1st Feb , , 1st drive in 4th ZMR / thoughts

[mr wilks]

Been over a year since i last drove a S54 Z4 in between ive had a auto E86 , a DCT 35is & a manual 997 C4 .
The car was bought Dec 2019 without driving it & transported home , garaged on trickle charge & not moved until today I should have known what to expect but still surprised me just how raw & visceral these cars are , the throttle is urgent to say the least & the whole car is totally unrefined but in a good way :wink: 2nd -3rd still does the trick if you want to feel & hear the S54 doing its thing
Weather permitting i'l put some proper miles in tomorrow through the Dales .
The 997 may have gone but for now i have no regrets

 

[Smartbear]

Looking nice & shiny, have you had the machine polisher out Andy? :?
Rob

 

[mr wilks]

Looking nice & shiny, have you had the machine polisher out Andy? :?
Rob

Did have a dabble with the da over xmas Rob still lots to do on it , Durham Dave my next task along with a set of bespoke backboxes 8)

 

[markplant]

You doing the airbox again Andy

 

[mr wilks]

You doing the airbox again Andy

Probably not Mark , last time i ordered direct from Gruppe in Japan & the ££ costs were reasonable , around £630 with duty iirc , that figure is now around £800 whilst it was ( & is ) one of the best mods for a S54 right now its hard to justify the spend

 

[mmm-five]

You doing the airbox again Andy

Probably not Mark , last time i ordered direct from Gruppe in Japan & the ££ costs were reasonable , around £630 with duty iirc , that figure is now around £800 whilst it was ( & is ) one of the best mods for a S54 right now its hard to justify the spend

Might as well get the Geoff Steele carbon airbox and alpha-n (or similar) tune for it, for about twice the price. Makes the Gruppe-M look expensive.

 

[ShaunKC]

You doing the airbox again Andy

Probably not Mark , last time i ordered direct from Gruppe in Japan & the ££ costs were reasonable , around £630 with duty iirc , that figure is now around £800 whilst it was ( & is ) one of the best mods for a S54 right now its hard to justify the spend

Funnily enough Andy, I was just looking today at the Japanese Gruppe M direct site and the cost is currently £566 at the moment, obviously there might be import taxes on that, but it almost had me reaching for the wallet!!

 

[mr wilks]

You doing the airbox again Andy

Probably not Mark , last time i ordered direct from Gruppe in Japan & the ££ costs were reasonable , around £630 with duty iirc , that figure is now around £800 whilst it was ( & is ) one of the best mods for a S54 right now its hard to justify the spend

Funnily enough Andy, I was just looking today at the Japanese Gruppe M direct site and the cost is currently £566 at the moment, obviously there might be import taxes on that, but it almost had me reaching for the wallet!!

Cost will fluctuate with exchange rates i guess , the higher price was around 9/10 months ago when a friend enquired , i just assumed that would be the current cost as things rarely ever go cheaper , , , £566 you say i'l hold off , got a appointment this Saturday for sorting new backboxes

 

[Mr Tidy]

Your car looks great, Andy.

And now I know exactly what you mean by the M being such a "raw and visceral" experience - it's fantastic!

Hopefully you will get some miles on it tomorrow - I am hoping to do the same.

Iain.

 

[WillP]

Nice one Mr Wilkes! On the Gruppe M, I bought one at the end of last year, direct they went down to £545 plus postage of £85 - had to use their postage- non negotiable... so that made it £630 base.. + vat on import @ 20% made it £756..+ unknown import tax liability... so I just got one for CA Technologies for a bit more but cut out the hassle...yet to fit it.. hope it is worthwhile!!

 

[buzyg]

Been over a year since i last drove a S54 Z4 in between ive had a auto E86 , a DCT 35is & a manual 997 C4 .
The car was bought Dec 2019 without driving it & transported home , garaged on trickle charge & not moved until today I should have known what to expect but still surprised me just how raw & visceral these cars are , the throttle is urgent to say the least & the whole car is totally unrefined but in a good way :wink: 2nd -3rd still does the trick if you want to feel & hear the S54 doing its thing
Weather permitting i'l put some proper miles in tomorrow through the Dales .
The 997 may have gone but for now i have no regrets

Welcome back to the real world Mr Wilks.

 

[RedUn]

Been over a year since i last drove a S54 Z4 in between ive had a auto E86 , a DCT 35is & a manual 997 C4 .
The car was bought Dec 2019 without driving it & transported home , garaged on trickle charge & not moved until today I should have known what to expect but still surprised me just how raw & visceral these cars are , the throttle is urgent to say the least & the whole car is totally unrefined but in a good way :wink: 2nd -3rd still does the trick if you want to feel & hear the S54 doing its thing
Weather permitting i'l put some proper miles in tomorrow through the Dales .
The 997 may have gone but for now i have no regrets

Welcome back

Now you know why many of us ex Porsche owners drive these old skool fun

 

[Felix79]

Oddly enough I've taken my own MR out these last couple days for the enjoyment of the car (even though it's not a daily, I will tend to drive it at least 3 or 4 times a month just to keep it healthy).

The silver with the black wheels really works well on your car, normally I am not much of a fan of the "M" wheels on our Z4M's, but in a murder spec black, that do add something to your roadster.

I too, like others on this thread lust after the carbon airbox mod, but my god it's so much money regardless the time of year. I know I'm going to need to get some major work done to my exhaust system this year, so I am starting yoga classes in preparation of having buy one.

 

[wonkydonkey]

I too, like others on this thread lust after the carbon airbox mod, but my god it's so much money regardless the time of year.

Likewise. Its pretty much the only non-OEM mod I can see me doing to mine. I won't be doing it for a few months yet but can see me justifying it to myself because the carbon intakes sell for pretty strong money on the used market.

Car looks very nice, Mr Wilks! With each year that passes, cars like these become ever more enjoyable. Apart from the electronic throttle, they're about as "analogue" as I'd like a car to be (PAS and ABS are necessaries, I'd say).

 

[Felix79]

I too, like others on this thread lust after the carbon airbox mod, but my god it's so much money regardless the time of year.

Likewise. Its pretty much the only non-OEM mod I can see me doing to mine. I won't be doing it for a few months yet but can see me justifying it to myself because the carbon intakes sell for pretty strong money on the used market.

I think the carbon airbox and possibly a full stainless exhaust would be the mods I would do, as I think something that is a touch more savage near 6-8k RPM would just give the Z4M a nice edge.

 

[R60BBA]

The induction noise from the stock airbox is plentiful.

If you want to free up some sound have a tinker with the exhaust system instead.

Good to see you back in an M Andy

 

[AndyBeech]

The induction noise from the stock airbox is plentiful.

If you want to free up some sound have a tinker with the exhaust system instead.

Which are 2 completely different sounds. If I had to pick between an exhaust mod and a Gruppe M / Airbox mod at the same price it would be the airbox every time. Standard is tame compared to what's possible.

 

[beanie]

Couldn’t agree more. There’s good reason the csl was reckoned to have one of the best sounding engines this side of some serious exotica.

Induction noise every time 8)

 

[Felix79]

Is it the carbon or the shape of the airbox that gives it that induction noise?

Parts of my exhaust will need replacing this year and I would like a bit more crackle/overrun from the system. With me moving to a village, I REALLY don't want to pi.. erm upset my neighbors. My Poppa's E46 M3 had an aftermarket backbox on it and it was too much and boomed on cold start as bad as my old Impreza did.

 

[Z4M-2006]

The noise is due to the throttle body set up

Any induction modifications just amplifes the noise.