My G29 thoughts

[Mr Whippy]

I've yet to drive one, but the looks are growing on me after spending a day in a BMW garage waiting around for them to do a few jobs on my F30.

I know it'll never be an E85. But if it can capture the spirit in a new way, then great.

The looks on the outside at least are interesting enough to be challenging, and that means it'll age well and never look too dated. I thought the E85 looked crap in 2003, but by 2009 I loved it haha.



My main issues were:

A generic dash/gauges.

The entire BMW range shares the same dash design now.
The E85 Z4 was very unique inside and so much better for it. So much is the same in the BMW range, it just doesn't feel special vs how the E85 felt at the time it was new and even now 15+ years later.

And on the dash, how bad is it to have a dash in a driving sports car so cluttered? Speedo with multiple linearity steps... that could easily catch you out at 60-80mph range... right in the region where clarity is the difference between points or a ban.

BMW should have done a unique and more focussed dash for sport mode at least. Nice clear dials, linear, easy to read, no wasted space for nav info or whatever.


Options stratification.

I don't mind paying for a good car. But I do mind a lot, being limited to what I can have... especially as the car becomes limited the more you're spending.

Why does the M40i get less colour options? You pay more, you get a car more likely to look like everyone elses, or the batmobile. Not good.

Why do you have to get gold trim, or black trim? Gold goes with none of the colours on offer alongside any other colour, so you're limitedd to a black interior without it looking a bit 'over-coloured'. Black on black is maybe ok, but not with forced black wheels too.

But with black interior its dowdy. With gold trim outside, choosing a colour inside, leaves you with a mess of colours. It's too much in my opinion. The lower models are actually much more sophisticated and classy looking because of the colour combos, and avoidance of black wheels.

And the basic model exhausts look better.

No manual. On a sports car. Honestly? Maybe it'll suit the M40i. Who knows. But still very sad that for their single 'sports' car Z car in their huge range of vehicles, they couldn't fit a manual gearbox.




Now if I could option an M40i in silver, darker silver details (grill surround etc), with red leather interior, round exhausts, and have a pair of round graphic dials with less clutter (in sport mode), I'd be pretty much sold pending a test drive... oh and someone else ordering it, owning it 3 years, then trading it in where I jump in and buy it haha!

But honestly, if it drove well enough, I can see me getting one in a few years. But I'd certainly want to get the right colour combo to then be able to 'mod' things.

I think I'd go for an M40i, any colour exterior (sans frozen). Any non-black interior. Silver wheels. Silver trim. Round exhaust back end.
Thankfully it looks like most M40i will get heavily optioned, so no worries there.


I'm genuinely interested if anyone has bought one brand new and gone for an individual colour?

Also curious if when ordering you can customise a bit more than the configurator suggests? Ie, can you go for silver trim, or are you stuck with gold or black only on the M40i?


I'm hopeful that the options open up a bit on these. Compared to the E85, the G29 is like 3x less choices on colours, wheels, interiors, gearboxes etc.


Thanks for reading.

[Wyldie85]

I’m not a massive fan of the gauges but you do get used to them and the speed is also displayed in the centre to assist with any 60/80 mph issues. This is helpful because it’s very easy to go very quickly in these.

As for the colours and trim, the ‘gold’ isn’t as gold as you might think. It changes between grey, silver, gold, depending on the light. I have it against San Francisco red with a black interior and it all ties in quite nicely. It is however the only choice, unless you opt for the black pack, which adds gloss black grills but then also black wheels (which I can’t stand).

The gearbox is very good and suits the car well. It changes at just the right time and the shifts are seamless.

It’s not a pretty car but then neither was the e85. It is muscular and angular and the more I look at it, the more I like it.

[Fletch]

Wyldie85 is right the trim is not gold it’s a Matt silver in the M40i trim. I’ve just bought the Frozen grey and the Matt silver trim goes well with the black interior, it does in different light look at times in my view bronze but I wouldn’t say gold.

[Wyldie85]

Wyldie85 is right the trim is not gold it’s a Matt silver in the M40i trim. I’ve just bought the Frozen grey and the Matt silver trim goes well with the black interior, it does in different light look at times in my view bronze but I wouldn’t say gold.

[weegeoff]

Does anyone know when the manual box is coming out, or is it out, has anyone seen one

[Fletch]

There is no manual box and no planned manual in the future so far. I’ve lived with a manual all my life but to be honest I don’t miss it with the B58 and ZF box.

[flybobbie]

Funny that the only time i have seen these cars, two at BMW Lincoln show room (and i'm no local) and one local on he road about two months ago. Haven't seen one since. Think it will be a rare car. The cars i saw at Lincs just seem to blend into all the other BMW cars.
Give it two years and BMW will drop this car.

[Mr Whippy]

Yeah it seems rare.

The ‘how many left’ website suggests that only 320 M40i are registered, a combo of first editions and normal.

162 2.0
200 ish 3.0

So 680 ish Z4s total so far from what I can tell.

Not a huge amount.

But then the E85 didn’t sell huge amounts, and I rarely see many of those around either.

[Mr Whippy]

I’m not a massive fan of the gauges but you do get used to them and the speed is also displayed in the centre to assist with any 60/80 mph issues. This is helpful because it’s very easy to go very quickly in these.

As for the colours and trim, the ‘gold’ isn’t as gold as you might think. It changes between grey, silver, gold, depending on the light. I have it against San Francisco red with a black interior and it all ties in quite nicely. It is however the only choice, unless you opt for the black pack, which adds gloss black grills but then also black wheels (which I can’t stand).

The gearbox is very good and suits the car well. It changes at just the right time and the shifts are seamless.

It’s not a pretty car but then neither was the e85. It is muscular and angular and the more I look at it, the more I like it.

I’ll be honest, after much more reading and looking and it’s not as gold as the BMW UK configurator suggests... which makes them look like a gold/bronze colour.
In actual fact they’re a pleasant colour against all the standard M40i colours.

The cars I’d previously seen were black with black pack, and ones before that I wasn’t paying attention enough.


Yes the ZF8 is nice. I just feel if I were spending £50,000 on a new car that is for many probably a 2nd car for weekends and summer use, it’d have had a manual option.

I’d buy one of these at 3yrs with an auto and live with it.
No way could I justify £50,000 and buy a car with an automatic box when I’d be buying it for weekend use.

The box was there on the M140i till recently so it’s not like they didn’t have one that worked with at least the B58 engine.


The looks are definitely nice.

I’ve been sat watching videos and looking at pics, and falling out of love with it again a bit.

But I know in the skin it wins you back around. It’s a decent looking car.

Better imo than the rest of the BMW range that looks a bit melted/soft in comparison.

[RickRob]

If the auto box on the new Z4 is the same as that in the M4, then I would now be happy to have that box.

I did an experience event at Brands earlier in the M4 and, despite my prior prejudice, was really happy with the flappy paddles. That said, I haven't driven one on the road.