Another new Z4 Coupe owner has entered the building. I’ve always had a bit of a glad eye for these cars, I especially love the hard tops, the lines just work… I mean I’m preaching to the converted here but yaknow.
I spent most of last summer trying to grab the keys to my old man’s S2000, loving peering over the long bonnet and the whole driving experience, especially compared to my rather muted (in everything but colour) Solar Orange TTS, that said, not sure I could live with that budle of revs and excitement day in, day out. Anyway, I finally decided to take the plunge and cash outta the TTS, it’s been a great car but expensive depreciation wise, and with the lack of mileage I’m doing working from home I thought I’d take the plunge.
I picked this up from a guy in Leicester, I’ll admit I went with fairly low expectations due to the whopping 4 (or was it 5?) lines and subsequent limited detail in the advert. A quick nose round the car which looks pretty honest for near on 90k - few car park battle scars but nothing too untoward - a good thumb through the extensive history and test drive and I’d already arranged to go back with some money! It's currently on CSL reps and AP coilovers.
Driving home in the pouring rain wasn’t nearly as hairy as I’d be thinking it might be, and boy, aren’t these engines just brilliant. I love the gearbox, too, and a bonnet so long it’s like the automotive equivalent of a Chance Vought Corsair. Here's a quick shot of it as it stood on a trip to work to Thursday:
First job was to give the inside a bloody good scrub, get all the make-up and chocolate and other such detritus out the way, and scrub the bi-colour seats up. The interior on this car is really great, with bi colour seats and matching leather dash (not seen that before, despite looking at these on and off for a few years now!), no sat-nav (yay, keeps the clean lines of the dash) but unfortunately, no heated seats. Still, it’s all a compromise right!? Also put one of the Peugeot 6561N3 stubby aerials on too, very pleased with that and it looks a lot better than the silly long one it was wearing.
It’s done about 4000 miles since it’s last oil and filter change, although that was coming up 2 years ago so the second job was to give it an oil and filter change, new spark plugs and also change the rear shock top mounts. That was done today, although we lost a coil pack on cylinder 1 after swapping the plug. Luckily a friend was able to collect a new one in time for me to drive home. Also changed the D/S cupholder as it was broken, them’s expensive bits!
I’ve also managed to track down some of the earlier owners, both were really nice guys and verified the history of the car. It’s previously been a forum car, see here: https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=71807 A photo from above member of the car in France (something I may re-create, watch this space...!)
Reims-Geaux circuit by Paul Vinter, on Flickr
Anyway, I’ll stop rattling on. I’ve got a ZHP knob waiting to go on, and just ordered a fresh gaiter and handbrake trim from JF customs so I’ll wait and fit all that in one. It’s booked in for a full detail and dent removal at some point in the next couple of weeks, along with touching up some of the kerbing on the alloys. Other than that, I’ll see how it goes...!
Some photos from the drive home today... the long way, of course. First time I've had a good go in the dry
Thanks for reading if you've made it this far (or just looked at pictures)
Harry
I spent most of last summer trying to grab the keys to my old man’s S2000, loving peering over the long bonnet and the whole driving experience, especially compared to my rather muted (in everything but colour) Solar Orange TTS, that said, not sure I could live with that budle of revs and excitement day in, day out. Anyway, I finally decided to take the plunge and cash outta the TTS, it’s been a great car but expensive depreciation wise, and with the lack of mileage I’m doing working from home I thought I’d take the plunge.
I picked this up from a guy in Leicester, I’ll admit I went with fairly low expectations due to the whopping 4 (or was it 5?) lines and subsequent limited detail in the advert. A quick nose round the car which looks pretty honest for near on 90k - few car park battle scars but nothing too untoward - a good thumb through the extensive history and test drive and I’d already arranged to go back with some money! It's currently on CSL reps and AP coilovers.
Driving home in the pouring rain wasn’t nearly as hairy as I’d be thinking it might be, and boy, aren’t these engines just brilliant. I love the gearbox, too, and a bonnet so long it’s like the automotive equivalent of a Chance Vought Corsair. Here's a quick shot of it as it stood on a trip to work to Thursday:
First job was to give the inside a bloody good scrub, get all the make-up and chocolate and other such detritus out the way, and scrub the bi-colour seats up. The interior on this car is really great, with bi colour seats and matching leather dash (not seen that before, despite looking at these on and off for a few years now!), no sat-nav (yay, keeps the clean lines of the dash) but unfortunately, no heated seats. Still, it’s all a compromise right!? Also put one of the Peugeot 6561N3 stubby aerials on too, very pleased with that and it looks a lot better than the silly long one it was wearing.
It’s done about 4000 miles since it’s last oil and filter change, although that was coming up 2 years ago so the second job was to give it an oil and filter change, new spark plugs and also change the rear shock top mounts. That was done today, although we lost a coil pack on cylinder 1 after swapping the plug. Luckily a friend was able to collect a new one in time for me to drive home. Also changed the D/S cupholder as it was broken, them’s expensive bits!
I’ve also managed to track down some of the earlier owners, both were really nice guys and verified the history of the car. It’s previously been a forum car, see here: https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=71807 A photo from above member of the car in France (something I may re-create, watch this space...!)
Reims-Geaux circuit by Paul Vinter, on FlickrAnyway, I’ll stop rattling on. I’ve got a ZHP knob waiting to go on, and just ordered a fresh gaiter and handbrake trim from JF customs so I’ll wait and fit all that in one. It’s booked in for a full detail and dent removal at some point in the next couple of weeks, along with touching up some of the kerbing on the alloys. Other than that, I’ll see how it goes...!
Some photos from the drive home today... the long way, of course. First time I've had a good go in the dry
Thanks for reading if you've made it this far (or just looked at pictures)
Harry
