Barty's Green Z4 Coupé - Not another one…

[jock156]

PDM? As in DJ?

[Barty]

PDM? As in DJ?

As in a to-be revealed abbreviation. Gotta keep some mystery to it

[jock156]

:evil

[Street]

Are you finally taking on the 'Pink Dampers Makeover'?
Still not sure it'll go with the green but if anyone can make it work, you can!

[Calps]

I don't know what's more exciting - trying to figure out what PDM stands for, or waiting to watch all of this unfold. Maybe there should be a prize if someone guesses correctly - a spin in the 206 perhaps?

You certainly know how to keep busy Barty. Looking forward to what comes next!

[Barty]

I don't know what's more exciting - trying to figure out what PDM stands for, or waiting to watch all of this unfold. Maybe there should be a prize if someone guesses correctly - a spin in the 206 perhaps?

You certainly know how to keep busy Barty. Looking forward to what comes next!

That’s an excellent idea! Although it’ll have to be the 147, as the Peug has moved on to a next owner. Managed to buy my best friend’s first serious car back from another owner, and have “brought it home”.

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A 1.6 TwinSpark 147 Blackline, one of the last. Loaded with everything you’d want (leather heated seats, Bose, cruise, climate, and every design option you can think of) it makes for a perfect dog-van slash parts hauler

Pink Damper Mod: incorrect. Sadly, cause it does sound kinda fun

[jock156]

Go on You Tube and search for Purple Disco Machine! Thats your weekend listening sorted!

Love the 147s just not a fan of the newer nose!

[Calps]

Go on You Tube and search for Purple Disco Machine! Thats your weekend listening sorted!

Big PDM fan! Gimme them funky disco beats, baby....

[jock156]

PDM is a LEGEND in my house

[Barty]

Thanks for the musical suggestion jock156, you helped me sort my playlist for the night

It was actually very welcome and served as a perfect pick-me-up for what I think is now the 12th Zed in the studio!

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A 2004 Maldives Blue 3.0i with a healthy 315.000km or 195.000 miles on the clock The owner is a young car journalist and enthusiast who wanted to learn more about detailing. Having spent a serious amount of dough on getting it technically perfect, he now wanted to give the Z some much-deserved optical love. Day started at 08:00, and having just come home I can’t say I’m looking forward to the job of ceramic coating tomorrow. Still, considering what it was, and more importantly how it turned out…

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Yeah, that’s one shiny Z again, can’t wait for the outdoor shots! Perfectly timed for our Spring tour this Sunday

[jock156]

Good stuff!

[Barty]

Good stuff!

Thanks! Outside really didn’t disappoint

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Almost made me want to get a third Z there for a moment… Maldives Blue is such a stunning colour when the sun hits it right

[Barty]

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That Maldives Blue Zed was one of the 5(!) Z4's at our first 2023 edition of Corvo on Tour. A great afternoon out with absolutely gorgeous weather and a dito line-up of cars. Germans, Italians, Japanese, Brits- from fairly mainstream to the exotic (Daimler Super V8 anyone...), good times all round.

Afterwards I dropped off the 147 and picked up the Zed for a trip to dinner, a quick rinse and an evening drive.

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Gotta love spring

[Barty]

Third Time Lucky..?

A post of threes this time: on Aero adventures, Zandvoort trips and Scramble #3.

Let's start with another UK-trip I took back in May. Left at 04:00 in the morning to take the 07:30 train at Calais. I met up with Stuart just above London to collect another aero bumper and set of skirts. An absolute gent as always, especially considering he -to no benefit to himself- stored and carried the bumper and skirts for me in the interlude between me buying the set and being able to collect them. So a big, heart-felt thank you to bigwinn

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After a spot of lunch with my sister I drove back down to Folkstone, and another 3.5h later found myself back home with all the goods in the back of the Alfa. Now before you think I'm selling these on: I'm actually not. I bought a first aero bumper back in late 2022, as a trade against the M-bumper belonging to Thomas, a mate of mine. He wanted an aero front on his coupe instead, so it made for a logical exchange. Unfortunately, that first bumper turned out to be damaged in such a way that a repair wouldn't be viable. We could fix it, but it would always remain a weak point and as such not something I felt comfortable giving Thomas since he provided me with a perfectly fine M-bumper.

So in came bumper number two, collected in May and fitted last week.

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Looks good right? We thought so too, but there's a problem: apparently this bumper has been worked on in the past as well. Something we both hadn't noticed until it came to fitting it: the shape next to the headlight (curving up to the mounting point) has been altered in the past. Someone cut away some of the material, leading to a gap you can't correct for by moving the headlights around.

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We hadn't noticed since you only see this when judging the bumper's lines against the rest of the panels. Since he lives 2.5 hours away, I dropped the bumper off at the painters first so we didn't have to do this round trip twice. We spent 5 hours adjusting the bumper, lights and trying everything we could think of, but all in vain. Since I'm a firm believer of keeping your word: I'm going to have to get a third, proper aero bumper now... Sh*t

Zandvoort #3
While this was a huge setback and a deeply frustrating issue to have, I did have a session at Zandvoort booked the very next day. Something I'd been looking forward to for a while and -fortunately- a day I hugely enjoyed once there.

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We turned up with 3 coupes, including one you might recognise as JoelvdrZ4C's. While there, we discussed a roadtrip we've got planned surrounding Zedfest in August. We'll take the boat to Newcastle and then take on the NC500 before heading down to finish at Zedfest. Should be a good trip! Ultimately though, we were there for some track action, which we duly got at 18:00.

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The first few laps I spent building up pace and confidence again. While I'd been back at the track since my little off in December, I hadn't driven round in anger yet. I found myself taking it unusually careful out of turn 12 for the first three or so laps, before promptly putting my foot down and returning to my old self. By the end of the session I could really push the car again in the way I did before, leading to plenty of giggles and a slightly car-sick passenger (no incidents there, fortunately) who afterwards decided filming and looking at the screen wasn't the best of ideas...

Unfortunately, Rik wasn't quite as lucky. He was playing around in turn 8, pushing the car to and sometimes slightly over its limits. While hugely experienced with RWD cars, it snapped at him on the 5th or 6th try and he spun off into the grass, just grazing (ha...) the barrier before continuing on. The contact wasn't without damage though; rear quarter, taillight, bumper and a bent back-box all marked his impact with the steel armco. Bugger

Octane Scramble #3
Then last weekend, it was time for Octane Scramble #3. An event organised by a Dutch car magazine that appeals more to the enthusiast than the racer (or ricer) scene; a field filled with over 320 classics, young- and oldtimers, exotica and extreme high-milers. The fun at Octane really is the diversity of the cars and owners, yet who all share and understand the same passion. Parked next to the "92 Diablo of an acquaintance of mine was a first generation Citroen DS dressed in what was left of its original paint, while on the other side my friend had parked up in his "98 Daimler Super V8.

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I'd parked next to another friend's Brera SV6, next to whom was Bas with his beautifully restored Fiat Barchetta. Bas is the co-owner at our studio, and this little Fiat has been a true labour of love over the last 6 months. Only completed weeks ago, we haven't even been able to sand back, polish and coat the paint yet as it isn't quite hard enough yet. Job for next winter

Interior Appreciation
After Octane I decided to go for a drive. No people, no phones, no music, no distractions; just a cruise to enjoy the weather and clear my mind. At one point I pulled over to enjoy the silence, the views and just sit back and look at the car for a bit. It's always been a childhood dream to restore or build my own car, and this is the first serious foray into that area. Certainly won't be my last, but it's good to remind yourself just how far you've come sometimes and take it all in.

One thing I've never really done is show the results of the work on the interior (bits and pieces, but not the whole thing). So I decided to take advantage of the lovely sunshine and snap a few pics

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Remember the beige? Yeah me neither... It feels and looks OEM, which is what I was after.

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Upon closer inspection, you discover more and more details that deviate slightly from the original design. The individual steering wheel retrimmed and resprayed to match the body colour. The dash trim in Tiefgruen metallic that comes alive on days like today.

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Another look at the steering wheel, as well as at the custom carbon binnacles I've had made. Matched to the carbon doorhandles (also trimmed in nappa leather), it just adds a subtle touch to the cabin that matches the exterior design with its elements of green, black and carbon.

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Finally the M-sport seats, resprayed in a deeper, matter black than the original BMW black. Rather than add a drop of blue dye (which BMW does to create a slight sheen to the colour) I've gone for 100% black. The topcoat is 100% matte as well, instead of the factory 80% matte/20% gloss finish. Dito on the doorcards, which are still not the finished product.

In fact, the more I looked, the more I realised that while almost there (and gorgeous as it is, if I may say so) it's still not complete. I've got a few more plans for the dash, speakers, insulation, seats and door panels that I want to get done. Same goes for the exterior: nearly there, but not quite. The goal is to create the perfect foundation for a final modification that will dwarf all the work I've done so far. At that point, Project PDM (which will now receive pink springs thanks to the suggestion of Street, I promise!) will also come into play.

Fair to say: while I enjoyed my trip down memory lane and appreciated the progress this car has made, it also reminded me of just how big a change still lies ahead. Onwards then

[jock156]

Good read! I have the exact same issue with my Aero bumper around the headlights