£2k budget for mods...where to start?

Haha, yeah guessing it might cost a little bit more than £2k really...! Nope, the £2k was a budget to start with really, I'll add to the pot as we go through the months. I probably won't do the wrap/repaint until spring time...the others will come along piece by piece.

As for resale, who knows what will happen to these cars in a few years...it might bomb down to £8k or it might become a sought after little thing, say £20k+. I'll only do 3k miles a year in the car, so for me it's a little bit of the journey of modding it, seeing what improvements I can make to it...making it individual (which is a big reason why I bought this in the first place). I have a couple of other cars that don't really lend themselves to modding, so this might be fun.
 
personally id use the car, have fun with it and then decided where you want to take it, the z4m is a GREAt basis for modifications and it REALLy comes alive with them. The world of modding has become so fun and interesting now days with many companies showing us how to do it ( on different platforms albeit) with the likes of singer, and other resto-mod companies particularly of interest for me. Did anyone see the MG in this months evo?? looks bone stock but was just a complete animal under the skin, so so so cool... but with a 90k price tag, not so cool.

it took me around 2.5 years of just enjoying the car, driving, trackways, to work out where i wanted to take mine. For me.. i wanted uber performance, and i more than achieved it.

With the world of EV vehicles, small CC turbo motors, DCTs --- mod away, enjoy that manual box, enjoy that glorious s54 and drink it all in while the motoring world changes behind us,
 
Most of those mods look as though they are for looks rather than performance, would that be fair?

A few comments on the list:

wrap - unless your paint is way better than mine I suspect that a wrap would be quite risky, I suspect you'd risk a fair bit of damage when it came off

carbon roof - would love that, what's a realistic price?

gruppe M - had one, removed it and sold it

wheels - I have stuck with 18s as tyres are cheaper, and I tend to use a lot ... I have Forgestar F14 track wheels and Apex EC-7 road

sticky tyres - MPS Cup plus seem to be the best, but pricey; lots of alternatives out there

springs - if its just for looks, then springs should be fine, but if you really want to improve the suspension then you should consider a full spring and damper setup from the likes of Bilstein, KW, ACS, Nitron, Intrax, etc.

exhaust - again I had an after market exhaust, removed it and sold it (but I think I'm in the minority as I don't like loud cars)

strut brace - generally seems to be a good mod - but I've never driven a Z4 without one so can't really comment

BBK - I have the AP setup and it is excellent but a lot of money

seats - very very few bucket seats actually fit in the Z4; sadly the CSL seats are horrifically expensive (if you can get them at all); in the end I went for the Tillett B5 in carbon fibre with Schroth harnesses. Actually fitting them is a moderate pita but not too bad - you'll probably find you spend a lot of time mucking about, fitting and re-fitting until you get it right. A few things you will need to think about: mounting the seats themselves; mounting the seat belts and dealing with the airbag/occupancy lights.
 
Beedub, Tertius....thanks for comments, all interesting points.

Ref using the car, I just don't have opportunity to do the miles really, work in London, 2 miles to the station and then get on the train everyday. Then most of my weekend is taken up with footie, so people could kind of ask, what's the point of a car like this??? I love cars though, used to detail the CSL every Saturday, on reflection it really was immaculate at 60k miles when I sold it....but then kind of fell out of love with it all, boring but brilliant 5 series, X5, Audi's, blah....now we have dumped some money back into cars (have a AMV8 and bought the missus a TTRS) to enjoy for a few years, no kids so why not!

In my mind the appeal of this car is that it's a nice balance between modern and old school motoring. I love the engine, it sounds like it's going to explode every time you drive it. I like the weird jerkyness of the gearbox (when cold), as it poses a challenge to get it right. I like the slightly dodgy handling characteristics, driving it yesterday in the rain required real concentration. To me, it's a slightly less madman version of the TVR Sagaris I had for a short term loan earlier this year (now that's a car that really grows on you, truly sh*t at first, but you end up loving it).

I haven't driven a truly sorted Z4M as yet, so I kind of agree that I'm probably going to do some mods which don't work, but we will see how we get on. I think £10k more or less will probably see it finally done.
 
Whereabouts are you? You'd be welcome to experience mine (SW Lndon) but I wouldn't call it sorted - still a work in progress, but it has a fair bit done.
 
Funny thread, I opened it ready to add my 2p worth, but seems you pretty much have your mind made up :)

However, for the first £2k, I think suspension and strut brace would be favoured mods from my ready on here. Exdos is your man for suspension and he seems pretty impressed by his ACS (coilovers?) set up, whilst others seem to favour the KW V3 adjustable coilovers. Bilstein B12's have always intrigued me, come with the Eibach Pro Kit springs, but not sure anybody on here has used the kit, so not sure how the dampers would fare.

Aero skirts would be my first choice for aesthetic mods as well as CSLs, not sure the CSLs add any performance benefit, 19" would make them tramline more on the road and many criticise the ride. Also supposedly heavier than the 224's so wouldn't help on unstrung weight either (although I've read conflicting views and never seen a weight comparison).

I like the look of the Apex Arc-8's also, but again not sure on performance benefits.
 
Ha, the 2pence is always welcome, I like this forum, seems to have a lot of good input and knowledge on here....without the trolling d*ckheads (ala pistonheads). The more I read the more I get ideas about stuff to do. It's funny, the CSL had almost no mods you could really add to it (barring AP's)...so quite like the idea of almost making a Z4MC CSL.

The suspension does seem the main weak point of the car, so would be keen to take a ride in one with a set up other than stock.

I'm in Essex, and work in Central London, so anyone near by with a modded car would be good to take a look at.
 
Here's an earlier attempt at a Z4M CSL.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=32758&hilit=Z4m+csl
 
Angelus666 said:
As for resale, who knows what will happen to these cars in a few years...it might bomb down to £8k or it might become a sought after little thing, say £20k+. I'll only do 3k miles a year in the car, so for me it's a little bit of the journey of modding it, seeing what improvements I can make to it...making it individual (which is a big reason why I bought this in the first place). I have a couple of other cars that don't really lend themselves to modding, so this might be fun.
Click to expand...

Being the last great straight 6 NA engine from BMW the value may go up, who knows? It is a great engine though.

Someone on here did have a M3 CSL type modded Z4M, was looking pretty good but forget his username, would be a good project though, if not an expensive one! Wouldn't mind doing something similar myself though.
 
i mean the z4m aint no e30 m3 BUT.... in the future.... i think they will rise up in price, we have a long time however so enjoy the wait i say :-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom