// My Build Thread: Alpine White Z4MC //

[torchmedia]

Hey guys, decided to start my own build thread since I am about to get into some heavy modifications this spring and wanted to share the fun with you.

First of all, I'll give a quick overview of my vehicle ownership over the past 3 years. I've gone through a lot of cars and took a lot of ribbing for it from my friends.


1998 Mustang GT
This car was basically stock except for upgraded wheels, exhaust and seats.



2004 Mustang Cobra
My first experience with big power. I fiddled with the engine a fair bit and ended up with around 550rwhp. Wrecked it.



2003 Mustang Cobra
Immediately picked up another Cobra after wrecking the first. Turned out it was an impulse decision because I ended up wanting to move onto to something new. The car was insane at 644rwhp on 91 octane.



2008 C6
Traded the Cobra on a C6. Really nice car. Drove it for a few months but fell in love with the Z4 and it had to go.


Which brings me, finally, to my 2007 Z4MC.

As I purchased it from the dealership: Completely stock except for plasti-dipped OEM rims.





Shortly after picking the car up I set out to do a few basic appearance mods that I felt would be quick and fairly inexpensive: Stubby antenna, 3M vinyl trim. I removed a bunch of interior bits and the steering wheel and got wrapping. My steering wheel was scratched up pretty bad. Even though I was being careful I did end up snapping a few tiny tabs. Thankfully it all went back together without any noticeable difference.














And late in the summer I picked up an RPI exhaust and some VMR 718's wrapped with Hankook's, along with new ///M floor mats and 35% tint on the sides and rear window.






And here's how it sits since I parked it in November!







Over the winter I've been picking up parts here and there, mostly used. They will all be installed over the next 6 weeks or so:

Mstache 2
White "Hankook" wheel letters
Euro headers
Supersprint section 2
VF570 SC kit
AirRex / Autopilot v2 bag setup

[Arick]

Great looking car! I really like the carbon fiber wrap around the steering wheel!

[Nate4641]

Very Nice

[timmay]

Looks great in AW. Good job!

[tiltmode43]

Looks great so far, I'm looking forward to some massive updates over the next 6 weeks. Please, pics, and more pics!

[VMRWheels]

Awesome! Can't wait to see everything come together, esp. with the Airrex setup.

Diggin the VMR V718

[seank]

Beautiful car. Is it wrong to say that you have gotten better taste as you have gotten older?

[torchmedia]

Originally Posted by seank

Beautiful car. Is it wrong to say that you have gotten better taste as you have gotten older?

Not at all!

[PLCZ4MC]

Those Mustang Cobra look very Sexy! Love the 19-04 Mustang Design the most. Grants on your ///M tough Looks pretty clean cant wait to see your build complete. But I do not think even with the SC VF you will get the same rwhp like you did with those Cobra.

[KevinC]

[torchmedia]

I snuck the Z4 out tonight, down the road to the local dealership. Having the oil changed and the ECU scanned / upgraded as a prelim to the VF installation.

Even though I was easing into the throttle as lightly as possible the car felt like it was driving on a greased road. The Hankook's are definitely not made for winter use

[Arsonism]

That's a great idea for the steering wheel, I'd like to see how it holds up in the future.

[torchmedia]

The fun is about to begin.... we finally have a bit of warmer weather here this week so I've started on the exhaust upgrades -- Euro headers & SS section 1.

Most of the work will be done tomorrow, but I'm planning to do a 3 part video showing the difference between each stage.

Videos recorded with an iPhone 6. Listening back on decent speakers turned up (with subwoofer), it sounds true to life.

RPI Exhaust, Stock Headers, Stock Section 1:

RPI Exhaust, Euro Headers, Stock Section 1:

RPI Exhaust, Euro Headers, Supersprint Section 1:

[dubsesd]

Sounds great! I love my rpi

[Arsonism]

I'm definitely excited to see the different stages. I'm looking at headers and I've pondered the sound difference for so long now that I can't make a decision anymore. Held off in lieu of rod bearings for the time being. *soon*.

[torchmedia]

Added "stage 2" video to my post above.

From the few minutes I had the car running today, I could immediately notice the following:

- Increase in volume
- Louder, snappier pops and crackles
- Increased throttle response

So far, love it. Can't wait to put the Section 1 on. Will either do it tonight (flames?) or tomorrow.

[Vanne]

nice car matey, standing by for all the upgrades
please review as they are put on the car

[Gregoryse]

Love the stages Your car looks awesome, keep the updates coming! Hopefully getting my rpi's soon. These must be one of the better clips that shows how they really sound...

[Arsonism]

Originally Posted by torchmedia

- Increase in volume
- Louder, snappier pops and crackles
- Increased throttle response

Sounds like the pitch got a little bit higher as well? Is that reflected in real life?

[torchmedia]

"Stage 3" video is now posted above.

I've ran into an issue with mating all of the parts together. It seems that mixing the Euro headers + Supersprint section 1 created an approximate 1" shortfall in overall length in reaching the mufflers. With a bit of convincing I was able to get the RPI's bolted up, but you can see that it has thrown off the positioning considerably. This is something I'll have to solve over the next few weeks.

Also: changing the section 1 is a real pain, especially when you're working on a frozen concrete floor with about 18" of clearance

The sound level has increased dramatically along with the smell. If you do not enjoy the smell of raw fuel / un-catted exhaust definitely stay away from removing all of your cats. It is right on par with the way my red Cobra (see first post) smelled. I kinda like it, but definitely not for everyone.

The tone is pretty similar, but I feel like it has a little more of a trumpet sound to it now.

[Arsonism]

Torch, first and foremost, THANK YOU for posting this up it has been a huge help to me. I was on the fence about trying to find a solution for the dying cats that I have in my section one currently and this pushed me over the edge for headers.

I think the "trumpet sound" would be what most guys refer to here as rasp. In which case, the key component of it is to keep the exhaust "deep" and refrain from it sounding high-pitched and "tingy" (how some have phrased it). I was afraid that the tone that I was speaking of was the rasp and the pipes resonating at a higher tune than with the stock headers. I couldn't imagine why this would have changed anything but I felt that it may have changed it to the point where the tone that I have now and the one that I love would dissipate.

Thanks again for the wonderful comparison, it seriously was amazingly helpful.

[torchmedia]

This weekend I am planning to tackle the re-routing of the O2 & EGT cables so they can reach the sensors now that they have been moved further down the line via the SS section 1.

I also went out tonight to download the ECU for VF Engineering. Came across a problem right away -- "Hardware device is locked!" Panic immediately began to set in so I called up VF right away and then submitted a photo to them via email. Got a response and fix back from them within a half hour. Phew.

So far, every interaction I've had with VF has been excellent and I couldn't be happier.

I started the ECU download and it showed *60* minutes left on the timer! I went inside for a while and came back to check on progress only to find.... a car with a dead battery I guess the winter hasn't been easy on it. So now I have a charge on it overnight and hope to finish it in the morning.

I took the hint and decided not to do anything else to the car tonight