Hi guys,
Just wanted to provide some feedback on my black sapphire Z4MC purchased a month ago. Overall, it's been a pleasure to own this car, there are some minor complaints but otherwise the car is great. Here are my first impressions after one month of ownership.
First off, the car is in reasonable knick after 58,000 miles on the clock, it's got some wear on the seats but I think a good exterior and interior detail will bring it back to factory mint condition.
The car was suffering from some front wheel balancing issue which after a visit to the kwik fit was easily resolved. The car requires new tyres all round in the near future, I was thinking Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 which are well reviewed and rated.
There are some slight rattle from the center console which I've pin pointed to the sat nav screen. Though this only happens on rough roads which causes overall vibration through the car. Think this should be easily fixed by tightening the fixings up a little.
Having just visited Dorset today from London, a 200 mile round trip. I've been quite impressed with the overall engine torque available in all gears but especially in sixth. It's no turbo but the power delivery is very linear and usable torque is available from 1,500rpm in 3rd gear and 2,500rpm in 6th. Fuel consumption wise I was able to get around 23mpg there and back so not too bad for a 3.2L inline six.
Road noise is almost unnoticeable and only really ever evident when the surface is very rough as some parts of the M3 is known to be. On my very first drive of a Z4MC I was really taken by the sharp and sensitive steering though I must admit after driving the car for a while this is no longer apparent to me.
Gear changes have become smoother over time as I've grasped the techniques required. Toe and heel is very easy to perform but I'm still an amateur so my clutch release timing and rev matching is sometimes a little off.
One thing that's not very easy to perform is left foot breaking in this car. I use to own a Golf R and Audi TTS Roadster which both had DSG and I would exclusively left foot break as the peddles are evenly positioned. However, with the clutch being present I find that the break is just a little higher placed than the clutch and I've found it uncomfortable to move my left foot so far across. But this is really just me nit-picking as I've yet to master this action on the Z4MC.
The driving dynamics of this car is very good, I've yet to really explore it as I plan on doing some work on a skid pan and maybe a track day in the future. However, from the few roundabouts I negotiated, the rear grip is very good. Any understeer can be easily corrected with a dap on the throttle so the rear pushes the car in the desired direction of travel. There is a limited amount of slip allowed when DSC is on, I'm not brave enough to turn this off on public roads. Trail breaking is a must I think in such a car, given its near perfect weight distribution I think it would be much easier to turn the car when attacking a corner in anger.
The throttle response is very sharp, and this is improved further with the sports button pressed. However, it's not advisable to have this turned on when travelling in traffic.
The cup holders are somewhat useless in my opinion, bought a can of redbull for the drive and it would not hold the small can in place. Luckily I had a passenger who's hand I commandeered for the purpose of holding this can whilst I drove.
One other thing is the position of the hazard light button, it's rather difficult to find in a hurry if needed. In an emergency where all traffic suddenly slows down I found it hard to find this button as it's tucked in beneath the handbreak.
One nice to have would be for the angel lights to come on automatically like the DRL on my golf R. I have to switch the lights on manually but it's not a big deal as I think the car looks quite nice even without this.
Definitely on the list of improvements are the installation of a aux input for my iPhone to play music. Another would be some BBS LM replicas which would make this car look so awesome.
One personal note is how unfortunately the standard of UK driving has plummeted since I last lived here (five years ago). The lack of indicator use whilst performing fast lane changes is utterly shocking. I'm highly vigilant against dangerous drivers and even though I'm constantly on the look out for such behaviour, several drivers performed dangerous manoeuvres which I had to beep my horn at. Some where just idiots and drove away quickly having been embarrassed by their dangerous driving. Others are completely oblivious even though I made it my civic duty to demonstrate proper usage of this technique in front of them.
Another thing is the general lack of driving intelligence from many drivers impatient to get from A to B. Where there is heavy traffic (as was the case today), driving 30mph faster than the those moving around you is just plain dangerous. I can't understand the value exchange these drivers see through their aggressive acceleration and breaking in heavy traffic. The value gained through such aggressive driving is in no way justifiable to the increase in risk and danger to themselves and other drivers.
Anyway, maybe I'll have some more feedback in the future but this is my impression of the Z4MC so far. This is a very exciting car to own and one that was really made for the driver in mind.
Cheers,
J
Just wanted to provide some feedback on my black sapphire Z4MC purchased a month ago. Overall, it's been a pleasure to own this car, there are some minor complaints but otherwise the car is great. Here are my first impressions after one month of ownership.
First off, the car is in reasonable knick after 58,000 miles on the clock, it's got some wear on the seats but I think a good exterior and interior detail will bring it back to factory mint condition.
The car was suffering from some front wheel balancing issue which after a visit to the kwik fit was easily resolved. The car requires new tyres all round in the near future, I was thinking Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 which are well reviewed and rated.
There are some slight rattle from the center console which I've pin pointed to the sat nav screen. Though this only happens on rough roads which causes overall vibration through the car. Think this should be easily fixed by tightening the fixings up a little.
Having just visited Dorset today from London, a 200 mile round trip. I've been quite impressed with the overall engine torque available in all gears but especially in sixth. It's no turbo but the power delivery is very linear and usable torque is available from 1,500rpm in 3rd gear and 2,500rpm in 6th. Fuel consumption wise I was able to get around 23mpg there and back so not too bad for a 3.2L inline six.
Road noise is almost unnoticeable and only really ever evident when the surface is very rough as some parts of the M3 is known to be. On my very first drive of a Z4MC I was really taken by the sharp and sensitive steering though I must admit after driving the car for a while this is no longer apparent to me.
Gear changes have become smoother over time as I've grasped the techniques required. Toe and heel is very easy to perform but I'm still an amateur so my clutch release timing and rev matching is sometimes a little off.
One thing that's not very easy to perform is left foot breaking in this car. I use to own a Golf R and Audi TTS Roadster which both had DSG and I would exclusively left foot break as the peddles are evenly positioned. However, with the clutch being present I find that the break is just a little higher placed than the clutch and I've found it uncomfortable to move my left foot so far across. But this is really just me nit-picking as I've yet to master this action on the Z4MC.
The driving dynamics of this car is very good, I've yet to really explore it as I plan on doing some work on a skid pan and maybe a track day in the future. However, from the few roundabouts I negotiated, the rear grip is very good. Any understeer can be easily corrected with a dap on the throttle so the rear pushes the car in the desired direction of travel. There is a limited amount of slip allowed when DSC is on, I'm not brave enough to turn this off on public roads. Trail breaking is a must I think in such a car, given its near perfect weight distribution I think it would be much easier to turn the car when attacking a corner in anger.
The throttle response is very sharp, and this is improved further with the sports button pressed. However, it's not advisable to have this turned on when travelling in traffic.
The cup holders are somewhat useless in my opinion, bought a can of redbull for the drive and it would not hold the small can in place. Luckily I had a passenger who's hand I commandeered for the purpose of holding this can whilst I drove.
One other thing is the position of the hazard light button, it's rather difficult to find in a hurry if needed. In an emergency where all traffic suddenly slows down I found it hard to find this button as it's tucked in beneath the handbreak.
One nice to have would be for the angel lights to come on automatically like the DRL on my golf R. I have to switch the lights on manually but it's not a big deal as I think the car looks quite nice even without this.
Definitely on the list of improvements are the installation of a aux input for my iPhone to play music. Another would be some BBS LM replicas which would make this car look so awesome.
One personal note is how unfortunately the standard of UK driving has plummeted since I last lived here (five years ago). The lack of indicator use whilst performing fast lane changes is utterly shocking. I'm highly vigilant against dangerous drivers and even though I'm constantly on the look out for such behaviour, several drivers performed dangerous manoeuvres which I had to beep my horn at. Some where just idiots and drove away quickly having been embarrassed by their dangerous driving. Others are completely oblivious even though I made it my civic duty to demonstrate proper usage of this technique in front of them.
Another thing is the general lack of driving intelligence from many drivers impatient to get from A to B. Where there is heavy traffic (as was the case today), driving 30mph faster than the those moving around you is just plain dangerous. I can't understand the value exchange these drivers see through their aggressive acceleration and breaking in heavy traffic. The value gained through such aggressive driving is in no way justifiable to the increase in risk and danger to themselves and other drivers.
Anyway, maybe I'll have some more feedback in the future but this is my impression of the Z4MC so far. This is a very exciting car to own and one that was really made for the driver in mind.
Cheers,
J
Liverpool
