Z4M track build

[jimmckendree]

Hi all,
After looking for the right Zed coupe for quite some time I found one for sale last November on this site by a member. After chatting with him, I proceeded to fly from Colorado to Florida to check it out, buy it and drive it home. The seller turned out to be a great guy and took very good care of the car. He also had a good start on this car in terms of mods I was going to do. I drove approximately 2,058 miles, through 6 states, and all conditions to get her home. It was by far one of the most fun road trips ever, especially in this car.

I will probably goof around in Time Trials this season and then build for GTS and Super Touring.

Here is a quick list of the mods the previous owner did.

• Supersprint powerloop exhaust
• Supersprint x-pipe
• Fabspeed Headers
• Custom S-pipe with aero resonators
• Evolve-R Tune
• Coated rod bearings and arp bolts
• Valve adjustment
• Dr. Vanos
• Performance Friction BBK front
• Performance Friction rear Rotors
• Stoptech Stainless Brake lines
• Turner camber arms
• Vibra Technics engine mounts
• Rogue trans mounts
• APR rear wing and front splitter
• Camber bolts from Turner
• TMS Sway bars front and rear, adjustable links
• Auto Solutions short shifter
• Mason engineering metal clutch pedal
• CDV Delete
• Custom half-cage
• Recaro pole positions

Here are the mods I am doing before this season starts.

• Coilovers
• RTABs
• FCABs
• Wheel stud conversion
• Square wheel setup
• Brake ducting
• Update aero (68" Brooks wing)
• Corner balance

Here are some shots from the road trip - Florida to Colorado

Thanks for looking!

[sabbanick]

Awesome stuff and congrats on picking up a Z4M with some nice mods.

Looking forward to seeing what sorta wing you run for Brooks Motorsports. I actually picked up a salvaged trunk lid and am working on a areo solution with them for the coupe as well. Looking forward to see what you guys come up with. Nothing currently available does it for me in terms of aero..are you close enough to them that you will physically use your car for development or are you sending them measurements for uprights?

Good luck with the coupe and welcome..

[Beedub]

holt shit that is a nice car!!!

can you throw up some pics?? seriously good pick up with those mods... i LOVE the interior, looks awesome, that would have cost a small fortune!

[jimmckendree]

Originally Posted by sabbanick

Awesome stuff and congrats on picking up a Z4M with some nice mods.

Looking forward to seeing what sorta wing you run for Brooks Motorsports. I actually picked up a salvaged trunk lid and am working on a areo solution with them for the coupe as well. Looking forward to see what you guys come up with. Nothing currently available does it for me in terms of aero..are you close enough to them that you will physically use your car for development or are you sending them measurements for uprights?

Good luck with the coupe and welcome..

Thanks man! I currently have an Elite wing from my previous car so we are going to use try to use that and come up with mounts. Yeah fortunately I am friends with the owner and he only lives about 45 minutes away. He told me he was working on another Z4, so that must have been you?

[jimmckendree]

Originally Posted by Beedub

holt shit that is a nice car!!!

can you throw up some pics?? seriously good pick up with those mods... i LOVE the interior, looks awesome, that would have cost a small fortune!

Thanks man! What pics do you want? Yeah the previous owner had great taste. The interior is really nice, and so nice that I am having second thoughts about gutting it and turning it into a fully caged race car...

[Beedub]

would love some detail pics on the BBK

[jimmckendree]

Originally Posted by Beedub

would love some detail pics on the BBK

Here's what I got. I will post up more pics when I do the wheel studs and coilovers too.

[sabbanick]

Yes, I am that guy. Are you planning on doing wheel to wheel GTS racing or just time trials? I am tossed with similar situation 4pt cage and road legal vs 6+pt. garage/trailer queen.

I am not sure I can take this car off the road!

Nick

[jimmckendree]

Yeah the plan is GTS or Super Touring, wherever there are more cars any given weekend. I don't think I will have time to get it legal for GTS for this season, so it will be a TT car this year.

[Beedub]

does brakes doe !!

[VMRWheels]

Awesome mod list! Look forward to seeing more pics

[Kgolf31]

Nice, I like this.

What coilovers are you planning on running?

Also, what TT class does this fall into with modding towards GTS?

[jimmckendree]

Base class for the Z4M is TTB. Unfortunately, I am already 6 points into TT3 just with the existing mods. I haven't put it on the scales or dyno'd it yet, but I am guessing I am sitting around 10.3:1.

The minimum wt/pwr for TTB is 10.5:1, so for TT I am stuck in an uncompetitive TT3 car unless I take a lot off the car and go back to B. I am shooting for GTS3 which is around 11:1, so I will need to detune when I have the setup dialed in.

I have run Motons in the past and was really happy with them, so those and MCS are at the top of the list.

[jimmckendree]

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

Awesome mod list! Look forward to seeing more pics

I'll put up as many as I can!

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by jimmckendree

Base class for the Z4M is TTB. Unfortunately, I am already 6 points into TT3 just with the existing mods. I haven't put it on the scales or dyno'd it yet, but I am guessing I am sitting around 10.3:1.

The minimum wt/pwr for TTB is 10.5:1, so for TT I am stuck in an uncompetitive TT3 car unless I take a lot off the car and go back to B. I am shooting for GTS3 which is around 11:1, so I will need to detune when I have the setup dialed in.

I have run Motons in the past and was really happy with them, so those and MCS are at the top of the list.

Yikes, Enjoy TT3 lol.


You think you have an advantage over the E46 chassis in GTS3? Just curious as to why you're building a car like this for GTS3.

[jimmckendree]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Yikes, Enjoy TT3 lol.

You think you have an advantage over the E46 chassis in GTS3? Just curious as to why you're building a car like this for GTS3.

Yeah TT3 is pretty competitive, plus we have the National Champ in our region the last 2 years. I will just be testing and turning laps, unless I decide to drop some weight and add some power.

Not sure there is an advantage over the E46, but the same motor and starting out lighter isn't bad. I like the E46 a lot but, 1. Everybody and their dog has one, and 2. I have loved this car since it came out.

It is a rare car, and there isn't as much aftermarket support, but well see how it goes.

[E85BMW]

2 questions (I apologize if I missed the info):

What wheels are those?

How did you like the Performance shift knob?

[jimmckendree]

Originally Posted by Kitsune sama

What wheels are those?

How did you like the Performance shift knob?

They are Advan RS wheels. The shifter is decent, it's a touch low but I like it.

[russiamutha]

how did you manage to get e92 steering wheel to work on e86?

[seank]

Originally Posted by jimmckendree

Base class for the Z4M is TTB. Unfortunately, I am already 6 points into TT3 just with the existing mods. I haven't put it on the scales or dyno'd it yet, but I am guessing I am sitting around 10.3:1.

The minimum wt/pwr for TTB is 10.5:1, so for TT I am stuck in an uncompetitive TT3 car unless I take a lot off the car and go back to B. I am shooting for GTS3 which is around 11:1, so I will need to detune when I have the setup dialed in.

I have run Motons in the past and was really happy with them, so those and MCS are at the top of the list.

Put restrictors on it and reclass.

[jimmckendree]

Hey guys, I finally got the car out to the track for the first time this year for our season opener at High Plains Raceway in Colorado. We had a huge mix of weather from snow, sleet, rain, wind, and a couple sunny sessions. Of course I took the Zed out in all of them .

I wasn't trying to go too fast or break any records, just getting to know the car and looking for the baseline to start improving the car. I am still on OEM suspension, bushings and street tires. I also got the car on the scales and it came in at 3400 lbs with me and less than 1/2 a tank ...

A couple of observations;
1. The car rotates very fast, you have to stay ahead of it with steering and throttle input
2. Under hard braking the car's rear end wants to swap around (Could just be mine)
3. The car dances A LOT through the whole corner (Could be the slop in the bushings)
4. This car is a blast to drive especially in wet conditions

Here is a video of one of the dry sessions we had with hardly any cars on the track. Sorry about the camera angle...

[fullerra]

Nice driving!

Compared to the E46, the Z4 is more prone to snap oversteer given the wheelbase.

Oversteer is probably going to be a bit more apparent running a square setup, depending on the camber you are running and tire pressures.

I've had a lot of the same issues with rear-end squirm on hard braking, but after swapping out the FCAB for poly units, and putting the APR wing on, the problem is all but eliminated.

just my 2c