BMW Z4 sDrive30i G29

In September 2025 BMW issued recall 25V-636 covering nearly 200,000 vehicles in the US (and a parallel global campaign covering 575,000 cars) for a Valeo starter relay that can ingress water, corrode, and short-circuit. A follow-up recall 26V-056 in early 2026 added 87,000 more cars where the starter motor itself can wear and overheat. Both recalls affect the Z4 sDrive30i built 2019 through 2022. BMW recommended owners park outside until repaired. Remedy is a free starter or starter relay replacement at a BMW dealer. This is the single most important check on a used G29 — verify the work has been done via VIN check with BMW. If completed, no further action needed; if not, schedule it immediately and park outside in the meantime.

The B48's oil filter housing is plastic and uses rubber gaskets that harden with heat cycling. Leaks typically appear between 80,000-150,000 km and are widespread enough that a US class-action lawsuit named the B46/B48/B58 family in 2024-2025. Symptoms include oil drips on the underbody, oil smell, and visible seepage on the front of the engine. Gasket-only replacement runs €400-700 at an independent BMW specialist; if the housing itself is cracked or warped a full housing replacement is needed at €1,000-1,500. Easy to spot on a pre-purchase inspection — look under the engine for oil residue around the filter housing on the passenger side.

Recall 20V-355 covers 2019-2020 Z4 sDrive30i models built between October 2018 and July 2019. The factory tie rods are an earlier design and can fracture at the kink groove under high temperatures and rough roads, with sudden loss of steering control. About 4,542 Z4s were affected globally. Remedy is free replacement of both tie rods at a BMW dealer. Like the starter recall, verify completion via VIN check. If not completed, do not drive the car at speed until repaired.

A documented weak point across B46/B48/B58-powered BMWs covered by service bulletin SIB 17 01 21. The vent line runs from the cylinder head to the coolant expansion tank and is a thin plastic tube that sits in a hot area. After roughly 80,000-150,000 km it becomes brittle and either cracks or splits at the connection. Coolant can dump onto the engine or evaporate inside the insulation — owners often describe a sweet syrup smell before the warning light appears. Repair is straightforward: €300-500 at a specialist, up to €900 at a BMW dealer. The bigger risk is if it fails on the highway and goes unnoticed, leading to overheating and a warped head.

The G29 returned to a soft top (after the E89's folding hardtop), and it is generally well engineered. Two issues recur on owner forums: first, drain channels under the roof storage compartment clog with leaves and debris, allowing rainwater into the hydraulic motor compartment and causing corrosion. Annual cleaning of drain holes prevents this. Second, owners commonly report squeaks from behind the driver's head or at the front screen in cold weather, attributed by BMW to trim panel de-bonding. Pump motor replacement runs €1,500-2,500 if it fails; trim adjustment and lubrication of the roof mechanism is a €100-300 fix. Always cycle the roof up and down multiple times during inspection.

A relatively benign B48 issue — the valve cover gasket can begin to seep oil after 80,000-130,000 km. It is typically a small leak that does not affect oil consumption but will leave residue visible at the top of the engine. Not urgent unless oil is dripping onto hot exhaust components, in which case it should be replaced promptly. Gasket replacement is €350-500 at a specialist, €600-700 at a BMW dealer. Often done together with the oil filter housing gasket to save labor.

Reported by roughly 6% of G29 owners. The iDrive head unit is sensitive to voltage stability, so a weak or unregistered 12V battery is the most common cause — the system can crash during acceleration or with high electrical loads. Software updates from BMW resolve many cases. Diagnosis: have the battery load-tested and confirmed as registered to the BMS. If hardware replacement is needed it can run €1,500+, but most cases are fixed by a battery refresh (€300-400 including coding) or a free software update at a BMW dealer.