Hello all! E85 vs E89 reliability?

[Wulftop]

Hello people! I'm still poking around to find all the cool stuff you have.

Sorry if this is the wrong place, but the E85 and E89 both have their own forums and I didn't see a cross forum to post in.

I went and looked at a couple Z4s to buy today. I'm buying one, not two, just to be clear.

I really liked the E89 retractable hard top, and I like the overall look of the car. My wife especially was thrilled watching the top go and up down. And well, we all like to impress our ladies.

The E85 however was clean, simple, and a great car.

My main question though, is how is the reliability between the two?

I do all my own mechanic work, previously had an E36, which I loved. The Z will be just a weekend fun car that I'd like to keep on the road for the next decade without too much time spent on the hoist.

Which one is going to be the most reliable if I treat it well? I don't really flog cars hard, and I keep up the maintenance. My friend insists that the E89 is much more complicated, has a lot more electronics and going to cost me a lot more in the long run. Is he right?

On another note, is there a reliability difference between the manual and automatic? I'd prefer a manual, but they're hard to find around here.