Simon's Ruby Black Z4 MC
- Thread starter simonlpearce
- Start date
simonlpearce
Senior member
Only a small update for today. Changed the grills from chrome to black, think it looks loads better for it.
Before...
After...
Also went out for a hoon in the english countryside with my pal in his Jap import scooby. His scooby is a bit rough round the edges but goes like s**t off a shovel. Aside from wankers that go 5th gear everywhere slowing down proceedings, and a bit of mud on the road from farmers doing their thing making conditions interesting, it was a great afternoon spent learning the cars characteristics and has highlighted 2 areas of weakness.
1st being the pads/fluid. Both are s**t and were fading very quickly! Need to get some better pads on order and change to 5.1.
2nd being the front end suspension. Its way too soft for my liking. I hadn't really noticed it at first but after driving the car hard it was extremely noticeable. Will probably give eibach's a try and get some poly bushes fitted which will hopefully stiffen things up a little. Anywho on to some pics...
I quite like it with 100miles worth of s**t up the side ^_^
We just so happened to find an empty field with a through road. A Subarau never looked as good unless its got mud splattered up the side from a few off road douhgnuts and J turns.
Before...
After...
Also went out for a hoon in the english countryside with my pal in his Jap import scooby. His scooby is a bit rough round the edges but goes like s**t off a shovel. Aside from wankers that go 5th gear everywhere slowing down proceedings, and a bit of mud on the road from farmers doing their thing making conditions interesting, it was a great afternoon spent learning the cars characteristics and has highlighted 2 areas of weakness.
1st being the pads/fluid. Both are s**t and were fading very quickly! Need to get some better pads on order and change to 5.1.
2nd being the front end suspension. Its way too soft for my liking. I hadn't really noticed it at first but after driving the car hard it was extremely noticeable. Will probably give eibach's a try and get some poly bushes fitted which will hopefully stiffen things up a little. Anywho on to some pics...
I quite like it with 100miles worth of s**t up the side ^_^
We just so happened to find an empty field with a through road. A Subarau never looked as good unless its got mud splattered up the side from a few off road douhgnuts and J turns.
Nice pics...the car looks great with the black grill. I've never had the chance to drive a scooby, what are they like, look like a lot of fun in this weather on shitty roads!
simonlpearce
Senior member
I have only ever driven it a little bit. You have to keep it in the right rev range to get the best from the turbo, but once you get the hang of it they are very capable cars!
This type of year there is probably not much out there that can touch it in terms of performance on slightly wet, slightly muddy roads, it really shows its ability with the 4WD system. I was following for the most part and it really put the M though its paces.
This type of year there is probably not much out there that can touch it in terms of performance on slightly wet, slightly muddy roads, it really shows its ability with the 4WD system. I was following for the most part and it really put the M though its paces.
simonlpearce
Senior member
So got some codes up last night on a pals nifty little wifi obd2 adapter and it showing vanos intake error codes! Will drop it back to the garage next week along with a print out from the besian site and see what they say. My symptoms are most definitely solenoid related. Intermittent power loss which throws the engine management light.
Will report back with progress.
Will report back with progress.
simonlpearce
Senior member
Took it back to the garage who cleared the code and agreed it was vanos related. I am certain its the solenoids but as the problem is intermittent they won't do anything. Will leave it for the time being whilst it is under warranty and hopefully it will happen again and i can get them to sort it. If not once the warranty is up i will just order the Besian kit and be done with it.
simonlpearce
Senior member
So as some May have seen the wife had a bit of a spacial awareness moment and managed to reverse into my z resulting in the following damage.
Today it has gone in to Sytner BMW in Solihull for repair under insurance. Should take about a week or so.
In the meantime I get to rock about in this...
It's a very nice place to be, but the brakes are toffee and I haven't yet got to play with the auto box much. It sounds ok for a V6 though I was hoping for the V8. Was funny having it delivered to a BMW forecourt though.
Will update again when I get the z back.
Today it has gone in to Sytner BMW in Solihull for repair under insurance. Should take about a week or so.
In the meantime I get to rock about in this...
It's a very nice place to be, but the brakes are toffee and I haven't yet got to play with the auto box much. It sounds ok for a V6 though I was hoping for the V8. Was funny having it delivered to a BMW forecourt though.
Will update again when I get the z back.
I winced and cringed when I saw that. My gf wouldn't dare step foot behind the wheel of my beemers as she knows I'd literally lose my sh*t if she dinked them!
Hope it gets sorted m8, there doesn't look to be any breach of paintwork so it should hopefully be a simple pop the dent job. Did it have to be an insurance job? I had two minor non-paint breaching dents pulled out by a specialist for £40 with no trace left. Granted they weren't as big as that but still, assuming there's no painting to be done how come it needs to be an insurance job?
Hope it gets sorted m8, there doesn't look to be any breach of paintwork so it should hopefully be a simple pop the dent job. Did it have to be an insurance job? I had two minor non-paint breaching dents pulled out by a specialist for £40 with no trace left. Granted they weren't as big as that but still, assuming there's no painting to be done how come it needs to be an insurance job?
simonlpearce
Senior member
Definitely needed to be an insurance job as it does need paint. You can't see in the pics very well but both the door and wing are effectively scrap unless you pulled, fillered and painted over the top. I could have got it pulled and fillered for just under £1k, but that didn't sit right with me given it is half decent car which deserves only the best. Decided insurance was the best route to go down as it would be all OEM parts and repaired to OEM standard.
Hoping to have it back mid next week.
Have to say though, the comfort of the Merc SL is growing on me. As is the sound of the v6. Reckon when these come down in price, and i get a bit older, a 5ltr V8 version could well be on the cards 8)
Hoping to have it back mid next week.
Have to say though, the comfort of the Merc SL is growing on me. As is the sound of the v6. Reckon when these come down in price, and i get a bit older, a 5ltr V8 version could well be on the cards 8)
Fair enough. Hope it gets done to a decent enough standard 
I know what you mean about comfort, no way could I cope with the ///M as a daily driver that's why I have the 320d... driving that after the ///M is like floating along a cloud of sponge and marshmallow, it's delicious, but then we all love a bit of rough at the weekend :? 8)
I know what you mean about comfort, no way could I cope with the ///M as a daily driver that's why I have the 320d... driving that after the ///M is like floating along a cloud of sponge and marshmallow, it's delicious, but then we all love a bit of rough at the weekend :? 8)
simonlpearce
Senior member
Now then, its been a long 3 weeks waiting on Sytner Solihull to call, but finally today i went to collect the car all sorted and freshly painted.
To be fair i can't spot its been done, aside from the fact its got no age related marks compared to the rest of the car, which will now need a full paint correction detail to get it all looking the same.
It's a bit weird getting back into it though after driving the Merc for so long. The seats and cabin feel tiny now in comparison, and the Z feels so very much more raw. I also keep forgetting im now back in a manual like a tit and keep forgetting to de-clutch at junctions
All in all though im happy with the result and will get some pics up over the weekend, if im not too busy thrashing it about that is.
To be fair i can't spot its been done, aside from the fact its got no age related marks compared to the rest of the car, which will now need a full paint correction detail to get it all looking the same.
It's a bit weird getting back into it though after driving the Merc for so long. The seats and cabin feel tiny now in comparison, and the Z feels so very much more raw. I also keep forgetting im now back in a manual like a tit and keep forgetting to de-clutch at junctions
All in all though im happy with the result and will get some pics up over the weekend, if im not too busy thrashing it about that is.
simonlpearce
Senior member
Sold, onwards and upwards.
No longer own a z4 but might stick around if only to find out what happens to JE's motor.
No longer own a z4 but might stick around if only to find out what happens to JE's motor.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...earlynew,new&search-target=usedcars&logcode=p
Nice mark up, lets see how quickly it sells.
Nice mark up, lets see how quickly it sells.
A shame you sold up Simon, What did you replace the Z with?
Also, which black kidney grills did you use, they look good and thinking of doing it on mine!
Also, which black kidney grills did you use, they look good and thinking of doing it on mine!
