Newbie with a serious tuning disorder.

[Stevie.w]

After all that the fitting a rear bumper you'll be able to do one handed... And if you really want to show off using only your thumb and index finger :lol:

Does look like a fairly simple job to be honest.
I've managed to couple up the steering column with of the shelf components, tweaking as usual was mandatory. There's a rose joint to be installed on the column to support it from flexing.
Feels strange trying it out, what with only 2.2 turns lock to lock. This will be a very positive front end, just as I like them. Standard SUCKS!

 

[Bing]

Holy f**k - for christ's sake don't sneeze going round a corner :lol:

 

[Stevie.w]

Holy f**k - for christ's sake don't sneeze going round a corner :lol:

Bing I've always required my cars to be very sharp at the front end. The Z4 never impressed me when I bought it, so I'm going to speak to my mate at Whiteline to see what areas we need to address.
Probably set it up for geo's and see where we can look at improving areas.

 

[Bing]

Not being a track driver I won't feel it the way you do, but I absolutely get it. It was just one of those mental images that leaps into my head occasionally I think it's great the skills you have to be able to figure this all out and make it happen, and am loving watching/reading progress

 

[PlumbNB1]

From the start this has amazed me especially as its a bit of a modern day Shelby type back street conversion, a massive engine > squeezing into a smallish car type job, Is there any media coverage on this conversion at all? If not why not!

 

[Stevie.w]

Not being a track driver I won't feel it the way you do, but I absolutely get it. It was just one of those mental images that leaps into my head occasionally I think it's great the skills you have to be able to figure this all out and make it happen, and am loving watching/reading progress

Thanks Bing. When I get it up and running I want to see what I can improve in the suspension side that fellow members may benefit from ie uprated bushes, more camber/caster, roll bars. I don't want to build a track car just one that's inspired from one. It would be great to have it handle like our wee MX5, but I'm afraid it will never be as nimble as that. Too much weight.
A couple of pics of the MX5 in action, second pic my youngest son on his first track day.

 

[Stevie.w]

From the start this has amazed me especially as its a bit of a modern day Shelby type back street conversion, a massive engine > squeezing into a smallish car type job, Is there any media coverage on this conversion at all? If not why not!

Hi. There isn't any coverage on this project apart from what I manage/struggle to post up. I put way too many hours in on customers cars and then cram a few more in on my project, normal week for me is 70hrs.
I do agree about the back street conversion with a modern twist and off course a few old school parts included.
When completed I will promise to enter a few events where it can be seen and best of all HEARD!!!

 

[Stevie.w]

Quick up date. We now have steering and hoping to get the motor away for the custom exhaust system. I'll be running double 2 1/2" pipes with two back boxes and 4 tail pipes and a bridge pipe to get the best sound from it.

 

[Stevie.w]

Already for exhaust set up, engine and box in final position. Battery box removed and new panel fabricated to fill hole. Need to sort out what to do about battery set up, probably need to go with race cell still in boot.

 

[Bing]

What are you going to do to the front end to get all the air it will need into the engine ? IIRC you're going to keep the stock look, so no obvious bumper mods right ?

 

[Woots]

God I love this...like a lot!

Wonder how much I could sell my 3.2 to fund something like this

 

[Stevie.w]

Just sourced new M5 genuine radiator from Germany thru UK supplier £183, sorted! New ECU deletes maf sensors so induction should be simpler to do. Mmmm I say simpler I should say less of a challenge! Was thinking of Z4m front bumper casing to match rear, but very costly. Money would be better spent on plated diff.
Face lift rear lights just purchased to fit rear bumper, should arrive shortly.
Starting to think to myself that this won't be a cheap conversion and I've no labour cost or R/D work to cover. Will need to sit down and put some hrs together and hopefully not scare me.

 

[Woots]

Just sourced new M5 genuine radiator from Germany thru UK supplier £183, sorted! New ECU deletes maf sensors so induction should be simpler to do. Mmmm I say simpler I should say less of a challenge! Was thinking of Z4m front bumper casing to match rear, but very costly. Money would be better spent on plated diff.
Face lift rear lights just purchased to fit rear bumper, should arrive shortly.
Starting to think to myself that this won't be a cheap conversion and I've no labour cost or R/D work to cover. Will need to sit down and put some hrs together and hopefully not scare me.

Yeh then you can figure out how much to charge ppl for future conversions

 

[Dangerous-Dave]

Just sourced new M5 genuine radiator from Germany thru UK supplier £183, sorted! New ECU deletes maf sensors so induction should be simpler to do. Mmmm I say simpler I should say less of a challenge! Was thinking of Z4m front bumper casing to match rear, but very costly. Money would be better spent on plated diff.
Face lift rear lights just purchased to fit rear bumper, should arrive shortly.
Starting to think to myself that this won't be a cheap conversion and I've no labour cost or R/D work to cover. Will need to sit down and put some hrs together and hopefully not scare me.

Yeh then you can figure out how much to charge ppl for future conversions

+1 to that.

 

[Stevie.w]

Managed to do a bit on the Z4 this week after the hols. New M5 radiator arrived and slightly larger than I thought, so I've had to channel the chassis to accomadate it's length and height. Fabricated new mounts so when installed it fits under the plastic front cover to keep the factory look I'm hoping to achieve.
I'll take more pics showing the standard Z4 rad fan sitting in place to keep things simple and keep costs down.

 

[BMWZ4MC]

Excellent work! Keep the pics and write up coming please :trampoline:

 

[Stevie.w]

My tail lights arrived so got busy fitting them. No real problems just needed a bit of tweaking to get them to fit properly.
Second pic looks like their on but only the flash from the camera.

 

[Alun1976]

I take my hat off to you for this creation! Awesome project and it's going to be one hell of a beast of a car. One that will no doubt put many smiles on your face and drop the jaws of others who see this thing take off.

 

[Stevie.w]

I take my hat off to you for this creation! Awesome project and it's going to be one hell of a beast of a car. One that will no doubt put many smiles on your face and drop the jaws of others who see this thing take off.

Thanks Alun. Still masses to do, and the list ain't getting any smaller.
I see you run a complete m3 rear axle, seems to be the preferred route and something I'll need to consider. Did you also drop a plated diff in or stay with standard m3? I would also want to fit KW's as I've fitted plenty to all sorts of cars and very pleased with them, what's your opinion on them?

 

[Alun1976]

Stuck with standard M3 diff, it made one hell of a difference to car and is much more fun to drive with a LSD. A plated diff sounds even better but not sure I could justify the extra cost for what little extra fun it may provide. The car handles like I want it to and I'm happy with it so the plated diff won't really give me any real benefit in my opinion.

The KW V3 shocks made an incredible difference to the stability of the car and massively improved road holding. I have them set on the factory recommended setting and they are stiff but provide very good damping. The Inevitable trade-off over stock though is comfort and you feel every little nook and crannie in the road but this doesn't bother me as I just wanted improved road holding ability. Along with powerflex bushes all round the handling is superb. It's precise and sticks to the road very well.

One of the more recent mods I did and couldn't believe the difference it made was changing the anti roll bars for E46 M3 ones, 27mm front and 21mm rear along with powerflex black series bushes. By heck, these didn't half reduce the body roll further. I didn't realise how important anti roll bars actually were. I am even considering upgrading again to the H&R ones that will be stiffer still and further reduce body roll.

Hope this answers some of your question, but feel free to ask anything else.

Cheers

Al