My new Coupe!
- Thread starter fzootb
- Start date
North West Surrey
Hello and welcome - looks like a nice coupe 
Ed Doe said:
Thanks a lot for the warm welcome! Absolutely love the dark grey 108s, but a wheel’s a wheel to me right now!
A few small tweaks I think - ZHP gear knob, playing around with the sound generator foam l, stubby aerial and the wheel could do with a retrim, but other than that I’m very happy as is. Any recommendations?
At the summit of the picturesque fens
ZHP gear knob is a definite improvement, sound generator foam experimentation is also worth doing. Stubby is a matter of personal preference!
Steering wheel retrim has to be by Royals.
If it is a manual removing the CDV can improve gearchanges especially between 1st and 2nd. There is a "How To" guide here for an E89, but it's the same on the E86.
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1642395&hilit=CDV#p1642395
And although BMW claim the gearbox is sealed for life fresh transmission fluid is never going to do any harm!
Steering wheel retrim has to be by Royals.
If it is a manual removing the CDV can improve gearchanges especially between 1st and 2nd. There is a "How To" guide here for an E89, but it's the same on the E86.
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1642395&hilit=CDV#p1642395
And although BMW claim the gearbox is sealed for life fresh transmission fluid is never going to do any harm!
fzootb said:
Nice plans
As others have said the ZHP is a nice mod - I had one on my si coupe - improved the shift nicely the CDV Delete is a good mod to go with this too - it just makes the clutch engagement more direct and therefore more predictable.I found the noise the sound generator mod produces to be a bit pants to be honest! Worth trying it out for yourself though, as you may like it
Personally I'd find a decent exhaust garage and get them to remove the mid-box and replace with straight pipes. From experience this made a nice (and cheap) improvement to the noise of the car, without introducing any drone. I dailied and tracked mine for 5 years, never had any issues with long journeys or noise limits on track, but it sounded more fruity & hard-edged than standard with burbles etc. on the overrun I did try the backbox delete briefly (replace backbox with straight pipes) - personally I instantly regretted this, had it like that for two weeks purely until I could get the original backbox welded back on. Far too loud and hideously droney.In terms of other mods it just depends what you want to use the car and how far down the rabbit hole you want to go :lol:
I ended up fitting the Bilstein B12 Kit (B8 Dampers, Eibach lowering springs) a quaife Diff, BMW Performance 6 pot brakes and M3 CSL Discs, Powerflex bushes to the Rear Trailing Arms, Front Wishbone 'Lollipop' bushes, ARB bushes front and rear, and then applied an M3 CSL Geometry set up - all of which combined to make a really fun car both on the road and on track. I did have it over the course of 5 years, I doubt my wife would have sanctioned it all at once :lol:
Above all, these really are cracking cars, so whatever you end up doing just enjoy it!