I have gone and done it!

[new_world99]

I have done it! :driving:

2009 35i with 26K on the clock. Very good condition. Would have liked larger alloys, but there seems to be very little high spec 35i. I wanted the manual gear box so no 35is for me.

Are they sport seats? There are so many buttons on the dash and steering wheel I am still working out what does what.

As a bit of a messer, I am looking to do some minor mods, and your advise with be welcome, especially recommendations for people for the job around London.

1. I park it in central London on the street so am looking for some sort of protective wrap to minimise parking scratches. I had a quote of about £1000 to wrap front and back bumper and bonnet, which I think is OTT as I can have the whole car resprayed for that price. I use a clear plastic to coat my bicycles and I might just do a DIY - I don't think it would stand out that much as the car is silver (also will be covered in a thick layer of dust in a couple of days anyway).

2. Exhaust. It is surprisingly quiet. Mind you, I am used to motorbikes. It is a pretty common thing for bikers that as soon as we get our hands on a new bike to rip out the stock exhaust +/- catalytic converter and replace with an aftermarket system and a custom map. But then I am not planning on wearing ear plugs when driving the Zed! I have been looking at the forum and I like the idea of doing an OEM mod, i.e. covering 2 out of the 4 pipes in the back box. Does anyone know anyone that can do that in the London or surrounding area which do not charge an earth?

3. Similarly, possibly a remap. I really don't think it needs any more power for the given chassis, but it's more about making it more fuel efficient and ironing out the flat spots in the torque curve (and to be honest making it sound nicer!). Has anyone done this and care to share some thoughts, and again possible recommendations?

4. Heated seats. I think they are pretty important if I want to have the hood down when the temperature drops aka now. I am a bit of a softie clearly I don't think the seats in this car is heated, or at least I have not found the button for it if they are. Has anyone got any thoughts on aftermarket add-on heating elements for the seats?

That's it for now. I am sure I will think of other mods :-D

 

[new_world99]

 

[Smartbear]

Nice car, it hasn't got the m sport seats though they look like this-

Rob

 

[Mr Tidy]

Lovely car OP - congrats and welcome to the forum.

If I was looking for an E89 I would do the same as you - 35i so I could get a manual.

 

[john-e89]

Nice.

Ermmm...you bought a car wanting heated seats but didn't check first..?? :?

Anyway if it has, and it's not clear from the pic, the switch will be at each end of the black strip that houses the roof open and close switches, in front of the gear stick.

Fingers crossed for you it has.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Well just in case you don't have heated seats OP, this thread my be of interest:-

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=91934

 

[Smartbear]

Well just in case you don't have heated seats OP, this thread my be of interest:-

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=91934

Only issue being that's for an e85 & the op has an e89
Rob

 

[Mr Tidy]

Well just in case you don't have heated seats OP, this thread my be of interest:-

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=91934

Only issue being that's for an e85 & the op has an e89
Rob

Doh!

 

[benv6]

Nice one mate and welcome to the forum

Send us more pics please ... First thing I would do is to get rid of them wheels and the RFT at the same time.

I would upgrade the sound system if you have the 6 speakers set up.

LCI Indicators are a MUST.

If you want more sound from the exhaust there is a quick MOD where you unplug small pipe next to both sides of the exhaust (seen a video about it on youtube) just google it and let us know what you think.

Not having sport seats is a big let down but you can upgrade them depending on how much you paid for the car and how long you want to keep it.

But again you you buy a 35i for its gorillas living under the bonnet, everything else is a bonus :wink:

I am sure you will enjoy it

 

[freemadw]

Nice looking car. I'm in London, sadly parking scrapes (and worse) are more of a case of when rather than if.
As for keeping it clean, no chance. Someone dropped a can of paint in the road recently, after people had driven through the paint, my Space Grey E89 had a number of pale blue paint spots on it. Fortunately it wasn't parked too close to the spill or it might have been easier to have painted the whole thing in pale blue emulsion...
Looks like you don't have the M-Sport package, I haven't driven one myself but some say that the standard suspension is nicer especially on the corrugated cart tracks we like to call roads.
As has been said, the electric seat controls are on the panel in front of the gearstick/ashtray on the centre console (with the roof open/close buttons) They are on the extreme left/right of this panel, if you don't have the switches, I'm afraid you don't have the heated seats. As for retrofitting heated sports seats, I'm afraid I don't know. As well as the seats, you may need to add parts of the wiring loom and get the car coded to activate the seats. I'm sure someone has done it.
Looks like you have a fairly basic spec E89, but that's less weight and less to go wrong, at the end of the day it's all about the engine, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Cheers, Dave

 

[Maniac]

, at the end of the day it's all about the engine, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Cheers, Dave

I couldn't agree more. Toys are nice but the engine is what you get this car for. Get it remapped and you can go well beyond stock 35iS territory (unless they've remapped their 35iS too lol). Only you get to enjoy a manual car tho...

 

[firebobby]

Welcome to the forum, nice looking Zeee

 

[Swiftly]

Welcome aboard, hope you enjoy your lovely zed

 

[paulgs1000]

Interesting post - welcome to the forum and looking forward to your updates

 

[new_world99]

Thank you all for the very welcoming posts. I am loving it so far - it's rather addictive putting the right foot down and get that 300 horses on the road! :evil: I have actually been lurking around the forum on and off for a few years, but life and circumstances have only just allowed me the luxury of being a proud owner of a Zed.

As to specs, yes I walked into it knowing full well it is not the highest specs by far. It's a weekend drive for me, and the essential bits for me are the 3.0 engine, manual gearbox, low mileage, having been well looked after and a sensible price. I consider the other things as niceties. The reason I was asking about heated seats etc was because the garage from where I bought the car didn't seem to know about the exact specs - they took it on as a trade-in.

I have a couple of questions about the windows. I notice that when the car was put in reverse, only the left hand side window dipped and not the right. Is that normal? Also, IF my car has electric folding window, where is the button that operates them?

Not been the brightest of all days today so didn't manage to get any more photos before it rained and got dark. I will try to post more photos next weekend when I get to take it out.

Many thanks all, I am delighted to join the Zed owners' club at last

 

[john-e89]

To be fair the E89 comes pretty well equipped as standard.

The mirror switch is just in front of the lekky windows switch, next to the mirror adjustment wheel.

Enjoy your new Zed, if you're smiling then that's all that matters. Congrats on the purchase.

 

[sammyz]

Nice looking car. You're right it's the engine that's the gem in these cars so enjoy it. Bigger wheels and non run flats would be your starting point.

 

[freemadw]

The mirror switches are on the drivers door in front of the window controls:



If you only have the slider switch and not the button, you don't have folding mirrors.
Only the passenger side mirror flips down when in reverse, you have to make sure that the mirror slider switch is set to the drivers side. If it's set to the passenger side, the mirror doesn't flip down.
Cheers, Dave

 

[new_world99]

Nice looking car. You're right it's the engine that's the gem in these cars so enjoy it. Bigger wheels and non run flats would be your starting point.

As I don't have a garage to store the old alloys, I want to be able to just drive to a place, pay my money and drive out with new (bigger) alloys and new tyres when these eventually wear out. Any suggestions?

I like the look of the ones on Maniac's but perhaps in gun metal colour.

Thanks for all your advice by the way folks

 

[sammyz]

I'd have a good read through the forum especially the wheels section, lots of ideas for wheel choices. 19s are the usual upgrade although the car looks fine on the right set of 18s. Mr Wilks - Andy is the wheel guru and will provide sage advice should you need it on off sets, colour, tyres etc. Enjoy!