Read before buying a new Z4

sars

sars

Awesome
 East Yorkshire
Site Supporter
Well I finally picked up the car on Wednesday and its is absolutely stunning, yesterday was the first long run home, some 230 miles and my first impressions are

Good things
1) It is significantly quieter than the E85, the car I test drove had 19" rims and the road noise was intrusive through the rear arches, so stuck with the standard 17", spl @ 70 mph (true speed) was 71 to 72 dB, pretty good me thinks
2) At a pretty constant 70 mph with some stationary rush hour traffic and some squirts of acceleration, average mpg was 36.6 door to door, via M5, M42, A42 and M1, I think that is amazing
3) Lots of Torque is available at low rpm, so at 30 mph in 5th pick up to 40 mph is almost instantaneous, the same in 6th from 70 to 80, just a fantastic engine.

The bad things
1) I decided against sports seats, my daughter's child seat never fitted that well with the previous E85 as the seat bottom was too narrow with the sports seat, this time I stuck with the standard seats. After 10 years or so of driving 25k to 35k mile a year, this morning was the first time that I have had backache, not good at all, the seat bottom was quite hard and got a little uncomfortable after an hour or so.
2) The standard BMW Professional radio is wholly ineffective, if you like music you need to pay the extra. At maximum volume, the spl is 83 dB and just doesn't fill the space, this is shocking and I will be complaining about this to the dealer today, this was a question I specifically asked and was told that the sound was good, believe me its not and will be quite useless with the top down I am sure :(

I hope that I will become accustomed to the seats, a few weeks should be enough to tell, as for the sound I am just really disappointed.
 
Sport seats are not optional, they are must have items in a roadster. My last 2 BMW (323Ci and 523i Sport) had sport seats, and will never have standard seats again. :)

Do other new Z4 owners think loudspeakers system is another must-have option? Many used new Z4 have it fitted.
 
ksher said:
Sport seats are not optional, they are must have items in a roadster. My last 2 BMW (323Ci and 523i Sport) had sport seats, and will never have standard seats again. :)

Do other new Z4 owners think loudspeakers system is another must-have option? Many used new Z4 have it fitted.
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you need to be specific here, all E85's came with sports seats, howver M Sport seats were optional, or standard on sports models.
 
Yes my 06 Z4 2.5si was an M sport and had the M sport seats, however after trying various child booster seats I could not get one to fit properly, as its a legal requirement in the UK to have a booster seat I went for the standard seats. I wonder if anyone has sat for long periods (4 to 5 hours) in the new sport seats and how do they feel?

As for the stereo, have had a play this afternoon and it would seem that there is not much sound from the rear speakers, even with fade all the way to the rears, most of the sound is generated from the two door speakers, hmmm
 
Even though I suffer occasionally from back problems I find the seats very comfortable and have driven for more than 6 hours at a time without a problem.

However, I do agree about the stereo, the volume from the rear speakers is insufficient especially when the roof is down. I have adjusted the set up to change the balance which did offer some improvement.
 
Drove to Manchester and back last couple of weeks from Glasgow and sports seats are superb with side lumbar support and adjustable thigh support. No problem at all with no stops on way home after 9 hour flight from carribean and back was better after drive than before :D
On 19s and still comfortable.
Stereo is a bit weedy with roof down but TBH I normally turn it off (as I did with slk) I like the sound of engine and road noise etc when topless!!
 
Standard cloth seats are pish. No support at all. Wife just arrived home in new 10 plate 23i loaner and unimpressed. Glad we went for Havana with sports seats etc!!
 
sars said:
I decided against sports seats, my daughter's child seat never fitted that well with the previous E85 as the seat bottom was too narrow with the sports seat, this time I stuck with the standard seats. After 10 years or so of driving 25k to 35k mile a year, this morning was the first time that I have had backache, not good at all, the seat bottom was quite hard and got a little uncomfortable after an hour or so.
Click to expand...

My previous E85 had sport seats, which were really hard and uncomfortable. In my 30i I did not order the sport seats just because I did like the 'bulky' look. I was surprised that the standard seat is much softer than the E85 ones.

EdP
 
Also recommend the wind deflector as loaner does not have it and there is a big big difference even at low speeds. :thumbsup:
 
Had my car since last july and yes the Stereo is pants. There isn't even tweeters in the doors just an empty space. My car was already specced and the radio really was the big disapointment.

Especially to a high end sound engineer :thumbsdown:

As for the seats. I have standard seats and whilst the sport seats hold you nicely for the twisties I found the sport seats actually hurt my back. I have a disability though so auto and standard seats are mandatory for me.
 
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