BMW z4m supercharged

[Terminator X]

Bonkers car those wheels are just

TX.

[Beedub]

look what ess sent me this morning...............

their new kits are just being completed for the m5 v10, stage 1 non intercooled is 600hp, the vt2 will be a watercooled 725bhp kit....... lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyHC2eD7WQc&fea...

[anonymous-user]

Kudos to the car, they should make more cars like this, 500 bhp should be standard for a roadster..

[fridaypassion]

I'm good fella. Miss my Z4M but I saved a lot of weight by getting another coule of VX220s since lol. LAst one was 240bhp supercharged. Now back to a near stock 150bhp with 875kgs to lug round.

I miss the noise!

[Beedub]

The Spruce goose said:

Kudos to the car, they should make more cars like this, 500 bhp should be standard for a roadster..

100% agree with you, this car feels pretty much bob on with this power, time to loose alittle weight to make it count alittle more ;-)

[Beedub]

fridaypassion said:

I'm good fella. Miss my Z4M but I saved a lot of weight by getting another coule of VX220s since lol. LAst one was 240bhp supercharged. Now back to a near stock 150bhp with 875kgs to lug round.

I miss the noise!

weight is the killer really but by todays standards i think the z4m does well especially being so comfortable....... i had a good drive of a v220 turbo, holy st was that awesome, such a good car and i searche for a vxr model for a long while...

the key with this build for me is to keep the car as drivable and comfortable as the stock car........ theirs no point me getting the car to a point where its only useable on the track... im trying to make my idea of a great car.. so lightish weight, good power, front engine, rear drive = petrol head heaven....

[Dazz1871]

I just love the sound of that car

[david_h]

Thanks for the updates, always interesting to read. I watch this thread with great interest as you are my test bed for my own super charger decision.

On the weight saving the first thing I would do is junk the CSL's and buy some proper forged single piece alloys. What you really need is a set of Volk TE37 SL's in 18". Also I would be conscious of tyre weights as they can also make a surprising difference.

Have you changed your clutch or any of the other drivetrain components during the conversion?

What charger kit do you now have fitted to the car, you started with stage 1 I think, then upgraded to an intercooler, did you also upgrade the charger? (too lazy to look back through the thread).

Have you actually had the car on the rollers? Is it putting out the power it's supposed to at the wheels?

[Beedub]

Dazz1871 said:

I just love the sound of that car

its a glorious sound!!! a proper mecanical noise... soo much better than the enhanced by exhaust valve sound that todays top end cars use...

Edited by Beedub on Thursday 22 September 08:48

[Beedub]

david_h said:

Thanks for the updates, always interesting to read. I watch this thread with great interest as you are my test bed for my own super charger decision.

On the weight saving the first thing I would do is junk the CSL's and buy some proper forged single piece alloys. What you really need is a set of Volk TE37 SL's in 18". Also I would be conscious of tyre weights as they can also make a surprising difference.

Have you changed your clutch or any of the other drivetrain components during the conversion?

What charger kit do you now have fitted to the car, you started with stage 1 I think, then upgraded to an intercooler, did you also upgrade the charger? (too lazy to look back through the thread).

Have you actually had the car on the rollers? Is it putting out the power it's supposed to at the wheels?

some te37sl would be perfection imo.... but i just simply LOVE the csl wheel and i love the fact its a genuine bmw piece, quality is bang on and offset wise a small spacer upfront makes these perfect fitment, i struggle to find jap wheels in the correct fitment for the z4m with its silly offsets.

Re the blower, this is an ESS kit.... the supercharger is a vortech v3si Trim, only about 50cfm away from the race spec blowers, this unit can make upto 750hp @ 25psi ;-) so the tiny 8psi i use isnt even breaking a sweat on this unit.... you are however correct i went from stage 1 to the 2 which included new oil coolers, a giant front mount i/c, i also did some sneaky internal work... but all the main internals are stock forged items so we'll see... so far its done over 10 trackdays being blown, and feels rock solid.... drivetrain wise the car is completely bone stock, i do however have an uprated clutch waiting BUT... the way the car makes power is very similar to stock, low Tq high rev power so drivetrain wise its not adding much more stress, my stock clutch is right at the bottom of the pedal and feels like its got years left..... mmm we'll see!!

the main selling point for me about the kit is it simply require no modification to the car all at, ess disigned everything to bolt to existing points, other than that the since adding boost the car sounds COMPLETLY different... it really does sound pretty awesome, start from the stage 1 and have fun..... next year.... ill be builing this engine and doing vt3 :-) 15psi---- lol!!!

the car made 507bhp on simpson motorsports rollers :-) that was pre adaption as well, im pretty certain it'll make more now ;-) The tune will be updated soon, as i like to keep it upto date and keep the car running as good as possible, being alpha N management, data logging and updates go along way ;-) Other than that its been fabulous and i can honestly say im chuffed to bits with the kit and car, sadly it will be tucked away for the winter so im really hoping to get some runs out of her before its tucked away.

(please excuse spelling, using iphone)

[AB]

I love it, absolutely love it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I love it!!

[Beedub]

AB said:

I love it, absolutely love it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I love it!!

:-) thankyou.....

[david_h]

Beedub said:

some te37sl would be perfection imo.... but i just simply LOVE the csl wheel and i love the fact its a genuine bmw piece, quality is bang on and offset wise a small spacer upfront makes these perfect fitment, i struggle to find jap wheels in the correct fitment for the z4m with its silly offsets.

Re the blower, this is an ESS kit.... the supercharger is a vortech v3si Trim, only about 50cfm away from the race spec blowers, this unit can make upto 750hp @ 25psi ;-) so the tiny 8psi i use isnt even breaking a sweat on this unit.... you are however correct i went from stage 1 to the 2 which included new oil coolers, a giant front mount i/c, i also did some sneaky internal work... but all the main internals are stock forged items so we'll see... so far its done over 10 trackdays being blown, and feels rock solid.... drivetrain wise the car is completely bone stock, i do however have an uprated clutch waiting BUT... the way the car makes power is very similar to stock, low Tq high rev power so drivetrain wise its not adding much more stress, my stock clutch is right at the bottom of the pedal and feels like its got years left..... mmm we'll see!!

the main selling point for me about the kit is it simply require no modification to the car all at, ess disigned everything to bolt to existing points, other than that the since adding boost the car sounds COMPLETLY different... it really does sound pretty awesome, start from the stage 1 and have fun..... next year.... ill be builing this engine and doing vt3 :-) 15psi---- lol!!!

the car made 507bhp on simpson motorsports rollers :-) that was pre adaption as well, im pretty certain it'll make more now ;-) The tune will be updated soon, as i like to keep it upto date and keep the car running as good as possible, being alpha N management, data logging and updates go along way ;-) Other than that its been fabulous and i can honestly say im chuffed to bits with the kit and car, sadly it will be tucked away for the winter so im really hoping to get some runs out of her before its tucked away.

(please excuse spelling, using iphone)

Don't get me wrong, I bought OEM CSL's for my car for similar reasons, but they aren't quite as light as I had hoped so am now looking at the Volk's, they do them in E46 M3 fitment.
By "sneaky internal work", can you elaborate pls, I'm thinking I might do my head gasket as a preventative measure.
All of the videos on youtube, yours included, are rather disappointing wrt to the sound of the charger, I want more noise and this doesn't really give the old skool whine of a charger I'm used to.
Great news about the clutch and drivetrain, and like you say because it delivers its power in an OEM fashion it shouldn't overly stress the components.
I will go straight for stage 2 if I do pull the trigger on a charger. I cannot risk it over-heating half way up the alps, so an oil and i/c is mandatory for me.
You said it made 507bhp on the rollers, is that flywheel or wheel bhp?

Are Simpson's prices equivalent to the US ESS website? What are you talking for stage 2, £7k + fitting?

thanks in advance, and fantastic car. I would think it surprises a lot of machinary.

[Beedub]

david_h said:

Don't get me wrong, I bought OEM CSL's for my car for similar reasons, but they aren't quite as light as I had hoped so am now looking at the Volk's, they do them in E46 M3 fitment.
By "sneaky internal work", can you elaborate pls, I'm thinking I might do my head gasket as a preventative measure.
All of the videos on youtube, yours included, are rather disappointing wrt to the sound of the charger, I want more noise and this doesn't really give the old skool whine of a charger I'm used to.
Great news about the clutch and drivetrain, and like you say because it delivers its power in an OEM fashion it shouldn't overly stress the components.
I will go straight for stage 2 if I do pull the trigger on a charger. I cannot risk it over-heating half way up the alps, so an oil and i/c is mandatory for me.
You said it made 507bhp on the rollers, is that flywheel or wheel bhp?

Are Simpson's prices equivalent to the US ESS website? What are you talking for stage 2, £7k + fitting?

thanks in advance, and fantastic car. I would think it surprises a lot of machinary.

i do inspec 2 service at every service, its costly but as i use the car hard i feel that its needed......
Re in the internal work ess absolutly stand by the fact no mods are needed @ the 7psi stage 2 blows, my stage 2 makes 8psi... the rods, cranks and pistons are pretty awesome from factory and very very good quality..... i did gasket change and swapped out to ARP studs. centrifugal superchargers make a different sound to roots type blowers, its very much present inside the car and from outside, lots of pops and whistles/whines... i LOVE the sound level of the blower, perfectly in keeping with the car....

Re the costs..... im not sure Re simpsons as i brought everything on group buys from america to get things as cheap as possible, i do know however import costs and install costs are high, install in total took just under 2 weeks!!!! tbh i did lots of different changes and upgraded hoses ect ect while the install was being done.... just make sure you have gauges to monitor exactly whats happening, i watch my wideband AFR gauge like a hawk.... tells me exactly whats going on with the motor....

most importantly the car drives as if it was never modified...... MPG @ 70mph with a tiny 1psi blowing from the vortech is a very heathy 26mpg... and yes i had the obc re calibrated to the new injectors..... tbh when you get the kit their are ALOT of parts.....

oil temps are lower than stock with the new setrab unit and AITs are super cool, intercooler again can flow 700hp... overthing is designed for simple power increases when the times due... water temps are stock but the z4m has a different setup to the e46 m3 which is better....

1-2nd gears are ususually wheelspin so you have to meter out power, on a nice warm day it can just take full bore 2nd gear which lots of tyre squeal, if you listen as i set off in my vids a page back you can hear that i have to short shift in the lower gears to aviod wheelspin....The belt setup is really cool and eliminates all pulley slip.. Ess replace the stock crank pulley with a beautiful billet unit. The super charger oil needs to be changed every 7500 miles and costs £30 for 3 oil changes ;-) the s/c unit is completly independant of the engine oil so no heated oil, it has its own oil supply and even has its own dipstick... other than that i cant really recommend them enough, ess are awesome and customer service is second to none..... sadly i have to be quite active with the american forums as i the only blown z4m in the uk :-( scary actually as im on my own if problems occur.

if anything breaks long time happens as everything comes from norway or america.

hope ive been able to help you.

Re the Te37 SL... i WANT them... they look awesome, but the offsets are far from ideal for the z4m.

[bazza1000]

Awesome!!!! Looks amazing, you are lucky.

[trackdemon]

Hi Byron,

Car is still looking awesome! Tried emailing a few times to get a shoot date fixed up but I'm not sure if the emails were getting through/going to the correct address. Can you drop me a note to [e-mail] to let me know if its something you'd still be interested in doing (or not)?

many thanks,
Steve

[Beedub]

trackdemon said:

Hi Byron,

Car is still looking awesome! Tried emailing a few times to get a shoot date fixed up but I'm not sure if the emails were getting through/going to the correct address. Can you drop me a note to [e-mail] to let me know if its something you'd still be interested in doing (or not)?

many thanks,
Steve

arhhh TRACKDEMON my AOL was disconnected after a dispute about the bill, i was paying for services i had not ordered and refused to pay the bill, they cut off my email and deleted ALL my saved emails from the last 10 years and all my contacts...... im now back with another ISP.... Really sorry matey especially as i had paid for the tracktime you see a page back :-( I have only just managed to get the time together to go through the painstaking process of changing all my emails from the old to the new :-( what a ball ache!!

Edited by Beedub on Thursday 22 September 15:16

[trackdemon]

Beedub said:

trackdemon said:

Hi Byron,

Car is still looking awesome! Tried emailing a few times to get a shoot date fixed up but I'm not sure if the emails were getting through/going to the correct address. Can you drop me a note to [e-mail] to let me know if its something you'd still be interested in doing (or not)?

many thanks,
Steve

arhhh TRACKDEMON my AOL was disconnected after a dispute about the bill, i was paying for services i had not ordered and refused to pay the bill, they cut off my email and deleted ALL my saved emails from the last 10 years and all my contacts...... im now back with another ISP.... Really sorry matey especially as i had paid for the tracktime you see a page back :-( I have only just managed to get the time together to go through the painstaking process of changing all my emails from the old to the new :-( what a ball ache!!

Edited by Beedub on Thursday 22 September 15:16

No probs mate, just fire me a mail when you've got a second (or feel free to give me a buzz - mob number is on my site, which is in my profile )

[Beedub]

after a good few trackdays my car needed some serious TLC, which is probably what im best @ , so off came the wheels, off came some of the engine pipework, a good few hours later...... shes back to her best....

while i was their i did my usual engine/suspension tweeks, re torquing things, and generally giving the car a good check over.....

anyhow here she is... owned from baby fresh and being the cars only owner, now on 11600 miles, my pristine 2007 z4m Vt2-500.

Enjoy








my number plate is on the slant........ new plate is now on and Re aligned :-)




vortech megalflow BPV



s/c owners note top breather hose replaced with kevlar re-inforced braided hose, one of many tweeks to the s/c components ;-)

And the new love of my life, my baby boy :-)



photobucket has killed the quality of these pics sadly :-(

Edited by Beedub on Sunday 25th September 10:43

[ManOpener]

For lightweight, forged wheels, how about SSR Type C's? 8.5kg a wheel, they do them in BMW fitment and offset and they even have the //M colours on them!