lights on rev counter

[Angelus666]

I seriously don't get why you'd buy an M car if you didn't want to take the engine up to 8k rpm very often....I actually feel the worst part of the car is the gearbox and the low end grunt.

There are far better cars out there with the power delivery lower down (my missus TTRS for example).

 

[Mad Professor]

Cant wait for the predicted heat wave this weekend to get the top down and do some serious short shifting

Made me laugh. Enjoy the weekend... i'll be driving some extra distance too, gona take the B-road route from London to Nottingham

Cheers Jimmy -that's a long route you're taking -must be for pleasure

 

[Mad Professor]

I seriously don't get why you'd buy an M car if you didn't want to take the engine up to 8k rpm very often....I actually feel the worst part of the car is the gearbox and the low end grunt.

There are far better cars out there with the power delivery lower down (my missus TTRS for example).

OK here goes with a rather long explanation of my rationale in going for my Z
Well I'm a bit of old man and SMWBO really hated the Caterham [and all of its previous iterations ] and it wasn't doing my back or my tinnitus any favours -i had to wear ear plugs all the time and the noise was still rather intrusive -we're talking here a Quaife straight cut box and twin 48's -even though it was truly epic in terms of handling and mentally quick .Also above 60 mph it was a bit unpleasant in terms of all the wind buffeting especially without the doors on even with the deflectors in situ . It was just a silly male menopausal impulse buy to be honest .
I did actually consider either an S2K and a Boxster S and X150 XK 4,2 NA before i bought the MR -the S2k had a truly great box and bomb proof engine but you had to keep the revs up all the time to keep it on cam -which is a bit wearing -below 5-6k its a bit limp and handling didn't thrill me either . The cockpit was also a bit ordinary .
The Boxster S ticked all the boxes to be fair but it was just a bit too clinical and i'm not sure my fickle ego could cope with all that anti-Porsche sentiment going on out there on the road ,not to mention a lot of potential uber expensive issues with RMS and IMS . If you get past those issues they are amazing value cars for sure -I couldn't find enough brave pills to go there .
I couldn't find a decent X150 NA conv in my price range either <15K -it's a much better car than the X100 which i had before -much stiffer and better made all round .
A TT -sorry but just too common not special enough for me -and didn't give me the tingle factor although as a daily its a wise choice for sure .
I'd really love another TVR -a precat big valve Griff would be ideal -but i've been there got the T shirt [literally ] and wept into my wallet with repair bills and shoddy reliability and build quality -and the later TVR st 6 engines are all flawed due to issues with the followers =more tears and aggro .
I previously had a gorgeous phoenix yellow S54 Z3 which was great but it was let down badly by the handling and i tested a Z4 2.5 at the time which i recalled was so much better aside from the engine .
So that led me back to the Z4M and one happened to come up locally at a sensible price soon after i sold my 7 and when i drove it i just liked the whole package . It all made perfect old man sense . So while i appreciate i won't be exploring the crazy performance at the top end of the rev range very often [i will however promise to make an effort to do this and report back ] -it's quite nice to know it's there if you want it -sounds a bit daft but there you are .
It just feels like a special occasion getting into the M -OK so i know the Boxster handles better and has a legendary badge and the S2k sounds like a superbike on steroids -but overall package in terms of bang for buck i think the Z is really hard to beat .
Again if i have upset anyone with my comments wrt S2K ,TT ,Boxster,TVR etc -please accept my apologies in advance -no offense intended here -just my uninformed old man opinion .

 

[markos]

This has been quite an entertaining thread! And it hasn't got too silly or out of hand.

Stating the obvious we can do as we please with our cars, even do just 1850 miles on it and then let Hexagon sell it for £50k if we wish!

http://www.hexagonmoderns.com/car_sales/BMW-Z4-M-Coupe/10834.htm

With such a wonderful, high revving engine, I'd definitely recommend exploring the upper end even just rarely to see, hear and feel what it's like. Not sure how often mine goes to 7k or above, not very often in all honesty I guess (I don't use it much full stop), though a road trip to Barcelona next month with some other interesting cars will no doubt see me testing some of them even though mine will be one of be the least powerful of the bunch!

I think as a performance car it's expected it'll be opened up and it's power explored, how often I dont know, and this thread makes me wonder about how you wish your Z4MC/R was driven before you bought it? At the very least you'd like to think previous owners let it warm up fully before pushing it.

 

[Mad Professor]

Although I bought mine from a dealer I did take the trouble to contact the previous owner who like most folk who drive these cars was a real enthusiast . In fact he had a definite empathy with the car being an OCD master mechanic who gave me the low down on exactly what had been done to the car in his period of ownership . So that really gave me the confidence I needed to then buy it from the dealer .He really went through the car with a fine tooth comb addressing every issue ab initio ,even fitting new uprated vanos bolts ,which i suspect was rather OTT. He told me the engine was very strong so I guess it will take a lot of punishment without complaint as long it's been well maintained .
So what other exotic cars are going on your road trip if yours is going to be the most effete ?

 

[markos]

'86 911, Ferrari 355 and SL 55 AMG, will be a nice little convoy!

BTW was just a general question about how anyone would wish their M was driven prior to their ownership, though reading it back it does sound like I meant you specifically Mad Prof... For the record I also contacted the previous owner of my car for the full low down and did as much research as I could to be as confident as I could when buying it

 

[TomK]

'86 911, Ferrari 355 and SL 55 AMG, will be a nice little convoy!

I have a friend with a 355 and there's nothing in it with mine, though my car has a few extra ponies. I had the pleasure of being loaned an sl55 for a week when they new... Now that is a car that I would describe as having 'useable' low down torque. It's an amazing motor and will aniliate you in a straight line if the speeds get high enough. You should close up in the corners though, they're big old beasts.
Enjoy

 

[Mad Professor]

Yep i also drove an SL55 AMG and its' proper quick in a straight line with mega torque -BUT it's full of potentially expensive electrical gremlins that often go wrong especially wrt suspension which was over-engineered .This was also the period when the build quality of Mercs was rather dodgy .Very expensive cars to run apparently which kind of put me off . The engine which was hand built and signed by the engineer sounds like a Rolls Royce Merlin -a really lovely deep burble . Not a car you can chuck around the twisty stuff though .

 

[markos]

Indeed guys, in a straight line I'd expect the Merc to properly pull away at higher speeds. I'm expecting the 355 to be quicker, it has a damn loud exhaust on it but bar that I think it's standard, but will be interesting to have a little play anyway 8)