New to me 2.2 - First Impressions

Gwest44 · Post by **Gwest44** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 9:51 am

So following the sale of my Z3 and to celebrate the removal of the SORN I thought I’d get the new to me 2.2 out for a quick run this morning – what can I say I just couldn’t wait having purchased it a couple of weeks ago via the forum.

Just under 50 miles later I thought I would share my 1st impressions – appreciate they aren’t based on much usage but I do think 1st impressions count when it comes to new cars and I speak from experience having been through 6 Zed’s in the previous 2 years.

Straight out the gate I’m going say that to me the E85 doesn’t look as good as the Z3 widebody – don’t get me wrong I love the angular lines and think the Sterling Grey is well suited to showing them off but for me it will never be a photogenic as the Boston Green Z3.

OK so with that out of the way the E85 just feels a much nicer place to be in than the Z3 – granted I only had the standard seats without heating in the Z3 and the E85 has the MSport heated seats but that aside I much prefer the lower down seating position. The fact that Jim the previous owner had the steering wheel, ZHP gear knob and handbrake leaver recovered by Royals and fitted new velour mats supplied by BMW just adds to the internal environment.

Now the E85 isn’t as plush internally as the E89 I had which had the leather & heated sports seats but I always thought that was one of the E89 failings rather than benefits – I was never after a refined cruiser so for me the E85 fulfils the role of a fun occasional car much better. More surprisingly on the 18 inch 224’s and Bilstein B4’s that were only fitted 500 miles ago it has the ability to soften out some of the road imperfections that in the E89 on the 19 inch 296’s sent shock waves up your spine – the E89 was the sDrive 25i so non-MSport suspension and it had done 77k.

The 2 previous two E85’s I owned before the E89 were the 3.0i & 2.5i and both had more miles on than this one – probably not relevant to compare to the 3.0i on the basis that was an automatic but against the 2.5i the 2.2 feels comparable. Appreciate this one has only done 58k and had the DISA valve replaced less than 4k miles ago & the VANOS upgraded less than 3k ago so no doubt that is a contributing factor.

So finally to compare it to the Z4MC – chalk and cheese I know but all I can say is relevant the 2.2 is just much more relevant to the way I want to use the car. The 1st and 2nd gears are actually useable rather than transitionary and I can get up to the top of the rev band without feeling the need to change my pants.

So all in all I am well happy with the 2.2 and while I’d like to say this one’s a keeper, based on my track record with these cars, I will abstain for now and hopefully time will tell that story.

bigwinn · Post by **bigwinn** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:29 am

I think that’s a great looking car- for the purist in me it ticks so many boxes

Wheels really suit it

Having the vanos done and all the other tweaks mean you should have a car worth keeping

Nice!

enuff_zed · Post by **enuff_zed** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:12 pm

I have to say I wondered a little about the 2.2i but now I'm driving one I think the 5 speed box and closer ratios suit it, on Norfolk roads anyway. Maybe a little low geared for motorways?
Keep it in the torque band around 3500rpm and it hustles along beautifully.
Just need to get rid of the pesky CDV that annoys the hell out of me, but even that seems less intrusive once it's warmed up.
And I haven't sorted the Vanos yet, so more to come

Gwest44 · Post by **Gwest44** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:40 pm

enuff_zed wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:12 pm I have to say I wondered a little about the 2.2i but now I'm driving one I think the 5 speed box and closer ratios suit it, on Norfolk roads anyway. Maybe a little low geared for motorways?
Keep it in the torque band around 3500rpm and it hustles along beautifully.
Just need to get rid of the pesky CDV that annoys the hell out of me, but even that seems less intrusive once it's warmed up.
And I haven't sorted the Vanos yet, so more to come

Fortunately the CDV delete was another job that Jim the previous owner had sorted and I don't tend to do much motorway driving in the Zed. That said I have noticed it does have cruise control which must have been added by one of the previous 3 owners because it wasn't on the VIN report or referenced in the biblical service history that Jim provided from his previous 8 years of ownership.

Mr Tidy · Post by **Mr Tidy** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 8:53 pm

Now I've read that your Z3 has gone it all makes sense!

Some interesting impressions too, but it probably helps that you seem to have found an excellent example.

Ole gits rule · Post by **Ole gits rule** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 9:12 pm

Nice read - why did you sell the z3 - thought that was your keeper

mr.tourette · Post by **mr.tourette** » Wed Sep 01, 2021 9:14 pm

Was a good pick up that motor.. very nice

paulc_bkk · Post by **paulc_bkk** » Sat Oct 16, 2021 6:18 pm

Good observations

I agree that after driving both the 2.2 and 2.5 there’s not much difference between them, and I especially agree that the MT 5 speed gearbox suits the 2.2 a bit better than the 2.5 - I found 1st and 2nd run out too quickly in the 2.5

The 2.2 also makes all the same noises as the 2.5

As a daily, the 2.2 is hard to beat

Seems like you have a nice one - enjoy it

Z4-forum.com

Z4-forum.com