Z4MC refresh

[Piper1]

Imho what you did with the Ms looks sexy as hell. And great work on the lights in the end worked out great.

[racerbruce]

Well done grannyknot - great detail and narrative(s) about the refresh.

[JustinHEMI]

Originally Posted by grannyknot

Hoping the badge Nazis don't come after me but I can't stand looking at those chromed plastic M's anymore.
I tried removing the black tint from the headlight lenses and it turned in to a disaster, the tint came off but all the glue was left behind.
After hours of washing it with alcohol I got frustrated and tried Acetone, bad move, big mistake. It removed some of the goo but melted the lenses.
So I went to ebay and ordered a set of new aftermarket lenses, second big mistake because I don't need them now. Anyone need a new set of headlight lenses for half price?

I started with 400 grit on the worst of the melted spots then went to 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 then buffing with compound.
They could still use a bit more buffing but I'll wait for winter when there is more time.

I'm interested in the lenses.

[grannyknot]

So the Maxon spoiler arrived today, that only took 4 1/2 months.
It's different than I was expecting, for some reason I thought it was going to be thicker, but it's made out of 3/16th" ABS plastic sheet and heat molded into shape. The company stickers are smaller than they show on their website and they are the padded raised kind of sticker so it shouldn't too hard to remove them.
I kinda like it but I'm also liking the hatch lid with nothing on it.
I have to have the paint corrected so if I use it won't be until after that is done.

[wdb]

Wow -- I recognize that tape. I got a roll to attach the CF "faux Mines" spoiler on my 2005 STi, after I finally got tired of watching police cars do J-turns when they saw the factory wing. It's a 3M product and it is potent. If you go thinner, I recommend trying to find the same 3M adhesive with a thinner backing.

As for the lip, I don't understand why they lowered the center section. It's probably my logical mind saying "that's where the downforce is", instead of my artistic mind thinking "that is very stylish." On second thought, no, my artistic mind wants to fill that section in.

[racerbruce]

Agreed wdb -
Those observations are correct IMHO.

grannyknot,
It sounds like you're on the fence re this spoiler....are there any other options? Does Skyer have an app for the Coupe??

My Skyer spoiler for the roadster has symmetry and "lift" in the middle that seems appropriate:

[grannyknot]

Originally Posted by wdb

As for the lip, I don't understand why they lowered the center section. It's probably my logical mind saying "that's where the downforce is", instead of my artistic mind thinking "that is very stylish." On second thought, no, my artistic mind wants to fill that section in.

Maxon lowered the center section because BMW did that on the original spoiler that use to be available, this version is very similar to the original.

Originally Posted by racerbruce

grannyknot,
It sounds like you're on the fence re this spoiler....are there any other options? Does Skyer have an app for the Coupe??


Attachment 2857375

I am on the fence, lots of time to make up my mind though.
Skyler has some nice designs for the coupe but with the exchange rate, S&H and taxes one of theirs will cost me $700 or more, to me that's a silly amount of money for some plastic eye candy, can't justify it.

[belcom]

Originally Posted by racerbruce

My Skyer spoiler for the roadster has symmetry and "lift" in the middle that seems appropriate:

I need this in my life on the roadster mmmm Wish he made it in fiberglass or something as I would paint it body color. Not sure I'd want it in carbon over titanium silver when it would literally be just a single carbon fiber accessory on the car but painting nicely finished CF is a crime as well

Originally Posted by grannyknot

I am on the fence, lots of time to make up my mind though.
Skyler has some nice designs for the coupe but with the exchange rate, S&H and taxes one of theirs will cost me $700 or more, to me that's a silly amount of money for some plastic eye candy, can't justify it.

I'd keep an eye on classifieds. Sometimes they do pop up. For shipping stuff I use Cross Border Pickups. Working out great so far.

[grannyknot]

Originally Posted by belcom

For shipping stuff I use Cross Border Pickups. Working out great so far.

CBP certainly has some draw backs but they have saved me a lot of money over the last few yrs.

[grannyknot]

I was looking at the strut braces in the engine bay the other day and although the car probably does not need it I thought I would beef them up a bit.
Went to the Metal Supermarket and picked up some rectangular tubing, my god has the price of steel ever gone up, twice what it was last year.
Now I just have to get it to the powder coaters for some satin black and find some flush plastic plugs to cover the holes.
I will also add a couple of relief cuts on the bottom side so if I get into a major front ender it will collapse and soak up some of the energy.

[belcom]

Nice fabrication skills

Are you going to do something for the strut tower brace too or the piece welded between is sort of doing the job?

[racerbruce]

Originally Posted by grannyknot

I was looking at the strut braces in the engine bay the other day and although the car probably does not need it I thought I would beef them up a bit.
Went to the Metal Supermarket and picked up some rectangular tubing, my god has the price of steel ever gone up, twice what it was last year.
Now I just have to get it to the powder coaters for some satin black and find some flush plastic plugs to cover the holes.
I will also add a couple of relief cuts on the bottom side so if I get into a major front ender it will collapse and soak up some of the energy.

Brilliance - well done - so very clean and one-off and great forethought to relieve the structure a bit to allow collapse in the event of a God-forbid.

[Piper1]

Originally Posted by grannyknot

I was looking at the strut braces in the engine bay the other day and although the car probably does not need it I thought I would beef them up a bit.
Went to the Metal Supermarket and picked up some rectangular tubing, my god has the price of steel ever gone up, twice what it was last year.
Now I just have to get it to the powder coaters for some satin black and find some flush plastic plugs to cover the holes.
I will also add a couple of relief cuts on the bottom side so if I get into a major front ender it will collapse and soak up some of the energy.

I’m digging the design as well. Do you plan to track it a bit? One point I’d caution to keep an eye on in the beef up on the bars is the mount point. I’ve not experienced it but have seen where the welds break from the mounting at the strut tower. If the bar reduces more flex than oe it might put more stress on those welds.

[wdb]

It’s pretty! Do you think the square section functions the same as the round section originals?

[grannyknot]

Originally Posted by belcom

Nice fabrication skills

Are you going to do something for the strut tower brace too or the piece welded between is sort of doing the job?

The cross piece is sort of doing that job but mostly I'm just playing around pretending to be an engineer.

Originally Posted by Piper1

I’m digging the design as well. Do you plan to track it a bit? One point I’d caution to keep an eye on in the beef up on the bars is the mount point. I’ve not experienced it but have seen where the welds break from the mounting at the strut tower. If the bar reduces more flex than oe it might put more stress on those welds.

That's a very good point, those 4 little spot welds holding the mounts on are definitely the weak link, maybe this winter when everything is torn down I'll add some welds to those mounts or rebuild the mounts altogether. I could also bypass the strut mount altogether and just add a mount that attaches with the 3 shock tower nuts.

Originally Posted by wdb

It’s pretty! Do you think the square section functions the same as the round section originals?

Well it won't function exactly like the round tube but it is stronger in the gauge and cross section.
Thanks guys

[grannyknot]

So I was looking at and realized I could use the dedicated strut bar mount in addition to the shock strut mounts without having to reinforce anything.
The stress would be pretty even on all 3 points each supporting the other.
Now it doesn't look as clean as it did but once it's powder coated black it shouldn't draw the eye so much.

[grannyknot]

I got the car out for a run today, just an hours drive to get it up to temp. and started setting up to do the compression test.
I'll never understand why BMW used those godawful single use clamps on the throttle bodies, such a pain to remove.
I just ordered 6 SS clamps that were used on the throttle boots of my old e24 M6, they can be used hundreds of times and to my eye look just as good the single use type.

I started making a video of the compression test and the battery died in my camera, I put it on the charger but the engine was getting cooler every minute and I wanted accurate numbers.
Very pleased with the results, I was going to do a wet test with squirt of oil in each cylinder but with numbers this good there was really no point.

When I tear it down this winter it will just be to replace the conrods and main bearing shells and all the timing components, water pump and such.

Also, the new cowl came in, not sure how much longer those will be available
so I ordered it because of the cracking on the rubber windshield seal.

[racerbruce]

Well done!
The delta between cylinders is so close - great news. Any idea what the compression psi is when the S54 is relatively new?

The strut bar looks very custom and one-off....great job.

[grannyknot]

Originally Posted by racerbruce

Well done!
The delta between cylinders is so close - great news. Any idea what the compression psi is when the S54 is relatively new?

The strut bar looks very custom and one-off....great job.

Thanks, I read somewhere that BMW recommends no lower than 160psi before a rebuild but I'm not sure what the upper limit is.
Then there is testing when the engine is cold vs hot, very different numbers for for those two extremes, I'm just glad they are all so consistent.

[wdb]

Be careful where you locate the screws on those clamps, they can interfere with the throttle actuation.

[grannyknot]

Originally Posted by wdb

Be careful where you locate the screws on those clamps, they can interfere with the throttle actuation.

Thanks, I noticed that, the lock nut on the operating lever looks close to the screw of the clamp but there is room for them to pass by each other.

[wdb]

You'll get a code if there’s interference. You won’t need it though because the car will run so bad.

This is all bitter personal experience btw.