Alright,
I figured it was time to start a thread for my car. Apologies if this thread gets a bit personal for some of you. I recommend skipping down to the “
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I first started thinking about purchasing a Z4 about 5 years ago. The CDN dollar was strong against the USD and importing a car made a lot of sense. When I was back visiting family, I told my mom about my plan (she always had a soft spot for cars) and showed her a few photos of the Z4. One year later I received a phone call from my mother, at a dealership mid-purchase to ask me to double-check that the deal she was getting was fair. She purchased her very own silver Z4 3.0i roadster that day, and drove it out to Vancouver a week later to show it off. It was a beautiful car, excellent condition. For the next year I enjoyed reading the odd text message about my mother off having fun in the car with her friends and zipping around town. I was proud of her for finally doing something that was just for her. When winter came, she gave me a call and spoke about how much she was dreading the lot wait until she could get the car back out there.
One month later, my mother passed away of a sudden stroke. She was 61, in excellent health and had a physical from her doctor only a few months before with no concerns. I was shocked, the family was shocked. Life stopped for a little while. Come spring, my stepdad passed me the keys and told me that she would have wanted me to have the car. I drove the car for about one week and decided that I couldn’t keep it. While it was a wonderful car and driving it was a great way to remember my mother, I was constantly in fear that someone would damage
her car. If someone were to smash the window I would have taken it personally. I made up my mind to trade in her Z4 and purchase my own Z4 (M). That way I’d have a car that brings me all the good memories but it would be my own, to do with as I pleased. I learned from her the value in living each day and not putting off what matters to another day.
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I bought my 2006 z4m three years ago now at roughly 3000 miles and have been enjoying it since, but always with the plan of modifying a few things. After years of researching, months of purchases and what feels like the longest Vancouver “winter” ever, the car is out of storage and the shop.
Previous changes
- Installed stubby antenna
- Installed the LeatherZ arm rest
- Replaced stock tires 14,000 miles with Michelin PSS
Since owning the car I’ve done a minor paint correction to remove the light scratches left from the previous owner.
Back when she was stock
Mods
- Euro headers coated (matte black)
- DKF sec 1 w/ 300 cell cat
- RPI scoop
- Gruppe M intake
- Stock Mufflers
- KW V3 coilovers
Alright, so here's my review
The KW V3s feel good and inspire confidence. Combined with the PSS, ride quality is generally better than stock, though it does feel a little stiffer than the stock suspension with PSS rubber. In the corners it’s a night/day difference. Looks better too (IMO).
The change in sound is amazing. I expected some good intake noise, but I was honestly blown away. With the stock mufflers, the car sounds only a little different when light on the throttle, but putting your foot down transforms the car. Originally I was planning on purchasing an aftermarket muffler but after hearing it as-is, I'm not sure it’s required. Very happy with the sound.
Power Increase? I haven't done any dyno sessions and I've only put a few hundred miles on the car since getting it back. So far, not a big difference. If anything, I'd say that below 2500 RPM the car feels a bit slower, and above 5000 feels a bit quicker but its probably just the increased noise that makes it feel that way. I'll wait and see how the ECU continues to adapt.
The bad news. After about 50 miles, the SES light came on. I spoke with the shop and they were fairly confident that the new cat wasn't doing enough. I explained that it was tested on another Z4M before without throwing the SES. They reset the light and told me to drive it hard for the next few weeks to see if maybe the cat just needed to get really hot first and settle in. This seemed like it was working, but after ~150 miles, the light is now back on. Sounds like the next step will be getting a tune, which maybe isn't the worst plan anyways. Just wasn't what I was hoping for.
For those that might get headers coated (which I think was totally worth it) be aware that the first few drives are going to smell. The smell does go away though! I was hoping that these fumes might have been contributing to the SES, but alas I was just getting my hopes up.
First out of the shop (was too low to drive without scraping everywhere) (now at 15,000 miles)
Back at a reasonable height
Still to come (off @ Morr getting refinished)
I’ll be trying out some RE-11’s this time, though I was very happy with the PSS. The RE-11’s were on sale, and the PSS were on backorder for the rears. The car is a summer car
For those in Canada that haven’t tried to ship wheels to the states for any reason let me just say, if at all possible drive over the border and ship these from within the US. The amount of paperwork and hoops I’ve had to jump through…
Once the wheels are on and I've had a chance to detail, I'll get some better photos and update the thread.
I wanted to take a moment to throw out some well-deserved thank yous.
Thanks to Rich from GTB Performance. This guy answered countless PM's, took care of special requests and all purchases went perfectly.
Thanks to Donovan for the quick shipping and good condition euro headers.
Thanks to Geauxkart for taking the hands-on approach to fix the DKF parts up by adding the EGT bung, again answering a ton of questions and sending the most securely packaged parts I've ever seen.
Thanks to the zpost community for continuing to be one of the more supportive communities out there. I've learned a ton from this site and hope to be able to start contributing as I learn a little more.
Thanks to you all for the read. Now, bring on the sun!
