A retrospective list of my mods.
Looking back I realise that my Zed has had a fair few mods since I bought it in June 2015 so I thought I would detail them all in one thread.
Back in June 2015 I was driving an E85 2 litre Sport in Titanium Silver (a car I’d had for 6 months and was on 98k miles)
Driving home from work I noticed a bright red 3.0si SE roadster sitting on the forecourt of our local garage. Long story short – I traded in my 2 litre and bought it.
Plus points: Low miles (34k), FSH (nice chat with the previous owner over the phone confirmed mileage and history), bright red, immaculate bodywork, clean interior, spotless engine bay.
Negatives: SE spec, so standard seats (not heated), standard steering wheel and 17” Alloys on run-flats.
(I don’t class the SE suspension as a negative because I found the Sports suspension on my previous Zed too harsh).
I negotiated swapping my 18” MV2 alloys running Vreds onto the car, so got rid of the run-flats and 17” alloys as part of the deal (photo above is after my alloy swap)
1st mod (and possibly the most controversial
)
2nd mod
I was used to the chunky M Sport steering wheel in my previous Zed and in comparison the standard wheel felt all wrong. Couldn’t justify the cost of a second hand M Sports wheel so went for a RoyalWheels refurb:
3rd mod
Next to go was the standard gear knob; after agonising over whether to go for the Stormwerks knob I opted for the ZHP.
4th mod
Remap. After lots of research and discussions I decided to go for a Quantum remap (Their quoted bhp increase of the 3.0si was 9%, so pushing it up to 288ish bhp) There’s a whole thread on this if you’re interested: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=82745&hilit=quantum
Bottom line - it has noticeably more torque :evil:
5th mod
CDV delete. Removal of the Clutch Delay Valve was done at the same time as the remap (Details in the remap thread).
6th mod
Having spent a glorious summer racking up the miles we just couldn’t live with the standard sports seats a minute longer, so started searching for M Sports Seats.
Rare to find a decent set, and after umming and ahhing over worn eBay ones a pair of heated electric ones straight out of an Z4M came up for sale on the forum. These were in excellent condition and I was happy to pay the asking price of £750.
There are several threads detailing what a PITA it was to swap from standard manual non-heated seats to M heated electric ones in a face-lift Zed :headbang: – summary here:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=86176&hilit=saga
EDIT: Mentioned in the summary thread above - a massive thanks and appreciation to Fishy_Dave who sourced a few X3 wiring looms from the States as he was retrofitting heated seats too. He labelled a set up using the Z4 retrofit instructions as a guide and posted it on to me. Without his help I would probably still be trying to source a Z4 facelift loom!
7th mod
Headlights and sidelights. As summer turned to autumn and the nights drew in I found the standard Halogen candles very poor, particularly down country lanes :thumbsdown: I didn’t want the expense of swapping for Xenons so investigated a cheap option.
Again forum to the rescue: Swapping in Osram Night Breakers H7 12v 55w for the headlights and raising them from within the engine bay made a big difference.
Details here: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=83298&hilit=sidelights
Made the mistake of trying LED Canbus sidelights, which caused dashboard warning lights :headbang: so went instead for these: Osram Cool Blue Intense W5W 12v 5W (Xenon look).
Details here: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=84633
8th mod
Not sure if this is strictly a mod
but I ‘invested’ in a pair of top down side covers:
(actually looking at the pics these were obviously bought before the M seats went in)
9th mod
Bought one of Dan’s Ram Air Scoops; painted it red and managed to fit it through the grille without taking the bumper off.
Lots of debate as to whether it has any effect on performance, but a splash of red behind the grille looks good.
10th mod
Wanting to improve the stance I went for 20mm spacers rear and 15mm spacers front. 20 to 15 millimetres doesn’t sound much, but big improvement to the stance. Thanks for the advice Mr Wilks
11th mod
Concerns over the roof motor packing in due to water ingress prompted me to join the ‘Durham Dave club’ and have it relocated to the boot. That peace of mind only cost £80
Relocation thread including Dave’s contact details:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=86030&hilit=durham
12th mod
Hard top.
Since it’s a daily drive it seemed sensible to invest in a hard top for the winter months – both to protect the soft top and also for added security in the works car parks in the dark winter evenings.
So began a long search. I was considering any colour with a view to having it sprayed gloss black if need be. Just missed out on a sapphire black one close to home that was auctioned on eBay, then weeks later another one came up on eBay in Poole, Dorset on a buy it now £1,199 or make an offer. I offered £950 and it was accepted. Came with stand, cover and all the fittings. It was advertised as mint on the advert and I wasn’t disappointed when I collected it
Details of the purchase and the 550 mile round trip to Dorset here:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=88223&hilit=dorset
13th mod
New Alloys. My MV2s were in need of a refurb and while I was gathering quotes (£350 to £450 ) a set of OEM BMW style 32 alloys came up for sale on the forum. They had been refurb’d in gloss black and were up for about the same cost as my refurb quotes - plus they were running Goodyear Eagle F1s with more tread than my Vreds. I decided they would look the business against the red :evil:
(These alloys were originally refurb’d and sold by Mr Wilks to PaulGS1000, and covered a fair few miles on his 3.0si roady. Then Paul put the car up for sale having upgraded to an Imola M roady and Mr Wilks bought it. So Mr Wilks ended up back with the Style 32 wheels, which he then put up for sale. He sold to me for a very reasonable price and fitted them too )
14th mod
Once the wheels were gloss black other mods followed:
Gloss black grilles
Black and red BMW badges & wheel caps (thanks Jamie)
F30 exhaust tips (thanks Jamie)
LED interior bulbs (thanks Jamie)
15th mod
JVC stereo (Bluetooth, hands free, streaming). My CD player packed in and Jamie_Z4 came to the rescue – he sold me his new stereo and fitted it for free
16th mod
Cruise control. Had been wanting this for ages, eventually went for it – bought the stalk and loom from Sopers (£128) and had it fitted at an Independent BMW specialist for £110. Great for motorway driving – I can travel any distance and arrive without an aching leg
17th mod
M Tri colour wheel. Although the Royal refurb’d wheel was top quality, I was still hankering after an M Sport Wheel.
Missed out on one in the forum marketplace to Jamie_Z4, but then weeks later Jamie gave me the nod that an M wheel with tri colour stitching had just come up for sale. So I jumped in and paid the asking price of £200. It looked mint in the add and sure enough when it arrived I wasn’t disappointed
18th mod
I have finally had DVL's back box mod done - its wonderful :driving:
I wanted to release a little more sound and Mike obliged - so I've been back and he has modified my original back box which is now back on the car and sounding awesome
Onboard audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7eeHvUZElA
19th mod
set of 224's bought off Swiftly (thanks Nick) fitted
20th mod
Weighty stainless steel knob (handmade by Buckley06)
Latest incarnation - black Style 32s now refurbed in sparkling silver
Looking back I realise that my Zed has had a fair few mods since I bought it in June 2015 so I thought I would detail them all in one thread.
Back in June 2015 I was driving an E85 2 litre Sport in Titanium Silver (a car I’d had for 6 months and was on 98k miles)
Driving home from work I noticed a bright red 3.0si SE roadster sitting on the forecourt of our local garage. Long story short – I traded in my 2 litre and bought it.
Plus points: Low miles (34k), FSH (nice chat with the previous owner over the phone confirmed mileage and history), bright red, immaculate bodywork, clean interior, spotless engine bay.
Negatives: SE spec, so standard seats (not heated), standard steering wheel and 17” Alloys on run-flats.
(I don’t class the SE suspension as a negative because I found the Sports suspension on my previous Zed too harsh).
I negotiated swapping my 18” MV2 alloys running Vreds onto the car, so got rid of the run-flats and 17” alloys as part of the deal (photo above is after my alloy swap)
1st mod (and possibly the most controversial
)2nd mod
I was used to the chunky M Sport steering wheel in my previous Zed and in comparison the standard wheel felt all wrong. Couldn’t justify the cost of a second hand M Sports wheel so went for a RoyalWheels refurb:
3rd mod
Next to go was the standard gear knob; after agonising over whether to go for the Stormwerks knob I opted for the ZHP.
4th mod
Remap. After lots of research and discussions I decided to go for a Quantum remap (Their quoted bhp increase of the 3.0si was 9%, so pushing it up to 288ish bhp) There’s a whole thread on this if you’re interested: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=82745&hilit=quantum
Bottom line - it has noticeably more torque :evil:
5th mod
CDV delete. Removal of the Clutch Delay Valve was done at the same time as the remap (Details in the remap thread).
6th mod
Having spent a glorious summer racking up the miles we just couldn’t live with the standard sports seats a minute longer, so started searching for M Sports Seats.
Rare to find a decent set, and after umming and ahhing over worn eBay ones a pair of heated electric ones straight out of an Z4M came up for sale on the forum. These were in excellent condition and I was happy to pay the asking price of £750.
There are several threads detailing what a PITA it was to swap from standard manual non-heated seats to M heated electric ones in a face-lift Zed :headbang: – summary here:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=86176&hilit=saga
EDIT: Mentioned in the summary thread above - a massive thanks and appreciation to Fishy_Dave who sourced a few X3 wiring looms from the States as he was retrofitting heated seats too. He labelled a set up using the Z4 retrofit instructions as a guide and posted it on to me. Without his help I would probably still be trying to source a Z4 facelift loom!
7th mod
Headlights and sidelights. As summer turned to autumn and the nights drew in I found the standard Halogen candles very poor, particularly down country lanes :thumbsdown: I didn’t want the expense of swapping for Xenons so investigated a cheap option.
Again forum to the rescue: Swapping in Osram Night Breakers H7 12v 55w for the headlights and raising them from within the engine bay made a big difference.
Details here: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=83298&hilit=sidelights
Made the mistake of trying LED Canbus sidelights, which caused dashboard warning lights :headbang: so went instead for these: Osram Cool Blue Intense W5W 12v 5W (Xenon look).
Details here: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=84633
8th mod
Not sure if this is strictly a mod
but I ‘invested’ in a pair of top down side covers:(actually looking at the pics these were obviously bought before the M seats went in)
9th mod
Bought one of Dan’s Ram Air Scoops; painted it red and managed to fit it through the grille without taking the bumper off.
Lots of debate as to whether it has any effect on performance, but a splash of red behind the grille looks good.
10th mod
Wanting to improve the stance I went for 20mm spacers rear and 15mm spacers front. 20 to 15 millimetres doesn’t sound much, but big improvement to the stance. Thanks for the advice Mr Wilks
11th mod
Concerns over the roof motor packing in due to water ingress prompted me to join the ‘Durham Dave club’ and have it relocated to the boot. That peace of mind only cost £80
Relocation thread including Dave’s contact details:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=86030&hilit=durham
12th mod
Hard top.
Since it’s a daily drive it seemed sensible to invest in a hard top for the winter months – both to protect the soft top and also for added security in the works car parks in the dark winter evenings.
So began a long search. I was considering any colour with a view to having it sprayed gloss black if need be. Just missed out on a sapphire black one close to home that was auctioned on eBay, then weeks later another one came up on eBay in Poole, Dorset on a buy it now £1,199 or make an offer. I offered £950 and it was accepted. Came with stand, cover and all the fittings. It was advertised as mint on the advert and I wasn’t disappointed when I collected it
Details of the purchase and the 550 mile round trip to Dorset here:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=88223&hilit=dorset
13th mod
New Alloys. My MV2s were in need of a refurb and while I was gathering quotes (£350 to £450 ) a set of OEM BMW style 32 alloys came up for sale on the forum. They had been refurb’d in gloss black and were up for about the same cost as my refurb quotes - plus they were running Goodyear Eagle F1s with more tread than my Vreds. I decided they would look the business against the red :evil:
(These alloys were originally refurb’d and sold by Mr Wilks to PaulGS1000, and covered a fair few miles on his 3.0si roady. Then Paul put the car up for sale having upgraded to an Imola M roady and Mr Wilks bought it. So Mr Wilks ended up back with the Style 32 wheels, which he then put up for sale. He sold to me for a very reasonable price and fitted them too
) 14th mod
Once the wheels were gloss black other mods followed:
Gloss black grilles
Black and red BMW badges & wheel caps (thanks Jamie)
F30 exhaust tips (thanks Jamie)
LED interior bulbs (thanks Jamie)
15th mod
JVC stereo (Bluetooth, hands free, streaming). My CD player packed in and Jamie_Z4 came to the rescue – he sold me his new stereo and fitted it for free
16th mod
Cruise control. Had been wanting this for ages, eventually went for it – bought the stalk and loom from Sopers (£128) and had it fitted at an Independent BMW specialist for £110. Great for motorway driving – I can travel any distance and arrive without an aching leg
17th mod
M Tri colour wheel. Although the Royal refurb’d wheel was top quality, I was still hankering after an M Sport Wheel.
Missed out on one in the forum marketplace to Jamie_Z4, but then weeks later Jamie gave me the nod that an M wheel with tri colour stitching had just come up for sale. So I jumped in and paid the asking price of £200. It looked mint in the add and sure enough when it arrived I wasn’t disappointed
18th mod
I have finally had DVL's back box mod done - its wonderful :driving:
I wanted to release a little more sound and Mike obliged - so I've been back and he has modified my original back box which is now back on the car and sounding awesome
Onboard audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7eeHvUZElA
19th mod
set of 224's bought off Swiftly (thanks Nick) fitted
20th mod
Weighty stainless steel knob (handmade by Buckley06)
Latest incarnation - black Style 32s now refurbed in sparkling silver
