Two Photos of our e89

I took a few more photos of the Z today. A couple of them were ok.

Looks good, nice day out for a drive. Like the look without the orange wing reflectors over the front wheel arch that the US cars get

Looks great. I can't wait until I get mine in June.

Is the kidney grills crome with black fins? Is that standard?

Originally Posted by dsturgeon

Is the kidney grills crome with black fins? Is that standard?

Yes. That is the grill that came standard on our UK spec. Feb 2012 build 20i M-Sport.

I think the US 28i gets that grill too.

Nice set of wheels. Love the color combination. Mine is Jet Black/ Kansas Black interior
Happy Motoring

Thanks.

Post some photos of yours when you get a chance.

Doesn't black over black get a little hot in AZ?

When it is hot in AZ it doesn't matter what color your car is, I have owned black, blue, red, green, grey and silver cars both in AZ and CO and to be honest, there is not much difference i temperature. Regarding the two year philosophy of BMW that new 2012 cars can go before service, I would be interested in seeing the results of oil tests after two years or 24,000 miles on engine oil. Yes, synthetic oils have improved the way we maintain our cars, but when you and I had to pay for service on our cars, how many delaers said it was justifible to go two years without a fluid change. To me even 15,000 miles is way to long an interval to cahnge oil and lifetime is just as ridiculous. BMW is looking at their lifetime oils and have made some statements that maybe they were wrong in expecting lifetime oil. I will continue to use 'old school" maintenance and enjoy my dark color cars.

Our Z is on a 2-year lease. The car will be due for service about a month before lease return. I may send off the oil for analysis just out of curiosity. I don't see much point in paying for an extra oil changes if we aren't keeping the car.

I would be interested in hearing about the oil analysis. If you are not going to keep the car, I see no rerason to spend the money either. Condition based maitenance is a way that manufacturers can sell maintenance free cars. Think about it, when there was no such thing as Maintenance free service, the manufacturers had you changing the oil every 3months or 3,000 miles. The transmission fluid was changed at 30,000 mile intervals and air filters and plugs and other itmes were changed at the owners expense. Since the manufacturers are paying they introduce a condition based system depending on how your car is driven. The old school phrase was pay me now or pay me later, and it didn't matter if you drove a Honda, Porsche, BMW, Toyota or any brand. If you maintain a vehicle it will last especailly the mechanical parts. Sorry for my soap about maintenance but I am a believer in "old school" maintenance. From What I have heard, BMW now admits that the transmission fluid needs to be replaced and theat plugs on the turbo models should be replaced at 45,000 miles. Maybe they will eventually come full circle and return the marque to "non throw away" cars.

07 BMW 335
09 BMW Z4 3.0

I'm totally with you guys on old school maintenance. If you want to do an oil analysis to see if your oil is not depleted at a given mileage interval, go online to Blackstone Labs. They'll send you a container to take an oil sample - return it and see what they say. It's cheap, like $35 or something.

I've done this and change my synthetic oil every 7500.

Blackstone Labs - excellent choice!