16k miles in a 35is.
A silly person opened his o/s/r door into my passing 4.2 Jaguar on the Wednesday and my 996.2 C4 (89k miles, had it for 5 years) blew up on the Friday (no, not IMS bearing). So, car-less, but with a grin – chance to buy another car. Out of the blue, wife gave me £15k: “A presie. Towards … er … ?” Me: “Never had a folding roof … or a BMW, come to think of it.” Wife: “Whatever.”
Started reading Z4-forum and looking around. Found 35is in Glasgow, 300 miles away. Few in big dealers, over-priced. About to buy train ticket, when ‘2011/good spec & colour/18” wheels/20,400 miles’ appeared at small dealer’s 9 miles down the road. Went to see it. Almost immaculate. Drove it. Bought it.
Drove it for a week. “Bo//ocks. Made a mistake.” Very good engine, very quick, well-made car, but crap road-holding, especially at speed, and tram-lined like it should be on the prom at Blackpool. So crap that considered selling it. Searched Z4-forum again. Dumped Bridgestone rfts (2 were new). Put on Pirelli P Zeros. £453. (‘XL’ – stiff-walled – to replicate in part the rft-to-suspension match). Outcome – with BMW-recommended 36psi front & 44psi rear – it’s the car the 35is should be. Taut & stable at speed (140+), agile & secure otherwise, comfortable in ‘Normal’, but sharper in ‘Sport’ and, best of all, ‘Sport S’. Contrary to some reports (on marshmallow pressures?), excellent steering/tyre feedback. Regular Hunter geo checks. Pirellis performing & wearing very well.
Drove 16k miles in the first 12 months. 95RON. 25.4mpg. Less than 0.5 litres oil/10k miles. All for fun, no commuting, rarely trips of more than 80 miles. A & B country roads, almost no M-ways. Lots of fun. Favourite 48-mile 'bumble' route – Me: ‘Just going out for some milk, love.’ She: ‘Be careful, dear.’ – includes about 10 miles of quite narrow, twisting/undulating, just-about-A, country road that starts outside the suburbs of a city. Target, rarely achieved, is to keep above 70 for this 10 mile section without braking. 'Manual' (paddle) gear-changing allowed, of course, but no braking. Not easy. Well, not for me, anyway. 60’s hard enough.
Problems/Solutions. The roof has stuck half-open twice, because stuff in the boot moved. Moved stuff. Two front bulbs have gone. £15 ea. One shredded-by-6”-bolt rear tyre. Replaced both rears. £252. And I dropped a box of ammunition on passenger sill guard, denting it (£80).
Dislikes. Rear blind spots at angled intersections. Not being able to change into R having stopped in Sport S – potentially dangerous. Pause in pick-up from zero in traffic sometimes – potentially dangerous. Poor low-speed/front end visibility. Lack of dipstick. Boot lid awkward to open/close. Poor reversing light. Z4 logo on boot, now gone. Although not much, too much Alcantara in cabin, especially when it's Ivory White. Dull cabin/poor boot carpets. (Put American liner in boot.) Orange speedo/rev dials in Melbourne Red car – needs blue or green. Bad bonnet reflection driving directly into sun. Cup-holders secure but badly placed. Heated seats too hot. Handbook – too many/not enough details in places. (Still don’t know/can't remember/don’t care what some buttons do/can do.) And that’s about it.
Likes. 95%+ of the car. Especially the surprising power/speed throughout rev range. Suspension/steering/power in Sport S really excellent. (Brakes seem good, but haven’t tracked car. Haven't used Launch Control, either.) DCT is very good. Unless you've driven one for at least several days, don’t knock it. Takes time to learn it. Wouldn't go back to traditional manual (but I don't knock those who do). Engine noises very good, especially in 'M(anual)' Sport S & change-downs. Have up-&-down-on-both-sides paddles. Prefer them to left-down, right-up that I've had elsewhere, because you can change both up & down with one/same hand. Rarely use stick to change. No LSD, so needs good right foot. Steering wheel excellent. Other driving controls fine, especially cruise control. Sports (a bit hard) seats excellent, bar Alcantara bits. 'German' (Chinese) fitted luggage makes boot big enough for a week away for 2 with roof down. Roof down superb (to 120). Wind deflector quite good. Leave it in, roof up or down. Roof-up boot big for small car. Strange lights behind seats. Prefer wooden dash/door inserts to metal option - give depth. Leather fascia/door caps & interior well done. Ski hatch unused: can''t ski. Hi-fi/radio etc. adequate – never listen to it in concert hall conditions. Generally, good quality, very quick car. Wife likes it.
Would I buy another? Yep.
A silly person opened his o/s/r door into my passing 4.2 Jaguar on the Wednesday and my 996.2 C4 (89k miles, had it for 5 years) blew up on the Friday (no, not IMS bearing). So, car-less, but with a grin – chance to buy another car. Out of the blue, wife gave me £15k: “A presie. Towards … er … ?” Me: “Never had a folding roof … or a BMW, come to think of it.” Wife: “Whatever.”
Started reading Z4-forum and looking around. Found 35is in Glasgow, 300 miles away. Few in big dealers, over-priced. About to buy train ticket, when ‘2011/good spec & colour/18” wheels/20,400 miles’ appeared at small dealer’s 9 miles down the road. Went to see it. Almost immaculate. Drove it. Bought it.
Drove it for a week. “Bo//ocks. Made a mistake.” Very good engine, very quick, well-made car, but crap road-holding, especially at speed, and tram-lined like it should be on the prom at Blackpool. So crap that considered selling it. Searched Z4-forum again. Dumped Bridgestone rfts (2 were new). Put on Pirelli P Zeros. £453. (‘XL’ – stiff-walled – to replicate in part the rft-to-suspension match). Outcome – with BMW-recommended 36psi front & 44psi rear – it’s the car the 35is should be. Taut & stable at speed (140+), agile & secure otherwise, comfortable in ‘Normal’, but sharper in ‘Sport’ and, best of all, ‘Sport S’. Contrary to some reports (on marshmallow pressures?), excellent steering/tyre feedback. Regular Hunter geo checks. Pirellis performing & wearing very well.
Drove 16k miles in the first 12 months. 95RON. 25.4mpg. Less than 0.5 litres oil/10k miles. All for fun, no commuting, rarely trips of more than 80 miles. A & B country roads, almost no M-ways. Lots of fun. Favourite 48-mile 'bumble' route – Me: ‘Just going out for some milk, love.’ She: ‘Be careful, dear.’ – includes about 10 miles of quite narrow, twisting/undulating, just-about-A, country road that starts outside the suburbs of a city. Target, rarely achieved, is to keep above 70 for this 10 mile section without braking. 'Manual' (paddle) gear-changing allowed, of course, but no braking. Not easy. Well, not for me, anyway. 60’s hard enough.
Problems/Solutions. The roof has stuck half-open twice, because stuff in the boot moved. Moved stuff. Two front bulbs have gone. £15 ea. One shredded-by-6”-bolt rear tyre. Replaced both rears. £252. And I dropped a box of ammunition on passenger sill guard, denting it (£80).
Dislikes. Rear blind spots at angled intersections. Not being able to change into R having stopped in Sport S – potentially dangerous. Pause in pick-up from zero in traffic sometimes – potentially dangerous. Poor low-speed/front end visibility. Lack of dipstick. Boot lid awkward to open/close. Poor reversing light. Z4 logo on boot, now gone. Although not much, too much Alcantara in cabin, especially when it's Ivory White. Dull cabin/poor boot carpets. (Put American liner in boot.) Orange speedo/rev dials in Melbourne Red car – needs blue or green. Bad bonnet reflection driving directly into sun. Cup-holders secure but badly placed. Heated seats too hot. Handbook – too many/not enough details in places. (Still don’t know/can't remember/don’t care what some buttons do/can do.) And that’s about it.
Likes. 95%+ of the car. Especially the surprising power/speed throughout rev range. Suspension/steering/power in Sport S really excellent. (Brakes seem good, but haven’t tracked car. Haven't used Launch Control, either.) DCT is very good. Unless you've driven one for at least several days, don’t knock it. Takes time to learn it. Wouldn't go back to traditional manual (but I don't knock those who do). Engine noises very good, especially in 'M(anual)' Sport S & change-downs. Have up-&-down-on-both-sides paddles. Prefer them to left-down, right-up that I've had elsewhere, because you can change both up & down with one/same hand. Rarely use stick to change. No LSD, so needs good right foot. Steering wheel excellent. Other driving controls fine, especially cruise control. Sports (a bit hard) seats excellent, bar Alcantara bits. 'German' (Chinese) fitted luggage makes boot big enough for a week away for 2 with roof down. Roof down superb (to 120). Wind deflector quite good. Leave it in, roof up or down. Roof-up boot big for small car. Strange lights behind seats. Prefer wooden dash/door inserts to metal option - give depth. Leather fascia/door caps & interior well done. Ski hatch unused: can''t ski. Hi-fi/radio etc. adequate – never listen to it in concert hall conditions. Generally, good quality, very quick car. Wife likes it.
Would I buy another? Yep.
