Next mod - ideas?

[strokeoluck]

I've had my 2007 Z4M roadster for one and a half summers now. I purchased it in stock condition with ~22k miles. I currently have ~28k miles. Light mods that I've had done include: RPI exhaust, CDV delete, short shifter, ARC EC-7 wheels. I live in MN and mostly only drive the car on nice, sunny days from April through October. I took it to the track for the first time last summer, and may do it (once) again this summer; mainly to get the speed out of my system so I can just do a little spirited driving on the back roads on weekend mornings. I was going to sell the car in spring, but I'm back to thinking that I'll hang on to it and just "reinvest" in the car (I know, I know, it's a depreciating asset). Let's say I have a budget of $2k to $3k for additional mods, what would you suggest? After reading this forum for a year+ now, I'm thinking of the following, in order of priority...highest to lowest.

* Brake calipers (thinking of blue to highlight the blue in the BMW logo on the wheels)
* Cold air intake (improve the sound of the engine?)
* Engine mounts (still don't quite understand what this does, but it seems many of you rave about it)
* Brake rotors (not sure beefed up rotors will really do much for me, as I don't track it regularly)
* HID headlights (current low beams are not impressive; high beams are great)
* Stubby antennae

Thanks in advance!

[chickdr]

To me the stubby antenna is a no brainer as it costs <$10. Brake caliper painting is such a subjective thing. The OEM calipers are actually kind of wimpy looking(but are more than adequate) so painting just shows how small they are. CAI is again a personal thing. Not sure what you mean about the engine mounts. I think you may mean transmission mounts(they do help the shifting - especially to 2nd gear)? Rotors are a waste of time as the stock units are plenty beefy. Headlights could just be getting older? Maybe try new OEM bulbs? All of these together even if you did buy rotors would be under $1K(unless you go for a Gruppe M CAI).

[XMetal]

The engine mounts in combination with new transmission mounts also help tighten things up and should even further help with shifting. Search for the "vibra-technics" thread.

[Vanne]

stubby +1
and i may be looking to paint my calipers also in the very near future.
not really sure of the CAI, lots of peeps say that its a pipe dream and produces no more HP, but the sound is nice.
glad your hanging onto the car

[polar]

Vibra Technic engine mounts (fast road) in combo with Rogue Engineering neoprene transmission mounts!

[fullerra]

For that budget, I would get the stubby antenna, ~ 10 bucks and a set of Fabspeed headers ~ 1100.

With the headers you will get an appreciable increase in power, (will be sig louder, but who cares much abt that anyway!) much more than most other engine mods for the price.

Antenna is a necessity.

just my opinion.

[nekky]

Originally Posted by polar

Vibra Technic engine mounts (fast road) in combo with Rogue Engineering neoprene transmission mounts!

I have this combo and it's excellent. But yes, buy headers and enjoy.

[silverfishZ4M]

I'd paint the calipers a nice pearl gray. I'd like to do that.

[1SerieStud]

Keep the calipers black...maybe have them powder coated in a glossier black to ensure that they look nice when looking through those spokes or when the car is moving - but as others pointed out, they are small and painting them a more visible color will only emphasize how tiny they are compared to bbk's.

Again, antenna is a must. I'm a attaching a couple of pics as my car has been morphing through time, and the antenna completely changes the stance. Somewhat difficult to understand how such a small change makes such a difference.

CAI is preference...however, even though you won't get much power (if any at all) out of it, you'll hear the glorious independent throttle bodies singing louder...I don't have a CAI on my car, but I did on my e46 m3.

[Spedracer81]

I agree, the stock calipers aren't anything special to look at..I got the OEM spray paint and painted them IB to match the color of the car..if it wasn't a dark color I would have got with black..

Apologize for the bad pic..

[PLCZ4MC]

I would say since u maybe raise ur budget a bit more around 3k and get a nice csl air intake kit possible from evolve comes with tuning. U wont want to sell ur car ever after. Other upgrades like antenna don't really count in that budget.

[Arsonism]

+1 stubby and CAI.

Sound increase has been one of my most favorite mods yet.

[GuidoK]

with 2-3k, maybe go for a front bbk?
Looks nice, the calipers give some street cred, and on a track they will give extra performance.

a stubby is a $5 upgrade, so that's obvious.

Or maybe some coilovers. (better handling, some lowering gives better looks).

But it's more dependent on what you want to improve: better looks? better handling? better (engine) performance? better sound?

Also maybe inspect if parts are (partly) worn and decide to upgrade those (choosing between bbk or coilovers on a car with worn shocks is obvious )

Painting stock calipers silver grey will give them an appearence of a new car without being obvious. Black hides them. Blue/yellow/green/orange is maybe more reserved for a bbk.

[M-Power M3]

^^ +1 Find out what needs or or will need to be replaced down the road and then upgrade those parts.

[AmmarYasirA]

How about a tune? They're not unreasonably expensive and they put out a small HP/TQ increase. As far as painted calipers go I personally would go gloss black. And from my knowledge there's an ///M on there..? So paint those the appropriate colors?

CAI sounds great, dunno about power difference, and as far as the headlights are concerned why not just do a complete custom headlight assembly and also get the inner dummy bulbs to work.

[Walkurie]

Originally Posted by PLCZ4M

I would say since u maybe raise ur budget a bit more around 3k and get a nice csl air intake kit possible from evolve comes with tuning. U wont want to sell ur car ever after. Other upgrades like antenna don't really count in that budget.

The Evolve kit is a bit more than$3k, but that is not the point. Aside from the incredible sound, it really does add good power when combined with exhaust improvements. Recommend that you determine a path of how much you want to spend over a few years, if $$$ are a constraint. When coupled with a conservative exhaust (Euro headers and modified stock section 1's or even Euro cats) one can realize a gain of ~50 whp. That's a lot and one does feel it. Also adds a little fuel economy.

But decide how you want to spend. An aFe or Gruppe M CAI sound great, and can be later resold. They seem to be usually in demand. A 2 or 3 year plan work well if you plan to hang on to your Z.

[strokeoluck]

Thanks everyone, this is helpful. I forgot to mention the cross-bar (tech term???) for the engine bay/struts. I think I'll run all of these ideas by my shop and get some cost estimates as well as their ideas.

[SD ///M4]

My car is only lightly modified with a Stromung exhaust, aFe CAI, and a BMW OEM strut bar. The Stromung exhaust sounds awesome, the aFe CAI adds a little throatier sound during WOT, and the strut bar looks awesome. Do any of these mods actually add to the performance? Probably not, but they look and sound awesome!

[R0ME0]

Taillight Overlays Less than $10 and gives them taillights a 2014 Facelift!

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=953877