Montego Blue E86 is Long Gone - Z4MC 2025 Summer Prep

[lucasxdiniz]

Excellent thread Lucas, a lot of the things you've done to your Coupe is along the same lines of what I'd like to do to mine.

A question on the sound deadening mat in the boot, did you heat it up to follow the contours of the metal?
Since getting a new backbox made up, it's noticeably louder in the car so I've bought some mats, but I'm questioning where to put it, and also whether the carpet is going to fit back in the same place.

Any future plans for the car?

Thank you.

No need to heat it up, just have a roller or a nice and flat trim tool to help you contour the sound deadening mats to the surface. One layer shouldn't really stop any of the trim and carpet from sitting in the right place.

I have several plans for my car, none of which are affordable to me at the moment. Being a powertrain design engineer, I'd love to 3D scan the engine bay and properly design an installation for a S65 swap, for example.

 

[Andy Tate]

Very clean looking car. I love the miniature version also is it originally from hot wheels? I may get one for my son to play with.

 

[grannyknot]

I don't know how I missed this thread but just read it front to back, outstanding work and detail! A pleasure to read through on a Saturday morning with a big coffee.
I'm about to do something very similar to my coupe, mine is Sapphire black and I'm okay with that but would much rather have that shade of blue.
Keep up the good work.

 

[lucasxdiniz]

Very clean looking car. I love the miniature version also is it originally from hot wheels? I may get one for my son to play with.

Thank you. No, it's a 1:24 model from Schuco. I have two hotwheel models of an E86 GTS race car, which is easily found.

I don't know how I missed this thread but just read it front to back, outstanding work and detail! A pleasure to read through on a Saturday morning with a big coffee.
I'm about to do something very similar to my coupe, mine is Sapphire black and I'm okay with that but would much rather have that shade of blue.
Keep up the good work.

Glad you enjoyed it Do post some photos of your work, I love seeing before and afters!

 

[LemonConnoisseur]

Thank you.

No need to heat it up, just have a roller or a nice and flat trim tool to help you contour the sound deadening mats to the surface. One layer shouldn't really stop any of the trim and carpet from sitting in the right place.

I have several plans for my car, none of which are affordable to me at the moment. Being a powertrain design engineer, I'd love to 3D scan the engine bay and properly design an installation for a S65 swap, for example.

Cool, thanks Lucas.

That would be an epic swap, S65 I guess would be somewhat reminiscent to the Z8, or the Z4 GT3 cars.

 

[Coupe_Dave]

30 E86s in the UK with this colour combination

I just looked at tony's database - according to that there were only 4 Manual Montego Coupes with Champagne leather and Piano Black.

And 3 of them are on this thread!

am i the fourth ?? I’ve just started reading this thread, i feel ashamed that all i have done is new boots all round. Right, now for the other 10 pages :roll: :wink:

 

[lucasxdiniz]

Because there's nothing else I could realistically do to my car to make it better apart from spending several £1000s on superchargers or S65 swap, I've been mostly doing small things that are only really noticeable to me.

For example I refurbished both keys that came with my car - new high quality cases, new batteries, OEM badges. Here's the only photo I have of the old vs new, I hadn't got them cut at that point:



Another thing that bothered me was the mangled heatshield - after first installing coilovers and getting height and damping wrong I scraped it on a big speed bump. Now the underneath is nice and sorted out - made sure to polish all the other heatshields.




This year on the my pre-MOT check (I always get these as I'd rather sort out any advisories before the MOT so I have a clean MOT - worth the extra £35) it was pointed out to me one of the brake hoses was looking perished and this would be flagged up in the MOT, so I went ahead and replaced all of them with nice SS braided hoses:




I also noticed a while back that one of my wheel bearings felt slightly rough when comparing to the other wheel bearings, so as a pre-caution I replaced it with a new Meyle kit:

 

[lucasxdiniz]

The post above is just to capture the last few things I remember doing to my car. Unfortunately it looks like I will have to put it for sale to pay for vet bills (~20k) which the insurance initially agreed to pay but doubled back on it after I had already authorised treatments etc. I'm still very much hoping I won't need to do this but timing lately has been terrible to me.

 

[Mr Tidy]

That's terrible news Lucas.

After all the time and effort you have put into getting your car as it should be I hope you can find a way to keep it.

 

[lucasxdiniz]

That's terrible news Lucas.

After all the time and effort you have put into getting your car as it should be I hope you can find a way to keep it.

It is indeed, Ian. I have finally done everything I could to the car, I tried not to think too much about how much I have in it, but it is very close to £20k I reckon and I am sure if I do have to sell it, I'll be offered 2 Mars bars and a bag of Doritos for it because it's over 100k miles now

But hoping to see you and the other Z4 guys in future meets still in my car.

 

[1536Z4]

pay for vet bills

Hi Lucas
Sorry to here this are the vet bills for Rusty your dog ?

 

[lucasxdiniz]

Hi Lucas
Sorry to here this are the vet bills for Rusty your dog ?

Yes, it's for Rusty, my spannering bud and car meet companion from time to time.

 

[1536Z4]

Just been through a bad patch with my 12 year old Wire Fox Terrier Flint but fortunately it can be kept under control with a tablet a day even though the continuing blood tests etc are not cheap but nothing near what you are looking at paying . Insurance companies :x I hope it all works out for you and Rusty .

 

[hopz121]

The post above is just to capture the last few things I remember doing to my car. Unfortunately it looks like I will have to put it for sale to pay for vet bills (~20k) which the insurance initially agreed to pay but doubled back on it after I had already authorised treatments etc. I'm still very much hoping I won't need to do this but timing lately has been terrible to me.

Sorry to hear this, dogs are 100% a man’s best friend we lost ours this year and it’s left a big hole in my heart that’s for sure, the outlay will be worth it, just a shame
the insurance company aren’t playing ball, typical!

Just read this whole thread and the car looks a dream, credit to you for doing it all. I am still looking at coupes but this one is over my budget. Looks a great well looked after car though with loads of big jobs done.

Good luck with everything

 

[lucasxdiniz]

Just been through a bad patch with my 12 year old Wire Fox Terrier Flint but fortunately it can be kept under control with a tablet a day even though the continuing blood tests etc are not cheap but nothing near what you are looking at paying . Insurance companies :x I hope it all works out for you and Rusty .

Sorry to hear about your doggo, but I'm glad it's manageable. Unfortunately, Rusty has been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma so I'm just making the most of the time I have left with him and making sure he's as well as possible during this time. All sacrifices I may have to make will be worth it for me as long as he's well.

The post above is just to capture the last few things I remember doing to my car. Unfortunately it looks like I will have to put it for sale to pay for vet bills (~20k) which the insurance initially agreed to pay but doubled back on it after I had already authorised treatments etc. I'm still very much hoping I won't need to do this but timing lately has been terrible to me.

Sorry to hear this, dogs are 100% a man’s best friend we lost ours this year and it’s left a big hole in my heart that’s for sure, the outlay will be worth it, just a shame
the insurance company aren’t playing ball, typical!

Just read this whole thread and the car looks a dream, credit to you for doing it all. I am still looking at coupes but this one is over my budget. Looks a great well looked after car though with loads of big jobs done.

Good luck with everything

Yeah, completely agree. There's nothing I love more than my dogs, especially Rusty. I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, I dread to think of that day...

Yeah, I was quite disappointed with how it was done. They actually said we were covered to begin and as I picked him up from surgery I had the Vet Hospital's finance department ring me saying the insurance had said it wasn't covered and got a very large surprise bill.

 

[MrPT]

Absolutely gutted for you, Lucas, after everything you’ve invested in that car. But equally, I admire the choice you’ve made and hope Rusty is as comfortable as he can be for as long as possible.

 

[Ethelred]

We had a similar issue with a vets bill for our dog, although only for £2000. Initially the bill was said to be covered by insurance and then the vet said that it wasn't, I can't remember the exact details now and I think that there was some collusion between the vet and the insurer, anyway I wrote to the vet and the insurer - PetPlan, to say that I was unsatisfied with their decision and that I was referring matters to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. After further deliberation PetPlan processed our claim for the full amount. It may be worth trying something similar in your case. Good luck if you do try to challenge the claim and hope that Rusty stays well for as long as possible.

 

[lucasxdiniz]

Absolutely gutted for you, Lucas, after everything you’ve invested in that car. But equally, I admire the choice you’ve made and hope Rusty is as comfortable as he can be for as long as possible.

We had a similar issue with a vets bill for our dog, although only for £2000. Initially the bill was said to be covered by insurance and then the vet said that it wasn't, I can't remember the exact details now and I think that there was some collusion between the vet and the insurer, anyway I wrote to the vet and the insurer - PetPlan, to say that I was unsatisfied with their decision and that I was referring matters to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. After further deliberation PetPlan processed our claim for the full amount. It may be worth trying something similar in your case. Good luck if you do try to challenge the claim and hope that Rusty stays well for as long as possible.

Thank you for the kind words, both.

Our vet actually has a recorded phone call of them saying we were covered etc. Now that they've pulled back, I've been advised to file a complaint with my insurer and follow the complain procedure all the way through to Ombudsman - the vet will happily provide a letter and the recorded call. So if anything, hopefully they improve their process in the future so people don't get caught out like I did.

 

[djglover]

fascinating thread, car is an absolute credit to you.

 

[lucasxdiniz]

Just for the sake of closure - the car hasn't been mine for two weeks now. Still very much upset about it... not helped by the fact that we've been told Rusty hasn't got long left and doesn't even qualify for certain procedures. This did mean the bill at the vet was reduced somewhat and not all my car money had to go, so I bought a cheap 6-series to keep me entertained in the short term while allowing me to always take Rusty around with me.