TheDan's Z4R
- Thread starter TheDan
- Start date
iiNNeX said:
Thanks bud!
LSD will likely be a Quaife if I can find someone who can fit it for less than £800 (what Birds have quoted me)! I don't have any experience with setting backlash so not keen on attempting it myself.
In terms of coilovers, I will probably hold off for a bit until I've got some H&R stiffer ARBs. I drive the car nearly daily and don't want to ruin the ride on the road completely. If I was going to get some it will likely be BC Racing as long as the ride height doesn't drop too much because I already nearly scrape coming off my drive (steep drive paired with cambered road).
ZedsDeadbabyZedzdead
Member
Cool
I've got HEL braided lines on the rear, wasn't 100% sold on how they fitted and sealed (different to OEM) but haven't had any issues in several years.TheDan said:
I got the discs from Cotswold BMW via eBay.
I increased my front camber to around -3 degrees and I am no longer destroying tyre shoulders like that. I was at Thruxton on Friday and the wear on the fronts was very even.
One mod I forgot to do a quick write up about but actually makes some of the biggest gear change improvement is an extended clutch stop.
These cars are known for their dead zone on the bottom 10-20% of the clutch depending on how worn it is. I saw online that people have created DIY clutch stops as well as bought ready made ones from ebay. I saw the ebay ones, but could not bring myself to pay £13 for a piece of 3d printed plastic that only push fits instead of using the thread. Instead I did some research and found a better alternative
(https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163377417955):
I found that with just the thumb screw it wasn't high enough so I added a washer to spread the load and a nut for height.
If you do this, make sure that the clutch is still fully engaged when its against the stop.
These cars are known for their dead zone on the bottom 10-20% of the clutch depending on how worn it is. I saw online that people have created DIY clutch stops as well as bought ready made ones from ebay. I saw the ebay ones, but could not bring myself to pay £13 for a piece of 3d printed plastic that only push fits instead of using the thread. Instead I did some research and found a better alternative
(https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163377417955):
I found that with just the thumb screw it wasn't high enough so I added a washer to spread the load and a nut for height.
If you do this, make sure that the clutch is still fully engaged when its against the stop.
Had my final track day of the year on Tuesday at Silverstone GP circuit. It was an AWESOME day!
I mainly chose to do Silverstone for the heritage and to be able to say I've driven the F1 circuit, but after driving round, its just a great circuit irrelevant of its heritage! The Maggots Becketts Chapel complex is very different in person to watching the F1 on the telly, way tighter corners than they make it look!
All in all the car was great. By around 3pm I'd run out of rear pads that had only done 1 day at Blyton and very few road miles (curse you yellowstuffs). Took the car on track anyway and the braking performance was pretty much the same, with a little more instability in the rear on hard braking. The most difficult corner for the car without a doubt was Luffield as I kept getting constant understeer throughout. My favourite corner turned out to be Stowe as its quite a fun late turn in, late apex and run out wide onto the rumble strips.
Anyway, enough waffle, here are some pics:
Holy body roll batman:
Now that I don't have any more track days between now and probably April, I have created a list of things I want to do over winter:
All I need to do is win some Christmas scratch cards and all will be well!
I mainly chose to do Silverstone for the heritage and to be able to say I've driven the F1 circuit, but after driving round, its just a great circuit irrelevant of its heritage! The Maggots Becketts Chapel complex is very different in person to watching the F1 on the telly, way tighter corners than they make it look!
All in all the car was great. By around 3pm I'd run out of rear pads that had only done 1 day at Blyton and very few road miles (curse you yellowstuffs). Took the car on track anyway and the braking performance was pretty much the same, with a little more instability in the rear on hard braking. The most difficult corner for the car without a doubt was Luffield as I kept getting constant understeer throughout. My favourite corner turned out to be Stowe as its quite a fun late turn in, late apex and run out wide onto the rumble strips.
Anyway, enough waffle, here are some pics:
Holy body roll batman:
Now that I don't have any more track days between now and probably April, I have created a list of things I want to do over winter:
- H&R ARBs front and rear (incl. Powerflex bushes)
- Coilovers without lowering the car or increasing the stiffness too much (likely BC, YSR or GAZ)
- Adjustable rear camber arms
- RTAB, upper outboard bush and lower outboard bush to Powerflex
- Sport seats
- LSD (already bought the 3.46 donor diff)
All I need to do is win some Christmas scratch cards and all will be well!
TheDan said:
Which size did you go for Dan?
Each to his/her own, but I cannot appreciate the aesthetics of black/dark rims - particularly as I am spending weeks to bring a set of MV2s back to looking original after someone thought it a good idea to spray them dark grey (badly)TheDan said:
I like the contrast - rather than an all black wheel/rim that hides the sculpting of the alloys
Southwestz4
Member
Hi TheDan
Did the megane calipers need any mods to fit ?
Did the megane calipers need any mods to fit ?
You need to get brackets made up as they use an axial bolt direction instead of radial. I would advise getting a kit though which provides all the brackets and bolts you need. I went for this one which is based in Poland: https://k-system.pro/en/product/bmw...t-conversion-kit-megane-3-rs-calipers-325x25/.
Other modifications that I required were new brake hoses (as the Megane Brembos require a banjo bolt connection) and spacers because they didn't fit under my MV2s without.
Other modifications that I required were new brake hoses (as the Megane Brembos require a banjo bolt connection) and spacers because they didn't fit under my MV2s without.
Southwestz4
Member
Nice one cheers 
TheDan said:
Awesome, thanks Dan
So a few changes since the last update...
Had the Quaife LSD installed at Birds BMW (couldn't recommend them enough). I haven't had a chance to test it fully or on track, but from my experience so far, it is awesome! Makes the back end feel far more free but predictable. Can't wait to test it out on track.
Second thing that happened is a failed MOT due to parking brake efficiency (some of you may have seen my separate problem thread on this). Apparently it read 14% efficiency when the requirement is 16%. That 2% must make a massive difference... This meant I had to spend a few hours with the wheels off sorting it out.
I removed both rear discs and gave both the pads and inside of the disc hat a light sanding. I then followed the Pelican Parts procedure to the letter to properly adjust the handbrake shoes which meant applying the service lock, something that took no less than 40 minutes to do with a
ton of swearing!
After the adjustment the handbrake felt good, pretty solid after 3/4 clicks and fully on at 5 clicks. It also held pretty well on some steep hills near me. I got it re-tested and it passed, however I was only there for 5 minutes so I am not sure they even bothered with it to be honest!
Other than that there are 2 advisories on rear brake lines being corroded, but are only very slightly so. I will do those start of next year.
Had the Quaife LSD installed at Birds BMW (couldn't recommend them enough). I haven't had a chance to test it fully or on track, but from my experience so far, it is awesome! Makes the back end feel far more free but predictable. Can't wait to test it out on track.
Second thing that happened is a failed MOT due to parking brake efficiency (some of you may have seen my separate problem thread on this). Apparently it read 14% efficiency when the requirement is 16%. That 2% must make a massive difference... This meant I had to spend a few hours with the wheels off sorting it out.
I removed both rear discs and gave both the pads and inside of the disc hat a light sanding. I then followed the Pelican Parts procedure to the letter to properly adjust the handbrake shoes which meant applying the service lock, something that took no less than 40 minutes to do with a
ton of swearing!After the adjustment the handbrake felt good, pretty solid after 3/4 clicks and fully on at 5 clicks. It also held pretty well on some steep hills near me. I got it re-tested and it passed, however I was only there for 5 minutes so I am not sure they even bothered with it to be honest!
Other than that there are 2 advisories on rear brake lines being corroded, but are only very slightly so. I will do those start of next year.
North West Surrey
Some great progress there.
BMW handbrakes can be something of a trial.
Still you got there in the end.
My previous Coupe had advisories for rear brake pipes 2 years running. I got them replaced in copper because you can feed the driver's side one through the support brackets on the rear bulkhead, but if you buy the BMW steel ones they are pre-shaped so you need to drop the fuel tank to fit that side.
BMW handbrakes can be something of a trial.
Still you got there in the end. My previous Coupe had advisories for rear brake pipes 2 years running. I got them replaced in copper because you can feed the driver's side one through the support brackets on the rear bulkhead, but if you buy the BMW steel ones they are pre-shaped so you need to drop the fuel tank to fit that side.
Mr Tidy said:Some great progress there.
BMW handbrakes can be something of a trial.
My previous Coupe had advisories for rear brake pipes 2 years running. I got them replaced in copper because you can feed the driver's side one through the support brackets on the rear bulkhead, but if you buy the BMW steel ones they are pre-shaped so you need to drop the fuel tank to fit that side.
Thanks! Really useful info about the copper pipes too! I will likely do that.
I actually forgot one more thing, but this is maintenance so not hugely interesting. I changed out my rear brake pads that I wore through at Silverstone. Its safe to say I got my moneys worth lol! New bluestuffs gone in as the yellowstuffs I had became butter at high temps (may end up having to go RS29 but hoping to avoid that expense). I also fitted some new OEM spec Brembo discs at the rear as the old ones were warped and slightly gauged from the worn through pads.
