Future classic ?

S

shotbybothsides

Member
Just wondered what the likely status of the E89 is, 10 or 20 years on.
I decided on the Z as a low mileage second, fun car after a long time deliberating on what classic to buy. Eventually choosing a modern car as the expense and inconvenience of a genuine classic, one with plenty of performance, was too great for me.
I doubt the E89 will ever be up there with the Healeys and Etypes, but possibly Sunbeam Tiger, Twin Cam MGA level would be nice.
I'm sure the Z4M will be highly sought after, and am amazed what people already ask for the E30 M3, does that mean anything without an M badge will be forgotten?
 
Do you think the current TT or SLK will become a future classic ? There's my answer to your question :wink:
 
You'll be waiting a very long time. :poke;

Drive it as much as you can and rack up as many miles as possible. Thrash the h*ll out of it (within an inch of its life). Take it to track days. Tour Europe.

Then sell it and buy a low mileage, pampered, garage queen classic from an old fool like myself
You know it makes sense. .
:wink:
 
It will be down there with the E85/6 :poke:

Your best bet is either a Z1, Z3M S54, Z3M Coupe and a sleeper for me 130i LE :)

Tim.
 
Having been involved with classics for 30 years (assorted Brit' saloons, MGs, Alfas, Stag etc) I switched to a an early E85R as it had traits of a big Healey 6 without the price tag and was less likely to dump me at the roadside on a trip. Well kept E85s, as with most properly sporting roadsters will follow the usual trend of being a bit naff, then growing retro interest and on to interesting classic status. Will the E89 with its tin-top, maybe? :|

One big problem looming for anybody with late model cars is the sheer complexity of systems, and cost and availability of parts, particularly electronic modules etc. I seriously think that relatively few E85 let alone E89 will make it to classic age for this reason alone, which is ironic since rust and big mechanical bills used to be the killer and they are now BMW strong points.

Of the Z4 clan the E86 ///M is the obvious contender for early classic status, relative rarity, proper ///M performance credentials and near perfect looks mean it's a cert 8)
 
TitanTim said:
It will be down there with the E85/6 :poke:

Your best bet is either a Z1, Z3M S54, Z3M Coupe and a sleeper for me 130i LE :)

Tim.
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130i LE? :o

Stay where you are Tim, the nurse will be along shortly to take you back to your room. :rofl:
 
Merrsh1 said:
TitanTim said:
It will be down there with the E85/6 :poke:

Your best bet is either a Z1, Z3M S54, Z3M Coupe and a sleeper for me 130i LE :)

Tim.
Click to expand...

130i LE? :o

Stay where you are Tim, the nurse will be along shortly to take you back to your room. :rofl:
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With only 500 produced will become a rare car :)

Tim.
 
I think there is a huge gap between a Classic and an Interesting car.

The big Healeys, E types etc are Classics because they were respected in their day. However cars like the Vauxhall Victor. Ford Prefects and the likes - were never respected and good examples today can at best be only considered as interesting. Just because there are not many left doesn't necessarily make them a Classic.

For the reasons above I think the E85/6 will become a classic in the future.
 
I guess one major difference today is the level of complexity. I wouldn't fancy trying to rebuild one of these in my garage 20 years time, and the cost and availability of parts would almost certainly be prohibitive. E-types/Spitfies etc are all relatively easy to pull to bits and rebuild by a reasonably competent DIYer, certainly not the case with a recent BMW or similar.
 
Z4_Gaz said:
I guess one major difference today is the level of complexity. I wouldn't fancy trying to rebuild one of these in my garage 20 years time, and the cost and availability of parts would almost certainly be prohibitive. E-types/Spitfies etc are all relatively easy to pull to bits and rebuild by a reasonably competent DIYer, certainly not the case with a recent BMW or similar.
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Agreed, I think all of the electronics will make these cars very hard to maintain in 20-30 years time.
 
Relative rarity will make the e89 a classic long before the tt or the slk. Not that I plan on keeping mone long enough to find out..... I still can't quite understand why the e89 isn't as or more popular than both the slk and the tt. Imho it's a better car than both.
 
Sketchley said:
Relative rarity will make the e89 a classic long before the tt or the slk. Not that I plan on keeping mone long enough to find out..... I still can't quite understand why the e89 isn't as or more popular than both the slk and the tt. Imho it's a better car than both.
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I would agree & if i was in the market for any of the 3 the 89 would be first base . The answer to the OP is none of them will be future classics :wink:
 
Sketchley said:
Relative rarity will make the e89 a classic long before the tt or the slk. Not that I plan on keeping mone long enough to find out..... I still can't quite understand why the e89 isn't as or more popular than both the slk and the tt. Imho it's a better car than both.
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I think that the problem for the e89 is not the merc or audi... It's the boxster.
 
Zed Five said:
I think that the problem for the e89 is not the merc or audi... It's the boxster.
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But its been said before that the Boxter is seen by many as "its a Porsche but I can't afford a proper 911"
 
I am with Classicline Insurance as they deem it to be a future classic. So that's official :)
 
The tt has rear seats which puts it in a different category to the E89. However small they maybe it offers more flexibility (a la the 911).
 
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