Z4MC VLN GTR project

[2skiddy]

Almost completed the project, just waiting to get the ABS talking to the Motec, and it's off to the track next spring! I'll get some more photos out when I get chance, as they are all over the place!

[Mirko]

more pics!!

[Finnegan]

Whoa! Sweet!

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Mirko

more pics!!

Agree 100% lol

[Vanne]

hi Skiddy,

looks great mate. panels match nicely. care to show what you did to the rear arches in regards to metal work and liners, and if you made any changes to the diff hanger/rear suspension setup.

Cheers, look forwards to hearing about your setup.

Id also love to know how you made the weels sit flush.

[2skiddy]

Thanks for the interest, I know a few of you are building modified cars, hence my post, hopefully it might be of help.
It is a long story, this project has taken over 6 years, even longer since the original conception! I will try and update the events on here when I get chance.
I had a Z4MC GT4 race car prior to this one, which was great BTW, but having seen the Red Bull Z4 MC GTR win at Silverstone Britcar 24Hours, previously, I really wanted one, it looked soooooo good! I considered modifying my GT4 car to GTR/VLN spec, BUT, this involved major modification, so I thought it best to sell the GT4 car as that was quite rare in its own right, and try to acquire a VLN/GTR. I narrowly missed buying a race car in Germany, so I entered negotiation with BMW Motorsport to purchase the unused partially built up shell, that I had heard about and was in their storage facility in Munich. This was not straightforward, so in the meantime, I bought a road going white Z4MC, to possibly modify as a fall back, incase I didn't make the purchase. Yes I was going to cut up a road car and convert it into a dedicated track car, it would be major mods ahead, I did the homework, and yes it was daunting! I can do it, just hard work, not the easiest route. Fortunately, I managed to purchase the shell from BMW Motorsport, who have already done all the mods on the shell, saving me a lot of time, and the mods are really quite extensive. This is where the fun starts.

[Michael9218]

Awesome. Looking forward to your build chronicle. Get busy writing and posting pictures!

[2skiddy]

A few photos, sorry if they are a bit large, can a moderator help reduce the size?
I can't find a photo, just at the moment of the rear inner arch metalwork, to show the modifications, but there is the front one. I will take some more photos when I get chance, as I know some of you are keen to get on with alterations.
Cheers.

[Steeler]

Impressive fab work.

[Salty Dog]

'

[Salty Dog]

Originally Posted by 2skiddy

A few photos, sorry if they are a bit large, can a moderator help reduce the size?
I can't find a photo, just at the moment of the rear inner arch metalwork, to show the modifications, but there is the front one. I will take some more photos when I get chance, as I know some of you are keen to get on with alterations.
Cheers.

FTFY

Nice work by the way.

[2skiddy]

I must add, the shell came all painted and panelled up on the trolley dolly from Munich, credit for that goes to BMW Motorsport and their suppliers, but also Schnitzer, that painted and assembled it. You could at the time, buy a shell with absolutely nothing on it, and I mean nothing, not even paint! There were a couple available, one was offered to me from possibly a Petronas contact, but was very expensive and I would have to start from scratch. That shell has subsequently been sold and painted grey, and is/was in the UK. I am sure the owner will be in contact on here soon? All the carbon panels were available from BMW at the time, these are not Flossman BTW, but another manufacturer, who will NOT deal with you directly!!! Many panels are still on stock, and yes they are expensive, but they do fit. The panels that are not in stock, can still be made after a long wait. My diffuser was the last one they had, when I ordered the shell.

My shell had been in the storage facility for a few years, it was envisaged that it would be needed as a replacement for a heavily damaged car, but it never happened. Time moves on and the newer E89 beast took over, making the E86 a bit obsolete. This was good news, as Motorsport eventually let me have the shell after lengthy negotiation, realising I was not treading on any race team toes!

Taking delivery was over 6 years ago, so please bear with me when I try and recall everything, roughly in chronological order.
It was exciting getting the shell, I will always remember that! The project had just begun.
Mr Wolfgang Broesel, at BMW Motorsport, was extremely helpful in sorting out all the parts that I subsequently needed, which was a challenge, as the catalogue is not the best, with some errors and many omissions. I had to rely heavily on photos to support identification.
FWIW there are only around 11 or 12 E86 VLN cars, each one is a little bit different, and I wanted mine to be a bit more different.

[Michael9218]

Cool story makes this an even better build!
I love the fabrication work they did on the chassis. Talk about custom!

[racerbruce]

THiS.IS.INCREDIBLE.

[2skiddy]

I found a few photos of the shell I was offered back in 2011, shows some of the complexity of the mods. This is NOT my shell, but it is the sister shell, and mine would have been the same initially. IIRC this one is chassis 15 or 16, mine is number 14. There were more chassis than cars, due to the rate of attrition in racing!

[2skiddy]

Thanks Salty Dog, much better, I'm not too good at that sort of thing!

[wdb]

Holy moly. Where does the driver sit?

[Vanne]

Thanks for the pics Skiddy, I really appreciate it mate. It does show some good views of the front and the last few pics do show a little of the fab required for the rear arches... Hopefully get a few more pics of that area in the next 2 weeks as my car is then heading for the shop (and no doubt a big cutter somewhere along the line) Going to suck a little as ill need to remove the fuel tank prior to that as it will need cutting andf grinding/welding in that rear quater area. Will see how time goes as ill need to install the front nose still, and it will have to have a system for quick disconnect (the front nose that is) I havent figured out how to do/make that yet, but ill brainstorm that over the next week or so.

I really do appreciate the pics mate, its always much easier to have someting to go upon, rather than having to do everything trail and error.

hanging on for more of your story about how you managed to aquire this shell man, and also looking forwards to hearing about what parts your running. Funny you mentioned the Petrona's car, (which is still for sale atm) , ive seen it running in real and it does sound the goods, and being for sale atm for 60k euro cash isnt too bad either.. Though has lots of parts removed from when it was running in the series on the track. Sequential is still in place and would make a nice turn-key track car, even as it sits now. and would probably have been cheaper in the long run than modding your own like i am doing.

I get to the UK everynow and then Skiddy, and would love to see your beast sometime, if thats not being to forward? pref when its not pissing down rain.
at any rate, going to love hearing and seeing more about this particular car mate, awesome that you managed to secure a true ledgend of a car.

Does Snoopy happy dance

[2skiddy]

Hi Vanne, thanks for the compliments, hope my blurb helps. I did see the Petronas car for sale a while back, and yes, I would rather have bought that and saved a lot of time and money!!!! That is a different car to the shell I was offered BTW. Originally there was a car for sale by PACE in Wupperstall, or somewhere like that, but I missed it by a couple of days. So that is why I moved on to the factory shell, and at least I could build it to my specs.
I hope you have fun at the chop shop, as major mods are needed. The inner suspension points need moving up as well as the differential, or you will have weird stuff going on in the geometry. My diff is up really high, there is a section cut out and boxed (you can see in the previous photos) to allow this. The Australian chap raised his rear subframe considerably IIRC.
The suspension will be a challenge, I worked backwards from the fit of the wheels in the arches and looked at many photos from a Motorsport car. I did think about using the genuine parts, but, this means you then 1) have no money left and 2) only the parts they supply will marry up. This did create a problem, as I wanted forced induction, so the Motorsport engine mounts, which are bespoke to the racing crossmember, would be in the way, etc, etc. This is a brief explanation, and I have used many genuine parts where necessary, which was not straightforward.
It's great to see the cars being modified, as not too many people want to undertake a long and fairly complicated project, on what is a great car to begin with!

[eggman51]

great thread, sub'd

[2skiddy]

It would be interesting to know how many GTR builds are going on, I'm pleased it is happening!
Big challenge is suspension, a lot of mods are needed, and I started with a genuine race shell. It might be easier in some ways to start with the regular coupe, but the arches still have to be raised, roll centres and track. I needed some extra long arms for the front, which nobody seemed to do. I eventually purchased some aluminium arms from the USA, forgotten the make ATM, but was told these were long enough, even though I insisted they weren't, and they weren't!!! No problem, convert them to adjustable with a turnbuckle, and also modify the inner fulcrum point on the crossmember. This photo is under the rear of the Red Bull car, the one I saw at the Silverstone 2006 24hr Britcar, which won!

[Vanne]

Thanks again for the pics Skiddy, appreciate it mate. Ill be putting the nose on the car tomorrow, a d then will have a bit of a look see what is going to be needed. I love how clean your car is man, and il love the motorsport parts youve got mate. Un-bloody-real.
Not really sure how many gtr builds are going on atm? But i am not sure i would have started mine if i knew what a lot of work it was going to be... Well maybe .... Lol... Probably...
More pics 'lease mate, i love drooling.. Can you also show me what your cockpit looks like?