Time to learn to change gear - new //M

M

mj2k

Senior member
Picked it up today, but too busy driving to take photos yet!

Titanium Silver, 07 reg, with 7,000 miles. Had a full INSP2 done before collecting, and it is perfect mechanically. Couple of bits of paint could do with a refresh on the fangs, but know I will only scrape it myself at some point.

Car came with Carbon dash, Pro Nav (2015 disc purchased), cruise, heated seats& DSP. Already added the M5 gear knob (not the gaiter, as want to be able to return to stock at some point), and a stubby.

Wishing I'd bothered to pull the Intravee out from my coupe 5 months ago. Undecided whether to go through buying & fitting, or just stick with a cd of mp3s burnt to a disc, given I mostly listen to the same 200 songs on my Top Rated, with a choice of 22gb suggests it isn't necessary!

On the test drive, my gear changes were perfect, and could not understand what people were commenting on from 1st to 2nd, but today I felt like a learner, conscious of every pedal movement & trying to smooth it all out.

Dear god the noise of this is infectious - not much quicker on paper than my 3.0si, but the delivery is just out if this world. Need to get used to the S2000 level of revving, and to stop being freaked out how much induction noise this thing makes - sounds immense & do not see this tank lasting very long.

Also a challenging combination of 'you want me to take my hand off the wheel to change gear with this much speed & this many revs, are you mad' needs to be overcome!

Tomorrow's task is cleaning the exhausts, as the insides have seen more shiny days!

Matt
 
Congrats :thumbsup:

I'd say it's lovely... But your other task for tomorrow is photos :poke: should know better :wink:

Seriously though - the noise, right ? :evil: :driving:
 
Great days Matt , the box does seem very close together for a while & agree the bite can seem aggresive but as i get more miles up i think that's how the car likes it :oops:
Every journey no matter how short or long is a memory , very special car's that have so many things to get under the skin .
3rd gear , bury the pedal for me is the killer , i feel like a doorman grappling with a scottish docker who wants another drink but has no more cash :cry:
Pics up asap :thumbsup:
 
The gear change does take a bit of getting used to. If it's any consolation my test drive was fine, then after buying it took a little while to perfect the art of shifting from 1 to 2. Now all is fine.

A number of the guys, most recently SRH, got their CDV deleted. Apparently that generally improves things, but not always.

Anyway, all of this is secondary to our urgent need to see some pics of this Zed.

Enjoy :driving:
 
pvr said:
7k miles ????
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Good point - at current market rates that's a £30k car, apparently, and assuming it's a coupé. :D

Guessing it's a typo an actually 70k though...
 
mj2k said:
Picked it up today, but too busy driving to take photos yet!

Titanium Silver, 07 reg, with 7,000 miles. Had a full INSP2 done before collecting, and it is perfect mechanically. Couple of bits of paint could do with a refresh on the fangs, but know I will only scrape it myself at some point.

Car came with Carbon dash, Pro Nav (2015 disc purchased), cruise, heated seats& DSP. Already added the M5 gear knob (not the gaiter, as want to be able to return to stock at some point), and a stubby.

Wishing I'd bothered to pull the Intravee out from my coupe 5 months ago. Undecided whether to go through buying & fitting, or just stick with a cd of mp3s burnt to a disc, given I mostly listen to the same 200 songs on my Top Rated, with a choice of 22gb suggests it isn't necessary!

On the test drive, my gear changes were perfect, and could not understand what people were commenting on from 1st to 2nd, but today I felt like a learner, conscious of every pedal movement & trying to smooth it all out.

Dear god the noise of this is infectious - not much quicker on paper than my 3.0si, but the delivery is just out if this world. Need to get used to the S2000 level of revving, and to stop being freaked out how much induction noise this thing makes - sounds immense & do not see this tank lasting very long.

Also a challenging combination of 'you want me to take my hand off the wheel to change gear with this much speed & this many revs, are you mad' needs to be overcome!

Tomorrow's task is cleaning the exhausts, as the insides have seen more shiny days!

Matt
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Sounds like the sister of my car. 07 Titanium Silver. The silver does look lovely in the flesh, and much better than in pictures. Really shows off the lines.

Getting a sweet gear change is all down to the seating position. Even if you think you're in the correct place, try experimenting. I find i need to be sitting just slightly closer to everything than i naturally would, but it feels great now. I think a lot of drivers naturally sit too far back from everything, but in a sports car, you need to sit a bit closer and don't stretch for anything.
 
I sat a lot further back from the steering wheel in my previous auto Z than I do now, precisely because of the reason above. In the Z4 manufacturing documentary that was posted on here recently there's a test driver at the end who recommends you sit close / upright enough that you can break your wrists over the top of the steering wheel. At least I think it was that documentary... Anyway, I don't sit quite that close, but almost.

Though I have a 'motorway' seat setting that I use for long journeys which is a bit more 'relaxed'.
 
Bing said:
I sat a lot further back from the steering wheel in my previous auto Z than I do now, precisely because of the reason above. In the Z4 manufacturing documentary that was posted on here recently there's a test driver at the end who recommends you sit close / upright enough that you can break your wrists over the top of the steering wheel. At least I think it was that documentary... Anyway, I don't sit quite that close, but almost.

Though I have a 'motorway' seat setting that I use for long journeys which is a bit more 'relaxed'.
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I agree with this. Sit close with seat upright. to check distance from wheel, both wrists should be able to rest on top of steering wheel.

I found this driving position made a massive difference! I just feel so much more in control of the car :)

Obviously if it's a long boring motorway drive then you can adopt a more relaxed position.
 
Genuinely is 7k miles, we were talking about it on the M market watch thread, it's a silver roadster and it was picked up for an absolute steal. In fact I've just found the advert, every time I see this I hate the guy for finding such a beauty at such a ridiculously low price :thumbsup:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201504132573252/sort/default/quicksearch/true/page/3/radius/1500/make/bmw/model/z4m/usedcars/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/channel/cars/postcode/ne250pz?logcode=p

Like I said in the market thread, this price really slaps Hexagon in the face. Crooks. Awesome deal!
 
Wow :o

Still pricey, but lovely. As I think I said in that thread, the prices must have appreciated somewhat as that's quite a bit more than Stuart Truman paid for his on 6k miles at the beginning of 2013.

I guess the Insp 2 was preventative / piece of mind. Not a bad thing to do, I think ST did the same on his when he bought it.
 
Next time I see Bing I'm going to let him try my car to get a second opinion on the CDV, but to me it's made a huge difference.
 
Those of you who say sit closer... how tall are you? I have my seat as far back as it will go without rubbing and can still easily rest both wrists on the steering wheel. If anything I'd like my seat further back, but I compromise to stop the rubbing.
 
Yes, the service was preventative & out of sync with what was required. Just wanted everything to be checked & have fresh fluids throughout including brake fluid. The car had barely moved since 2010, doing only 1,300 miles as was part of a collection (this was his cheap end!). I'm guessing I win the earliest INSP2 award? :thumbsup:

Driving position exactly the same as my E86, so certainly not that being an issue. I always have hooning & cruising seat settings :driving: Strangely it does feel bigger than the non-M, but probably just the jump from the JCW

I never found the CDV as issue in any of my past BMWs, 1, 3, 5, Z so am guessing it will just need a little time before it becomes natural & the shifts are as smooth as my other cars.
 
MickAdams said:
Those of you who say sit closer... how tall are you? I have my seat as far back as it will go without rubbing and can still easily rest both wrists on the steering wheel. If anything I'd like my seat further back, but I compromise to stop the rubbing.
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5'7".. And a half. Not very tall :D
 
CDV removal works for some, me included...

I also always change out the gearbox oil to amsoil manual syncromesh oil on all my manuals..
Makes the change much nicer..
 
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