Liam's Z4C race car project

[Liam22]

Vanne, my ACS door cards are approx 1.2kg each, so congrats on your featherweight carbon items.

Will, thanks! Nice to see you here.

Dave, very hard to say. Without the tunnel trim and central storage then no problem. But you could easily lose those parts if needed. Unless you need them for sprint regs...

 

[JDavis21]

Vanne, I already had a seat but it wouldn't fit, so I searched for one with the narrowest upper width.

The spec for your seat has the upper width at 560mm, which is pretty wide.

I'm looking at a Z4 Roadster for track/sprint work, and would be looking at running similar width seats. I realise it's chalk and cheese, given how much you've stripped, but do you have a sense for how your shoulder parts would have fitted with door cards and centre cubby/console in place?

Hi Dave, I have Recaro SPG's fitted with my centre console and door cards still in place. I have them mounted as close to the centre console as the multi-hole E46 base plates would allow, with runners - so the hip point is actually still a similar height to the stock seats.

They have about 20mm clearance to the door cards without touching the centre console. The only minor issue is getting the middle cupboard door open if the seats are far back, but I can still open it if I push them forwards.

I don't mind going to take some measurements and pictures if you think it might help you? Only thing to note is that I currently have the centre console out to replace my brushed aluminium trim.

 

[DaveP]

cards still in place. I have them mounted as close to the centre console as the multi-hole E46 base plates would allow, with runners - so the hip point is actually still a similar height to the stock seats.

They have about 20mm clearance to the door cards without touching the centre console. The only minor issue is getting the middle cupboard door open if the seats are far back, but I can still open it if I push them forwards.

I don't mind going to take some measurements and pictures if you think it mig

Those SPGs are pretty wide too. That's really encouraging, thank you.

I find the Sparco Sprint L to be a great compromise seat for my 'girth' and length, and has worked fine to run down to the Ring and back in a single hit in the past. It's a similar width as your SPG at the top, but not as narrow at the base. I think I'm going to need to suck it and see...

 

[Rebello]

Awesome...https://z4-forum.com/forum/posting.php?mode=reply&f=2&t=112593#

 

[Vanne]

Hmm,.., JDavis and Dave, I recon Byron might appreciate your posts, he's struggling with the Recaro seats atm.

 

[JDavis21]

Hmm,.., JDavis and Dave, I recon Byron might appreciate your posts, he's struggling with the Recaro seats atm.

Always happy to help.

 

[Liam22]

A nice job for being out of the carport... we have stripes!

 

[Ladderman]

Hi Liam. I'm thinking of removing the power steering motor when I change the front ARB. Can I ask how your car handles at slow speed maneuvering? My Z4 is not a daily drive, but in the summer I do use it a lot round the doors. Could I also ask were you got your Bav coils & RTAB bush tool kit from?

 

[Liam22]

Hi Liam. I'm thinking of removing the power steering motor when I change the front ARB. Can I ask how your car handles at slow speed maneuvering? My Z4 is not a daily drive, but in the summer I do use it a lot round the doors. Could I also ask were you got your Bav coils & RTAB bush tool kit from?

I kept the EPAS.
Coils came direct from Bav Auto while they were still in business (and I was travelling to the US frequently).
Bush sleeve kit was generic from eBay.

 

[MrPT]

A nice job for being out of the carport... we have stripes!

20200506_220638.jpg

Bit of a nod to the AMG GT-R Pro there? Looks good.

 

[Liam22]

Bit of a nod to the AMG GT-R Pro there? Looks good.

A nod?! It's a total rip off :lol:

Good spot

 

[Liam22]

This weekend has been spent getting the interior wiring finished off.

Removed a few more redundant wires from around the centre console area and then re-bundled the main loom that runs behind the dash/fusebox. While I had the fusebox off again I added additional feeds for camera and an auxiliary power distribution box on the transmission tunnel.



Also tidied up the battery wiring and fire extinguisher cables. Battery is secured with some 4mm aluminium and sits perfectly in the channel on the floor.

 

[Vanne]

Damn, good work mate!! perfect position and super tidy. I just emailed FEV, in regards to your kit, hopefully no issues shipping one of those by air freight.

must be nearly ready to hit the track eh?

top notch mate!

 

[Liam22]

Time for the good stuff! Let's get the wing on...

I bought a 160cm carbon wing from Geoff Steel Racing. This is based on the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car with mounts to fit the BMW 3 series. So the big challenge is to adapt them for the E86 hatch.

My plan was to use aluminium angle to secure the mounts to the rear deck and also the vertical part of the tailgate. So I started out by making a template from one of the mounts out of plywood and cutting it to wrap around the bootlid.



Then I cut the real mounts to match the template and started making little brackets from the aluminium angle. This was really difficult as the bootlid is not flat, so none of the brackets are at right angles.



Took about a day to make all 6 brackets, and paint the cut edges.



Then after some careful drilling of the bootlid, and some very careful drilling of the wing, I was able to glue and rivet the wing onto the adjustable saddle.



It's flippin' enormous! But but so cool...

 

[Z4C_er]

That is huge!!! Do you have any adjust-ability?

 

[brillomaster]

that is ginormous! but super cool... because racecar. looking forward to seeing the first shakedown!

 

[Vanne]

Nice work Liam, that will provide some much needed downforce.

 

[Liam22]

That is huge!!! Do you have any adjust-ability?

Yes, the wing is adjustable, but I think I need to drill a few more holes so I can take some more rake off it.

Last of the big jobs was to make a replacement dash panel and fit all the necessary bits and bobs. Took a good few hours to trim it neatly to match the curves of the dash.

After realising I was going to need to keep the heater controls (to bleed water pump) I wanted to hide it, so extended the dash panel down to the transmission tunnel. This turned out to be a convenient place to mount the DSC and Sport buttons.

With the fire extinguisher, battery isolator, and necessary stickers, it now looks like a race car inside and out!



A race car is never "finished" but at this stage we can call it 'ready'

Also seems that I've stretched it out just as the circuits are reopening. Got a test day booked for Snetterton next Thursday!

 

[lucasxdiniz]

A race car is never "finished" but at this stage we can call it 'ready'

Also seems that I've stretched it out just as the circuits are reopening. Got a test day booked for Snetterton next Thursday!

Looking very nice! Enjoy the test day

Any plans for the shifter?

 

[enuff_zed]

That is huge!!! Do you have any adjust-ability?

Yes, the wing is adjustable, but I think I need to drill a few more holes so I can take some more rake off it.

Last of the big jobs was to make a replacement dash panel and fit all the necessary bits and bobs. Took a good few hours to trim it neatly to match the curves of the dash.

After realising I was going to need to keep the heater controls (to bleed water pump) I wanted to hide it, so extended the dash panel down to the transmission tunnel. This turned out to be a convenient place to mount the DSC and Sport buttons.

With the fire extinguisher, battery isolator, and necessary stickers, it now looks like a race car inside and out!

20200517_165539.jpg

A race car is never "finished" but at this stage we can call it 'ready'

Also seems that I've stretched it out just as the circuits are reopening. Got a test day booked for Snetterton next Thursday!

That's interesting? 3 miles from me! Working from home but could possibly sneak out.
Do you know if they will let others in, just to watch?