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Off to Spain with my E89

Planned road trips and road-trip reports go in here
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thanatu55
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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by thanatu55 » Wed Aug 22, 2018 2:50 pm

Enjoy !! :thumbsup:

I shall be making that same journey after Xmas as the plan is to up sticks and move to Spain... and the Zed is coming with!

Been plenty of times but never actually driven over there , and with the disadvantage of RHD I hope the learning curve won't be too bad.
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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ProfCJJ » Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:05 pm

So this afternoon wasn’t super hot and as it was a bit cloudy I thought I’d bring the Z4 inside and while away a few hours fettling/cleaning (yes, I brought a bagful of Auto Finesse products and micro fibre towels with me! 😳).

So it was: rinse, wash wheels, foam, rinse, wash, rinse, dry. Then de-tarring, rinse, claying then wash and rinse and dry!

After a break for a cool beer I started with a polish, a panel at a time followed by carnuba wax (both Auto
Finesse).

It was getting late so only one photo! But tomorrow I continue with dressing the trim and then the inside - mainly vacuuming white dog hairs!!
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Christopher

Z4 E89 sDrive 30i Msport in Alpine White with Kansas red leather interior and brushed aluminium carbon fibre look.

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by Jembo » Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:09 pm

Any speeding tickets yet? :poke:
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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ProfCJJ » Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:37 pm

Not that I’m aware of! Fingers crossed. I have the trip back in a week or so!

😬
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Z4 E89 sDrive 30i Msport in Alpine White with Kansas red leather interior and brushed aluminium carbon fibre look.

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ZedConvert » Sat Aug 25, 2018 6:20 pm

ProfCJJ, lovely... think I’ll wait for spring time now :driving:

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ProfCJJ » Sun Aug 26, 2018 12:56 am

What are the odds???

So at a little dinner at the bar of the “urbanisation” we are in I’m approached by the gate-keeper/ grounds man (whatever he is called!) and he tells me he has a Black Z4 E89 SDrive 2.0 and is part of a local club and that over the next week there will be either a club rally I could join or if not we could go out and do a round of the local area - black and white Z4s!

What are the odds!? Let’s see what next week brings.
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Christopher

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ZedConvert » Sun Aug 26, 2018 7:58 am

ProfCJJ, :thumbsup: that’s incredible!

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ProfCJJ » Thu Aug 30, 2018 5:46 pm

So, we start the drive back on Sunday. Today we were on the veranda just finished lunch when this happened outside ...
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To say I’m furious is an understatement!! Some idiot in a Toyota RAV4 came round the bend so fast he hit the curb on the left and bounced into my car, brushing it, then clipped a skip on the left - see photo below ...
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We ran out when he heard the scrape, the guy had stopped my partner dealt with him as I was seeing red. He admitted guilt gave all details. I’ve taken lots of photos. I have all the guy’s personal details and even called his insurance who confirmed he is insured. I called my insurance (1st central) they say they are treating it as a clear no fault accident and are confident it will go through as such - but it will take time as dealing with a foreign insurer.

When in the uk their approved repairer will call me, I can go to BMW if I want, there is a £250 excess if I do that but they will recover it from his insurance.

Looks like it’s a new bonnet, passenger front wing, scuff on tip of bumper and a chunk taken out of the alloy.

I need quite a few Sangria this evening to calm my nerves!!

Do you think I should opt for BMW repairers all the way? And if I do would they deal with the insurer directly for payment?

I was already contacted by enterprise for a rental car replacement but as the other party are overseas thet can honour the rental car replacement as they can’t retrieve their money, but they say I should be able to get a courtesy car ...

NOT a nice way to end a dreamy holiday!! 😡😡
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Z4 E89 sDrive 30i Msport in Alpine White with Kansas red leather interior and brushed aluminium carbon fibre look.

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by Jembo » Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:25 pm

Bro, I suggest you DO NOT USE YOUR INSURERS if you want the best possible job & service.

I would highly recommend Accident Exchange [email protected] a specialist who because it was a clear no fault claim provided a like for like replacement car (or better) for as long as I needed & using the very best repair places when some muppet dragged a caravan down the side of my 4 month old stationary TT.

They were on the case chasing up everything, car collection, managing excess etc... you just have to prove 100% no fault with witnesses or admission (which you’re never supposed to do even if in the wrong)


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Last edited by Jembo on Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ZedConvert » Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:36 pm

What a nightmare...! :slappy:

Not used a third party service but my sister did and she found it very easy, as Jembo said, they do all the calling and chasing.

Feel for ya!

Gone off the idea of a cruise through France now :poke: :rofl:

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ronk » Sun Sep 02, 2018 1:13 pm

ProfCJJ wrote: Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:17 pm Here is a short clip captured by the dash cam in parking mode of the two kids stopping for a closer look at the Z4 :D
I had a similar experience in Tuscany - people staring at the Dsb E89 and a nice Ferrari close by. It had me puzzled :rofl:
You don't stop playing when you get old - You get old when you stop playing!
So I bought a 35is with all the toys to play with. :thumbsup:

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ronk » Sun Sep 02, 2018 1:23 pm

ZedConvert wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:36 pm What a nightmare...! :slappy:

Not used a third party service but my sister did and she found it very easy, as Jembo said, they do all the calling and chasing.

Feel for ya!

Gone off the idea of a cruise through France now :poke: :rofl:
Don’t let it / try not let it spoil the rest of the holiday - it’s damage to the car and nobody is injured.
Annoying but it will mend :thumbsup:
You don't stop playing when you get old - You get old when you stop playing!
So I bought a 35is with all the toys to play with. :thumbsup:

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ProfCJJ » Tue Sep 04, 2018 7:36 pm

ronk wrote: Sun Sep 02, 2018 1:23 pm Don’t let it / try not let it spoil the rest of the holiday - it’s damage to the car and nobody is injured.
Annoying but it will mend :thumbsup:
Indeed - back now after a two day cruise through Spain and France - driving the car is such a joy, it my mind off the bump which tomorrow will be looked at to get sorted asap.

I'll write up some comments about the car and how it handled over a 2,000 mile round trip - my first real distance in the Z4 (or indeed in a BMW) - but after I've had some rest ... need sleep!!

:thumbsup:
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Christopher

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ronk » Tue Sep 04, 2018 7:54 pm

ZedConvert wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:36 pm
Gone off the idea of a cruise through France now :poke: :rofl:
Don't be put off a Euro trip - its what the car was built for - especially the E89 and in my opinion, the big engined versions.
A trip on the Autobahn is particularly enjoyable - you don't have to go flat out but being able to cruise at a 100mph for long stretches is tremendous. In general the major roads have much less traffic.

It brings it all down to earth when you get back home.
You don't stop playing when you get old - You get old when you stop playing!
So I bought a 35is with all the toys to play with. :thumbsup:

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Off to Spain with my E89

Post by ProfCJJ » Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:23 pm

Tired but can't sleep, so I thought I would update the thread :)

Overall it was a great trip - guy whacking into my car apart! - 2000 miles round trip and every mile travelled was fun fun fun! The car handles beautifully, smooth and absolutely great acceleration when you need it. Whether you want to overtake a queue of lazy lorries or show some idiot in some other nondescript car who wants to play, you touch the pedal and very very quickly you are off! I now use Sport mode on all the time, I can't see any difference in fuel consumption and the throttle response and change in steering is brilliant - so much so that if forget to turn it on, the car feels very different.

I fuelled the car with the higher octane stuff - 2.6 tanks there and 2.6 tanks back - not for improved performance but in the belief it runs the engine cleaner.

The sound system (I have the higher end DSP setup) was brilliant and wherever I went I had music galore that I could hear top down and enjoy.

The aircon works well, even with roof down, naturally it struggles a bit in 34-37 deg C heat but that is hardly surprising! With the roof up you can get the cabin positively Artic!

The driving position is comfortable and even after hours of driving I didn't get any posture problems.

The iDrive system clearly has a lot of thought in it from BMW - the satnav works well, the colours that BMW uses are silly but you get used to it and you learn to manipulate the image to get what you want soon enough. It knew to get me wherever I wanted in Spain and France and never took me down a wrong route at any point. The place names spoken by the BMW lady voice can be quite funny - such as "Madrid" pronounced as "Mathrith" and quite a few others :)

The phone system works well, didn't quite figure out how to get DAB in Europe so gave up on it, FM was Ok but mainly I had the internal drive and my iPhone hooked up under the arm rest. This part of the iDrive is the worst in my view, selecting tracks albums etc is quite a faff with lots of button presses needed etc - but again, you get used to it.

I had my roadster bags in the back, along with a small toolkit and backpack and small bag in passenger footwell. Rey, my rescued Ratonero Bodeguero Andaluz from Spain, snored his way on teh passenger seat comfortably - so the car had more than enough space for my stuff. I found using the little parcels shelf behind the seats great to hold a little folder with passports and docs and also a place to put a bottle of water etc (although a bit hard to reach back to retrieve a bottle when driving!).

Wherever we went we got approving stares/ glances/ nods and even photo taking. At one Aire in France one dude just walked all around the car whilst I was sitting in it getting Rey all set up and took in every inch of the car as though I was not even there - a bit weird but got a thumbs up at the end of it :)

In Spain it was great to find out there was a community of Z4 enthusiasts doing rallies and ride arounds but sadly the dates didn't work when I was there - I will be looking out for them next time I go!

The Dashcam I have (the Spypro A119 - see other thread) worked well, other than the lens started to rattle - so I fixed that (by siliconing the lens so it can't move). It showed good quality, worked in all (hot) temperatures and worked well in parking mode. In parking mode I only get about 2 hours before the battery saver kicks in and powers the camera down - I will be getting a battery backup now as I believe the parking mode is a good feature.

In France I used the Paeage Liberte Tag (stuck on windscreen on left hand side of mirror) and it was a Godsend - especially when you use the 30 kph lane where you just need to slow down then accelerate through the gears when the gate opens and lets you through :) Didn't have one for Spain so it was a bit awkward leaning over the passenger seat to pay/ get ticket but I didn't use the APs too much in Spain so not too bad.

The Eurotunnel was great, quite efficient, handled the Pet passport part brilliantly and got me on an earlier train even though I only had the cheapest ticket going.

I didn't do much speeding, the odd blip perhaps, but nothing above the 130 kmh for the most part. I was surprised at night at one point in France for one of the Matrix Displays to display (in French) "X3WKA you are going too fast" - had to do a double take when I saw my reg up on the screen - I thought I was dreaming! :)

Overall - thoroughly recommended - the car was clearly built for this. The roads are a bit boring in France, a bit more exciting view wise in Spain - especially in the North. When I go too Switzerland/ Italy I will surely get better views - but I can't think of a better way of doing it than in my Z4, roof down, with Rey asleep the passenger seat, music blaring ... :driving: :thumbsup:

My Zed at an aire in France, playing the tart and enjoying the attention :D
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Christopher

Z4 E89 sDrive 30i Msport in Alpine White with Kansas red leather interior and brushed aluminium carbon fibre look.

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