My Third Zed Thread (2015 E89 sDrive35iS)

[Zed Baron]

Nice car Tim, didn't realise that it was the one that had been advertised in Spain, wondered what happened to it... congratulations

[Timmyboybunter]

Nice car Tim, didn't realise that it was the one that had been advertised in Spain, wondered what happened to it... congratulations

Ta - yes it went a bit under the radar this one. I probably would have been slightly cautious myself had it not been for previous purchase and conversations with Alan the seller.

Nice ride. Just wanted to chip in an say there's no issue with lubricating the roof mechanism. I had a roof service done by a specialist (while the car was in for other work) and they lubricated all the hinges, pivot points and latches. Go for it.

Thanks, I agree in principal and happily lubricated my last E89 following the usual guides (and just generally, lubricating moving metal bits makes sense doesn't it?). The only reason I pause on this one is that the advice to NOT lubricate came from RobbiZ4, and he is pretty much the most knowledgeable person I have bumped into on my travels through the internet about the folding roof on these cars (including a 20 second, 100% correct diagnosis of a jerky roof on my last car).

I'll try and find the thread he posted in at some point and will link to it.

[Timmyboybunter]

I'll try and find the thread he posted in at some point and will link to it.

Here:

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=130468&start=45

I clearly scan read this post quickly, as Robbi isn't saying to NOT lubricate - just warning against spraying everything with silicon spray, including hall switches

[warmasice]

No worries. Glad it's clear now.

[Pointy]

Looks good Timmy, I'm almost certain it'll be one of the nicest E89s around once you're done.

Still sad I missed out on your second Z4 when I saw it

(I settled on an E85 in the end - the weird guy from Devon!)

[Timmyboybunter]

Still sad I missed out on your second Z4 when I saw it

Ahhh, welcome to the forum - It didn't click when I read your intro post who you were

Genuinely felt bad about how that played out.

Summary for the curious: Pointy viewed my black E89 on day 1 and we popped out for a test drive etc, then phoned me in the afternoon on day 2 to discuss progressing a sale - unfortunately this was literally 45 minutes after I'd finished chatting with another chap, who booked tickets to fly down from Scotland to Bristol and ended up buying the car - and hence had first refusal

To be fair though, for the kind of trips you and your buddies are doing I think you'll have far more fun in an E85 over and E89 - congrats on the purchase

[Pointy]

To be fair though, for the kind of trips you and your buddies are doing I think you'll have far more fun in an E85 over and E89 - congrats on the purchase

You're not wrong, with working from home so long almost all the driving I do is just for fun

[Timmyboybunter]

Colour match for the cup holder is pretty much spot on.

[Timmyboybunter]

Post wash on the first sunny day for a while. Driving up to Derby for a few days so want it looking shiny, at least for the first 20 minutes!

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[Timmyboybunter]

MMI installation:

Did it in the garage this time, so can have the roof open for easy access without worrying about rain. Parts laid out on treadmill ready to go, Dave/AnubisZed on the TV

(shout out yet again to Dave for his YouTube content - it really is excellent for DIY modders like me)

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Head unit, trim, center console controls out. I hit most of the same hurdles this time as I did last time - the first one being the iDrive controller cable is a real swine to get out.

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Hit some issues at the point - as per Dave's suggestion, fired everything up for a quick test run - to find power to the head unit (I could hear radio white noise), power to the MMI box, but no activity to the iDrive screen which wouldn't even open - this was blindly following Dave's YouTube guide and connecting lead 'B' to 'L'.

Mild panic, lots of fiddling (I think at one stage I forgot to plug the iDrive controller is but concluded I had no working iDrive controls - another 45 minutes wasted). For info, here are some images of the wires and instructions - following their advice of connection lead 'A' to 'B' works fine. Possibly the unit/labels has been changed, not sure. More to follow....

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[Timmyboybunter]

2nd issue, and I'll call this a 'disaster'. I had problems with the last installation, dropping the glove box - something seemed to be stuck, but after lots of swearing and applying more force than I thought was sensible it did eventually drop.

Had EXACTLY the same issue this time around - unfortunately, this time around the 'more force' approach broke the right hand side long plastic prong which holds the glovebox section in place and rests on a metal bracket. Luckily the break was very clean, so super glued back together perfectly well.

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Not sure where this confusion is from, but Dave's video mentions 1 screw which may or may not be present - however, there are 2 more which are not mentioned and I believe need to be removed before it will drop - marked in red below (the top one is the one which caused the damage). It's actually far easier completely removing the glove box - which requires 9 screws in total, or 12 if you include the 3 which hold the plastic cover immediately under the glovebox.

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Got there in the end.

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The only thing I did differently this time was to mount the wifi antenna to the roof of the inside of the glovebox, rather than hidden under the center console controls. I did find it generally easier, mainly because I already knew where/how to route the microphone and aux cables.

Such a fantastic mod, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with iDrive - literally brings the car smack up to date.

[Kiwi_Mike]

Nice car Tim, the same colour combo that my mate had back in 2010 which was the inspiration for me getting my e89.

A couple of questions if I may;

Do you have a link for the cup holders you purchased?
What is the circular thing on the dash next to the center speaker in the photo on your first post of this thread? I'm curious to know what it is.

Cheers

[Timmyboybunter]

Nice car Tim, the same colour combo that my mate had back in 2010 which was the inspiration for me getting my e89.

A couple of questions if I may;

Do you have a link for the cup holders you purchased?
What is the circular thing on the dash next to the center speaker in the photo on your first post of this thread? I'm curious to know what it is.

Cheers

Thanks Mike - yes I wasn't sold on the red initially, but it has definitely grown on me.

Here's a link to the cupholders:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B083TPXZTJ/ ... 81_TE_item

That circular thingy is a powered/swivel dashmount for a Road Angel Pure - I tried it for a few weeks, but it bugs me having it staring me in the face on every drive so it has now been removed (and will be for sale at some point!)

[Kiwi_Mike]

Thanks.

Love the fact that you can fit your wad of bank notes in the cup holder next to you can of redbull. That must be for the 7 series owners

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[Timmyboybunter]

Summary update: The MMI box misbehaved, seemed to be losing power randomly which had the effect of switching back to the iDrive screen. Zero help from the AliExpress seller.

Either a dodgy unit, or possibly a bad connection as I was fiddling around with the harnesses over and over and a couple of the plastic connectors ended up a bit wobbly. See here

Car now sold to John who I'm sure will cherish it given his Z4 history - I'm sure I'll be back in something at some point though.