Official Hello!

T

T-bone

Member
Hi all - just wanted to formally introduce myself on the forum.

Have been an observer for about 18 months and registered 8ish months ago (April) when I got my Zed -

'57 Z4 Roadster 2.5si - Black w/ Individual Imola Red/Black Interior, Piano Black Trim, Pro-Nav, 108's.

Voila!
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I'm in the Berkshire area so if there are any meets or socials occurring in the vicinity I'm happy to be a part of it.
I previously owned a Mini Cooper S for nearly 2 years - absolutely brilliant car - and was an active member on Mini2

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When looking to change from the Mini - I had a large number of cars on my list.

New MINI - R56 JCW (Turbocharged)
Audi TT/TTS
BMW Z4 Coupe
Porsche Cayman

I test drove:
The Mini - Brilliant again!
Audi TT 2.0 Turbo and 3.2V6 - capable, fast but boring
BMW Z4 3.0si Coupe - Brilliant
BMW Z4 M Coupe - Brilliant again...perfectly suited to my driving style

I never drove the Cayman - decided it was far too much money to get the spec I really wanted.

I waited to see what happened with prices until Spring time this year - at which point the weather started to cheer up. I had a friend Z3 for an afternoon and loved it - well the top down motoring that is.... and with that decided that a Z4 Roadster was what I needed - started to look seriously thinking only the 3.0si would satisfy but one sunday afternoon I spotted my current car on a dealer forcourt. I took if for a drive - sport mode engaged and loved it. Handed over a deposit and picked it up a few days later in time for my birthday the following weekend :D :D

In retrospect - maybe I should have looked/waited for an M roadster but to be honest I really like my car and the hassle and cost of changing just isn't worth it at present - for me my Z is fast when I want it to be, more than economical enough mostly and beautiful always! :driving: :driving: :driving:

Mods I'd like to perform?....

Audio - only have basic 6 speaker system - I currently connect my Ipod Touch 2.0 via Griffin AutoPilot and Aux-In
Maybe wheels - CSL is popular but is beautiful.

Z4 gripes -

Halogen headlights are poor as standard - looking to change them imminently!.
Clutch mechanics - have read about CDV but have just learnt to drive around it - not such an issue anymore.

So thats me..... T-bone
 
What a first post!

Lovely looking car :thumbsup:

Certainly took your time selecting the perfect vehicle :D Congratulations
 
T-bone - Welcome (again...lol)

That's a really nice spec. car you have there with the combination of 2 tone seats, piano black, exterior colour and 108's.

I also can see why the Mini would have been high on the list as I just picked up a black facelift Cooper S, with JCW kit, for my daughter and it's a great car.
 
T-bone, welcome to the Forum! Thought I recognized that name from somewhere,,,,MINI2. :D Was an active member for a few years '03-04, and glad to see some members making it over to the "other" side :lol:

Cheers!
 
T-bone

welcome aboard, car very similar to mine, :thumbsup: .

With regard to your little gripes raise the headlights, that the best solution for better visability, two turns should do the trick if they are mid limit, and the CDV will transform the car, making much smoother to drive.

Would be interested to know what wheel you change to, CSL reps are one of my favs, but I havent found anything I think really suits a black Z4. (Other than the 108's)
 
Hey T-Bone, fellow newbie here. I'm just about to pick up my Z4 on Saturday (it's gonna be a long week) and was interested to read you have the Griffin autopilot. I'm after a way of connecting my ipod touch wihout all the fuss of the BMW fitting kit. Does yours work well? I've used the McAlly Cup with my ipod video and found it lacking in audio quality. Should I get the Aux input fitted for clarity? Questions, questions... Rich
 
rich-v said:
Hey T-Bone, fellow newbie here. I'm just about to pick up my Z4 on Saturday (it's gonna be a long week) and was interested to read you have the Griffin autopilot. I'm after a way of connecting my ipod touch wihout all the fuss of the BMW fitting kit. Does yours work well? I've used the McAlly Cup with my ipod video and found it lacking in audio quality. Should I get the Aux input fitted for clarity? Questions, questions... Rich
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Aux option is the cheapest around £40 if you get the Mini aux kit (same as BMW one). but you will have trailing leads etc and no intergration with car. Better to get the Intravee or Dension kit, which charge, and provide ID3 tags, and control from steering wheel if you have MFSW or from radio.

rich-v, hope it's a short week for you.
 
rich-v said:
Hey T-Bone, fellow newbie here. I'm just about to pick up my Z4 on Saturday (it's gonna be a long week) and was interested to read you have the Griffin autopilot. I'm after a way of connecting my ipod touch wihout all the fuss of the BMW fitting kit. Does yours work well? I've used the McAlly Cup with my ipod video and found it lacking in audio quality. Should I get the Aux input fitted for clarity? Questions, questions... Rich
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Hey Rich - for me the AutoPilot was the easiest way to connect my iPod Touch.
My car already has the aux-in so literally plug one end of the autopilot into the socket and the other cable into the iPod - its powered by the cigerette lighter and charges the iPod too.
Because of the convient placement of the cigerette lighter - i can access the control directly on top of the Autopilot.

I'll post some picks either later today or tomorrow to show.

Once I've done all my Audio upgrade I'll look to build in a better solution like the intravee that srhutch mentioned or JL CleanSweep - but for the moment the Autopilot gave me the functionality without having to pull anything apart on my car and the sound is better than FM transmitter though admittedly not as good as when I had my Alpine CDE-9850Ri in the Mini. That had direct full speed connection to my old iPod mini - full EQ'd and normalised sound - so was just like CD.

As for Aux-In fitting - there are a number of posts on how to do this quite easily - but from what I have read and my own experience you need to connect via Aux-in as a bear minimum - FM transmitters are not satisfactory.

Hope this helps
 
srhutch said:
rich-v said:
Hey T-Bone, fellow newbie here. I'm just about to pick up my Z4 on Saturday (it's gonna be a long week) and was interested to read you have the Griffin autopilot. I'm after a way of connecting my ipod touch wihout all the fuss of the BMW fitting kit. Does yours work well? I've used the McAlly Cup with my ipod video and found it lacking in audio quality. Should I get the Aux input fitted for clarity? Questions, questions... Rich
Click to expand...

Aux option is the cheapest around £40 if you get the Mini aux kit (same as BMW one). but you will have trailing leads etc and no intergration with car. Better to get the Intravee or Dension kit, which charge, and provide ID3 tags, and control from steering wheel if you have MFSW or from radio.

rich-v, hope it's a short week for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks to you and T-Bone, I think the proper integration is the way ahead
 
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