E89 - Thoughts

[tiglon]

Yes looks nice. However trying to avoid the 19inch wheels due to cracking. I know I could change them for a different size/design. However I'm having a lot of trouble with trying to get insurance to cover the winter wheels on my 5 series. The winters are the same size as the wheels that were specified from new but a slightly cheaper style, most mainstream insurers want to treat as a modification and either refuse cover or ramp it up by upto 20%. Appreciate there are lots of options to use a specialist insurer for a Z4 who are likely to be more understanding rgarding modifications/changes.

Not checked recently but I think the same dealer bought the Estoril Blue one ( from Devon) that was advertised on this site. Shame Estoril was only available on the later cars, as really seems to accentuate the lines of the car.

I'm with Admiral, and they only charged me the admin fee for my modifications. To be honest, if you replace with standard Z4 wheels then I don't see how they can void your insurance or refuse to pay out on a claim - how are they even going to know which Z4 wheels were specified when new?

Interesting that Admiral seem to take a sensible view. I suppose my concern is an insurance company can just use a vin decoder to pull back the build options and then refuse a claim on the basis that wheels had been changed ( or any other undeclared change ), so would prefer to have everything above board. Sadly these days many make it very difficult to talk to them

Talking to them wasn't easy....

"The front upper and lower control arms have been replaced with the e90 m3 versions"

"So you've lowered the suspension?"

"No, the front upper and lower control arms have been replaced with the e90 m3 versions"

"So you've lowered the suspension?"

"Shall I send you an email?"

I think the likelihood of an insurance company using a vin decoder to check original wheel spec and having someone actually know the code for the wheels now on the code is about one in a billion. Just not ever going to happen. If you've put pink aftermarket wheels on and slammed the ride height then they might do some checks, but Z4 wheels on a Z4? Nope.

For what it's worth, my wheels are declared, but only because I was telling them about everything else so I may as well. They didn't understand that either...

 

[andy123]

Best then a 6 cylinder with turbos a la N54 B58 etc. Best of both worlds then

That probably covers both bases, but isn't quite going to work inside the OPs budget!

Currently on my 4th N52 engine (two E86s and two 3 Series) I'd save a few thousand and buy a higher miler seeing as they seem to be pretty bulletproof.

But then I'm not a fan of turbo engines, and a straight 6 has always been one of the Z4s unique features for me.

Yes I was converted to the silky smooth straight six when I bought a 320 in the mid 80's. I've been a BMW fan ever since, I've only had one spell when I defected to the 3 pointed star, which I regretted after a couple weeks. All of the BM's I've owned have been extremely reliable (unlike the Merc which munched the auto box). Although I have generally bought low mileage / low owner examples. This approach seems to have worked so far, which is why I'm looking to restrict the search to low mileage examples, although budget dictates looking at examples with higher mileages than I've typically bought in the past.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Yes I was converted to the silky smooth straight six when I bought a 320 in the mid 80's. I've been a BMW fan ever since, I've only had one spell when I defected to the 3 pointed star, which I regretted after a couple weeks. All of the BM's I've owned have been extremely reliable (unlike the Merc which munched the auto box). Although I have generally bought low mileage / low owner examples. This approach seems to have worked so far, which is why I'm looking to restrict the search to low mileage examples, although budget dictates looking at examples with higher mileages than I've typically bought in the past.

I was a 3 pointed star fan for years and finally got one in 1991, a W123 280e. Great car but sadly mine wasn't a good example.

Tried again in 1997 with a manual 190e that was a great car, but in 1999 I replaced it with a C280 Sport that was probably the most disappointing car I've owned so I haven't ever considered another.

Then in 2005 I bought my first BMW and haven't been without one since then.

My first N52 was a Z4C on 54K in 2014 - the water pump died at 60K miles which is largely why I decided to sell it on 62K miles in 2016.

But after taking a last drive I realised what I would be missing so 2 days later I got another Z4C that I sold in 2019 on 91K with what seemed to be the original water pump.

I liked the N52 so much I bought an E91 325i in 2018 with full BMWSH that I sold in 2019 on 139K miles - but it did need a water pump at 135K.

Replaced it with an E90 330i that is now a Cat N on 124K miles, but like all the others the engine still pulls brilliantly.

But I can see why you might want to stay within your comfort zone. Good luck anyway.

 

[matsmith749]

Bit pathetic, but I always steer clear of those wheels with lots of bolts around the edge. They seem to get shabby really quick, and are a pain in the arse to refurb.

 

[andy123]

Bit pathetic, but I always steer clear of those wheels with lots of bolts around the edge. They seem to get shabby really quick, and are a pain in the arse to refurb.

That's certainly a good point. I like the the look of the 294's, although they are expensive to properly refurb.

 

[Pondy]

I'm with Admiral, and they only charged me the admin fee for my modifications.

I had exactly the same with Admiral regarding an MPPSK. Luckily because they are clueless, they just 'noted' it.

 

[Silverstar]

Bit pathetic, but I always steer clear of those wheels with lots of bolts around the edge. They seem to get shabby really quick, and are a pain in the arse to refurb.

That's certainly a good point. I like the the look of the 294's, although they are expensive to properly refurb.

Send them over here, had mine done twice and never had an issue nor paid a lot, this cost me 460€ (4 wheels):



I think they are a great looking wheel, suits the E89 very well, shame BMW didn't make them 19” but then again that’s probably a good thing considering the reputation of their 19” wheels cracking.

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

Bit pathetic, but I always steer clear of those wheels with lots of bolts around the edge. They seem to get shabby really quick, and are a pain in the arse to refurb.

That's certainly a good point. I like the the look of the 294's, although they are expensive to properly refurb.

Send them over here, had mine done twice and never had an issue nor paid a lot, this cost me 460€ (4 wheels):

IMG_9441.jpeg

I think they are a great looking wheel, suits the E89 very well, shame BMW didn't make them 19” but then again that’s probably a good thing considering the reputation of their 19” wheels cracking.

They look class, how did they do the red?

 

[Silverstar]

That's certainly a good point. I like the the look of the 294's, although they are expensive to properly refurb.

Send them over here, had mine done twice and never had an issue nor paid a lot, this cost me 460€ (4 wheels):

IMG_9441.jpeg

I think they are a great looking wheel, suits the E89 very well, shame BMW didn't make them 19” but then again that’s probably a good thing considering the reputation of their 19” wheels cracking.

They look class, how did they do the red?

Basically split the rims, masked up the barrel of the rims so only the outer lip is red and the rest of the barrel and the face of wheels are black, once the faces are bolted back on you can't see where the red and black meet. The red is candy apple red over a gold metallic base. It looks stunning when the sun hits it, and in the shade the red is more subdued as per the photo above. Cost me 60€ for the candy paint just enough to do the lips of the four rims!

 

[MikeyH]

I'm with Admiral, and they only charged me the admin fee for my modifications. To be honest, if you replace with standard Z4 wheels then I don't see how they can void your insurance or refuse to pay out on a claim - how are they even going to know which Z4 wheels were specified when new?

Interesting that Admiral seem to take a sensible view. I suppose my concern is an insurance company can just use a vin decoder to pull back the build options and then refuse a claim on the basis that wheels had been changed ( or any other undeclared change ), so would prefer to have everything above board. Sadly these days many make it very difficult to talk to them

Talking to them wasn't easy....

"The front upper and lower control arms have been replaced with the e90 m3 versions"

"So you've lowered the suspension?"

"No, the front upper and lower control arms have been replaced with the e90 m3 versions"

"So you've lowered the suspension?"

"Shall I send you an email?"

I think the likelihood of an insurance company using a vin decoder to check original wheel spec and having someone actually know the code for the wheels now on the code is about one in a billion. Just not ever going to happen. If you've put pink aftermarket wheels on and slammed the ride height then they might do some checks, but Z4 wheels on a Z4? Nope.

For what it's worth, my wheels are declared, but only because I was telling them about everything else so I may as well. They didn't understand that either...

Same thing happened to me with Hastings trying to explain that I didn't have runflats anymore and had 18" wheels instead of the OE 17".

 

[tiglon]

Interesting that Admiral seem to take a sensible view. I suppose my concern is an insurance company can just use a vin decoder to pull back the build options and then refuse a claim on the basis that wheels had been changed ( or any other undeclared change ), so would prefer to have everything above board. Sadly these days many make it very difficult to talk to them

Talking to them wasn't easy....

"The front upper and lower control arms have been replaced with the e90 m3 versions"

"So you've lowered the suspension?"

"No, the front upper and lower control arms have been replaced with the e90 m3 versions"

"So you've lowered the suspension?"

"Shall I send you an email?"

I think the likelihood of an insurance company using a vin decoder to check original wheel spec and having someone actually know the code for the wheels now on the code is about one in a billion. Just not ever going to happen. If you've put pink aftermarket wheels on and slammed the ride height then they might do some checks, but Z4 wheels on a Z4? Nope.

For what it's worth, my wheels are declared, but only because I was telling them about everything else so I may as well. They didn't understand that either...

Same thing happened to me with Hastings trying to explain that I didn't have runflats anymore and had 18" wheels instead of the OE 17".

"So you've put aftermarket alloys on?" No... they're BMW wheels.

"So they're the standard wheels?" I give up...

I wouldn't even bother with tyres to be honest.

 

[Deepseaskateboard]

Send them over here, had mine done twice and never had an issue nor paid a lot, this cost me 460€ (4 wheels):

IMG_9441.jpeg

I think they are a great looking wheel, suits the E89 very well, shame BMW didn't make them 19” but then again that’s probably a good thing considering the reputation of their 19” wheels cracking.

They look class, how did they do the red?

Basically split the rims, masked up the barrel of the rims so only the outer lip is red and the rest of the barrel and the face of wheels are black, once the faces are bolted back on you can't see where the red and black meet. The red is candy apple red over a gold metallic base. It looks stunning when the sun hits it, and in the shade the red is more subdued as per the photo above. Cost me 60€ for the candy paint just enough to do the lips of the four rims!

Amazing, they look really good. I was toying with the idea of a white lip painted on or a polished outer etc.

 

[sumotan]

Of those two, the 30i is the one I’d go for, more power and rarer which will help future values and saleability. The 6 cylinders are pretty bulletproof and you only need to watch out for the usual suspects, oil leaks around the oil filter housing, cam cover. Water pumps are known to give up around 80k miles but really all of these things apply to all BMW engines including the N20 2.0l

Should you avoid the N20? I would say no, just keep in mind you will need to spend around 1k to get the timing chain done, newer cars (not sure after what year) were supposed to come with better components less likely to give trouble but even so there have been rare cases of those also failing.

Some will say the 4 pot gives better handling due to lower weight over the front axle (around 20kg less) but I don’t think for most people there will be a discernible difference. They also say the 4 pots are more economical but in reality the 6 cylinders aren’t that far behind. IMO and yes I know I am biased but a BMW just has to have a 6 cylinder at least, sounds way better and makes the car feel more special.

I don't believe its just 20kg difference at the front

 

[B21]

Of those two, the 30i is the one I’d go for, more power and rarer which will help future values and saleability. The 6 cylinders are pretty bulletproof and you only need to watch out for the usual suspects, oil leaks around the oil filter housing, cam cover. Water pumps are known to give up around 80k miles but really all of these things apply to all BMW engines including the N20 2.0l

Should you avoid the N20? I would say no, just keep in mind you will need to spend around 1k to get the timing chain done, newer cars (not sure after what year) were supposed to come with better components less likely to give trouble but even so there have been rare cases of those also failing.

Some will say the 4 pot gives better handling due to lower weight over the front axle (around 20kg less) but I don’t think for most people there will be a discernible difference. They also say the 4 pots are more economical but in reality the 6 cylinders aren’t that far behind. IMO and yes I know I am biased but a BMW just has to have a 6 cylinder at least, sounds way better and makes the car feel more special.

I don't believe its just 20kg difference at the front

It’s more like 25kg but that’s not the primary issue..the point is that the centre of the total weight is considerably further forward….so the moment of inertia is moved further forward…so that’s why when journalists reviewed the then new N20 in the E89 they all noticed how much more nimble the N20 was compared to the N52.

Of course most people never drive them back to back and many are not fussed about the dynamics of the chassis..

Of course it’s much worse with the N54!

 

[matsmith749]

Much better with the n54.

Vroom!

3 litre twin turbo.... engine envy?

Bottom of the range < top of the range IMHO. Not a fan of any 4cyl engine when there is a 6cyl of any kind available.

I balance up the minor weight change by adding more lard behind the steering wheel

 

[DonDon]

Send them over here, had mine done twice and never had an issue nor paid a lot, this cost me 460€ (4 wheels):

IMG_9441.jpeg

I think they are a great looking wheel, suits the E89 very well, shame BMW didn't make them 19” but then again that’s probably a good thing considering the reputation of their 19” wheels cracking.

They look class, how did they do the red?

Basically split the rims, masked up the barrel of the rims so only the outer lip is red and the rest of the barrel and the face of wheels are black, once the faces are bolted back on you can't see where the red and black meet. The red is candy apple red over a gold metallic base. It looks stunning when the sun hits it, and in the shade the red is more subdued as per the photo above. Cost me 60€ for the candy paint just enough to do the lips of the four rims!

I haven't done it, but I believe you can get a similar effect with Rim Protectors.

 

[Silverstar]

Amazing, they look really good. I was toying with the idea of a white lip painted on or a polished outer etc.

Thanks! That's the beauty of these split rims there are so many customisation options.

I haven't done it, but I believe you can get a similar effect with Rim Protectors.

My mate has these on his car since he can't drive and keeps hitting kerbs! Alloygators I believe they are called. Not the same thing though, they are plastic and to my eyes they look cheap and nasty and if you happen to bash them you have to get them replaced at around 90€ each.