crags' Z4M coupe
Discussion
well, for those who morned the passing of my orange 911, here's it's replacement 
ok, maybe not as "special" but a lovely car all the same. for those who didn't read about the 911 have a look through the link here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
basically porsche wanted to borrow the old orange beasty for the local launch event of the new 991 series 911, & in order to sweeten the deal they gave me a brand new cayman R to run around in while they looked after the 911, read more here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
so the seeds of doubt had firmly been planted-did i really want a classic car? luckily with the 911 being as good as it was there was no shortage of potential takers but seeing as me & swmbo got engaged over xmas the decision was made-be a bit sensible for a while & drive a regular modern car
so something fast, fairly practical & with all the toys...... a bmw ///M car beckoned-not an unpleasant place to be. i've always loved the Z coupe's, gorgeous lines & just a little bit left field so the search was on.
i really wanted a dark colour as i think it suits the car so much, but bmw paint being as it is every on i looked at was covered in scratches & generally just a bit tatty. i'd actually spied this particular car on autotrader for a while but it was up at a trader so i didn't think there'd be much of a deal to be done.
long story short after another rough viewing i thought i'd ring up this trader & low & behold, he was merely advertising it for his brother
we has a craic & agreed a maximum/minimum price we'd both be willing to go to so off i went. the car looked great but it wasn't without its faults, the guy had driven it with a flat tyre & ruined a rear sidewall & it had a couple of minor car park grazes BUT, it was low mileage, fully serviced & had the look of a well loved car-if the interior was a little "michael jackson" for my liking!
it was everything i was looking for in other words so we did a deal. i picked her up last week & had a chance to give it a quick clean, it's going to need a full detail (i do enjoy that though) to look its best but it drives lovely
getting the offending (still with 6mm tread on!) tyre replaced (don't mention the dirty wheel arch-i'll get it sorted!
|http://thumbsnap.com/St98FJuL[/url]
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/nOz6bhhr.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/St98FJuL" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/St98FJuL.jpg)
colour is bmw individual ruby black mettalic, it just looks black but when the sun hits it glows red-very nice!
all the toys (or more than a 30+year old 911-swmbo is happy)
this is the most serious mark & will need a bit of attention-pics to follow
[url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/O64pCswd[/url][url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/tHHFuyq0[/url]
as much as the interior has grown on me every time i open the door i just think......
|http://thumbsnap.com/7tBnTuJr[/url][url]
mid hoon yesterday in the lakes:
ok, maybe not as "special" but a lovely car all the same. for those who didn't read about the 911 have a look through the link here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
basically porsche wanted to borrow the old orange beasty for the local launch event of the new 991 series 911, & in order to sweeten the deal they gave me a brand new cayman R to run around in while they looked after the 911, read more here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
so the seeds of doubt had firmly been planted-did i really want a classic car? luckily with the 911 being as good as it was there was no shortage of potential takers but seeing as me & swmbo got engaged over xmas the decision was made-be a bit sensible for a while & drive a regular modern car
so something fast, fairly practical & with all the toys...... a bmw ///M car beckoned-not an unpleasant place to be. i've always loved the Z coupe's, gorgeous lines & just a little bit left field so the search was on.
i really wanted a dark colour as i think it suits the car so much, but bmw paint being as it is every on i looked at was covered in scratches & generally just a bit tatty. i'd actually spied this particular car on autotrader for a while but it was up at a trader so i didn't think there'd be much of a deal to be done.
long story short after another rough viewing i thought i'd ring up this trader & low & behold, he was merely advertising it for his brother
we has a craic & agreed a maximum/minimum price we'd both be willing to go to so off i went. the car looked great but it wasn't without its faults, the guy had driven it with a flat tyre & ruined a rear sidewall & it had a couple of minor car park grazes BUT, it was low mileage, fully serviced & had the look of a well loved car-if the interior was a little "michael jackson" for my liking!
it was everything i was looking for in other words so we did a deal. i picked her up last week & had a chance to give it a quick clean, it's going to need a full detail (i do enjoy that though) to look its best but it drives lovely
getting the offending (still with 6mm tread on!) tyre replaced (don't mention the dirty wheel arch-i'll get it sorted!
|http://thumbsnap.com/St98FJuL[/url]colour is bmw individual ruby black mettalic, it just looks black but when the sun hits it glows red-very nice!
all the toys
(or more than a 30+year old 911-swmbo is happy)this is the most serious mark & will need a bit of attention-pics to follow
[url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/O64pCswd[/url][url]|http://thumbsnap.com/tHHFuyq0[/url]as much as the interior has grown on me every time i open the door i just think......
|http://thumbsnap.com/7tBnTuJr[/url][url]mid hoon yesterday in the lakes:
Edited by cragswinter on Monday 20th February 16:44
Jealous, oh yes! Stunning. Would love one of these again one day. Just an amazing car. When I was in it, I just couldn't want for anything else. I couldn't see how spending 10x the amount I paid for it would result in a car that was even 5x better! It was such fun to drive, a perfect driving position, the engine was an aural sensation, it looked fantastic. I loved it. Now I have the mortgage sorted I'm tempted to sort out some finance on another one!
Excellent choice! Any plans on the wheels? Maybe some low maintenance BBS CHs or high maintenance LMs?
I miss a bit of light modding that I can't do on my in warranty 911. If I had a Z4M it would have CHs, Eisenmann/Milltek including race cats, KWs, maybe a CSL carbon style/sounding intake and have a play with the cams and some mapping :-)
I miss a bit of light modding that I can't do on my in warranty 911. If I had a Z4M it would have CHs, Eisenmann/Milltek including race cats, KWs, maybe a CSL carbon style/sounding intake and have a play with the cams and some mapping :-)
Looking good Craig.
Which track have you had it on then and how was it?
(I seen you mention it in the wheel thread earlier but didn't want to hijack the thread).
You must have been out and about when I was in the lakes the other weekend (I did PM you to say we wouldn't be going home the Carlisle way ) . We came up from Bowness on the Sunday morning, Ambleside for a cuppa, then over The Struggle, Kirkstone pass, Pooley Bridge Hotel for lunch, then back over Hartside to the toon. Turned out nice weather wise.
Which track have you had it on then and how was it?
(I seen you mention it in the wheel thread earlier but didn't want to hijack the thread).
You must have been out and about when I was in the lakes the other weekend (I did PM you to say we wouldn't be going home the Carlisle way
) . We came up from Bowness on the Sunday morning, Ambleside for a cuppa, then over The Struggle, Kirkstone pass, Pooley Bridge Hotel for lunch, then back over Hartside to the toon. Turned out nice weather wise.marky911 said:
Looking good Craig.
Which track have you had it on then and how was it?
(I seen you mention it in the wheel thread earlier but didn't want to hijack the thread).
You must have been out and about when I was in the lakes the other weekend (I did PM you to say we wouldn't be going home the Carlisle way ) . We came up from Bowness on the Sunday morning, Ambleside for a cuppa, then over The Struggle, Kirkstone pass, Pooley Bridge Hotel for lunch, then back over Hartside to the toon. Turned out nice weather wise.
We did kirkstone & the struggle that weekend I think?! See pic above & check the dates-what a coincidence!Which track have you had it on then and how was it?
(I seen you mention it in the wheel thread earlier but didn't want to hijack the thread).
You must have been out and about when I was in the lakes the other weekend (I did PM you to say we wouldn't be going home the Carlisle way
) . We came up from Bowness on the Sunday morning, Ambleside for a cuppa, then over The Struggle, Kirkstone pass, Pooley Bridge Hotel for lunch, then back over Hartside to the toon. Turned out nice weather wise.Anyway, we did oulton park the other week & the car was great-what a laugh! Sideways wherever you want & if you want to keep it trim & tidy you can work on your lines, brakes are way better than I thought they would be too.
Heading over to the ring & spa on the 30th of march so hopefully things are still as good this time next month
Morning Craig,
ha, yep it was same weekend. I'd mentioned we were over there for the weekend (stopped here - http://www.lakestranquility.co.uk/index.htm ) and you'd said if I was passing I could have a geeksy at the Z4, but like I say we didn't get up that far. Must have nearly passed each other on the Kirkstone Pass then.
Sounds like the BM is impressive then, especially for being straight out the box. I've still never been to the ring or Spa. Need to get over there at some point. Have fun!
ha, yep it was same weekend. I'd mentioned we were over there for the weekend (stopped here - http://www.lakestranquility.co.uk/index.htm ) and you'd said if I was passing I could have a geeksy at the Z4, but like I say we didn't get up that far. Must have nearly passed each other on the Kirkstone Pass then.
Sounds like the BM is impressive then, especially for being straight out the box. I've still never been to the ring or Spa. Need to get over there at some point. Have fun!
^^ Agree. That interior is very cool. Nice to see the Germans can still do "zainy".
We may make it over at some point Craig, but probably not by March. Need to get a car I can take on track first. My mates are on about the F1 at Spa, so maybe going over for that. Got to get some trips going on. We used do Le mans every year and it's just died out with my mates racing and things now.
That car of yours looks like the perfect compromise for Euro blasts and a bit of track work. Enjoy!
We may make it over at some point Craig, but probably not by March. Need to get a car I can take on track first. My mates are on about the F1 at Spa, so maybe going over for that. Got to get some trips going on. We used do Le mans every year and it's just died out with my mates racing and things now.
That car of yours looks like the perfect compromise for Euro blasts and a bit of track work. Enjoy!
just a quick update on the car
as i stated when i first bought it there were a number of light scratches & car park grazes on it, nothing too serious but nevertheless they'd bugged me a bit, the photos of the biggest one is above.
then last week, pulling up to the curb i managed to do this:
yes there was much swearing. still i can't blame anyone else & it pushed me into getting everything else sorted out.
so, due to the fact that the car is completely original paint (rare on a modern dark coloured bmw believe me!) we decided that it was daft to start spraying up panels. stephen my paint guy reckoned he could get the small parking dings out & the scrathes that were left could mostly be buffed out. fist of all he sorted out the offending front wheel, it wasn't badly curbed, just scraping the paint through so a partial cut in & spray was in order:
sorted!
the results on the parking dings really have astounded me, obviously i know where they were so if i go to the place they were you can still see some very very fine scratches from what's left, but in order to not have the panels painted i think it was pretty much worth it these were the worse affected areas:
as i stated when i first bought it there were a number of light scratches & car park grazes on it, nothing too serious but nevertheless they'd bugged me a bit, the photos of the biggest one is above.
then last week, pulling up to the curb i managed to do this:
yes there was much swearing. still i can't blame anyone else & it pushed me into getting everything else sorted out.
so, due to the fact that the car is completely original paint (rare on a modern dark coloured bmw believe me!) we decided that it was daft to start spraying up panels. stephen my paint guy reckoned he could get the small parking dings out & the scrathes that were left could mostly be buffed out. fist of all he sorted out the offending front wheel, it wasn't badly curbed, just scraping the paint through so a partial cut in & spray was in order:
sorted!
the results on the parking dings really have astounded me, obviously i know where they were so if i go to the place they were you can still see some very very fine scratches from what's left, but in order to not have the panels painted i think it was pretty much worth it
these were the worse affected areas:Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff