TG's stratus grey coupe

[tee.gilding]

Great car Tee! Smashing photos and the early light sure displays the Stratus Grey at its best Was a colour I would have gone for when I was looking for my Coupe back in May....those 135 wheels look good on the car......enjoy!

Thanks! I figured I best make the most of the colour and the light! I was rewarded by the stunning sunrise and the way this paint behaves in the soft early morning sun. I'll have to do a midday and a sunset shoot just to get some comparisons.

I'm actually not planning on keeping the 135's on the car for long. I've got a new set of wheels sitting in my conservatory waiting for a dosing of Gtechniq C5 before I fit them (maybe this weekend) which will completely transform the look of the car. And I know purists are going to hate this, but they're aftermarket.

 

[Beemer233]

Great car Tee! Smashing photos and the early light sure displays the Stratus Grey at its best Was a colour I would have gone for when I was looking for my Coupe back in May....those 135 wheels look good on the car......enjoy!

Thanks! I figured I best make the most of the colour and the light! I was rewarded by the stunning sunrise and the way this paint behaves in the soft early morning sun. I'll have to do a midday and a sunset shoot just to get some comparisons.

I'm actually not planning on keeping the 135's on the car for long. I've got a new set of wheels sitting in my conservatory waiting for a dosing of Gtechniq C5 before I fit them (maybe this weekend) which will completely transform the look of the car. And I know purists are going to hate this, but they're aftermarket.

Intriguing! I look forward to seeing them! My coupe came fitted with a nice set of aftermarket Borbets ....they actually look OK to me but bought a set of 135s in the UK should I want to return to standard .....they are refurb black though.....another purist pet hate I suspect!! :!:

 

[mj2k]

Still miss the colour of my coupe. Wish the MRwas the same colour, oh and that I had an MC in stratus too.

 

[tee.gilding]

Stratus with Amarone must have been nice! Looks good on CSLs.

 

[mj2k]

Stratus with Amarone must have been nice! Looks good on CSLs.

It was gorgeous. Still smile thinking about it.

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=70773

 

[tee.gilding]

Stratus with Amarone must have been nice! Looks good on CSLs.

It was gorgeous. Still smile thinking about it.

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=70773

I had seen a Silver Grey with Amarone which I was going to have a look at but ended up going for this Stratus Grey instead. Black leather isn't anywhere near as nice as the Amarone is, but hey!

 

[tee.gilding]

The transformation has taken some fairly serious momentum.

19in Veemanns V-FS33s in hyper silver, wrapped in Kuhmos, with BC Racing BR RA coilovers for a proper ride height. I think they're a little low at the moment, but damn she looked good at Vanity yesterday!

 

[tee.gilding]

And here's a stunning pic taken by forum member @Rally at the Vanity BMW show at Beaulieu yesterday, with his unmistakable Imola Z4MR in the background.

 

[jamie_z4]

Love the wheels and nice to see it on coilovers. Got some serious reverse rake going on though so wind the rear up to match the front and it'll be perfect

 

[tee.gilding]

Love the wheels and nice to see it on coilovers. Got some serious reverse rake going on though so wind the rear up to match the front and it'll be perfect

That's the plan. When I had them fitted the mechanic just wound them as low as they would go to see how it sat. So now I know where to adjust it (rear end about 10-12mm, front just a half turn or so).

 

[tee.gilding]

So it's probably about time I posted an update for the coupe - it's been a few months now! Since the last time I posted in this thread I have:

• Adjusted the ride height - about 12mm higher at the rear, about 3mm higher at the front

• Adjusted the damper rates - roughly halfway through the range at the front, roughly 30% at the rear

• Fitted dimpled/grooved MTEC discs all round

• Replaced all four pads with Brembo stoppers

• Rebuilt the front calipers - front right was getting sticky...

• Upgraded to braided Goodridge brake hoses

• Swapped the stock grilles for gloss black grilles

• Had the roof wrapped in gloss black

Some pics from the South Downs Run in September, at BMW HQ Farnborough and at Goodwood Circuit:







And the roof wrap:


I also had a good friend do this custom artwork for my zed, which is now sitting proudly on the wall in my study:

 

[tee.gilding]

With the new year comes new things to do to the car... right? At some stage in the not-too-distant I'll be replacing the front lower control arms (MOT advisory on excessive play in the ball joint) and fitting some poly bushes to replace the old RTABs which I think have decided they've had enough. I'm also planning on replacing the headlight bulbs with some bright HID-effect bulbs as the current bulbs are about as bright as a tealight candle. Also looking to either polish up the exhaust tips or replace them with some new ones, clean and paint the calipers, and drop in a K&N or BMC panel filter.

 

[mr wilks]

Lovely car refreshing to see no hint of CSL in the plans

 

[tee.gilding]

Lovely car refreshing to see no hint of CSL in the plans

I prefer to innovate rather than replicate...

 

[SamP84]

Hi Tee,
Love those wheels! Your car is stunning... funny, you nearly went for my wheels and I very nearly went for yours.

I will get the exhaust tips link for you... not sure if they are in stock at the moment. Quality is good but not epic but they fit well and look very good. For about £20 you can’t go wrong.

 

[SamP84]

Tips

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017XLG2H8?ref_=pe_3187911_248764861_302_E_DDE_dt_1&tag=z4fo-21

 

[tee.gilding]

Hi Tee,
Love those wheels! Your car is stunning... funny, you nearly went for my wheels and I very nearly went for yours.

I will get the exhaust tips link for you... not sure if they are in stock at the moment. Quality is good but not epic but they fit well and look very good. For about £20 you can’t go wrong.

Thanks for the kind words, and for the link! Do they just slip over the OEM ones, or do you need to remove them first?? I'm wondering if just dropping the exhaust and polishing them with some Autosol might get the same result for £6 and a bit more time and effort?

 

[mj2k]

That looks stunning! Just caught up on this thread, the REALLY low setting had me cringe a little but it looks great now...makes my old one look like it was on stilts, or some sort of clown car!!

Damn, I miss my Stratus coupe, such a stunning colour & the way it changes in the light.

I remember it aways being a car I'd look back at after parking and walking away.

Was hoping to pick up my M4 with Stratus and Amarone to keep the theme going, but could not locate one, so ended up with Mineral White CP on black 666s, love it!

That art by you friend is great - did it take him long to do? Quite fancy one of those myself, as a desktop image. Dream would be one of my Z4C, the Z4M and the daily M4, but I imagine that would be a long old job lol.

Although just noticed he gave you orange indicators

 

[Trav]

Snice

 

[SamP84]

Hi Tee,
Love those wheels! Your car is stunning... funny, you nearly went for my wheels and I very nearly went for yours.

I will get the exhaust tips link for you... not sure if they are in stock at the moment. Quality is good but not epic but they fit well and look very good. For about £20 you can’t go wrong.

Thanks for the kind words, and for the link! Do they just slip over the OEM ones, or do you need to remove them first?? I'm wondering if just dropping the exhaust and polishing them with some Autosol might get the same result for £6 and a bit more time and effort?

Evening, the tips you have at the moment pull off. You could easily polish them up with elbow grease and autosol.

Where in Hampshire are you? I used to live in Odiham.