Newbie looking for a 35i or M40i

[The.Analyst]

Hello,

Been looking at a new (to me) convertible..looks like I've missed the boat summer wise and price wise.

Previously had a TVR Chimera, A Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo, Jaguar XKR and latterly a 911 Carrera 4S.

Miss the fun of a toy so back in the market.

Disappointed with what's available, turned my attention to Beemers now.

So after much searching looking at either a 35i and maybe do some upgrades to it or a M40i (second hand).

I'm not prepared to wait for a new car so will take the plunge and suck it and see.

Can always move on to something else.

I work for an agency (government) so I sometimes cannot respond if I'm on the job, although usually I can see internet traffic.

Looking at a few car trips and meets..abroad next year is a priority as are a few tours of Wales and Scotland.

 

[Chippie]

Hello and welcome to the forum “Mr Bond”, great plan for infiltrating Europe and that other foreign country as part of an enthusiasts road trip :wink:

 

[The.Analyst]

Hello Chippie, yes quite so..although my journeys work wise take me to more sandy locations..virtually.

 

[Ole gits rule]

Hello and welcome t the forum, great choice of cars.

Her is a 35iS from a forum member - https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=131222

Do you have a budget (although pretty healthy if an M40i) or must haves?

 

[Worcester_spoon]

Fun search. Welcome and good luck.

 

[Argyll Andy]

Hello and welcome, if you’re looking for a very clean, late year 35iS, low mileage, fbmwsh, 1 owner it might be worth getting in touch with [ref]ronk[/ref], and see if you can convince him to sell his. He’s sitting on the bloody fence about ordering a new one so hasn’t committed to selling his yet :lol:

 

[Ole gits rule]

Hello and welcome, if you’re looking for a very clean, late year 35iS, low mileage, fbmwsh, 1 owner it might be worth getting in touch with [ref]ronk[/ref], and see if you can convince him to sell his. He’s sitting on the bloody fence about ordering a new one so hasn’t committed to selling his yet :lol:

His arse must be full of splinters by now, must have the worlds widest fence

 

[Argyll Andy]

Hello and welcome, if you’re looking for a very clean, late year 35iS, low mileage, fbmwsh, 1 owner it might be worth getting in touch with [ref]ronk[/ref], and see if you can convince him to sell his. He’s sitting on the bloody fence about ordering a new one so hasn’t committed to selling his yet :lol:

His arse must be full of splinters by now, must have the worlds widest fence

He’s worried if he buys a new one he’ll have nothing to do all day as currently he sits and counts his money to pass the time :lol:

 

[Ole gits rule]

Hello and welcome, if you’re looking for a very clean, late year 35iS, low mileage, fbmwsh, 1 owner it might be worth getting in touch with [ref]ronk[/ref], and see if you can convince him to sell his. He’s sitting on the bloody fence about ordering a new one so hasn’t committed to selling his yet :lol:

His arse must be full of splinters by now, must have the worlds widest fence

He’s worried if he buys a new one he’ll have nothing to do all day as currently he sits and counts his money to pass the time :lol:

Well he can run back and fore Western Union and send me some money, I will help him spend it - that should keep him occupied

 

[The.Analyst]

Hello and welcome t the forum, great choice of cars.

Her is a 35iS from a forum member - https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=131222

Do you have a budget (although pretty healthy if an M40i) or must haves?

I think upto 20,000 for a 35i depending on condition age mileage options.

Upto 40,000 for a M40i.

Colour wise I like strong colours so red and orange are on my list.

I've had dark blue, light blue, racing green and black so time for a change.

 

[The.Analyst]

Hello and welcome, if you’re looking for a very clean, late year 35iS, low mileage, fbmwsh, 1 owner it might be worth getting in touch with [ref]ronk[/ref], and see if you can convince him to sell his. He’s sitting on the bloody fence about ordering a new one so hasn’t committed to selling his yet :lol:

I think I can disclose that splinter man was very fast of the mark in an offer.

The well specced car is not in my preferred colour palette.

So without betraying any confidentiality I suspect he will continue to receive regular pinus infusions.

 

[Pondrew]

so I sometimes cannot respond if I'm on the job,

I don't think anyone can :lol:

Welcome 'P', BTW.

 

[Argyll Andy]

Hello and welcome, if you’re looking for a very clean, late year 35iS, low mileage, fbmwsh, 1 owner it might be worth getting in touch with [ref]ronk[/ref], and see if you can convince him to sell his. He’s sitting on the bloody fence about ordering a new one so hasn’t committed to selling his yet :lol:

I think I can disclose that splinter man was very fast of the mark in an offer.

The well specced car is not in my preferred colour palette.

So without betraying any confidentiality I suspect he will continue to receive regular pinus infusions.

IMO, it’ll be one of the best to come to the market when it does. Ron’s problem is that because his is so unique he’s in a quandary about letting it go. I think if he could secure a sale there would be no fence sitting, the order for the M40i would be made instantly.

I completely get the colour choice an had a VO 35iS recently. When deciding on the colour of the M40i that’s why we picked Misano Blue as it really pops, particularly in the sun. We personally didn’t feel the red did.

Budget wise and with the current market, imo you’ll struggle to find a nice VO in your £20k budget. One of the only one I know for sale just now is £27k which is overpriced, but it’s not £7K over. Red may be easier to locate but I haven’t seen many of them for sale either. I have been keeping a very close eye on the M40i market also and I can’t recall an M40i sub £40k for quite a considerable time and the ones just on the top side of that are frequently low spec’d and/or higher mileage. You’d be astonished by the amount of M40i’s with just the comfort pack. I was told by the dealer it was a common thing to keep the pcp payments low.

Good luck with your search and either model will put a smile on your face. Having experience them back to back there’s definitely improvements made in the M40i and the handling is considerably improved from the standard E89 set up

 

[The.Analyst]

Andy

Thank you for the advice.

I appreciate the market is inflated but I think there will be some people willing to be more flexible / less ambitious.

The M40i seems to be a non starter given prices, lack of decent colours and BMW restricting production.

I've driven a couple of 35i and 35is and the handling is wayward..with the cash I would save maybe a few grand on LSD, decent suspension and so on may help.

The search continues.

 

[Silverstar]

I have been keeping a very close eye on the M40i market also and I can’t recall an M40i sub £40k for quite a considerable time and the ones just on the top side of that are frequently low spec’d and/or higher mileage. You’d be astonished by the amount of M40i’s with just the comfort pack. I was told by the dealer it was a common thing to keep the pcp payments low.

Looks like with the popularity of PCP poorly specced cars are going to be the norm whereas in the past a good portion of premium car buyers would spec it well particularly as poorly specced cars were harder to shift. Not so good news for second hand car buyers for the future then. :thumbsdown:

 

[JoshsZ4M]

Hey there, it’s probably not of interest, but I’ve got a particularly clean, well (rare) spec’d, historied, relatively low mile and highly maintained Z4M in Interlagos blue for sale in the for sale section… not sure if it’s on your radar

 

[Argyll Andy]

I have been keeping a very close eye on the M40i market also and I can’t recall an M40i sub £40k for quite a considerable time and the ones just on the top side of that are frequently low spec’d and/or higher mileage. You’d be astonished by the amount of M40i’s with just the comfort pack. I was told by the dealer it was a common thing to keep the pcp payments low.

Looks like with the popularity of PCP poorly specced cars are going to be the norm whereas in the past a good portion of premium car buyers would spec it well particularly as poorly specced cars were harder to shift. Not so good news for second hand car buyers for the future then. :thumbsdown:

It seems to be a double whammy, as mentioned PCP spec is low but there’s another small issue. If/when a dealer orders a car/secures a build slot like mine for example. I’ve ticked all the options boxes but for some reason I decided to pull out. Once passed a certain point the dealer can’t cancel that order so cancel all but one of the option packs (they seemingly need to retain one) and they leave either comfort or Shadowline on the car as the cheapest ones and take the car into stock. This was mainly why we ordered a new one with all packs ticked. Firstly because the stock cars available were mostly poorly spec’d and the discount didn’t reflect that enough and secondly we hope that a fully loaded M40i isn’t that common a sight that come resale time we will hopefully see a better return at the other end due to limited supply. I’m also thinking now given the deletion of some extras on new builds means and the availability issues the spec will stand out slightly more

 

[Argyll Andy]

I've driven a couple of 35i and 35is and the handling is wayward..with the cash I would save maybe a few grand on LSD, decent suspension and so on may help

If you’re looking to do mods like that it’ll definitely make a huge difference. You might be better concentrating on the 35i rather than the 35iS as the iS’s came with adaptive suspension as standard and if you’re removing no point in paying the premium. The 35i is also available as a manual if that’s important to you. The lsd is one of the major differences in the M40i compared to the 35.

Since you’re looking at modding anyway, a £300 remap will take the power of you 35i above the iS.

For me things like an upgraded stereo were important too. You’ll often find both models of 35’s with a base stereo and no extras like PDC/iDrive/Wind deflector etc.

The search is half the fun.

 

[ronk]

Im going to change my username to splinter man!

I always used to be indecisive but Im not so sure now!

 

[Argyll Andy]

Im going to change my username to splinter man!

I always used to be indecisive but Im not so sure now!

Don’t be doing that Ron because when you get off that fence and buy your M40i it’ll not make any sense :lol: