E89 Buyers guide
- Thread starter MACK
- Start date
I shopped and bought this car last summer. I found is the buyer needs to spend time educating themselves. There are feature or option changes in 2011 and up like folding mirrors and such. I found frustrating the ala carte offering of options left a used car market filled with cars that cannot be compared straight across the board. Because 1 will be a base model and another will have this or that option. So tell him to make himself aware of all the available motors, transmissions, features and options....once he is educated enough to be a BMW salesman he is ready to get a fair shake in the want ads. 
There are...at minimum
Sport seats, leather seats, heated seats, electric memory & manual seats
3 or 4 engines, 2 transmissions,
Choices for iDrive, navigation, and stereo upgrades, comfort access,
Colors in and out and extended leather or carbon fiber, aluminum, (fake) wood trim
Wheel and tire options and I'm sure I'm missing some :roll:
There are...at minimum
Sport seats, leather seats, heated seats, electric memory & manual seats
3 or 4 engines, 2 transmissions,
Choices for iDrive, navigation, and stereo upgrades, comfort access,
Colors in and out and extended leather or carbon fiber, aluminum, (fake) wood trim
Wheel and tire options and I'm sure I'm missing some :roll:
All I could say is read up, get iDrive, use "check the car" to see if it is straight(ish) and be prepared to buy one as soon as you drive it.
I looked at the SLK and the TT but as soon as I tried the Zed I was sold (although I think the salesman had brown trousers on the test drive)
I looked at the SLK and the TT but as soon as I tried the Zed I was sold (although I think the salesman had brown trousers on the test drive)
In basic terms Mack there are 3 forms of the E89 to consider ,
Sure you know them already 8) they are the 4 pot turbo , 6 cyl na & 6 cyl twin turbo , the fundamentals of them all are the same & you would have to be unlucky to get a problem there if all was well at point of purchase , as for which will give you the most poke for the least "potential " risk :wink: longterm the 3.0i na has to be the plum choice the older these cars get .
If decent mpg ,lowish ved & decent performance are considerations then the 4pot turbo comes to the fore , if you aren't fussed on running costs & simply have to have the biggest BHP then obviously the twinnies are the way to go though its well worth noting the actual handling characteristics are pretty much the same across the whole range , none will utterly wow in that department .
Sure you know them already 8) they are the 4 pot turbo , 6 cyl na & 6 cyl twin turbo , the fundamentals of them all are the same & you would have to be unlucky to get a problem there if all was well at point of purchase , as for which will give you the most poke for the least "potential " risk :wink: longterm the 3.0i na has to be the plum choice the older these cars get .
If decent mpg ,lowish ved & decent performance are considerations then the 4pot turbo comes to the fore , if you aren't fussed on running costs & simply have to have the biggest BHP then obviously the twinnies are the way to go though its well worth noting the actual handling characteristics are pretty much the same across the whole range , none will utterly wow in that department .
Thanks for the input everyone. I think she'll be aiming for a 20i, possibly a 18i as performance isn't her thing. Cheaper running costs, better mpg being more of a priority. My main concerns for her is how reliable the roof is and if leaks are an issue. Obviously the face lift looks nicer but is it worth seeking out a face lift model for the stronger roof I've seen mention of on here etc.
A
Anonymous
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MACK said:
The roof was strengthened for the 2012 MY ...it was not coupled to the LCI
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FWIW..as discussed numerous times here, for £300 ish you can re-map any of the 18i 20i 28i to circa 280 bhp with apparently no ill effects.. 
So you could taking that into account look at 18i 20i 28i and allow options,colour , mileage price decide your best options..
Most 18i were budget beaters so unlikely to well specced... :thumbsdown:
There were about 10 times as many 20i made as 28i in the UK
So no shortage of choice with the N20 engine...
If you are not bothered about goodies there are lots of 23i and 30i at bargain prices as they,in general, are earlier models usually less well specced.l
Good hunting...
So you could taking that into account look at 18i 20i 28i and allow options,colour , mileage price decide your best options..
Most 18i were budget beaters so unlikely to well specced... :thumbsdown:
There were about 10 times as many 20i made as 28i in the UK
So no shortage of choice with the N20 engine...
If you are not bothered about goodies there are lots of 23i and 30i at bargain prices as they,in general, are earlier models usually less well specced.l
Good hunting...
Pbondar said:FWIW..as discussed numerous times here, for £300 ish you can re-map any of the 18i 20i 28i to circa 280 bhp with apparently no ill effects..
So you could taking that into account look at 18i 20i 28i and allow options,colour , mileage price decide your best options..
Most 18i were budget beaters so unlikely to well specced... :thumbsdown:
There were about 10 times as many 20i made as 28i in the UK
So no shortage of choice with the N20 engine...
If you are not bothered about goodies there are lots of 23i and 30i at bargain prices as they,in general, are earlier models usually less well specced.l
Good hunting...
Thanks for the info
Things have moved on quite a bit now as I've agreed a deal for Alan's (number5) 20i M Sport on here. This ones actually for my wife as a second car as shes took a shine to them while we been looking at others for a friend. Alan's car is an April 12 car, so that's why I was asking if anyone knows exactly when the roof hinges were strengthened. It would nice to know it this car has them. No doubt I'll be having it remapped at some point.
I'm still on the look out for another for my friend, that one will most likely be 20i as well as she wants a low mileage facelift with the 8 speed auto.
It always amazes me that from what I can see the 28i M Sport's only additional spec over a 20i M Sport seems to be the bigger front brakes. It's not even got electric seats instead of manual ones or bigger alloys like you used to get when going from a 2.5 to a 3.0 E85. IIRC the 28i cost circa £5,000 more when new than the 20i did. But you didn't even get 4 pot calipers for that extra money, in essence it seems its just a very expensive remap
Smartbear said:MACK said:
I’ve looked at bmwrealoem.com several times & never found a difference between the n20 variants
Rob
Totally agree, I've looked at this in the past and just had another look on Real Oem this morning Everything you can think of that could have an impact on power output such as the engine, turbo, injectors, manifolds, ecu are all identical. The only explanation seems to be its all in the mapping. However what I cant get me head around is that when it comes to remaps the figures quoted I've seen are 20i circa 260 BHP 310 lbft whereas the 28i is 290 BHP 330 lbft. Cant get my head around that one :?