Sam's Project Clubsport/OEM+

Now that I've actually bothered to do a few bits to the car, I suppose it's about time to create a project thread where I'll be able to document things.

I bought this car about a month ago from a fellow forum member, HGoward, and have been over the moon with it! I have had a few RWD BMWs in the past, comprising of 4 different BMW E36's in different states of modification (from lowering springs and an LSD to fully stripped & caged track car) and a modified 130i which happens to share the same engine as my E86. The 130 was an awesome car and I really regret selling it, but the Z4, so far, feels much more special and I'm excited for what the future holds.

The caveat to this whole project idea/thread is that I still have a burning desire to go and live in New Zealand for a bit whilst I'm still young enough and have no responsibilites, so with that in the back of my mind I can't go too mad with this car.

I am partial to the odd trackday and Nurburgring trip, so the goal would be to create a car that can turn up, be a hoot to drive, then drive home without destroying my back, wallet, or sanity from ridiculous NVH.

Anyway, on to the actual car itself...

As I mentioned on my first hello, it came with a few modifications that had been carried out by previous owners. None of them were on the extreme end, and I do believe they complement the car, bar the rear end but that's due to personal preference. There were also a few minor issues I noticed when looking around the car, but I believed I should be able to rectify them (this is still to be decided)...

The mod list when I bought it:

Bilstein B12 Pro kit
Buckley side indicator caps
Tinted windows in the rear
Storm Motorwerks gearknob & handbrake lever
12mm front spacers, 15mm rear spacers
Alcantara wrapped steering wheel
Maxton design rear spoiler
Stubby aerial

Here's the picture on collection day about 10 miles away for some fuel:



After an enjoyable drive back with no issues in relative comfort (the cushioning on the driver's seat base has pretty much disappeared where my coccyx is, so it does ache after a while), I spent the first few days just enjoying it. The car itself has revived my interest in just "going for a drive" - something I didn't want to do in the E36 as I thought I would crash into something any time I wasn't on a track due to cold tyres, brakes, or some other ridiculous excuse I told myself.

Then it was time to check the car was really ok, by driving it from Herts/Essex border to Manchester & back. Again, relative comfort (seat permitting), averaging just under 40 MPG which I was pleasantly surprised by. Took the A635 across to Manchester where I could, which was well worth it on the way there as we hit torrential rain at the very start of it :x On the return, however, it was dry and reasonably quiet. This allowed me to drive in a slightly spirited manner for all of 3 flowing corners, after which my girlfriend in the passenger seat complained she was getting car sick; that put an end to that fun. :roll:



Something I had noticed when I'd been pushing the car was a bit of understeer. As the car has a staggered setup anyway, I knew it would understeer, but I don't think it was helped by the Uniroyal Rainsport 3 boots on the front. They're great in the wet, but in my experience they're a bit too soft for dry conditions if you're driving quickly. The rears have Michelin Pilot Supersports which work well, so I changed out the fronts with some Pilotsport 4. This definitely helped with the understeer, but didn't remove it all together.
A quick picture just down the road outside a local Rolls Royce specialist.



Being cursed with the modification bug, I decided that a nice OEM upgrade to the front ARB was in order, as this would definitely help understeer (not)... The plan would be to upgrade the rear at a later date, too, once funds allow. Anyway, found a Z4M one on eBay that came with Powerflex purple ARB bushes, result! When I went to fit the new bar, though, I did notice something off with the bushes.



I'm sure those two faces are meant to meet eachother... Oh well

As justification to myself to change the ARB, I also wanted to replace the droplinks with some fresh ones, as I noticed that they had been an MOT advisory the past couple of years. To be honest, once I'd taken them off they still felt relatively solid so I'm not sure what the tester was doing, but it was nice to see that they were Meyle HD items too.









Once under the car, I noticed a little bit of oil underneath. Now, when I bought it, as I was looking around it I noticed that the oil filter housing gasket looked a bit black, and I believe this may have been running down the front of the engine, then along the sump, and onto the undertray. Still don't know if this is what's causing it, but went ahead to try and replace the gaskets anyway, as they were included with the sale

That then leads me onto this bolt. Whoever at BMW designed this, in my opinion, hates the home mechanic. What's wrong with the standard Torx bolt that is enough of a pain in it's standard form?!



Safe to say that my female torx bit wasn't deep enough to fit over the silly ball, so that'll need to be a job for a different day. :thumbsdown:

I also whipped off the vanity cover to get a better look at the rocker cover and valvetronic gasket, as these could be the source of leaks too, when I was presented with this.

The filler cap! I'm not sure how long it's been leaking, but it looks to have been a while, because there was a pool of oil that can be seen in the picture, in addition to a fair bit more further down by the coilpack casting recess. Thankfully I had this in the garage, and although I'm a bit purist with putting ///M parts on non-M cars, I quite like this addition



So far, this seems to have stopped that leak, so happy days there.

The final action on Saturday was to carry out the "camber pin" mod that is pretty common across BMWs of this era. Removal of the allen screw allowed me to push the strut across whilst the wheels were off, to give a very small amount of negative camber. Again, in the pursuit of better front end grip, this was a free modification.



With everything tightened up and the car back on the ground, it was time to take it for a spin to see if I'd made things horrendously worse, or slightly better.

The result? Much to my surprise, the understeer seems to have pretty much disappeared Turn in is sharper due to the bigger ARB, and now instead of understeer, it feels like a progressive 4 wheel slide - not so great for the road, but on track I think it'll be a welcome improvement.

That brings me up to today.

Plans for the car? Well, like I mentioned in the last post, I'm not sure. For what I want to do in New Zealand, I need a bit of cash to be comfortable. The plan would be to go in April of next year, which is a long time to prevent myself from going down a rabbit hole with this car.
In my mind, there are a few mods/fixes I'd like to do in the immediate future, after which I'll see where things stand and go from there.

The car idle fluctuates a bit, which I've read can be the eccentric shaft sensor - I've not seen any evidence of it being changed, so that's on the shopping list (just waiting for Autodoc to have a very generous daily discount offer). Whilst there, I'll change the rocker cover gasket, as well as fit the new Valvetronic gasket that also came with the car.

The brakes need some attention, as the bite is horrible, and fade happens pretty rapidly. New fluid, new discs and some EBC Yellowstuff pads should rectify this I think. Also open to recommendations on pad choice, as EBC are discussed to death on the internet with half the audience saying they're s**t, and the other half saying they're best bang for the buck.

Some new wheels are on order, but I've been waiting since the end of May, so who knows when they'll turn up! I've already got some Accelera 651 semi slicks waiting for them, so it'll be interesting to see how the car handles on 17s, with a square setup, and some stickier tyres.

Finally, the Z4M rear bumper and Eisenmann Sport Quad rear backbox will be replaced once the local motorsport place has space. If anyone is after one, or either, of those, please let me know

Thanks to anyone who has read the waffle :lol:

LemonConnoisseur said:

Finally, the Z4M rear bumper and Eisenmann Sport Quad rear backbox

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Nice write up and I will be following with interest . I`m sure the bumper and back box will sell no problem

I love write ups like these - great info and attention to detail.

Looking forward to your future updates!

Sounds like a great project, nice car. I'll definitely be keeping tabs on this. Good luck mate

Don't forget the lightweight bucket seats & lithium-ion race battery to lose those extra pounds!

Thanks all for the feedback this will be an ongoing thread, updated as and when I get to do any significant work.

mmm-five said:

Don't forget the lightweight bucket seats & lithium-ion race battery to lose those extra pounds!

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This is part of the problem I'm facing... Both options are exactly what I'd want to do, maybe a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery instead as they're over 50% cheaper, but there is the cost implication behind these mods. That's easily over £2,000 for those particular pieces, and that's pretty much double the cost of flights to New Zealand. Decisions decisions!

If I do go for the buckets, I'm going to opt with Cobra Nogaros as I'd like to retain easy functionality of the 3 point belts.

Fantastic project, although appreciate your dilemma vs. heading to NZ for a bit (took a similar option when I was younger and it was a riot). You could always do a few transferable mods and stash the parts somewhere for a future E85/E86 purchase?

If you do anything this year, please get the Nogaros as I'd love to know whether they fit.

It looks like you are getting your E86 how you want it - hopefully the new wheels and tyres will help too.

But if you are set on NZ maybe don't get too carried away!

MrPT said:

Fantastic project, although appreciate your dilemma vs. heading to NZ for a bit (took a similar option when I was younger and it was a riot). You could always do a few transferable mods and stash the parts somewhere for a future E85/E86 purchase?

If you do anything this year, please get the Nogaros as I'd love to know whether they fit.

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I could do, but knowing me I’d buy them, fit them, then somehow lose the originals The Nogaros are tempting though, and I can’t see why they wouldn’t fit.

Mr Tidy said:

It looks like you are getting your E86 how you want it - hopefully the new wheels and tyres will help too.

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I think they will! If the wheels ever turn up



On another minor point, I’m awaiting a deep E12 socket that I’ve ordered to be able to tackle the oil cooler bolts as there was one hidden underneath that is a pig to get to. Hoping it arrives tomorrow so I can change the gaskets this weekend.

I’ve just booked onto an evening session at Brands Hatch on the 1st August, so I’m very excited to see what the little black beast can do on the limit! Brakes are going to be the let down I reckon as they already fade on the road, but it’s a good way to get through the remainder of the terrible pads that are on it

Why are you changing the rear bumper and exhaust?

The oil cooler bolts have the bobble on because there a plastic cover that clips onto them which covers the cooler. However it is impossible to remove the cover without breaking it. The z4 engine bay just doesn’t allow it… this suggests someone may have down your oil filter housing and cooler gaskets before.

Beesza said:

Why are you changing the rear bumper and exhaust?

The oil cooler bolts have the bobble on because there a plastic cover that clips onto them which covers the cooler. However it is impossible to remove the cover without breaking it. The z4 engine bay just doesn’t allow it… this suggests someone may have down your oil filter housing and cooler gaskets before.

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Just personal preference really, I don’t like having a Z4M bumper on a non-M - strange, I know.

Well, if they have done them before then they didn’t do them very well as they’re leaking like a sieve and judging by the dried oil on the block, it’s been leaking for a while.

Meanwhile, as a reward for booking the track day, the battery has now died on me in McD’s car park :thumbsdown:

LemonConnoisseur said:

Just personal preference really, I don’t like having a Z4M bumper on a non-M - strange, I know.

Meanwhile, as a reward for booking the track day, the battery has now died on me in McD’s car park

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You shouldn't have much trouble selling the modified exhaust and M bumper on here.

Shame about your battery, but better now than when you are doing your track day!

Update time, not the battery...

Unfortunately it appears as though the starter motor has shat itself now! An unexpected job to be attempting tomorrow, just got to hope that Euros have it in stock and BMW have the bolts in stock. :roll:

Love this kind of thread and this one is really well put together.

Not in way way questioning the results experienced but in theory at least a bigger front ARB without any other mods should actually increase not reduce understeer.

LemonConnoisseur said:

Update time, not the battery...

Unfortunately it appears as though the starter motor has shat itself now! An unexpected job to be attempting tomorrow, just got to hope that Euros have it in stock and BMW have the bolts in stock.

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Oh dear! With a bit of luck the motor might come with new bolts - I know the water pumps do.

plenty said:

Love this kind of thread and this one is really well put together.

Not in way way questioning the results experienced but in theory at least a bigger front ARB without any other mods should actually increase not reduce understeer.

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Thanks

Oh I absolutely agree, adding a bigger front ARB and doing nothing else should increase the understeer for sure. I genuinely don't know how this hasn't, but maybe it is all due to the -.5 degree of camber I managed to add in :trampoline:

Mr Tidy said:

Oh dear! With a bit of luck the motor might come with new bolts - I know the water pumps do.

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One can hope! Although, reading Lucas' thread/guide, he didn't change the bolts so I doubt they do come with them. We shall see tomorrow

LemonConnoisseur said:

Oh I absolutely agree, adding a bigger front ARB and doing nothing else should increase the understeer for sure. I genuinely don't know how this hasn't, but maybe it is all due to the -.5 degree of camber I managed to add in :trampoline:

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That would certainly explain it!

So another update time, this is going to be a bit of a long one with a fair few pictures. So long that it'll likely spill over into a couple of posts, so bear with me.

As I mentioned before, the starter died yesterday at McDonald's. There weren't really any prior symptoms beforehand other than it being slightly sluggish to start yesterday afternoon, but it just felt like a slightly low battery. Anyway, I managed to secure a remanufactured Bosch unit from ECP this morning, which was a good start! That was quickly turned on it's head because calling BMW meant that I was going to have to wait until Monday to get the replacement starter bolts. Given they're aluminium and weigh about as much as a feather (they're unbelievably light), I didn't really want to risk snapping anything given the location - drilling them out would not be fun at all.

I got home and decided to tackle the removal of it anyway, as I can then just fit the new starter in place with one of the bolts loosely secured, to then be swapped out once I've got the new bolts. Simple, right?

Having read Lucasxdiniz guide on his starter motor replacement, I was going in with confidence! This disappeared almost immediately. I don't know if it's because Lucas has the later model N52 with the different CCV system, or the fact he's some kind of Wizard, but I have no idea how he managed to remove it with the intake manifold in place.

Onwards and upwards, it's only an intake manifold, it can't be THAT hard.

Started with the removal of the top of the airbox and the sound generator. I later went back to remove the bottom portion of the airbox for space.

Removed one side of the strut bar for access.

Very carefully removed the CCV pipe that connects on to the rocker cover - I've read horror stories about how brittle this pipe is, so I really, really didn't want to break it. (Thankfully it looks intact at the moment)

Dropped the throttle body off the intake (not sure if this is even necessary)

Loosened all of the torx screws for the DISA Valve as I wanted to inspect it. Tried to give it a tug, it didn't move. Won't be inspecting that one then.

With that removed, I started to undo the bolts/nuts that secure the intake to the head. Simples.

Tried to give it a pull to see where was causing resistance and preventing me from removing it, discovered the fuel line that connects to the rail. Again, a scary fitting that could break, but being gentle it came off. Slightly covered in fuel, but we persist!

Pull again, realise there's another CCV hose connected down below that's causing issues. Struggle to remove it, but off it comes.

At this point, I'd removed a fair amount of bits, and really didn't want to cock anything else up, so I decided just moving the intake to the side would hopefully give me the access I needed.

I could now see the starter in all it's glory! Still a bit awkward to get to, but managed to get both of the bolts out, plug disconnected, and the positive wire removed, with the only injury being a slightly bruised knuckle due to accidentally punching the side of the head whilst undoing one of the bolts. Success!

Quickly checked the new starter against the old, as ECP had a couple of different fitment options, but I took a gamble and it paid off.