Looking for an E89. Advice needed please - 30i vs 35i

[XYZ]

Hi All,

I'm currently looking for an E89. I test drove the 23i and both my partner and I were left rather disappointed having driven a Z4C 3 litre last year, so I know we've got to look for at least the 3 litre version. Other than the acceleration the car was awesome

I'm interested to know which of you E89 owners were looking at 3 litres and then opted for the 35i instead?

We're going BMW AUC, and there are hardly any manual 30i and 35i cars on the market, it seems like there are way more 30i automatics than manuals. Due to the shortage of 30i's we might go with a 35i.

Do any of you have any advice? Is the 35i just complete overkill? My main commute will be urban + a roads doing approximately 16-18 miles a day. Are there any known problems with the 35i worth noting, for example with the turbo's?

How much is a full tank of petrol in the 35i and what kind of urban mileage can I expect?

Another issue I'm concerned about is the roof. Have your roofs been reliable (this is a question for all E89 owners).

We love the look of the M-Sport, but with the 3 litre it looks like the adaptive suspension isn't standard, whereas with the 35i it is! I like the idea of switching the suspension to something less harsh when driving about town over speed bumps.

Are there any other pro's with the 35i in comparison with the 30i? I know in terms of cosmetics you get the chrome front grill and the single exhaust on either side of the car.

Anything else I'm missing? We have a budget of up to 28k. From what I gather insurance quotes between the 2 aren't that different, so it's not like the 35i is exceptionally more to run.

Thanks.

 

[Maniac]

Hey xyz,

A few points before I head back to the office...

First thing, Adaptive suspension is not standard on 30i or 35i (only 35is has this as standard), so look for it if you want it (it was the primary reason I went for mine, and I've no regrets as its comfier than standard suspension in normal, until you hit sport or sport+). My roof has been fine. My HPFP has been replaced on the 35i, common issue. Other common issues are rear lights that fill with water. Oh and the 296 wheels are know to be a problem area too, check into that.

Other than that the 35i with DCT is a great drive, but I never tested the manual, which could equally be good. I havent heard any issues with turbos on the 35i as yet and the engine is about 5 years old now.

The 35i is overkill for my use, but I love it lol. £55 quid fills it most of the time, and I get about 200 miles urban, or 400 miles motorway from that. You might get a few more miles in the 30i.

 

[Anonymous]

£70 fills mine right up, and that's close to a full tank. And like Maniac, 200 in town and driving hard....that's for the 35i. Apart from the wheels on the 296, it's been perfect....

 

[Maniac]

£70 fills mine right up....

Good god man, you must run it to fumes £55/£60 is the cost to fill it (@1.35 per litre around me) which is what I do when reserve pings me. Sainsburys Super Unleaded.

 

[Anonymous]

Yup, sometimes on zero....here's come the lecture!!

 

[Wondermike]

I am the same as you, been looking for the last while.

We're going BMW AUC, and there are hardly any manual 30i and 35i cars on the market, it seems like there are way more 30i automatics than manuals. Due to the shortage of 30i's we might go with a 35i.

I'd say at least 80% of the 30s coming through are auto, been like that for ages. The auto 'box is a good one though.

Do any of you have any advice? Is the 35i just complete overkill? My main commute will be urban + a roads doing approximately 16-18 miles a day.

Even a 30i is overkill on our roads today, but doesn't stop us wanting fast cars :evil:

Are there any other pro's with the 35i in comparison with the 30i? I know in terms of cosmetics you get the chrome front grill and the single exhaust on either side of the car.

You get electric seats on the 35i.

I came to the conclusion that waiting for the 28i might be a better idea :idunno:

 

[djtex]

I've had my 35i M-Sport for 4 months now, and despite the problems I love it. Anyone who says you can't use the performance is talking rubbish. I just got back from a week in North Wales and the car was awesome, and over the 1000 miles I did it avergaed 28mpg not too bad I reckon, and I gave it a serious spanking several times over. As for the Auto gearbox, well I have a 23i loaner at the moment whilst a couple of rattles are sorted, and it does far worse consumption and is proper slow compared to the 35i. Don't even get me started on the gearbox which is truly horrific, in sport mode always holding far too low a gear, making the car hard work to drive and even more thirsty, i love the weightier steering and sharper throttle responses of sport mode, but even with the most modest of throttle inputs it holds in 3rd or 4th gear way too long. Also seems to randomly change down or up during cornering, unsettling the whole car and the line you're taking. Seriously, if you at all value the pre thrill of driving I'd advise you steer well clear of the auto in a 23 or 30, and to my mind the dual clutch was barely any better. My 35i needless to say is the manual and it flies and in my view is far more exciting and rewarding to drive than any of the auto offerings. As for the suspension, ignore the adaptive option, save your money it did nothing for me. Make sure you try all options before commiting.

As for the issues, it's only been so bad as the first dealer I used was utterly incompetent and not able to find known errors on their own database (Long story). I have settled with them now for free tyre insurance for 3 years. As for the issues themselves, nothing majorly mechanical, just the well documented dancing windows, the alarm going off in the rain and dashboard rattles. However, none of this has dampened my enthusiasm for what is a great car. If you can stretch to the 35i I really would, and an M-Sport for the looks.

 

[BlueZ4Arizona]

One of the best advantages of opting for the 35i is that you can get the DCT. When in auto mode, the DCT is intuitive and almost always seems to upshift or downshift at the proper time. If you need complete control of the gears, just switch to manual mode and the shifts are lightning fast and smooth via either the paddles on the steering wheel or the shift lever. I would never go back to a manual gearbox after having experienced the DCT.

 

[TurboLozza]

I've had my 35i for over a year now, and no problems to report. I'm really glad that I went for the 35i, instead of the non turbo 3.0, as the N54 turbo engine is brilliant, and I still get 29 mpg. Also, the turbo motor is easy and cheap to tune if you ever want more performance - see here http://www.burgertuning.com/. I will admit that most of the time you really don't need the performance available, and the car is barely trying, but when you want to give it some....... wow!

Downsides - well the standard audio system is poor if you are a music enthusiast, so get the upgraded system if you want top quality sound, as after market upgrades are not cheap! However, the car is noisy anyway - especially with the roof down and we tend to have the stereo off most of the time. Don't be fooled by listening to the stereo in a stationary car with the engine off. It's a completely different ball game at 70 mph with the roof down Oh that roof - well it may only take 20 seconds, but it feels like 20 minutes when you are sitting holding the damn button.... why oh why didn't they make it one touch? 19" wheels look great but ride quality suffers, and I don't think the adaptive suspension softens it up any from what I've read, so probaly not worth the extra IMHO.

 

[Zed Five]

I bought a 3.0 M Sport auto rather than a 35i. It's plenty quick, drives like silk but sounds great.

.... I just don't like turbos. They all die eventually. Just have 2k ready when it does. Lol.

Seriously. I drove a 35i dct and enjoyed it. Price are reasonable to its just down to what you need it for. I have a sports bike, so everything feels slow . My zed is just a commuter. 3.0 is perfect for most occasions and there are massive deals to be stuck.

 

[sars]

Well by all accounts my zed is a rare one, a 30i manual.

Do I wish I had the 35i no not really, as others have said,for me the only reason to get the turbo engine is the DCT box. Having had a double clutch box before, I love the fact that they are so easy to drive, but you end up just accelerating and breaking hard everywhere you go. There are a few DCT owners here getting through a set of rear brake pads in 20,000 miles and tyres in 12,000 miles.

The manual is just so involving and that was the deciding factor for me, I couldn't resolve spending the extra £5k just to get to 60 mph half a second quicker

Yes the standard stereo is wholly inadequate for a convertible, it pushes out 87 decibels max, to put that in perspective a lorry at 50 mph is 84 decibels so yes all you can hear are loud parts of a song, forget classical music you have no chance of enjoying it even with the roof up, unless you are stationary with the engine off!

 

[XYZ]

Hi guys, thank you all for your responses. I would never buy a DCT box, I love the interaction you get with a manual and I will not consider an auto 3 litre.

It's good to know the standard hi-fi is crap. Being a massive music fan a decent hi-fi is important, but I'm already finding it difficult to get a used approved car in manual with adaptive suspension and with the alloys I want, let alone trying to find one with an upgraded hi-fi.

I have not heard anything about the 'dancing windows', which someone referred to. I will have to look into that.

My fuel consumption in my MX-5 is about 23 mpg and a full tank it about 55-60 quid, so I guess running a 35i won't make too much of a difference to me. The MX5's fuel economy and tax are so poor.

It's good to know the 35i has electric seats.

Anymore info on whether we need adaptive suspension or not? Can anyone who has it give me some more information about it? I really don't want a super harsh ride but I love the styling of the M-Sport version.

 

[powerontap]

The manual is just so involving and that was the deciding factor for me, I couldn't resolve spending the extra £5k just to get to 60 mph half a second quicker

The best comment out of all these posts 8)

 

[Anonymous]

 

[BlueZ4Arizona]

I bought a 3.0 M Sport auto rather than a 35i. It's plenty quick, drives like silk but sounds great.

.... I just don't like turbos. They all die eventually. Just have 2k ready when it does. Lol.

Seriously. I drove a 35i dct and enjoyed it. Price are reasonable to its just down to what you need it for. I have a sports bike, so everything feels slow . My zed is just a commuter. 3.0 is perfect for most occasions and there are massive deals to be stuck.

All engines die eventually, but when my 3.0 Turbo engine has 200k+ miles it will be long gone from my garage and will be someone elses problem. Most likely the 3rd or 4th owner of the car by then. People do not need to consider if/when an engine will die, when purchasing a new car, since virtually no one keeps a car that long.

 

[BlueZ4Arizona]

Well by all accounts my zed is a rare one, a 30i manual.

Do I wish I had the 35i no not really, as others have said,for me the only reason to get the turbo engine is the DCT box. Having had a double clutch box before, I love the fact that they are so easy to drive, but you end up just accelerating and breaking hard everywhere you go. There are a few DCT owners here getting through a set of rear brake pads in 20,000 miles and tyres in 12,000 miles.

The manual is just so involving and that was the deciding factor for me, I couldn't resolve spending the extra £5k just to get to 60 mph half a second quicker

Yes the standard stereo is wholly inadequate for a convertible, it pushes out 87 decibels max, to put that in perspective a lorry at 50 mph is 84 decibels so yes all you can hear are loud parts of a song, forget classical music you have no chance of enjoying it even with the roof up, unless you are stationary with the engine off!

I have 22k on my 35i with DCT and still on the OEM tires. The brakes pads are fine with no unusual wear. You have the same option to engine break with the DCT as you do with a manual. It all boils down to driving style. ..and Brake Pad replacement is covered under warranty for 50k miles/48 months here in the US.

 

[Zed Five]

I bought a 3.0 M Sport auto rather than a 35i. It's plenty quick, drives like silk but sounds great.

.... I just don't like turbos. They all die eventually. Just have 2k ready when it does. Lol.

Seriously. I drove a 35i dct and enjoyed it. Price are reasonable to its just down to what you need it for. I have a sports bike, so everything feels slow . My zed is just a commuter. 3.0 is perfect for most occasions and there are massive deals to be stuck.

All engines die eventually, but when my 3.0 Turbo engine has 200k+ miles it will be long gone from my garage and will be someone elses problem. Most likely the 3rd or 4th owner of the car by then. People do not need to consider if/when an engine will die, when purchasing a new car, since virtually no one keeps a car that long.

I guess I do since I do big miles, keeping the car for 2-3 years but clocking up huge mileages. I just see the turbo as a weak link. Just my own opinion.

 

[Garvin]

.......... It's good to know the standard hi-fi is crap. Being a massive music fan a decent hi-fi is important, but I'm already finding it difficult to get a used approved car in manual with adaptive suspension and with the alloys I want, let alone trying to find one with an upgraded hi-fi.

I have the upgraded Hi-Fi and I have to say it is terrific - by far the best ICE system in any car I've owned. Top down at 85 leptons and you can still hear everything clearly, quite amazing really.

Anymore info on whether we need adaptive suspension or not? Can anyone who has it give me some more information about it? I really don't want a super harsh ride but I love the styling of the M-Sport version.

I have the adaptive suspension and 19" rims with run flats. This was the aspect I was most worried about before receiving the car but it's absolutely fine and extremely compliant in 'normal' mode, far more so than I ever expected and no harsher than the wife's MX-5. Yes, it does stiffen up in sport/sport+ mode but is still not the bone-jarring, tooth filling loosening ride I was half expecting.

As for DCT boxes there have been reams and reams of threads on many forums about the pros and cons - I'm a convert but it does require re-learning how to drive to make best use of the DCT and is not to everyone's taste but, IMHO, the effort to recalibrate is well worth the effort.

Our US cousins coined the phrase "there ain't no replacement for displacement" .................. except when you have twin turbos :wink:

 

[ScottM]

I chose the 35i instead of the 30i because;
- it has higher gearing (manual gearbox), so better for cruising
- it has faster acceleration; completely unnecessary, but FUN
- it has greater tractability across a wider rev range, so better for in-gear acceleration, less need to change down to overtake, etc
- it has different exhaust pipes to the "lesser" models

No, the 35i is not overkill. It is fun. Buy it. Buy it now, if not sooner.

I haven't had any problems, roof is reliable (as you particularly ask about that). I do have the window rollback issue sometimes (well documented in other posts) but that's a minor niggle.

I get 30mpg on a mixed urban/country-A-road commute. Heavy-footed urban driving will lower that. Motorway jaunts give mid-30s mpg at 65-70mph, or about 32mpg if you're "enthusiastic." I usually fill tank before it's completely empty, so that's 50 litres costing £66 taking me 330 miles. But one doesn't buy this sort of car to worry about fuel costs; overall it's a minor part of the total cost of ownership.

I have adaptive suspension. The 'normal' setting is softer than the standard suspension, and I find that too soft. I use the 'sport' setting most of the time - this is a bit harder than the standard suspension. 'Sport+' is great for cornering but is juddery on poor surfaces and (eg) ribbed concrete motorway sections.

You mention speed bumps - I find 'sport' better for those than 'normal' - the car is more composed and doesn't bounce around so much.

Yes the 35i has better standard equipment than the 30i (electric seats, extended lighting, metallic paint). My thought is that someone who bought a new 35i over a 30i will have specced it more highly from the options list too, so you may get more kit for your money with a 35i.

 

[ronk]

There are a lot of good points listed on this thread - It will certainly help my decision in (hopefully) the spring time!

Reading the sales brochure did nothing more than confuse me.