E89 - Thoughts

[tiglon]

Interesting that Admiral seem to take a sensible view. I suppose my concern is an insurance company can just use a vin decoder to pull back the build options and then refuse a claim on the basis that wheels had been changed ( or any other undeclared change ), so would prefer to have everything above board. Sadly these days many make it very difficult to talk to them

Talking to them wasn't easy....

"The front upper and lower control arms have been replaced with the e90 m3 versions"

"So you've lowered the suspension?"

"No, the front upper and lower control arms have been replaced with the e90 m3 versions"

"So you've lowered the suspension?"

"Shall I send you an email?"

I think the likelihood of an insurance company using a vin decoder to check original wheel spec and having someone actually know the code for the wheels now on the code is about one in a billion. Just not ever going to happen. If you've put pink aftermarket wheels on and slammed the ride height then they might do some checks, but Z4 wheels on a Z4? Nope.

For what it's worth, my wheels are declared, but only because I was telling them about everything else so I may as well. They didn't understand that either...

Same thing happened to me with Hastings trying to explain that I didn't have runflats anymore and had 18" wheels instead of the OE 17".

"So you've put aftermarket alloys on?" No... they're BMW wheels.

"So they're the standard wheels?" I give up...

I wouldn't even bother with tyres to be honest.

[Deepseaskateboard]

Send them over here, had mine done twice and never had an issue nor paid a lot, this cost me 460€ (4 wheels):

IMG_9441.jpeg

I think they are a great looking wheel, suits the E89 very well, shame BMW didn't make them 19” but then again that’s probably a good thing considering the reputation of their 19” wheels cracking.

They look class, how did they do the red?

Basically split the rims, masked up the barrel of the rims so only the outer lip is red and the rest of the barrel and the face of wheels are black, once the faces are bolted back on you can't see where the red and black meet. The red is candy apple red over a gold metallic base. It looks stunning when the sun hits it, and in the shade the red is more subdued as per the photo above. Cost me 60€ for the candy paint just enough to do the lips of the four rims!

Amazing, they look really good. I was toying with the idea of a white lip painted on or a polished outer etc.

[sumotan]

Of those two, the 30i is the one I’d go for, more power and rarer which will help future values and saleability. The 6 cylinders are pretty bulletproof and you only need to watch out for the usual suspects, oil leaks around the oil filter housing, cam cover. Water pumps are known to give up around 80k miles but really all of these things apply to all BMW engines including the N20 2.0l

Should you avoid the N20? I would say no, just keep in mind you will need to spend around 1k to get the timing chain done, newer cars (not sure after what year) were supposed to come with better components less likely to give trouble but even so there have been rare cases of those also failing.

Some will say the 4 pot gives better handling due to lower weight over the front axle (around 20kg less) but I don’t think for most people there will be a discernible difference. They also say the 4 pots are more economical but in reality the 6 cylinders aren’t that far behind. IMO and yes I know I am biased but a BMW just has to have a 6 cylinder at least, sounds way better and makes the car feel more special.

I don't believe its just 20kg difference at the front

[B21]

Of those two, the 30i is the one I’d go for, more power and rarer which will help future values and saleability. The 6 cylinders are pretty bulletproof and you only need to watch out for the usual suspects, oil leaks around the oil filter housing, cam cover. Water pumps are known to give up around 80k miles but really all of these things apply to all BMW engines including the N20 2.0l

Should you avoid the N20? I would say no, just keep in mind you will need to spend around 1k to get the timing chain done, newer cars (not sure after what year) were supposed to come with better components less likely to give trouble but even so there have been rare cases of those also failing.

Some will say the 4 pot gives better handling due to lower weight over the front axle (around 20kg less) but I don’t think for most people there will be a discernible difference. They also say the 4 pots are more economical but in reality the 6 cylinders aren’t that far behind. IMO and yes I know I am biased but a BMW just has to have a 6 cylinder at least, sounds way better and makes the car feel more special.

I don't believe its just 20kg difference at the front

It’s more like 25kg but that’s not the primary issue..the point is that the centre of the total weight is considerably further forward….so the moment of inertia is moved further forward…so that’s why when journalists reviewed the then new N20 in the E89 they all noticed how much more nimble the N20 was compared to the N52.

Of course most people never drive them back to back and many are not fussed about the dynamics of the chassis..

Of course it’s much worse with the N54!

[matsmith749]

Much better with the n54.

Vroom!

3 litre twin turbo.... engine envy?

Bottom of the range < top of the range IMHO. Not a fan of any 4cyl engine when there is a 6cyl of any kind available.

I balance up the minor weight change by adding more lard behind the steering wheel

[DonDon]

Send them over here, had mine done twice and never had an issue nor paid a lot, this cost me 460€ (4 wheels):

IMG_9441.jpeg

I think they are a great looking wheel, suits the E89 very well, shame BMW didn't make them 19” but then again that’s probably a good thing considering the reputation of their 19” wheels cracking.

They look class, how did they do the red?

Basically split the rims, masked up the barrel of the rims so only the outer lip is red and the rest of the barrel and the face of wheels are black, once the faces are bolted back on you can't see where the red and black meet. The red is candy apple red over a gold metallic base. It looks stunning when the sun hits it, and in the shade the red is more subdued as per the photo above. Cost me 60€ for the candy paint just enough to do the lips of the four rims!

I haven't done it, but I believe you can get a similar effect with Rim Protectors.

[Silverstar]

Amazing, they look really good. I was toying with the idea of a white lip painted on or a polished outer etc.

Thanks! That's the beauty of these split rims there are so many customisation options.

I haven't done it, but I believe you can get a similar effect with Rim Protectors.

My mate has these on his car since he can't drive and keeps hitting kerbs! Alloygators I believe they are called. Not the same thing though, they are plastic and to my eyes they look cheap and nasty and if you happen to bash them you have to get them replaced at around 90€ each.