E89 Purchase

[Adam. Eustace]

Hi Everyone,

I am 19 year old and from the UK,

And I am looking to get my second car I have always liked cars and the Z4 e89 has been a car I have wanted for quite some time.
I test-drove a 2011 23i e89 about a week ago and loved it it had a full-service history and only 70 K on the clock it was perfect.

My worry is about running costs as much as I love the car I don't want to end up with a financial burden that will leave me with too many holes in my pocket.

From my research, the 20i engine is very close in performance to the 23i, except has much better running costs, cheaper tax slightly cheaper insurance and servicing is much cheaper too. I wondered however if the engine was slightly less reliable and cost me more in repairs if the 23i would be a better option.

From my research the 23i would cost me about £5500 a year to run, including insurance tax service fee and fuel cost for the year is this accurate I do about 12,000 miles a year. When you compare this to the 20i £4500 does this sound about right?

Would anybody be able to give me a price breakdown of what ownership looks like and some advice between the two engines?

Thank you very much, Adam.

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

I don’t do many miles per year in my 20i, it costs probably about £600-£1000 per year to run (the latter if it needs servicing)

My 20i has always been very reliable. Had a couple of issues with the roof but BMW fixed with no issues, not too expensive either.

Keep in mind, that at least an eight year old BMW is not the kind if car to be buying if you don’t want high running costs. There are lots of things which can go wrong. I say at least as the last cars were made in 2016 I believe.

23i is probably a more reliable engine, and a 19yr old with a cyl engine would be cool!

Go into it with your eyes open and if you are stretching too much, put the Z4 dream on hold until it becomes a more comfortable proposition.

You should do some research around what fails on 20i & 23i engines. Also look at common faults including roof repairs and cracked wheels.

They are beautiful cars, so you may forgive some extra bills... but don’t expect it to be cheap and trouble free.

 

[DonDon]

The N20 engine (18i, 20i and 28i - same engine, just different power mappings) is generally pretty good. The main issue is the cam chain on pre 2013(?) engines can cause issues.

Either buy a newer build or one with the fix applied, or have plans to send about £1,000 to fix it if it fails - they don't all do so and you should get plenty of acoustic warning before any real damage is done..