WANTED E89 35i / 35is / 28i auto

[clifford72]

I would agree with John regarding 35i/is engine reliability. Plenty of scare stories out there, but I've had almost 3 years of trouble free motoring with mine. The usual occasional coil issues etc, but nothing you won't get on every single BMW engine. Sure, big things can go wrong, but not as often as the internet will have you believe.

I'd also agree on the chassis vs power, to a point - it handles it fine if you're driving it like a GT, but driving it on the edge is going to be a challenge. But, it doesn't sound like you're a "ten tenths" kind of driver, and neither am I.

If you do look at 30i's, I'd recommend avoiding the SE suspension, because then it really does fall apart. Comparable with a Mercedes V250d that I used to drive regularly. To be honest, a 30i with a decent set of Bilsteins would probably be a great balance of power/fun vs cost.

All great advice - thank you.

Not a "ten tenths" driver for sure, I would say I save that for the bike, but I'm not sure I even do that these days!

[clifford72]

As you can see you can get as many views as there are members on this forum..

I never twiddled with cars until I got my first Zed…I had 22 bikes over a 40 year period with quite a lot of modest twiddling.

For your stated requirements almost any E89 would do well.

Your budget seems very wide ?

Low mileage E89 command a disproportionate premium which given how E89s shrug mileage off is interesting.

Ideally if you are not in a rush a few test drives would help to see how each flavour of E89s feels to you.

Less than 10% of E89s were 35i/35is in the UK..the vast majority were 23i or 20i.

I had a 20i which I had for 4 years and did 30k miles with the vast majority of those miles in long distance mode mostly with a variety of other Zeds.

I have a 35is now that I’ve done 20k+ miles over the last 3 years.

I know two posters have given positive accounts on the 35i.35is but my personal experience was not so positive although no way as bad as some..several forum members have racked up multi thousand expenditures on 35i/35is which simply does not occur on any of the others versions.

If an auto is preferred the 20i/28i with its ZF8HP box is a real gem. There are very few 28i..the majority were 20i.

If you feel the need for more go than a stock 20i gives you can get people to load a 28i ECU map or better as each of the 18i/20i/28i power trains are identical.

Pre 2015 N20 engined cars have an early camchain that gives trouble in some cases..about £1k sees that fixed preemptively.

Good hunting..

I didn't realise an 18i or a 20i could be brought up to a 28i as simply as a ECU tune. That might help widen the search because as you say, 35's seem harder to come buy.

Noted on the 8 speed gearbox, and timing chain guides update from 2015 too.

All really helpful knowledge - thank you.

[john-e89]

Check out the ‘Me and my 30i’ post from Big bad boris in the E89 section Clifford….a hell of a shame for him on a couple of levels but could be just your golden ticket…

[Paul_S]

I've got a 2012 deep sea blue 28i that I was thinking I may sell in the spring.
Drop me a PM if you'd like to have a chat.
Based in south east london

[Big Bad Boris]

Check out the ‘Me and my 30i’ post from Big bad boris in the E89 section Clifford….a hell of a shame for him on a couple of levels but could be just your golden ticket…

Thanks John. Clifford I have recently taken the logical step of moving my post into the For Sale section, if you are between London and Cambridge you are probably not that far from me, if you wanted to have a look, I am about 20 mins from Stansted… in Braintree. Feel free to PM me if you have questions etc.