Oh wait, the new car's an M40i...

[srhutch]

I don't know much about the e89 compaired to the E85.

What I do know is that the Z4///M is a vastly different car from the any of the other E85/86s. Many chassis tweaks, a completely different engine, a LSD, completely different brakes, only shared with the M3 CSL, different gear ratios, completely different hydraulic steering, that alone make a huge difference. The bonnet, the side skirts the front and rear bumper s. The little aero tweaks under the car, the exhausts. Oh and some Badges that the marketing men like to stick everywhere they can.

If there are such engineering differences between the 35is and it,s siblings then perhaps it too should be festuned, if not then, tis just another very fine and fast Zed.

Side skirts are the same

[R60BBA]

Fixed carbon fibre roof
Wider track with wider wheel arches
Obviously at least 50bhp more if not 100bhp (don’t know which engine they could stick in)
4 exhaust pipes
Manual transmission
M style number
LSD
Tuned suspension

That’s what I’d say anyway

Of and loads of m badges everywhere just in case there was any doubt

What he said.

[Chris1712]

Oh wait, the new car's an M40i...

Yes but it's not a Z4M, so I think they've basically done a 35iS again. Just had a weird naming convention for the E89, really it's the same as the M135i/M240i moniker.

[Player 1]

Oh wait, the new car's an M40i...

Yes but it's not a Z4M, so I think they've basically done a 35iS again. Just had a weird naming convention for the E89, really it's the same as the M135i/M240i moniker.

Absolutely. I don't think they started doing the M-lite cars until the M135i, which the 35is was released well ahead of, hence why it was named as such.

Crack out the translate and have a read of this lot;
https://www.drive2.com/r/bmw/z4/915819/
That is the car BMW should've built! S65 V8, E9x M3 front end as on mine, entire rear axle from the E46 M3/Z4M complete with LSD, stonking great brakes and different dampers/roll bars. Add some special wheels, a quad exhaust and a few interior tweaks then it's good to go

[john-e89]

Nothing.

The chassis fundamentally flawed, it’d need a complete redesign to make it worth bothering.

I implore you to come and drive mine John
With the E92 M3 front end, M4 brakes, stiffer roll bars and a remap it's completely transformed. Gone is the understeer, gone is all the body roll, all of a sudden it'll demolish a flowing road at a very similar rate to my friends 997 C2S, in fact it'll pull out of a corner better thanks to the mountain of torque.
My VX220 absolutely wouldn't see which way it went

To answer the original question, if they built the 35is now they'd stick an M badge in front of it regardless because it's a status symbol for status people. Oh wait, the new car's an M40i...

Wait now....an invite to my fav county to try a well modded E89.....get the kettle on sir..!!

Stuartinzig has done some chassis mods to his Player but he’s gone quiet, have a look at his posts out of interest, very nice car too.

[Smartbear]

Nothing.

The chassis fundamentally flawed, it’d need a complete redesign to make it worth bothering.

I implore you to come and drive mine John
With the E92 M3 front end, M4 brakes, stiffer roll bars and a remap it's completely transformed. Gone is the understeer, gone is all the body roll, all of a sudden it'll demolish a flowing road at a very similar rate to my friends 997 C2S, in fact it'll pull out of a corner better thanks to the mountain of torque.
My VX220 absolutely wouldn't see which way it went

To answer the original question, if they built the 35is now they'd stick an M badge in front of it regardless because it's a status symbol for status people. Oh wait, the new car's an M40i...

Wait now....an invite to my fav county to try a well modded E89.....get the kettle on sir..!!

Stuartinzig has done some chassis mods to his Player but he’s gone quiet, have a look at his posts out of interest, very nice car too.

Welcome to call in for a coffee if you’re going past John
Rob

[john-e89]

Cheers Rob...will be popping down at some point in summer, I’ll give you a shout mate..