Having just waved goodbye to #34 I would like to introduce #35 - a 2011 35is in Sapphire Black with the Pure White Design package and 82,000 miles at the point of acquisition 
35is - #35
- Thread starter RickyBobby
- Start date
Service and maintenance record:
Pre-Ownership
Registered - 02/07/2011
Oil service (Barons BMW Hindhead) - 9,743 miles 28/06/2013
Insp II service (Barons BMW Hindhead) - 21,770 miles 29/01/2016
Brake fluid service (Cooper BMW Reading) - 24,239 miles 27/08/2016
Oil service (Vines BMW Redhill) - 34,084 miles 21/11/2017
Brake fluid service (Vines BMW Redhill) - 52,346 miles 07/09/2018
Insp II service (Vines BMW Redhill) - 59,084 04/02/2019
Cylinder head gasket replaced (Vines BMW Redhill) - 67,982 miles 12/08/2019
Rear pads and wear sensor (R Hughes Auto Repair) - 76,500 miles 20/07/2022
Front shocks replaced (Stoke Bishop Garage Bristol) - 77,200 miles 03/05/2023
Oil & Brake Fluid Service and new battery fitted (Redish Motorsport Bristol) - 77,602 miles 24/08/2023
Both front wishbones replaced (Stoke Bishop Garage Bristol) - 80,854 miles 23/05/2025
Oil service & new A/C compressor (ADH motors) - 80,987 miles 19/09/2025
Water pump replaced - 06/03/2026
Post Ownership
2 x MPS4 225/45R18 - 82,331 miles 22/05/2026
6 x Bosch ignition coils & 6 x Bosch spark plugs - 82,500 miles 01/06/2026
Pre-Ownership
Registered - 02/07/2011
Oil service (Barons BMW Hindhead) - 9,743 miles 28/06/2013
Insp II service (Barons BMW Hindhead) - 21,770 miles 29/01/2016
Brake fluid service (Cooper BMW Reading) - 24,239 miles 27/08/2016
Oil service (Vines BMW Redhill) - 34,084 miles 21/11/2017
Brake fluid service (Vines BMW Redhill) - 52,346 miles 07/09/2018
Insp II service (Vines BMW Redhill) - 59,084 04/02/2019
Cylinder head gasket replaced (Vines BMW Redhill) - 67,982 miles 12/08/2019
Rear pads and wear sensor (R Hughes Auto Repair) - 76,500 miles 20/07/2022
Front shocks replaced (Stoke Bishop Garage Bristol) - 77,200 miles 03/05/2023
Oil & Brake Fluid Service and new battery fitted (Redish Motorsport Bristol) - 77,602 miles 24/08/2023
Both front wishbones replaced (Stoke Bishop Garage Bristol) - 80,854 miles 23/05/2025
Oil service & new A/C compressor (ADH motors) - 80,987 miles 19/09/2025
Water pump replaced - 06/03/2026
Post Ownership
2 x MPS4 225/45R18 - 82,331 miles 22/05/2026
6 x Bosch ignition coils & 6 x Bosch spark plugs - 82,500 miles 01/06/2026
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- Joined
- Dec 19, 2018
- Points
- 145
- Location
- Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
- Model of Z
- Z4 E89 20i sdrive roadster
No words . . . Jealous . . . But no words . . . 
Nice, look forward to your experience with this one as I was toying with trading my ///M in for one once I had finished my resto off.
and here we go again hahaha
So this was another sight unseen purchase for me but to spice things up I agreed to collect it the day before the MOT expired.
Although the car had done less than 1,500 miles since it's last MOT the previous owner had warned me it would need to new front tyres.
Fortunately the MOT station I'd booked in with for the day after collection quoted me a good price on a pair of MPS4 and as expected with those fitted the car passed no problem.
Although the car had done less than 1,500 miles since it's last MOT the previous owner had warned me it would need to new front tyres.
Fortunately the MOT station I'd booked in with for the day after collection quoted me a good price on a pair of MPS4 and as expected with those fitted the car passed no problem.
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- Joined
- Dec 26, 2016
- Points
- 144
- Location
- Spaldingski, Lincs
- Model of Z
- 3 litre Z3 pretending to be Italian exotica. Two previous E89 Z4s.
Do you get a discount for being an extremely good customer?
Ticked off the usual list of internal jobs with an initial wash and treatment of all the rubber seals with Swissvax seal feed.
Pulled the kick plates off and cleaned underneath them replacing a couple of broken clips either side.
Finally removed all the boot trim to check for water ingress and ensure the rear light grommets are properly fitted - no evidence of ingress and the grommets were fitted correctly. This is a 2011 car so you will notice the 3 securing screws as opposed to 2 in the later cars
Also I took the opportunity to confirm that the Salmon Relays had been replaced as advised by the previous owner - both were dated 2302 so clearly they had albeit 3 years ago
Pulled the kick plates off and cleaned underneath them replacing a couple of broken clips either side.
Finally removed all the boot trim to check for water ingress and ensure the rear light grommets are properly fitted - no evidence of ingress and the grommets were fitted correctly. This is a 2011 car so you will notice the 3 securing screws as opposed to 2 in the later cars
Also I took the opportunity to confirm that the Salmon Relays had been replaced as advised by the previous owner - both were dated 2302 so clearly they had albeit 3 years ago
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Next on the list of initial ownership jobs was seat removal and carpet clean - this has proved to be easily the cleanest E89 I have bought but unfortunately the result of that is I only found 25p 
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2018
- Points
- 145
- Location
- Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
- Model of Z
- Z4 E89 20i sdrive roadster
I've been thinking I should sort my salmon relays too, so thanks for your photos Gary.
I did a quick search of where to find them. Chatgpt says later cars (mines a 15 plate) says I might not have them, the function was incorporated into an ecu.
I’d better go and lift carpets and investigate !
I did a quick search of where to find them. Chatgpt says later cars (mines a 15 plate) says I might not have them, the function was incorporated into an ecu.
I’d better go and lift carpets and investigate !
I regret to inform you that on this occasion (as I suspect in many others) Chatgpt is talking rubbish
I know that becuase the 18i I've just sold was a 2015 car and I had changed the relays on that before the sale.
I always buy them from the main dealer which in my case is Sytner Sheffield - from memory they are less than £16 each.
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2016
- Points
- 144
- Location
- Spaldingski, Lincs
- Model of Z
- 3 litre Z3 pretending to be Italian exotica. Two previous E89 Z4s.
You don't want to start taking notice of AI, it talks rubbish.
All E89s have salmon relays.
AI may be thinking (?) of later cars being G29s, which don't have them. But that is a completely different car altogether.
AI will probably say they are called salmon relays because of the slightly fishy odour too.
When I collected the car my first stop was the petrol station which I must have reached on vapour. On departure the car started running rough and a warning light came on so I pulled over to read the code with the Creator 310+ which I'd taken along.
Suffice to say at this point I was more than a little concerned but the code highlighted a misfire due to low fuel and after clearing it the car ran fine for the 3 hour journey back from Bristol.
However, after the MOT pass I was exploring the upper end of the rev range when the warning light and rough running issue returned.
This time the reader was showing an issue with cylinders 5 & 6.
Looking up the codes on the forum it sounded like the problem was likely to be the ignition coils.
The service paperwork I got with the car suggested a couple of coils had been replaced but I couldn't find any evidence that the plugs had been changed since 2019.
So I ordered a full set (coils & plugs) of Bosch replacements from Euro Car Parts and fitted those the following day - since then the cars been fine and the issue hasn't returned
Suffice to say at this point I was more than a little concerned but the code highlighted a misfire due to low fuel and after clearing it the car ran fine for the 3 hour journey back from Bristol.
However, after the MOT pass I was exploring the upper end of the rev range when the warning light and rough running issue returned.
This time the reader was showing an issue with cylinders 5 & 6.
Looking up the codes on the forum it sounded like the problem was likely to be the ignition coils.
The service paperwork I got with the car suggested a couple of coils had been replaced but I couldn't find any evidence that the plugs had been changed since 2019.
So I ordered a full set (coils & plugs) of Bosch replacements from Euro Car Parts and fitted those the following day - since then the cars been fine and the issue hasn't returned
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Decided to treat myself for Father's Day and bugger off in the car this morning - just got back and despite what they say I don't think anyone even noticed
Nice one Garrie, I notice that the coils on that are easier to get at than on the 23i. Apart from the front two they are awkward to get hold of on the 23i , but easy when you know how.
Driveability whats it like compared to the 2.3 and 3.0?
Yes 5 & 6 are a little tricky on the N54 Ken but I had a magnetic spark plug spanner and torque wrench which made easy work of it