Thirsty Discovery and Z4 thread
Discussion
Day 3. Austrian passes, cool castle, Munich
I set off early to get as far from Liechtenstein as soon as I could, stopping only briefly to be liberated of thirty quid for a tiny bottle of sunscreen. I don't miss Swiss prices at all.
I drove across the North-West part of Austria, with the goal of getting to Castle Neuschwanstein by lunchtime. The valleys here were much wider and flatter, and the roads much more fast-flowing. I did climb up to some altitude around Unterhalden, and the views were no less idyllic than the previous day's.
I'm an architecture bore, so Castle Neuschwanstein has been on my bucketlist for some time, and it absolutely delivered. The only downsides were the 45min hike to the top in 30-degree heat, and the fact that you can't actually see its best angles from up close. Either way, bucketlist item ticked off and onto Munich for the evening, with obligatory litre of Pilsner and pretzel.
I'm very easily pleased, so when I realised that my hotel had a car lift to its underground car park, I knew I needed to give it a bash. The reality was forgetting to turn my engine off in my excitement and nearly gassing myself, and then almost taking my wingmirror off on the way out of the lift. Still worth it.
I set off early to get as far from Liechtenstein as soon as I could, stopping only briefly to be liberated of thirty quid for a tiny bottle of sunscreen. I don't miss Swiss prices at all.
I drove across the North-West part of Austria, with the goal of getting to Castle Neuschwanstein by lunchtime. The valleys here were much wider and flatter, and the roads much more fast-flowing. I did climb up to some altitude around Unterhalden, and the views were no less idyllic than the previous day's.
I'm an architecture bore, so Castle Neuschwanstein has been on my bucketlist for some time, and it absolutely delivered. The only downsides were the 45min hike to the top in 30-degree heat, and the fact that you can't actually see its best angles from up close. Either way, bucketlist item ticked off and onto Munich for the evening, with obligatory litre of Pilsner and pretzel.
I'm very easily pleased, so when I realised that my hotel had a car lift to its underground car park, I knew I needed to give it a bash. The reality was forgetting to turn my engine off in my excitement and nearly gassing myself, and then almost taking my wingmirror off on the way out of the lift. Still worth it.
Days 4/5: Munich, Stuttgart, autobahn, car museums
A big part of this trip was about the opportunity to see the various car museums/exhibitions that Germany has to offer. Motorworld and BMW in Munich, and Porsche and Mercedes in Stuttgart.
Motorworld is a really cool space, built in an old industrial building on the outskirts of Munich, it houses lots of independent shops, car businesses (a Bugatti service centre) and conference/co-working spaces. Its party piece is the rare and interesting cars that are dotted around the place, some for sale and others apparently just in storage. Very cool, and well worth a visit.
The BMW museum was great, but very corporate and slick. It felt like more of a brand-building exercise than a celebration of the marque, if that makes sense.
By contrast, the Mercedes museum was like a 'greatest hits' album of everything they've produced, weaving in some of the social history that influenced each car. If I could only go back to one, it would be this one.
The Porsche museum was smaller than the others, but no less impressive. Lots of competition and rare/concept cars, and I think a full catalogue of everything they've ever built.
Back to being an architecture bore again, but the Stuttgart public library is one of the most impressive buildings I've ever been inside.
A big part of this trip was about the opportunity to see the various car museums/exhibitions that Germany has to offer. Motorworld and BMW in Munich, and Porsche and Mercedes in Stuttgart.
Motorworld is a really cool space, built in an old industrial building on the outskirts of Munich, it houses lots of independent shops, car businesses (a Bugatti service centre) and conference/co-working spaces. Its party piece is the rare and interesting cars that are dotted around the place, some for sale and others apparently just in storage. Very cool, and well worth a visit.
The BMW museum was great, but very corporate and slick. It felt like more of a brand-building exercise than a celebration of the marque, if that makes sense.
By contrast, the Mercedes museum was like a 'greatest hits' album of everything they've produced, weaving in some of the social history that influenced each car. If I could only go back to one, it would be this one.
The Porsche museum was smaller than the others, but no less impressive. Lots of competition and rare/concept cars, and I think a full catalogue of everything they've ever built.
Back to being an architecture bore again, but the Stuttgart public library is one of the most impressive buildings I've ever been inside.
Days 6/7. The Ring.
I haven't been to the Nurburgring since 2019. Various life complications and COVID got in the way of me feeding my addiction, which is probably for the best as far as my wallet is concerned. The days I was there Sport Auto were running a private trackday, which meant that I could spend the daytimes watching a very impressive selection of cars hammering around at pace. As luck would have it, I stayed at the Dorint along with all of the participants, so the hotel car park was like a Cars & Coffee meet.
Last time I was here I took a passenger lap in the Apex M3, but I wanted to see what 'fast' really looked like this time, so I booked myself a ride in the GetSpeed GT3 RS. It was absolutely viceral. Just brutal. Obviously the chap driving was incredibly talented, but this thing just gripped, rotated and hooked up like nothing I've ever ridden in before. When we got back in and I'd stopped giggling like a child, he casually mentioned that we'd just done a 7m16s lap, in traffic, on 100-lap old tyres. Jesus. If you want to get an idea what that looks like, take a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoZXsiJOWaM&ab... - I just can't recommend this enough. Just do it.
The following day I ventured out for a couple of gentle tourist laps of my own, with due trepidation based on the recent reputation of the place. For context, I've always driven carefully on TF sessions after watching an Evo pinball off both barriers in front of me on my first ever lap. It didn't take long for me to remember why I drive carefully. Not long into the lap, and I'm slowing with hazards on for the marshalls to extract a German BMW from the barriers. Good job I checked my mirrors, because I was just able to get out of the way of a British Focus that divebombed me and screamed past the marshalls. I caught up with the Focus a little later in the lap, while he was getting his belongings out of the car after hitting the barriers on both sides just before Brunnchen. Karma is a b*tch. I managed 5 laps in the evening session, with the traffic getting progressively lighter and me getting progressively smoother. I've vowed to come back and do a trackday next year.
I haven't been to the Nurburgring since 2019. Various life complications and COVID got in the way of me feeding my addiction, which is probably for the best as far as my wallet is concerned. The days I was there Sport Auto were running a private trackday, which meant that I could spend the daytimes watching a very impressive selection of cars hammering around at pace. As luck would have it, I stayed at the Dorint along with all of the participants, so the hotel car park was like a Cars & Coffee meet.
Last time I was here I took a passenger lap in the Apex M3, but I wanted to see what 'fast' really looked like this time, so I booked myself a ride in the GetSpeed GT3 RS. It was absolutely viceral. Just brutal. Obviously the chap driving was incredibly talented, but this thing just gripped, rotated and hooked up like nothing I've ever ridden in before. When we got back in and I'd stopped giggling like a child, he casually mentioned that we'd just done a 7m16s lap, in traffic, on 100-lap old tyres. Jesus. If you want to get an idea what that looks like, take a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoZXsiJOWaM&ab... - I just can't recommend this enough. Just do it.
The following day I ventured out for a couple of gentle tourist laps of my own, with due trepidation based on the recent reputation of the place. For context, I've always driven carefully on TF sessions after watching an Evo pinball off both barriers in front of me on my first ever lap. It didn't take long for me to remember why I drive carefully. Not long into the lap, and I'm slowing with hazards on for the marshalls to extract a German BMW from the barriers. Good job I checked my mirrors, because I was just able to get out of the way of a British Focus that divebombed me and screamed past the marshalls. I caught up with the Focus a little later in the lap, while he was getting his belongings out of the car after hitting the barriers on both sides just before Brunnchen. Karma is a b*tch. I managed 5 laps in the evening session, with the traffic getting progressively lighter and me getting progressively smoother. I've vowed to come back and do a trackday next year.
So, after that stream of consciousness, there we have it. Home in one piece.
I thought I'd have a little review of the trip in numbers, and this is what I came back with:
- 2,024 miles
- 7 days
- 6 countries (France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Belgium)
- 5 car museums
- 7 tanks of unleaded (30-something mpg average)
- 1 litre of 5w30
- 4 Alpine passes
- 130mph cruising on the autobahn
- 5 laps of the Nurburgring
- 3 crashed cars on my first lap
- 0 reliability issues
Now to give the car a bit of TLC before a couple of trackdays in August. There's a slight vagueness in the steering, which I think is going to leave me swapping out the front wishbones to tighten up the bushes a little. It's also due a service in 6k miles according to the computer, so I'll get the oil changed early as a present.
I've been looking at adjustable dampers as a solution to make it a better track car with minimal road compromise, and Konis are looking like the best bet despite the fiddly rear adjustment. I'm also getting a tiny bit of driveline shunt from behind me, so I'm going to have a poke around the diff mounting bushes and the driveshaft bolts.
Overall, a bloody fabulous trip, and one I'll be looking to repeat/modify/improve in future.
I thought I'd have a little review of the trip in numbers, and this is what I came back with:
- 2,024 miles
- 7 days
- 6 countries (France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Belgium)
- 5 car museums
- 7 tanks of unleaded (30-something mpg average)
- 1 litre of 5w30
- 4 Alpine passes
- 130mph cruising on the autobahn
- 5 laps of the Nurburgring
- 3 crashed cars on my first lap
- 0 reliability issues
Now to give the car a bit of TLC before a couple of trackdays in August. There's a slight vagueness in the steering, which I think is going to leave me swapping out the front wishbones to tighten up the bushes a little. It's also due a service in 6k miles according to the computer, so I'll get the oil changed early as a present.
I've been looking at adjustable dampers as a solution to make it a better track car with minimal road compromise, and Konis are looking like the best bet despite the fiddly rear adjustment. I'm also getting a tiny bit of driveline shunt from behind me, so I'm going to have a poke around the diff mounting bushes and the driveshaft bolts.
Overall, a bloody fabulous trip, and one I'll be looking to repeat/modify/improve in future.
Cheers chaps. Mr Tidy (I think you enquired about my number plate on the Z4 Forum?), just go and do it. It really doesn't take much planning, although it's definitely not a cheap way to spend a week with current Eurotunnel and hotel prices.
I had a lovely cycle over to collect the Discovery this morning with its fresh front air springs and shocks. The specialist was kind enough to discount the previous diagnosis and a bunch of labour, given that I'd actually identified the issue, so the impact to my wallet wasn't too painful. £700 for a pair of BWI OEM front air springs and dampers fitted with new hardware seems very reasonable. After experiencing the buttery smoothness of the drive home, I've vowed to get the rears (also 116k originals) done next year. Hopefully that's the end of the suspension issues for now, but this is a 00s Land Rover so never say never...
Rinsed some of the grime off the Z4 last night, and my simple pre-trip spray wax efforts seem to have paid off (Turtle Wax 'Fast Wax') meaning that it was a doddle to foam and rinse. While it might seem a bit tragic, I couldn't resist popping on the subtle Ring tramp-stamp/badge of survival.
That's it for car-related stuff for a few weeks, I think. A bit of mid-August fiddling for the Z4 before a couple of trackdays, and then it's onto the backburner while I plan to tackle the slight crust on the Discovery sills before winter. Luckily the specialist recommended a good bodyshop locally, so I'm going to get a quote from them in a couple of months' time.
I had a lovely cycle over to collect the Discovery this morning with its fresh front air springs and shocks. The specialist was kind enough to discount the previous diagnosis and a bunch of labour, given that I'd actually identified the issue, so the impact to my wallet wasn't too painful. £700 for a pair of BWI OEM front air springs and dampers fitted with new hardware seems very reasonable. After experiencing the buttery smoothness of the drive home, I've vowed to get the rears (also 116k originals) done next year. Hopefully that's the end of the suspension issues for now, but this is a 00s Land Rover so never say never...
Rinsed some of the grime off the Z4 last night, and my simple pre-trip spray wax efforts seem to have paid off (Turtle Wax 'Fast Wax') meaning that it was a doddle to foam and rinse. While it might seem a bit tragic, I couldn't resist popping on the subtle Ring tramp-stamp/badge of survival.
That's it for car-related stuff for a few weeks, I think. A bit of mid-August fiddling for the Z4 before a couple of trackdays, and then it's onto the backburner while I plan to tackle the slight crust on the Discovery sills before winter. Luckily the specialist recommended a good bodyshop locally, so I'm going to get a quote from them in a couple of months' time.
Edited by C70R on Tuesday 11th July 11:03
So, the Discovery has ticked over a year in my ownership. I thought I'd look back on it in 'warts and all' fashion, to help others with what it might cost to run one of these with zero mechanical talent/inclination.
The figures are slightly skewed by the fact I bought a car that had been used sparingly and then left standing for a year after the (only) previous owner passed away in 2021. But even so, this is a car whose history file shows that it's been maintained regardless of cost.
I'm not going to include fuel, insurance or tax, because they are just standard cost of ownership. If you wanted to estimate the fuel costs (I'm not brave enough) the mileage is currently at 117.5k, meaning that I've covered a smidge over 12k in it in the past year at an average of 19mpg. Gross.
In chronological order (the details of everything that got done are contained in the thread):
- Recommissioning at the specialist in Manchester: £2,200
- New A/T tyres: £550
- New compressor, valve blocks, battery and alternator: £1,850 (most of which was paid by the supplying dealer)
- New ride-height sensor, sunroof drains cleared, gearbox adaptations reset and bonnet catch replaced: Free
- Annual service: £1,750
- New compressor to replace the faulty first replacement: Free
- Aircon rad to replace the faulty first replacement: Free
- New plastic exterior trim: £80
- New front air springs and shocks: £790
So that leaves me with a grand total for year 1 of ... drum roll ... £7,220. Which is quite a lot of money.
In fact, it's not a million miles away from the original purchase price.
Thankfully I didn't pay £1,850 of that, thanks to the supplying dealer picking up the tab for the initial faults. I take slight consolation in the fact that everything I've changed has been things that are expected to go wrong with higher-mileage, complicated cars. And, ignoring the consumables (air springs, tyres, battery, brakes etc.) the big-ticket items that have been changed (compressor, alternator, aircon rad etc.) are things that should hopefully prolong the Disco's longevity with me. It's my intention to run this for another 4-5 years, as I can't think of anything else I'd rather own for the same outlay.
All of that being said, I'm expecting a slightly easier next year of ownership. If the Disco continues to suck up cash, then I might find myself giving it a stern talking to and threatening it with a new owner... Avanti!
The figures are slightly skewed by the fact I bought a car that had been used sparingly and then left standing for a year after the (only) previous owner passed away in 2021. But even so, this is a car whose history file shows that it's been maintained regardless of cost.
I'm not going to include fuel, insurance or tax, because they are just standard cost of ownership. If you wanted to estimate the fuel costs (I'm not brave enough) the mileage is currently at 117.5k, meaning that I've covered a smidge over 12k in it in the past year at an average of 19mpg. Gross.
In chronological order (the details of everything that got done are contained in the thread):
- Recommissioning at the specialist in Manchester: £2,200
- New A/T tyres: £550
- New compressor, valve blocks, battery and alternator: £1,850 (most of which was paid by the supplying dealer)
- New ride-height sensor, sunroof drains cleared, gearbox adaptations reset and bonnet catch replaced: Free
- Annual service: £1,750
- New compressor to replace the faulty first replacement: Free
- Aircon rad to replace the faulty first replacement: Free
- New plastic exterior trim: £80
- New front air springs and shocks: £790
So that leaves me with a grand total for year 1 of ... drum roll ... £7,220. Which is quite a lot of money.
In fact, it's not a million miles away from the original purchase price.Thankfully I didn't pay £1,850 of that, thanks to the supplying dealer picking up the tab for the initial faults. I take slight consolation in the fact that everything I've changed has been things that are expected to go wrong with higher-mileage, complicated cars. And, ignoring the consumables (air springs, tyres, battery, brakes etc.) the big-ticket items that have been changed (compressor, alternator, aircon rad etc.) are things that should hopefully prolong the Disco's longevity with me. It's my intention to run this for another 4-5 years, as I can't think of anything else I'd rather own for the same outlay.
All of that being said, I'm expecting a slightly easier next year of ownership. If the Disco continues to suck up cash, then I might find myself giving it a stern talking to and threatening it with a new owner... Avanti!
Edited by C70R on Tuesday 25th July 10:45
All quiet on the car ownership front, which is a nice change after a flurry of activity in recent months.
I took the Z4 to a Drive Limits tuition day last week, which was absolutely fantastic. I've shared more detail in the Trackday forum, but needless to say I'm feeling a lot more confident in the way the car behaves than I did after Snetterton.
I treated the Z4 to an oil change over the weekend, which was the first in my ownership. What came out was as black as midnight, so I've ordered an analysis kit from Miller's Oils to see where I stand in terms of bearing material etc. What went in was ~7 litres of Mobil's finest 5w40 fully synthetic.
On the tuition day it did suffer with a slightly sticky tappet, which isn't uncommon for these engines and is potentially a result of using the OEM spec 5w30 when giving it a kicking. The 30 just doesn't flow enough when the engine is really warm, so accepted wisdom is to move to 5w40 for harder use.
I'm at Cadwell on Thursday, on what will unfortunately be yet another wet trackday. I'm hopeful I can still learn a bit about the car, but that isn't a track where you want to push hard in the rain. Annoying.
More positively, I've decided to hold onto the Z4 for a little while. I'm of the view that they are really underappreciated little cars, and every time I did the man maths on upgrading I couldn't reconcile how much performance the Z4 offers for such comparatively small outlay and running costs. I'd feel much better learning how to drive a rwd car on track in something that can hustle as fast as many modern hatches (tested at 8.25 around the Ring), but can be replaced for less than five grand if it all goes wrong.
I've never been one for owning cars as a symbol of status, and I'm not really interested in having people fawn over my car at owners meets etc. The Z4 is the right tool for this particular job.
Next steps (after a potential Ring trip later this year) are to gently titivate it, trying hard not to lose its usability on the lovely B Roads around where I live. Starting points are seats and suspension.
Seats: the Z4 Sport seats go for ridiculous money, far beyond what they are worth. If I can find a cheap car with electric heated seats fitted over the winter, I'll buy it, swap the seats with mine, and sell it on. Otherwise, it's going to be either something from another BMW model (E46 M3 seats drop right in) or aftermarket.
Suspension: I'm trying really hard to avoid going to coilovers here, but the options aren't brilliant. A set of Bilstein B6 or Koni adjustables is running to almost the same price as damping adjustable coilovers like HSDs. Need to find some cars with them fitted to understand the trade-off.
Lots of thinking to be done. For now, it needs a wash after it got dive-bombed by the pigeon Luftwaffe. Let's see what Thursday holds...
I took the Z4 to a Drive Limits tuition day last week, which was absolutely fantastic. I've shared more detail in the Trackday forum, but needless to say I'm feeling a lot more confident in the way the car behaves than I did after Snetterton.
I treated the Z4 to an oil change over the weekend, which was the first in my ownership. What came out was as black as midnight, so I've ordered an analysis kit from Miller's Oils to see where I stand in terms of bearing material etc. What went in was ~7 litres of Mobil's finest 5w40 fully synthetic.
On the tuition day it did suffer with a slightly sticky tappet, which isn't uncommon for these engines and is potentially a result of using the OEM spec 5w30 when giving it a kicking. The 30 just doesn't flow enough when the engine is really warm, so accepted wisdom is to move to 5w40 for harder use.
I'm at Cadwell on Thursday, on what will unfortunately be yet another wet trackday. I'm hopeful I can still learn a bit about the car, but that isn't a track where you want to push hard in the rain. Annoying.
More positively, I've decided to hold onto the Z4 for a little while. I'm of the view that they are really underappreciated little cars, and every time I did the man maths on upgrading I couldn't reconcile how much performance the Z4 offers for such comparatively small outlay and running costs. I'd feel much better learning how to drive a rwd car on track in something that can hustle as fast as many modern hatches (tested at 8.25 around the Ring), but can be replaced for less than five grand if it all goes wrong.
I've never been one for owning cars as a symbol of status, and I'm not really interested in having people fawn over my car at owners meets etc. The Z4 is the right tool for this particular job.
Next steps (after a potential Ring trip later this year) are to gently titivate it, trying hard not to lose its usability on the lovely B Roads around where I live. Starting points are seats and suspension.
Seats: the Z4 Sport seats go for ridiculous money, far beyond what they are worth. If I can find a cheap car with electric heated seats fitted over the winter, I'll buy it, swap the seats with mine, and sell it on. Otherwise, it's going to be either something from another BMW model (E46 M3 seats drop right in) or aftermarket.
Suspension: I'm trying really hard to avoid going to coilovers here, but the options aren't brilliant. A set of Bilstein B6 or Koni adjustables is running to almost the same price as damping adjustable coilovers like HSDs. Need to find some cars with them fitted to understand the trade-off.
Lots of thinking to be done. For now, it needs a wash after it got dive-bombed by the pigeon Luftwaffe. Let's see what Thursday holds...
Agreed on the point about bang for buck. It will lap most tracks quicker than a stock S2000 for between half and a third of the cost. I kept asking myself why I was upgrading, and more often than not it came down to itchy feet. Everything I looked at came with significantly higher running costs, which made it tough to reconcile for a car that gets used hard. The Z4 is ultimately still lots more capable than I am, so it will stay until I get bored or competent. Whichever comes first.
The seats thing is a bit of a head-scratcher. I need lateral support, and many of the seats that people have fitted (like S2000, E46 and RX8) aren't a massive step up. I really want Recaro Sportsters, and may yet still cave in and buy them, but it seems odd to fit such expensive seats to such a cheap car. I'd like to retain the electric and heated bits, so finding an OEM-ish solution appeals. I'm desperately trying to remember what E92 M3 seats felt like, because I suspect they will drop in with minimal fuss. There's a holy grail of Z4 Sport seats with electric adjustment and heating, but in half-leather with a cloth centre. If I spot a set of those for sale, it's game over.
The overall plan is to continue gently improving it and replacing worn parts over the next 12 months, before doing a trackday at the Nurburgring this time next year. I need to get a few more laps under my belt between now and then, which unfortunately means more trips and braving TF sessions.
The seats thing is a bit of a head-scratcher. I need lateral support, and many of the seats that people have fitted (like S2000, E46 and RX8) aren't a massive step up. I really want Recaro Sportsters, and may yet still cave in and buy them, but it seems odd to fit such expensive seats to such a cheap car. I'd like to retain the electric and heated bits, so finding an OEM-ish solution appeals. I'm desperately trying to remember what E92 M3 seats felt like, because I suspect they will drop in with minimal fuss. There's a holy grail of Z4 Sport seats with electric adjustment and heating, but in half-leather with a cloth centre. If I spot a set of those for sale, it's game over.
The overall plan is to continue gently improving it and replacing worn parts over the next 12 months, before doing a trackday at the Nurburgring this time next year. I need to get a few more laps under my belt between now and then, which unfortunately means more trips and braving TF sessions.
After initially fearing another wet day at Cadwell, Michael Fish came through for me and it ended up being dry and sunny (enough for me to burn my bloody neck) all day!
I love Cadwell, and I'm lucky enough to have a group of friends who also have track cars. Combining this with the good weather and minimal track closures (the highlight being an Atom losing a wheel!) meant that this was probably the most fun trackday I've done in a long time.
We spent the day jumping in and out of each other's cars, taking passenger rides to learn lines and braking points, and going out in groups of 2-3 similar cars to follow each other. Gaps between sessions were passed fiddling with cars and talking car bore stuff, and thankfully there were no incidents or breakdowns for the group. Utter bliss.
After a wet Snetterton these were my first track laps with the roof down, which heightened the sensory experience somewhat over tintop track cars. I'm sold. Obviously the Z4 remains a luxury limousine next to something like the MV Exocet that one of the chaps in our group tracks, but it was still a really rewarding drive.
I got progressively faster and more confident as the day wore on, learning where I could lean on the brakes and deciding that second was only really necessary for Hairpin thanks to the torque of the M54 engine. All of that being said, I'm still not brave enough to take Coppice without a dab of the brakes (I'm typically approaching it at 100mph+), which really harms momentum into Charlies and onto the straight.
Gone was the driveline shunt I'd noticed on the way back from Germany, and gone was the vagueness in the front end after having the alignment tweaked prior to the trackday. However, as is always the way with the first few trackdays in a new car, it did highlight some issues.
Brakes: The DS2500 pads stood up really impressively to 5-6 lap stints of fast driving, but I think the front discs (of indeterminate brand) have warped a little due to the heat. Time to chuck some plain Brembo discs on to see if that's the cause of the issue.
Alignment: This headscratcher has happened a few times when I've been using the car hard. I get the alignment done, the guys doing it lock the topmounts and track rods, and it's perfect when I leave the garage. After a hard day on track, I found that the steering wheel was a few degrees out of straight on the drive home. It's really quite confusing, and I think I'm going to chuck a new set of inner and outer tie/track rods on to see if this solves it.
I was also lucky enough to run into another Z4 on track, who had coilovers fitted. The lovely chap who owned it tossed me the keys to drive it up and down the potholed circuit access road, and they are really no worse than my tired OEM kit in terms of ride quality. I think this might be a winter project for me.
Seating continued to be an issue, and I think I've settled on the Corbeau RRB recliner as my solution. They are shaped a bit like 911 GT3 seats (if you squint a bit), in that they have lots of hip support but low thigh bolsters, meaning that it's not too annoying to get in/out of. They also come with the option of heating, which was one of my big gripes with many aftermarket seats. Jury's out as to whether I can convince MrsC to sit in one for a sunny Sunday drive, so I might end up just doing the driver's seat. Again, a winter project beckons.
No trackdays in the diary for now, but eyeing up a Snetterton day in October with the same group. Otherwise, it's business as usual.
Oh, and the Disco is fine, for a change.
I love Cadwell, and I'm lucky enough to have a group of friends who also have track cars. Combining this with the good weather and minimal track closures (the highlight being an Atom losing a wheel!) meant that this was probably the most fun trackday I've done in a long time.
We spent the day jumping in and out of each other's cars, taking passenger rides to learn lines and braking points, and going out in groups of 2-3 similar cars to follow each other. Gaps between sessions were passed fiddling with cars and talking car bore stuff, and thankfully there were no incidents or breakdowns for the group. Utter bliss.
After a wet Snetterton these were my first track laps with the roof down, which heightened the sensory experience somewhat over tintop track cars. I'm sold. Obviously the Z4 remains a luxury limousine next to something like the MV Exocet that one of the chaps in our group tracks, but it was still a really rewarding drive.
I got progressively faster and more confident as the day wore on, learning where I could lean on the brakes and deciding that second was only really necessary for Hairpin thanks to the torque of the M54 engine. All of that being said, I'm still not brave enough to take Coppice without a dab of the brakes (I'm typically approaching it at 100mph+), which really harms momentum into Charlies and onto the straight.
Gone was the driveline shunt I'd noticed on the way back from Germany, and gone was the vagueness in the front end after having the alignment tweaked prior to the trackday. However, as is always the way with the first few trackdays in a new car, it did highlight some issues.
Brakes: The DS2500 pads stood up really impressively to 5-6 lap stints of fast driving, but I think the front discs (of indeterminate brand) have warped a little due to the heat. Time to chuck some plain Brembo discs on to see if that's the cause of the issue.
Alignment: This headscratcher has happened a few times when I've been using the car hard. I get the alignment done, the guys doing it lock the topmounts and track rods, and it's perfect when I leave the garage. After a hard day on track, I found that the steering wheel was a few degrees out of straight on the drive home. It's really quite confusing, and I think I'm going to chuck a new set of inner and outer tie/track rods on to see if this solves it.
I was also lucky enough to run into another Z4 on track, who had coilovers fitted. The lovely chap who owned it tossed me the keys to drive it up and down the potholed circuit access road, and they are really no worse than my tired OEM kit in terms of ride quality. I think this might be a winter project for me.
Seating continued to be an issue, and I think I've settled on the Corbeau RRB recliner as my solution. They are shaped a bit like 911 GT3 seats (if you squint a bit), in that they have lots of hip support but low thigh bolsters, meaning that it's not too annoying to get in/out of. They also come with the option of heating, which was one of my big gripes with many aftermarket seats. Jury's out as to whether I can convince MrsC to sit in one for a sunny Sunday drive, so I might end up just doing the driver's seat. Again, a winter project beckons.
No trackdays in the diary for now, but eyeing up a Snetterton day in October with the same group. Otherwise, it's business as usual.
Oh, and the Disco is fine, for a change.
As many car enthusiasts, I'm in a state of perpetual 'what next?' when it comes to my fun car. I recently started a thread here in fact, with a budget of up to £40k to replace the Z4. The best the thread could manage was to suggest a Boxster. Try as I might, I can't get excited about a Boxster (I've driven a few), so I felt a bit deflated.
Then I popped outside earlier and caught a glimpse of the Z4, where it's sat since I got home from Cadwell. It struck me that tying up £40k in a car that isn't going to move most weeks is just a bad idea, and I'm not in the habit of financing fun cars. So it looks like the Z4 is staying.
To muster up some enthusiasm and motivation, I started a list. Lists are always good for this kind of thing. Then it became two lists. Even better.
To fix
- Annoying rattle inside passenger door
- Less annoying rattle inside bootlid
- Really annoying rattle from passenger side of cabin
- Stop new floormats from sliding around (probably velcro)
- Get the 17s refurbished
- New track rods
- Get rid of headlight condensation
- Sort out some feature coding
- Replace driver's side tweeter cover
- New front discs
- Reattach seat backs (they all do that, sir)
To add
- Corbeau RRB driver's seat and heating pad
- Braided hoses
- Coilover (HSD MonoPro the current fave, because of the softer springrates)
- Smaller steering wheel
- Wheel spacers to stop the 17s looking lost in the arches
Looks like this has turned into a project thread. Nice.
Then I popped outside earlier and caught a glimpse of the Z4, where it's sat since I got home from Cadwell. It struck me that tying up £40k in a car that isn't going to move most weeks is just a bad idea, and I'm not in the habit of financing fun cars. So it looks like the Z4 is staying.
To muster up some enthusiasm and motivation, I started a list. Lists are always good for this kind of thing. Then it became two lists. Even better.
To fix
- Annoying rattle inside passenger door
- Less annoying rattle inside bootlid
- Really annoying rattle from passenger side of cabin
- Stop new floormats from sliding around (probably velcro)
- Get the 17s refurbished
- New track rods
- Get rid of headlight condensation
- Sort out some feature coding
- Replace driver's side tweeter cover
- New front discs
- Reattach seat backs (they all do that, sir)
To add
- Corbeau RRB driver's seat and heating pad
- Braided hoses
- Coilover (HSD MonoPro the current fave, because of the softer springrates)
- Smaller steering wheel
- Wheel spacers to stop the 17s looking lost in the arches
Looks like this has turned into a project thread. Nice.
If anyone's interested, the Discovery is fine. It's costing 50p a mile in fuel, but it's still fine.
The Volvo goes back soon, and I haven't got a clue what to replace it with. Lots of offers on Tesla Model Y leases at the moment, so that's potentially the favourite. Need something with ~300 mile range, because I can't rely on MrsC to bother to charge it if she drives to London and back.
The Volvo goes back soon, and I haven't got a clue what to replace it with. Lots of offers on Tesla Model Y leases at the moment, so that's potentially the favourite. Need something with ~300 mile range, because I can't rely on MrsC to bother to charge it if she drives to London and back.
Mr Tidy said:
C70R said:
Looks like this has turned into a project thread. Nice.
Great! I'm not a fan of spacers though, but E89 Z4 and E9* 3 Series wheels have much different offsets so getting wheels from one of those would push the wheels out to fill the arches. I ran a set of staggered 18" E89 wheels on my previous E86 and didn't have any issues with rubbing.
I'm going to get the variety with longer bolts, because they make most sense for a car that gets used hard.
I much prefer the way the car looks on staggered wheels, but I hate the way it handles. 255s are just too big for a car with 230lbft, and it just seems to tip the balance too far towards understeer that alignment can't dial out.
Buying a car with a fairly slim folder of service history and then using it hard on track is always a gamble. So far I've gotten away with replacing a few bushes and the usual wear and tear stuff. As I'm about to embark on a mini-project of sorts, I thought it would make sense to give the engine a bit of a health check.
The M54 is an astonishing engine. Possibly BMW's peak, outside of the non-M engines. In M54B30 format (as this one is), it's a really unstressed lump too - 230bhp/torque from 3 litres isn't pushing any limits really.
Outside of cooling systems failing, the only thing that really kills these cars is bottom end bearing wear. Given that the oil in the car was of unknown provenance, I thought I'd take advantage of Millers Oils' testing service. Millers screen for the presence of various substances in your oil, and give you a breakdown and an overall health check.
The oil that came out was allegedly OEM-spec 5w30, and had apparently been changed 8k miles ago. Given that many of those 8k have been quite hard miles (track, training, roadtripping), it's hardly surprising that it came out of the car as black as midnight. I switched to 5w40 given the change in the car's use, and will see whether more track time merits switching up to 5w50 or similar.
This got me wondering how bad the results would be, but I needn't have worried. The health check came back exceptionally clean for a car that's done 106k miles. Bearing material presence was exceptionally low (nice), and fuel/coolant contamination was also very minimal.
I'm going to take that as a massive win, and a sign that I should reward it with some shiny goodies and a bit of TLC.
The M54 is an astonishing engine. Possibly BMW's peak, outside of the non-M engines. In M54B30 format (as this one is), it's a really unstressed lump too - 230bhp/torque from 3 litres isn't pushing any limits really.
Outside of cooling systems failing, the only thing that really kills these cars is bottom end bearing wear. Given that the oil in the car was of unknown provenance, I thought I'd take advantage of Millers Oils' testing service. Millers screen for the presence of various substances in your oil, and give you a breakdown and an overall health check.
The oil that came out was allegedly OEM-spec 5w30, and had apparently been changed 8k miles ago. Given that many of those 8k have been quite hard miles (track, training, roadtripping), it's hardly surprising that it came out of the car as black as midnight. I switched to 5w40 given the change in the car's use, and will see whether more track time merits switching up to 5w50 or similar.
This got me wondering how bad the results would be, but I needn't have worried. The health check came back exceptionally clean for a car that's done 106k miles. Bearing material presence was exceptionally low (nice), and fuel/coolant contamination was also very minimal.
I'm going to take that as a massive win, and a sign that I should reward it with some shiny goodies and a bit of TLC.
camel_landy said:
CKY said:
C70R said:
Outside of cooling systems failing, the only thing that really kills these cars is bottom end bearing wear.
Seen a few go 'pop' from the oil pumps failing under fast road or track use, something to be mindful of. Strange really as not something I was aware of until the M52/54 onwards, and not a problem I recall from my days of abusing M90/30 engines (probably from before your time if you're proclaiming the M54 as one of BMW's best).M
Mr Tidy said:
C70R said:
I wouldn't usually be either. However, the Z4 I ran into at Cadwell had fairly modest ones fitted (12/20), and I couldn't believe the difference it made, particularly in stopping the rears getting lost in the pronounced arches.
I'm going to get the variety with longer bolts, because they make most sense for a car that gets used hard.
I much prefer the way the car looks on staggered wheels, but I hate the way it handles. 255s are just too big for a car with 230lbft, and it just seems to tip the balance too far towards understeer that alignment can't dial out.
You have to use longer bolts with spacers as the OE bolts don't go in many turns with standard wheels! I'm going to get the variety with longer bolts, because they make most sense for a car that gets used hard.
I much prefer the way the car looks on staggered wheels, but I hate the way it handles. 255s are just too big for a car with 230lbft, and it just seems to tip the balance too far towards understeer that alignment can't dial out.
Personally I'd get longer studs put in and use wheel nuts - it's so much easier to swap wheels than with bolts.
You're right about the staggered 255 rears giving understeer too.
I didn't know about M54s suffering from worn shells though - I thought that was only an S54 issue.
But M54s and the facelift N52s do generally seem to be pretty bullet-proof and hopefully yours will be too.
I've had studs before, and it's definitely an option, but right now I'm only running one set of wheels so won't be swapping around. I actually bought an alignment dowel that bolts into the hub, which makes refitting wheels without studs a doddle.
I've found a company locally that builds and runs race cars, who have offered to fit and set up my coilovers, which is a real bonus. I want to run as close as possible to OEM ride height, but still be able to get a tiny bit more front camber, so hopefully they can work with that. Jury's out on whether I need shorter droplinks if I'm not going low, but I'll let them make the call on that.
I'm going to book the car in with my trusty local BMW specialist (the former master tech who works on a farm) to get the track rods, front discs and braided hoses fitted first. Going to chuck a new fuel filter on while it's there, as there's no mention of it in the limited service history I've got.
Then once it's back from the coilovers, I'll fit the new seat and steering wheel myself. At least I can't cock that up, can I?
Current target is a trackday at Bedford towards the end of October. Not the most exciting circuit, but it's somewhere you can really push a car hard without too much fear of finding the scenery.
camel_landy said:
C70R said:
camel_landy said:
Is the sump baffled on these?
They aren't. You can buy them, and some of the folks building pretend racecars from E46s do. But I'm not aiming for maximum G-forces on slick tyres here. M
braddo said:
Interesting about the oil analysis. Have you done one for the Disco? I'm tempted to get one done for my old Merc estate that's on 150k+ miles.
I haven't done it yet, but I've ordered a kit for the next time I change the oil. It was last changed 3k ago, so it will be a little while yet. I could go about siphoning it out of the dipstick hole, but life's too short for that level of faff.It's 40 quid and about 10min of effort. Highly recommended.
Projects. Like the course of true love, they never run smooth.
The good news is that the Z4 is booked in for braided hoses and new track rods (hopefully just outers) next week, and the wheel spacers have arrived. One step forward.
I'm going to try and get along to GSM Performance next week and test-drive some of their seats, which should hopefully lead to me finding my Goldilocks porridge. Two steps forward.
The Brembo discs I'd ordered were out of stock, and the seller suggested that they'd been subject to a recall. A little bit annoying. But this sent me off down a bit of a research rabbithole, from which I drew the conclusion that some of my brake wobble might be attributable to pad deposits on the discs. The DS2500s are apparently prone to this, as they are a pad which are soft enough to work from cold, rather than a dedicated track pad (exactly what I want). I'm going to ask the garage their opinion, and prepare myself to change the discs anyway. It turns out that the fuel filter is in the tank, rather than underneath like the E46, and it's a massive job that is only recommended if it's causing issues. I think I'll leave it.
I was all ready to order the Driftworks HSD coilovers, until the motorsport place who are doing the fitting and setup pointed out a pretty big flaw in their design. They use an adjustable droplink mount, meaning that you can retain standard droplinks, which seems sort of smart. However, it's impossible to fully 'lock' the mount, and because of the sheering effects of ARB movement when cornering, these mounts get placed under quite a lot of torsional stress. Then this can happen: https://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/threads/help-broken...
One step backwards.
So now I'm back to looking at BC Racing coilovers, the same brand as I had on my R53. I had initially wanted to avoid these, because I felt they were much too stiff on the Mini, to the extent that they ruined a NC500 trip (and were one of the reasons why I sold it). Doing some research, it looks like the standard HSD springrates are 7/10kg, and their 'softer' option is 6/9kg. The BC Racing RA come as standard with 7/10kg, which doesn't initially sound promising. Then when I looked at what was fitted to my R53, it looks like my RMs (with the inverted reservoir) came with 7/5kg springs. Given how much lighter the Mini is (~250kg) and how much less weight there is over the front end (1.6L 4cyl vs 3L 6cyl), it's hard to understand how BC Racing came to the conclusion that the front of the Mini needed such stiff springs.
So, that ramble means I'm probably just going to suck up the extra cost and buy the BC Racing kit for the Z4, along with some shorter droplinks. It looks like the garage doing the coilover fitting/setup can fit me in once its back from getting the other bits done. Current target is a Snetterton trackday later this month, but let's see how that works out.
The good news is that the Z4 is booked in for braided hoses and new track rods (hopefully just outers) next week, and the wheel spacers have arrived. One step forward.
I'm going to try and get along to GSM Performance next week and test-drive some of their seats, which should hopefully lead to me finding my Goldilocks porridge. Two steps forward.
The Brembo discs I'd ordered were out of stock, and the seller suggested that they'd been subject to a recall. A little bit annoying. But this sent me off down a bit of a research rabbithole, from which I drew the conclusion that some of my brake wobble might be attributable to pad deposits on the discs. The DS2500s are apparently prone to this, as they are a pad which are soft enough to work from cold, rather than a dedicated track pad (exactly what I want). I'm going to ask the garage their opinion, and prepare myself to change the discs anyway. It turns out that the fuel filter is in the tank, rather than underneath like the E46, and it's a massive job that is only recommended if it's causing issues. I think I'll leave it.
I was all ready to order the Driftworks HSD coilovers, until the motorsport place who are doing the fitting and setup pointed out a pretty big flaw in their design. They use an adjustable droplink mount, meaning that you can retain standard droplinks, which seems sort of smart. However, it's impossible to fully 'lock' the mount, and because of the sheering effects of ARB movement when cornering, these mounts get placed under quite a lot of torsional stress. Then this can happen: https://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/threads/help-broken...
One step backwards.
So now I'm back to looking at BC Racing coilovers, the same brand as I had on my R53. I had initially wanted to avoid these, because I felt they were much too stiff on the Mini, to the extent that they ruined a NC500 trip (and were one of the reasons why I sold it). Doing some research, it looks like the standard HSD springrates are 7/10kg, and their 'softer' option is 6/9kg. The BC Racing RA come as standard with 7/10kg, which doesn't initially sound promising. Then when I looked at what was fitted to my R53, it looks like my RMs (with the inverted reservoir) came with 7/5kg springs. Given how much lighter the Mini is (~250kg) and how much less weight there is over the front end (1.6L 4cyl vs 3L 6cyl), it's hard to understand how BC Racing came to the conclusion that the front of the Mini needed such stiff springs.
So, that ramble means I'm probably just going to suck up the extra cost and buy the BC Racing kit for the Z4, along with some shorter droplinks. It looks like the garage doing the coilover fitting/setup can fit me in once its back from getting the other bits done. Current target is a Snetterton trackday later this month, but let's see how that works out.
Edited by C70R on Thursday 28th September 11:28
Well, the Z4 got dropped off this morning at my trusty local BMW specialist. The brief was to fit the braided hoses (making sure they bleed with the Typ200 fluid I left in the boot!), fit the spacers (I went with 12/20mm staggered front/rear) and figure out why the hell my alignment is changing after trackdays.
As mentioned, I think the alignment issue might be linked to the track rods, but I can't for the life of me figure out exactly what. I'm preparing myself for two outer rods at least.
As I got home from dropping it off, I had a call from the mechanic telling me one of my rear springs had snapped! Such a common fault on the Z4 because of the trailing arm and non-coil-over-shock setup. Thankfully it's booked in next week to have the OEM springs thrown in the bin.
I've bitten the bullet and ordered £1000-worth of BC Racing coilovers, because I simply can't see a better option. Time will tell if they are supple enough for me to still enjoy hacking down country lanes, and I've always got the option to go back and swap out the springs for something a little softer.
I'm booked in to head over to GSM Performance in Nottingham on Monday to try out some of their seats. I want to make sure I'm not sacrificing too much comfort in favour of support, and being an odd size it's always good to know how well I actually fit in these things.
Update to the project list.
To fix
- Annoying rattle inside passenger door
- Less annoying rattle inside bootlid It's disappeared, so that's a win
- Really annoying rattle from passenger side of cabin
- Stop new floormats from sliding around (probably velcro)
- Get the 17s refurbished
- New track rods
- Get rid of headlight condensation
- Sort out some feature coding
- Replace driver's side tweeter cover £15 on eBay and job done
- New front discs Not needed, it was pad deposits that the DS2500s are renowned for.
- Reattach seat backs (they all do that, sir)
To add
- Corbeau RRB driver's seat and heating pad
- Braided hoses
- Coilover (HSD MonoPro the current fave, because of the softer springrates)
- Smaller steering wheel
- Wheel spacers to stop the 17s looking lost in the arches
EDIT: Just had a call to say that the rear hard brake lines aren't looking too pretty, so it looks like it's getting those done too.
As mentioned, I think the alignment issue might be linked to the track rods, but I can't for the life of me figure out exactly what. I'm preparing myself for two outer rods at least.
As I got home from dropping it off, I had a call from the mechanic telling me one of my rear springs had snapped! Such a common fault on the Z4 because of the trailing arm and non-coil-over-shock setup. Thankfully it's booked in next week to have the OEM springs thrown in the bin.
I've bitten the bullet and ordered £1000-worth of BC Racing coilovers, because I simply can't see a better option. Time will tell if they are supple enough for me to still enjoy hacking down country lanes, and I've always got the option to go back and swap out the springs for something a little softer.
I'm booked in to head over to GSM Performance in Nottingham on Monday to try out some of their seats. I want to make sure I'm not sacrificing too much comfort in favour of support, and being an odd size it's always good to know how well I actually fit in these things.
Update to the project list.
To fix
- Annoying rattle inside passenger door
- Really annoying rattle from passenger side of cabin
- Get the 17s refurbished
- Get rid of headlight condensation
- Sort out some feature coding
- Reattach seat backs (they all do that, sir)
To add
- Corbeau RRB driver's seat and heating pad
- Smaller steering wheel
EDIT: Just had a call to say that the rear hard brake lines aren't looking too pretty, so it looks like it's getting those done too.
Edited by C70R on Thursday 5th October 11:48
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