Barty's Green Z4 Coupé - Not another one…

[Vanne]

Cheers bud

[Vanne]

Thanks for the pics mate, frikkin epic

[Barty]

Vacation Prep
In preparation for my trip I decided to treat the Zed to a bit of extra TLC as well as a pair of new brake callipers, which got a fresh coat of dark grey metallic paint since they were off anyway.

IMG_8873.jpg (145.88 KiB) Viewed 1319 times

New pads, fresh oil and original MANN filter, as well as a clean of the aFe intake. I also removed the CDV, which I'm happy to report has made the car even more enjoyable to drive. Subtle and yet profound, the pedal feel is considerably more natural yet not shockingly different to before. It's nice, but hard to explain! If you're considering it: mole grips for the flex line, 10 minutes of your time and you're all set. Since I replaced both of the front callipers I treated the coupe to fresh brake fluid as well.

Finally, I retrofitted a pair of original BMW doorspeakers to add a little to the other wise lacking 6-speaker set-up. Easy enough job, and with a noticeable result- excellent for the trip ahead. The now complete all-black doorcards went in a few days before departure, and have once again moved the interior look forward.

IMG_9019.jpg (124.1 KiB) Viewed 1316 times

Como & Croatia 2022
My very first introduction to Z4 ownership was my trip to Como last year. A week blasting around the lake and surrounding mountains. This year, that tradition continued. A few days in advance, we decided to turn our drive down to the lake into part of the experience. Together with a good friend, who joined in what can only be described as the best cared for Brera I know of, we set off.

IMG_8956.jpg (205.89 KiB) Viewed 1319 times

Day one was spent on an autobahn blast to Freiburg, 50 miles from the Swiss border. Nothing special there, but day 2 was spent entirely on crossing Alpine passes: Grimsel, Furka, Andermatt, Lukmanier, as well as a few smaller passes in between. 500km's of Swiss roads, resulting in a smile that was hard to get rid of. Absolutely stunning scenery for mile after mile. Naturally, the gratuitous Furka Pass Belvédère Hotel pic was in order!

IMG_9054.jpg (210 KiB) Viewed 1319 times

We spent the next 5 days at Como, mostly stringing together gorgeous sights and simply lovely towns. Lots of lovely lunches and dinners, with a particularly memorable night out at Villa d'Este. Once again, in for a classic!

IMG_9165.jpg (313.16 KiB) Viewed 1319 times

We were joined by a few more friends on Saturday, adding a seriously tuned Giulietta QV and a 159 torque monster to the mix. Good times

IMG_9308.jpg (202.66 KiB) Viewed 1319 times

On Monday, we set off to Croatia. A mind-numbing 550km drive to Optralj; endless Italian motorways through uninspired landscapes, mostly under the close supervision of average speed camera's. Granted... In areas without average speed camera's, some Italian tune ups were performed. Happy to report the revised geometry and alignment feels more stable at speed- even well above 200 kph.

As for the rest of the week? It was spent driving through one of the prettiest countries I've been to in a long time, visiting lovely towns and meeting great people. If you're considering a trip to Croatia: do it. Kind people, good food, great views, lots of history- some of which still very much alive.

The Zed performed almost flawlessly: on the 1400km drive back, the wipers -well, one of them- decided to pack up with another 1000km to go, and nothing but unrelenting rain and bad traffic to make it even more interesting. We could see the mechanism had come off the ball joint at the driver's side wiper. We attempted to remove the arms and scuttle, but they simply wouldn't budge. A slight saviour was my decision to pack a small bottle of Aquavelox, a glass sealant similar to RainX but a bit more hardy. At the first services I cleaned the glass best I could, applied two coats and waited with a cup of coffee for it to dry out. The sealant that is, not the weather. No chance there...

As we set off, visibility was acceptable as long as I was driving above 50 kph, and good when going above 100. Unfortunately, this wasn't all that easy... We had to take a 1.5h backroad route around Munich, saving us well over 3 hours otherwise spent in a queue that only turned out to get longer. We found this out because 2 of my friends decided to join the back of the line, and got home about 8 hours after us despite departing only 90 minutes after we did.

Nearly 4000km's in 12 days, some of them at considerable speed, "unusual" angles of attack (Croatia's roads are really slippery, which is fun!), as well as a few bum-clenching moments on the way home. It was an absolute hoot, and I wish it could have lasted longer.

The Zed performed beautifully aside from its minor mechanical faillure (albeit with less than minor consequences, granted). It ran smoothly, pulled up to 252 kph on the GPS on three occasions, carried me and a friend with our luggage in decent enough comfort- I can't fault it! It came back covered in dust, sand, mud, flies, dirt and God knows what else, so I spent an hour or two today cleaning it back up.

IMG_0125.jpg (187.43 KiB) Viewed 1319 times

Ready for new adventures!

[Mr Tidy]

That sounds like a great trip Barty, and your Z4 has cleaned up nicely.

[Griffo46]

This thread is inspiration for me and the future with my Zed.

[zriha]

Nice to see you in Croatia mate, next time send PM

[Barty]

Finally managed to fix the wipers. I’d originally ordered a retaining clip to secure the ball joint that had popped off. Unfortunately that got lost in the post, and I was fed up with not being able to go out in the rain… So:

198D791F-990A-46D3-8097-F5E52FAEDF1C.jpeg (64.17 KiB) Viewed 1136 times

Drilled out a slightly undersized hole through the ball, then tapped a thread and fitted a screw with a decent size washer. The washer only just touches on the arm, so there’s no stress on the screw when in use. Wipers are working as before again!

1AC8F1FC-0BE4-4CC9-B16E-6C8ED3493CC1.jpeg (246.63 KiB) Viewed 1136 times

Then this morning, I got a message from my neighbour informing me of a car show just round the corner. Popped over, at which point they promptly asked me to park on the field rather than the lot- great morning out

[jock156]

Loving the Ghibli

[Barty]

Loving the Ghibli

Sounded absolutely epic too… Stainless bespoke system tied into an engine bay that would make an OR look filthy

[jock156]

[Barty]

Aero Adventures
For a while now, I've wanted an M-bumper to bring the nose up to standard with the rest of the car. Given the price BMW asks these days, it wasn't on my shortlist of items, though the now complete rear-end did feel a little unbalanced to the still original front. Suddenly, an opportunity arose: a friend with an M-bumper fitted to his Si decided on an aero front bumper. So we made a deal: I'd source and buy an aero front-end, and I could in return have his M-bumper. Fair enough! In fitting my aero skirts, I also seem to have inspired a few fellow Dutch Zed-owners who now decided to do the same. Soon enough, interest rose from not just one but three coupe-compatriots! The hunt was on...

A few weeks later and the shopping list was complete: one aero front bumper, three sets of side skirts, as well as few small bits and bobs. With the goods arranged, I set off for England with my fellow Zed owner and friend joelvdrZ4C. Left home at 03:30 for the 1-hour drive to Joel, and then off to Calais. Arriving 3 hours later, we had a mere 35 minute wait for the next train, arriving in England at 08:00 local time. First stop was just off the M20 for the first set of skirts, and then onwards to Warrington.

IMG_1078.JPG (141.58 KiB) Viewed 956 times

14:00 arrival, quick load-up and a friendly chat, only for us to head back the way we came. A well-deserved burger at the tunnel during our wait, followed by a quick and comfy passage back to France. Another 3-hour jaunt back to Joel's, ending up back in the Zed for the last hour home. Total time in the car: 23h40m, with a distance of 1700km/1060 miles covered.

IMG_1094.JPG (379.16 KiB) Viewed 956 times

Our companion, an almost new X5 40e, proved to be hugely comfortable and a very capable long-distance cruiser. Still, getting back into the simple, analogue world of the Z4 was very welcome after being lulled into a sense of comfort and ease by the X5. The back-to-basics experience never disappoints, and proved a perfect stimulant to perk me back up at night!

Next step will be taking the bumper to the bodyshop for some minor repairs and a respray, after which we'll be face-swapping the Zeds. More on that soon!

I spy with my little eye: something that starts with Z!
A week or two later we organised another edition of the Z-tour with the Dutch E86 club. Poor weather and busy schedules saw our numbers dwindle from 12 to 5, but that didn't prevent us from having a blast! Country lanes, fast forest routes, as well as a few dike roads- we had a bit of everything thrown in the mix.

IMG_2176.JPG (317.82 KiB) Viewed 956 times

Fast forward to last weekend, where on Saturday I set off to Zeeland with Joel and his freshly updated coupe: aero skirts painted and fitted, as well as a slew of other updates I'll leave to him to reveal. Fair to say: it looks absolutely stunning! We met up with Thomas and went for a spirited drive around the peninsula, after which the guys continued on without me because I had a track-session that afternoon at Zandvoort!

IMG_3196.JPG (271.85 KiB) Viewed 956 times

Zandvoort. GP lay-out by default, so what you see on TV is exactly what you get to sample. Except maybe the speed... First time taking the Z on track (not my first time, thankfully), and a few random observations I've had during my 30 minutes of fun:

Smiles for miles; having the straight six singing just never gets dull. Handling-wise, I was impressed with the performance of the Vredestein Vorti R's as well as the STX coilovers. Other drivers commented on how flat and composed the car looked from the outside, sentiments I can echo from behind the wheel. I do miss the feedback from the steering wheel, which is slightly dulled by the EPS. Turn-in is slightly compromised by initial understeer and the lack of an LSD, the latter of which you also feel when powering out of a turn. That said, the Z will happily track through a corner once persuaded into it. A few 4-wheel slides into turn 2 (Gerlach) setting up for the slingshot through 3 (Hugenholtz) were an absolute hoot. The biggest compromise (besides my lack of talent) were the seats; Recaro Pole Positions have been on my shopping list for almost a year now, but have been bumped up near the top after last Saturday! Brakes were okay but not brilliant. I'll have to see about swapping for better pads next time (DS2500 or Red Stuff) while planning my overall brake upgrades next spring.

IMG_3215.JPG (134.7 KiB) Viewed 956 times

After 30 minutes of hooning around, we pulled in to share stories, smiles and experiences. Bas' Barchetta (which has been rebuilt last summer) held up beautifully, with the only car suffering a failure being the Volvo: 4 burst coolant pipes have led us to expect the worst...

Corvo on Tour: Dishing the Dirt
With a Saturday like that it would make sense to take it easy on Sunday, both car and driver deserving a rest. So we didn't. Instead we hosted the second edition of Corvo on Tour, a drive with a number of our customers, their friends and a few followers from social media. 25 cars lined up for the start ranging from Alfa's to Land Rover's and Mazda's to BMW's, including two Zeds as well! A 150km drive around the Veluwe and Heuvelrug followed, which also included a 2-kilometre stretch of sandy trail. Huge fun in the RWD cars, all happily throwing their tails out given the opportunity. It did lead to my car -being messy already from the track and daytrip before- getting absolutely bathed in dirt, sand and mud.

DSC_1055.jpg (244.68 KiB) Viewed 956 times

Legend has it those wheels were once bronze... Funnily enough, I love it when cars look like this. To me, it shows they're being used for what they were intended for: fun!

Getting back from the Tour, I suddenly realised the car was booked in for an MOT the next day... Yikes. With the sand literally coming off in chunks, I gave it a quick rinse so I wouldn't completely soil the poor guy's workshop.

IMG_3377.JPG (192.08 KiB) Viewed 956 times

Two new front brake hoses (OEM, not braided) were fitted before the MOT as they were a known worn item. The outer liner showed cracks in the rubber, not yet going down to the core but better safe than sorry. Fortunately, all the main brake lines were replaced a few years back, including the sections over the tank. Saved me that trouble, thanks very much! With no other remarks, the car is ready for another year

Next up...
Short-term, I'll be fitting the M-bumper once the Aero is ready to go for my mate. I also have a donor-dashboard at home that I plan to use for something special. As always, OEM-quality and style is the aim of the game where possible, and this is no exception. More on that later. Furthermore, I'll also take on the headlights and bring them up to par; upgrade to modern xenon projectors instead of the current halogens, installing halo's and reworking the internal shroud to align more with the rest of the front-end design. Finally, another trip to the UK is in the books for the end of December... More on that as it unfolds (you'll get that pun once I get back)...

[Calps]

Another great update Barty.

I enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) following your adventures on Instagram as well!

[Barty]

Much appreciated Calps! Every time I see those bronze wheels on your sapphire coupe, I just think it looks even better than I remembered. The combination of wheel design and colour are spot on. Any further plans with the Zed right now, or in hibernation over the winter?

[Mr Tidy]

Another great update Barty.

You've really been doing some mileage in your Zed.

But it looks like you Dutch guys are buying up all the UK Aero sills! I'm just glad I bought mine when I did.

[Barty]

Thanks Mr Tidy, managed to clock up roughly 20.000km over the first year in the Zed, as well as a fair few in the hunt for parts…

BC1C6D6E-D525-4186-B0E3-9181BACFD83F.jpeg (211.11 KiB) Viewed 851 times

Finally gave the Zed a proper clean again today, in preparation for a piece in a local paper on unique cars and their owners. At least one of the two should look presentable…