XWC journal (Commando _Rob)

[Commando_Rob]

Well I think it's about time I started a journal on my Z4 journey, having done the same with my previous Z3, on that forum, and was good.

Well having sold my previous daily runner in the form of an E46 M3 cab manual 6 speed for a tidy profit to a French car collector I needed a new daily runner having really enjoyed my previous two roadsters in the forms of Z3M and a Z3 2.8 Orinoco edition both funnily enough also being sold to the French :scratchhead:

We have a 7seat X5 40d msport as the family steed so this allows me to go down to only two seats for my daily, I've always liked the original Z4 and feel they are a real used car bargain at the moe, I also wanted a bmw I could work on myself for servicing and tinkering etc as I have a garage queen 911 that I don't touch for fear of breaking and after having a good look and a drive of a 3.0i Z4 at an ace cafe BMW night i was sold and I started my hunt.

It had to be a manual and a 3.0i, I went and saw a great priced low mileage low owner high spec grey 3.0i not far from me but it was a complete dog, the second I saw was higher mileage but had a great service history and was well looked after and after abit of haggling I bought my current Z4, she's got all the options I wanted apart from the carver sound system that I wish it had as the current set up is really poor.

Here are a few pics from the day I bought it.

 

[buzyg]

The journey begins.

 

[paddy wright]

Enjoy the new car

 

[Commando_Rob]

So after a full service inspection2 it didn't take long for the tinkering & modifying to start
First up was to refresh the suspension and add some Eibach sports lowering springs, after an incident with a pot hole and a snapped front spring that carved opened my nearly new front tyre like a can opener, I installed new top mounts drop links sway bars and Eibach, the shocks had been replaced fairly recently so was no need to replace these. A few pics.

 

[Commando_Rob]

A before and after with Eibach, it rides so much nicer now but am sure that's a combo of suspension refresh as well as springs. I've also added clear side indicators.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Shame about your pothole incident, but at least it rides better now.

A good time of year to buy a Roadster too - enjoy.

 

[Commando_Rob]

Thanks for the replays and kind words guys.

So next up was to give this roadster some sounds, one of the first things I noticed was just how quiet and refined the Z4 was and in my opinion far to quiet when comparing to my last non M BMW roadster which was a 2.8 Z3 that even in standard form had a nice deep exhaust note, as the car doesn't really get used on motorways and is my fun car I went for a back box removal and replaced with straight pipes.

This is one of the best mods in terms of changing a cars character I've ever done and really gives the car the sounds it deserves it now really sounds like a big 6 with pops and crackles on overrun and is sort of TVResc :evil:

I went with quite subtle twin pipes here's some pics.

 

[tomrdy]

This is one of the best mods... pops and crackles on overrun

I 100% concur to your opinions on pops and crackles :evil:

 

[Commando_Rob]

This is one of the best mods... pops and crackles on overrun

I 100% concur to your opinions on pops and crackles :evil:

 

[LittleZ4]

Cars looking good!!
I love my backbox delete, like you say it changes the character of the car, way to muted from factory.

 

[Commando_Rob]

So now that the Z has the sounds after the exhaust mod I feel it needs something more aggressive in the wheel department. Ive always and still love the look of 19" CSL's but feel there now very common on Z4s as a mod and I like to be different, I also looked at Alpina and Hartge 19s and even thought about sticking with the 18s and getting them powder coated grey/black but finally settled on 19" BBS CH-R black edition as think they are absolutely stunning wheels and really suit the Z and will make it look up to date style wise, plus silver cars and grey/black wheels look good together. Heres a pic of the wheels after getting some new rubber on them. Excuse the wall I'm getting my patio done.

 

[Commando_Rob]

Update! So the wheels are on, and I must say am very happy with them, after advice from other members on here who've got 19s I went with Michelin 225/35/19 tyres on the front and Dunlop 265/30/19 tyres on the rear. The ride is surprisingly good, I will keep my 18s and get them refurbed and use those if I ever take the Z on the track. Here's a few pics.

 

[Commando_Rob]

Haven’t updated in a while, so, had the rocker cover done the other day as had been leaking from usual spot for a while, bought an oe rocker cover set and rubber washers before Christmas but wanted to wait for the weather get abit nicer.

 

[Commando_Rob]

Found these on the bay for a decent price considering how rare they are and couldn’t resist.

 

[Commando_Rob]

We’re a 10 min fit, and I think they look pretty good! much better than orange, only thing I haven’t done is change the colour coded strips on the lights over from black to silver as quite like the black, what do you guys think??

 

[Commando_Rob]

Another update/mod, due to the CO-19 situation been getting quite abit done, or maybe thats more time to look online and buy bits

So had this delivered yesterday and fitted straight away.

 

[Commando_Rob]

.

 

[Commando_Rob]

Few more mods done over last few days, ZHP Gearknob fitted, added front door speakers, debadged the rear and de French fried the rear lights (after some advise from you lot )

next up got an idea how to de tango the fronts headlights as there annoying me every time I look at the front end now!

 

[Davz]

added front door speakers

looking good How did you fit the door speakers, I thought there was only 3 screw points but the alpine have 4?

 

[Commando_Rob]

added front door speakers

looking good How did you fit the door speakers, I thought there was only 3 screw points but the alpine have 4?

Thanks, just used self tapping screws into the plastic surround, I had to measure the depth to make sure they weren't too long so as not to go through the leather on the other side,I used a bradawl to prep the holes.