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Martyn's Z4M Coupe

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Martyn
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Post by Martyn » Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:39 am

Ed Doe wrote: Tue Oct 18, 2022 9:55 pm
Martyn wrote: Mon Oct 17, 2022 8:47 pm Never made it to the dyno unfortunately but my E46 M3 made 362bhp with an Eventuri and my own tune.
Was that just a tune and eventuri? Surprised, I always thought there was bugger-all room for up gains without cams on the s54!
Eventuri and decat from memory.

I tuned a friends E36 S54 Kumho race car which had a big airbox on, exhaust to suit the e36 chassis and we made ~380bhp on a stock leggy motor.

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The bottom end of the rev range wasn't great due to the merge location and a failing TPS sensor but the car went very well.

I also tuned it a few months before that when it had a really rough GSR airbox on it, and it made similar power.

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Ultimately, most healthy S54s with an airbox or decent intake and a tune in an E46 M3 make around 350-360bhp, obviously the MSS70 is a totally different to tune but it has the advantage of being much better to datalog than the MSS54.

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Post by insider » Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:07 am

Awesome evoloution Martyn, thanks for sharing!

Could you also write few words what was or is the focus of the build, e.g. road, road and track, etc? Apart from the obvious as a development car :)

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Post by Martyn » Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:30 am

insider wrote: Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:07 am Awesome evoloution Martyn, thanks for sharing!

Could you also write few words what was or is the focus of the build, e.g. road, road and track, etc? Apart from the obvious as a development car :)
Thanks.

I had no real focus other than I just wanted to improve the things I didn't like about the stock car.

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Post by Ed Doe » Wed Oct 19, 2022 9:49 am

Fascinating stuff Martyn, thanks for the additional detail/info :)
Carbon Black '07 M Coupe: Intrax 1k2 Coilovers, AP-Racing, Raybestos ST45s, Tillets, Schroth, Vibratechnic, Apex EC7, Strongstrut, Eventuri, H&S, RTD, 4.1FD :evil:
Silver Grey '06 3.0si Coupe - SOLD :(

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Post by Argenta » Thu Oct 20, 2022 12:59 pm

This was news to me too, interesting!
This is basically without raising the limiter..?

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Post by autobahner » Sun Oct 23, 2022 6:23 pm

Martin, I had a quick read of your E46 thread and having had both myself and in the market for either Z4M or E46 M3, how would you compare the two, from your experience?

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Post by Martyn » Sun Oct 23, 2022 7:05 pm

Tough one.

I've had 3x E46 M3s and 2x Z4Ms (one roadster, one coupe) but I prefer the ride and handling of the M3 to be honest.

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Post by autobahner » Sun Oct 23, 2022 9:38 pm

Martyn wrote: Sun Oct 23, 2022 7:05 pm Tough one.

I've had 3x E46 M3s and 2x Z4Ms (one roadster, one coupe) but I prefer the ride and handling of the M3 to be honest.
Thanks Martyn 😊

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Post by insider » Fri Oct 28, 2022 11:56 am

Martyn, how would you rate your brake setup? You have brembos only on front, right?

I have a roadster with fresh fluid, fresh discs and pagid pads. I have thought it will do for street, but the brake feel and inconsistency in pedal travel just don't give me confidence. Thinking of throwing in the towel and ordering the kind of setup you have...

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Post by plenty » Fri Oct 28, 2022 12:11 pm

insider wrote: Fri Oct 28, 2022 11:56 am Martyn, how would you rate your brake setup? You have brembos only on front, right?

I have a roadster with fresh fluid, fresh discs and pagid pads. I have thought it will do for street, but the brake feel and inconsistency in pedal travel just don't give me confidence. Thinking of throwing in the towel and ordering the kind of setup you have...
Try some uprated pads. I am running Performance Friction 11 compound which works superbly. Available here for £87 posted for a set of fronts: https://www.design911.co.uk/fu/prod1307 ... 3--E36-M3/

Not to be confused with the vastly inferior PF Z compound.
Last edited by plenty on Fri Oct 28, 2022 12:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Martyn » Fri Oct 28, 2022 12:13 pm

insider wrote: Fri Oct 28, 2022 11:56 am Martyn, how would you rate your brake setup? You have brembos only on front, right?

I have a roadster with fresh fluid, fresh discs and pagid pads. I have thought it will do for street, but the brake feel and inconsistency in pedal travel just don't give me confidence. Thinking of throwing in the towel and ordering the kind of setup you have...
I'd say they're a decent step up from the single pot stock setup, I went for PBS Pro Race pads and they're perfect for fast road without being noisy.

Over the years I'd have had the following aftermarket setups on E46 M3s / Z4Ms:

CS/CSL/Z4M stock setup - Nothing to write home about, even with PFZ pads fitted but then I've never really been a fan of single pot calipers on the front of a car!
Porsche 996 Brembos front and rear - Never really rated this setup, pedal travel felt too long imo!
Yellow Speed 6 pots front and rear - Worked well, finish on the calipers was poor though, but discs and pads were cheap to replace through Malc Buck.
F8x M3/M4 380/370mm front and rear - Fantastic setup, but quite a bit of work to get them on though but easily the best brakes I've had to date. I used DS UNO pads with this setup which were brilliant, but very noisy.

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Post by Ed Doe » Fri Oct 28, 2022 1:41 pm

Just for reference in regard to the braking discussion - if you can find a set of the original 135i performance 6pot calipers, they fit the Raybestos ST45 Pad pattern used in the BTCC cars, so pads are cheap through Malc Buck. they also fit the standard Z4M discs if you didn't want to stray too far away from OE, and there are bmw specific adapters to fit the Z4m Hub (they're quite rare 2nd hand, but plenty of aftermarket suppliers for these now).

I had this setup on my old 3.0si, but with DS2500 pads - worked really well on track and on the road :)

Anyway sorry for going off-topic just thought it might be of use to someone - if you're savvy it can work out as a relatively inexpensive route to upgrade the brakes. Bear in mind the calipers do need 10mm spacers to clear the spokes on OE Front 224M alloys though!
Carbon Black '07 M Coupe: Intrax 1k2 Coilovers, AP-Racing, Raybestos ST45s, Tillets, Schroth, Vibratechnic, Apex EC7, Strongstrut, Eventuri, H&S, RTD, 4.1FD :evil:
Silver Grey '06 3.0si Coupe - SOLD :(

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Post by maupineda » Sat Oct 29, 2022 12:50 pm

Marty. Would you kindly share the steps needed to update the DME using WinKFP?

Also, any news on the remap tool for the Z4M?

Edit: compounding question. Can a US DME programmed to EU spec? Or would there be issues? My car is US but has not EU headers and Cats in the section 1.

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Post by Martyn » Mon Nov 14, 2022 6:29 pm

Sure, I'll put something together.

I wouldn't flash euro software unless you have the full euro exhaust setup.

Couple of updates on the Z4M, I did an oil and filter, no pictures as it's pretty uninteresting.

I also swapped out the OEM inlet boots with some Turner Motorsport silicone ones as the OEM ones were leaking under boost. This lead me to pressure testing the whole inlet, which is easier said than done with everything being so tightly packed together.

I ghetto bunged the main inlet using rubber glove and some thick plastic and a jubilee clip, which worked enough to get some pressure in the inlet, I also gutted an old air temp sensor I had and fitted it with a schrader valve so I could hook up the airline, then used to some leak detection spray to check for leaks.

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Leak detection spray is dead handy!

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This confirmed the new throttle boots don't leak, however the ghetto glove/plastic bung wasn't holding up so well, after trying to find something to fit I decided to fire up Fusion 360 and throw something together that I could 3d print.

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and printed!

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Fits like a glove, and holds boost!

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During the pressure test I found that the VF supplied Greddy bypass valve was blowing open at 3+ psi, so I removed that and threw on a Tial Q I had sitting around, my god does it make a racket, but at least it's not bleeding precious boost! :D

I also rerouted one of the lines from the catch can so that it no longer runs between cylinder 4 and 5, which makes accessing the throttle boot clamps a hell of a lot easier.

The car is feeling great, although even with PS4S on it's struggling for grip in 1st, 2nd and the top end of 3rd at the moment :roll:

Clutch replacement is likely to be on the cards very soon, after 142K miles it's hardly surprising.

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Post by Martyn » Sun Nov 20, 2022 8:24 pm

So, I chucked the car up on the quickjacks on Saturday morning ready to tackle the clutch, I unbolted the decats and was met with this mess.

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The crack is pretty much all the way round the pipe. I attempted to tig the crack but there was just too much crap embedded in the base material :roll:

After looking into my options for replacement, I shot Wasif aka Wassup a message to see if he had a set of headers from the Z4M he recently broke, thankfully he still had them so a deal was struck!

I removed both the front and rear section of the headers from the car so I could check them over for any other cracks etc. I can't believe how easy they are to remove!

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I've ordered a replacement braided vanos line as there's clearly a leak from the hose or the fitting on the accumulator, it'll be a piece of cake to fit whilst the headers are off.

I also ordered a replacement rear main seal, new copper nuts, gaskets and a SAP delete plate to throw on along with a new guibo/flexdisk and center support bearing for the prop. The guibo is showing signs of wear so I might as well throw a replacement on whilst the prop is off the car for the clutch, same with the CSB.

Seeing as the headers will be off the car I also ordered some heat wrap so I can wrap the headers before re-fitting, it'll help keep the charge cooler lines a bit cooler (these can be seen in the last phot above, they're sleeved in insulated wrap). I'm also going to swap out the charge cooler water pump with a higher flow unit to see if it improves cooling at all.

Now I just need to wait for the bits to arrive :)

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