My 7th Z Thread

[True-Blue]

Lovely result, looks good! Nice matte finish and a massive transformation from their shiny state

Cheers

They’ve come up reasonably well for 45 minutes with a ‘magic’ sponge and some water. Going to do them properly with a dilute APC, a gentle detailing brush and mopping up the grime with clean microfibre cloths when I have a little more time :wink:

 

[True-Blue]

Spent a bit more time on the leather,

Decided to give Dr Leather cleaner and Gtechniq L1 leather protector a go. Pretty happy with the results;

With the Gtechniq applied but not dry, added a bit of unwanted sheen
;


And after about half an hour, starting to Matt down a bit;

 

[bigwinn]

Great looking car there matey!

 

[True-Blue]

Great looking car there matey!

Thank you, yes I really like this one

 

[True-Blue]

I’ve been doing a little Z4 shopping and bagged a set of 107’s, the car has spacers on with the 108’s already so I know they’ll fit perfectly.

Got them booked in for a referb on the 10th/11th November… think I’m going light shadow Chrome or Sparkle Silver, decisions, decisions 8)

 

[Mr Tidy]

Great news, I've always liked the 107s and the 108s are such a PITA for corrosion and lacquer lifting!

I really fancied Shadow Chrome when I got my 224s refurbed, but went for Glitter Silver in the end as they could match it if, or more realistically when, I kerbed one. :lol:

Looking forward to seeing what you do go for in the end.

 

[True-Blue]

Yeah, the 108’s on mine are very good (one has a slight touched in kerb mark) no corrosion at all after a proper referb by a previous owner and been garaged since.

I’ll be selling the 108’s once the 107’s are on

107 is such a classic wheel for the E85 8)

 

[True-Blue]

I’ve been a bit busy lately, what with the one thing and another…

Anyway, BC racing coilovers removed and sold to a fellow forum member for use on a track biased E86, I think they’ll be very good for that and much more at home there than on a B road roadster.

Suspension refreshed front and rear with all new parts, Standard Sachs shocks, Lemforder top mounts, Eibach Springs, spring plates, new nuts, bolts and spring seat rubbers etc from BMW Cheltenham.

I’ve just been out in it and it’s transformed, I’m sure it would be slower around a track but it’s much more pleasing to pilot around the local B roads

In addition, it seems NVH is significantly reduced making the Scorpion cat back much more enjoyable. I was in two minds about keeping it, but having rubber in the front and rear top mounts again had weirdly changed the exhaust noise in the cabin… in a good way 8)

Also have some alternative forged BMW 18’s on the way, so looking forward to getting those on and shedding 3kg per corner compared to the 108’s

 

[Mr Tidy]

It's good to hear that your suspension mods have improved things all round, even the exhaust note!

Looking forward to seeing a photo of your news wheels.

 

[dhobbs]

Good that the suspension refresh has gone well.
Shame that you're enjoying the exhaust as I'm sure they'll be a long queue to take it off your hands :wink:

 

[True-Blue]

Good that the suspension refresh has gone well.
Shame that you're enjoying the exhaust as I'm sure they'll be a long queue to take it off your hands :wink:

Hi mate, springs have gone on a treat, many thanks

I’m going to see how I get on with the exhaust, but the noise cruising at circa 2k RPM that I mentioned in our PM exchange is completely different now, in a good way. I think the ball joint mounts in the previous BC’s, and the lack of rubber in that suspension set up was transmitting unnecessary NVH/Resonance :?

 

[True-Blue]

Wheels next on the list;

Genuine 405M’s in 8 x 18 ET34. Cleaned with Bilt Hamber Surfex HD and then Korosol, and Ceramic Coated today with Carpro UK 3.0. - Have come up brilliantly, barely any marks and look virtually new

I was slightly concerned that the ceramic might add gloss, but it hasn’t it’s just deepened the colour/Satin finish. Need to leave them 24 hours to cure and they can go on, can’t wait

 

[buzyg]

Go for it bat man.

 

[True-Blue]

Go for it bat man.

Yes, I realise ‘black on black’ isn’t for everyone, but I quite like satin black wheels with gloss black paintwork… just need to keep the tyres looking good so they don’t go brown.

I was thinking about having the wheels done in a different colour, but they’re in such good condition it seems a shame not to give them a try first

 

[Mr Tidy]

Genuine 405M’s in 8 x 18 ET34. Cleaned with Bilt Hamber Surfex HD and the Korosol, and Ceramic Coated today with Carpro UK 3.0. - Have come up brilliantly, barely any marks and look virtually new

Those wheels look really great.

I must not go looking for a set for my 3 Series. :lol:

But you must be due a change of username to True-Black!

 

[True-Blue]

Genuine 405M’s in 8 x 18 ET34. Cleaned with Bilt Hamber Surfex HD and the Korosol, and Ceramic Coated today with Carpro UK 3.0. - Have come up brilliantly, barely any marks and look virtually new

Those wheels look really great.

I must not go looking for a set for my 3 Series. :lol:

But you must be due a change of username to True-Black!

The problem is finding a genuine set in good condition for a sensible price Iain. They mainly seem to come up for sale up north, maybe more desire/need for winter wheels and tyres up there, which also makes them harder to find.

They’re Forged, so light and strong and they’re big money new from BMW. I really like Apex Arc 8’s, but can’t justify the cost of having a set made that fit within tolerance on an E85.

I like the fact that they’re a genuine BMW wheel, don’t need any spacers on the front and only need a 10mm spacer on the rear for a perfect fit. Hoping to get them fitted later today

 

[enuff_zed]

Great looking wheels. Shame they don't do black valves.

 

[True-Blue]

Great looking wheels. Shame they don't do black valves.

I know, they’re fitted with TPMS as they’re from a later year BMW model, if I’d thought about it I should have got the tyre fitters to take them off and replace with standard black valves

 

[True-Blue]

They’re on, can’t really get decent photo’s tonight, and the car itself isn’t clean but here’s a couple to give an idea;





In addition I weighed the 108’s with 255/35/18 & 225/40/18 Avon ZZ5’s and then weighed the 405M’s with 225/40/18 Goodyear Eagle F1 Assy 5 fitted, pic’s below;






So that’s a rotational mass weight saving of 23.8KG for the wheels and tires and the fact that I only need to run one set of 10mm spacers on rear & none on the front is an extra 1.2KG’s as the 20mm rear spacers weighed 600g each.

So basically I’ve saved a total of 25KG of un-Sprung weight

The temperature has dropped here so I’m not taking it out in close to zero degrees on brand new summer tires tonight, but I’m expecting to feel quite a difference on the road

 

[True-Blue]

The car is Filthy, I’ve been focused on refreshing the suspension, sorting the wheels etc, so forgive the dirt. Detailing and full paint correction is next on the list.

Appreciate this look isn’t for everyone, but I like it enough to not rush out and have the colour changed on the alloys. Also think it will look a hundred times better with properly cleaned and polished paintwork