My midlife crisis purchase; E86 BMW Z4 Coupe
Discussion
Court_S said:
My car came with the very sought after gloss black trim which I’m in the minority for not really liking it. It’s a daft finish for interior trim because it shows up every mark, piece of dust and fingerprint as well as reflections etc.
Mine wasn’t in great condition either. I’m guessing it’s got too hot at some point because there are some random cracks in the finish. The trim around the light controls was particularly bad. The passenger trim had vertical crack too.
There aren’t too many alternatives so I bought a set of brushed aluminium trim and decided to wrap it (silver with the champagne leather would look crack).
The Z4 isn’t the easiest car to work on when it comes to the interior trim; there are lots of bits screwed in place or with funny hard to get at fixings.
First up was to removed the passenger side air vent / cup holder which is held in place with two screws.
The end of the trim by the vent is held in place with a funny spring clip and a washer. Which needs to be squeezed together whilst digging into your fingers.
The it was time to remove the air vents which I think are a pain. You need to get at the metal clips at the top and bottom through the vents. Thanks BMW.
Head unit out next which is easy enough; two screws, the quadlock connector and the aerial connector.
There are four screws behind the head unit / air vent and then it’s brute force to get the trim off. One of the clips came out and fell where I couldn’t see it so I had to pop the glove box out which is actually really easy because it’s held in with six screws.
All recesses were cleaned etc before the wrapped trim was fitted.
And back together.
I’d done the door handles and light switch trim before.
The centre console trim is up next but I need to remove the whole centre console because it’s held in place with screws! Joy.
That looks miles better Sam!Mine wasn’t in great condition either. I’m guessing it’s got too hot at some point because there are some random cracks in the finish. The trim around the light controls was particularly bad. The passenger trim had vertical crack too.
There aren’t too many alternatives so I bought a set of brushed aluminium trim and decided to wrap it (silver with the champagne leather would look crack).
The Z4 isn’t the easiest car to work on when it comes to the interior trim; there are lots of bits screwed in place or with funny hard to get at fixings.
First up was to removed the passenger side air vent / cup holder which is held in place with two screws.
The end of the trim by the vent is held in place with a funny spring clip and a washer. Which needs to be squeezed together whilst digging into your fingers.
The it was time to remove the air vents which I think are a pain. You need to get at the metal clips at the top and bottom through the vents. Thanks BMW.
Head unit out next which is easy enough; two screws, the quadlock connector and the aerial connector.
There are four screws behind the head unit / air vent and then it’s brute force to get the trim off. One of the clips came out and fell where I couldn’t see it so I had to pop the glove box out which is actually really easy because it’s held in with six screws.
All recesses were cleaned etc before the wrapped trim was fitted.
And back together.
I’d done the door handles and light switch trim before.
The centre console trim is up next but I need to remove the whole centre console because it’s held in place with screws! Joy.
Just need some alcantara now
cerb4.5lee said:
I'm with you Sam regarding piano black trim. I always wanted it, until I got to experience it in the F56 MCS. After that I decided I didn't like it because it marked far too easily.
I had the carbon effect trim in the Z4M, and I really liked that a lot. Nice work.
It was the piano black trim that I spec’d in my wife’s old Cooper that tuned me off it too. Looked great when we collected the car and sI had the carbon effect trim in the Z4M, and I really liked that a lot. Nice work.
t after. 
That must be the first time I've seen anyone remove Piano Black trim!
My 123d had it and I loved it.
You're right about the brushed aluminium trim though, it is horrible!
Your Carbon wrap looks great, but I've seen people wrap it in gloss black too as Piano Black seems quite rare. Not as rare as the Cirrus Aluminium my blue E86 had though, which I loved.
My 123d had it and I loved it.
You're right about the brushed aluminium trim though, it is horrible!
Your Carbon wrap looks great, but I've seen people wrap it in gloss black too as Piano Black seems quite rare. Not as rare as the Cirrus Aluminium my blue E86 had though, which I loved.
Court_S said:
d_a_n1979 said:
That looks miles better Sam!
Just need some alcantara now
Cheers Dan. I much prefer it as well. Just need some alcantara now
I’ve got an alacantara gear gaiter and will probably get the armrest / handbrake gaiter done as well and possibly the knee pads.
I'd seen an E39 M5 with the OEM piano black trim and it'd just been polished; but the owner said it's a nightmare to maintain. You'd have to wear cotton gloves inside the car to not mark it
Gave the little Z4 a quick wash and a top up coat of wax this evening.
I need to fit the wrapped centre control, but having to remove the entire centre console to do so isn’t exactly making me charge into it.
I’m taking it to Spires first thing tomorrow for a proper alignment. It’s technically fine as it is, but I think there’s a definite room for improvement being set up by someone who takes their time etc.
I need to fit the wrapped centre control, but having to remove the entire centre console to do so isn’t exactly making me charge into it.
I’m taking it to Spires first thing tomorrow for a proper alignment. It’s technically fine as it is, but I think there’s a definite room for improvement being set up by someone who takes their time etc.
cerb4.5lee said:
It looks so well Sam. 
I love it for sure.
A cracking choice of car you've made I reckon.
Cheers Lee I love it for sure.
A cracking choice of car you've made I reckon.
It’s definitely a six footer, but I’m quite taken with it. It’s a pretty car especially from the rear.
Sod’s Law that in the way to Spires this morning, it absolutely shat it down with rain.
pidsy said:
Is there some way of fitting Apple car play to one of these?
Yes if you have the factory fitted nav. A place in London has a solution. You need to add the TV tuner if not already fitted. https://carphonics.co.uk/shop/upgrades/apple-carpl...
Court_S said:
pidsy said:
Is there some way of fitting Apple car play to one of these?
Yes if you have the factory fitted nav. A place in London has a solution. You need to add the TV tuner if not already fitted. https://carphonics.co.uk/shop/upgrades/apple-carpl...
Coupe goes back on the possibles list!
I took the Zed to Spires Tuning for a proper alignment this morning.
It was popped on the ramps to start with to make sure all of the bolts could be undone (they’re were fine, even the ones not changed).
Matt then spent some time aligning it including one of the locating pins on the passenger side top mount so that the camber could be balanced.
Although it’d had a basic alignment after changing some of the suspension parts, the car still felt a bit crap like the front and rear ends were doing their own thing. It turns out that the passenger rear was toeing out quite a bit despite showing as in spec on the print out I was given at the last place. The rear negative camber was dialled down a bit (these had a lot from factory).
The drive home revealed a car that is genuinely transformed. The front end has much more feel on turn in and the turning right, both ends of the car are working together. Based on my experience with Centre Gravity, String Theory and Spires, these more expensive alignments are definitely worth the cash.
It was popped on the ramps to start with to make sure all of the bolts could be undone (they’re were fine, even the ones not changed).
Matt then spent some time aligning it including one of the locating pins on the passenger side top mount so that the camber could be balanced.
Although it’d had a basic alignment after changing some of the suspension parts, the car still felt a bit crap like the front and rear ends were doing their own thing. It turns out that the passenger rear was toeing out quite a bit despite showing as in spec on the print out I was given at the last place. The rear negative camber was dialled down a bit (these had a lot from factory).
The drive home revealed a car that is genuinely transformed. The front end has much more feel on turn in and the turning right, both ends of the car are working together. Based on my experience with Centre Gravity, String Theory and Spires, these more expensive alignments are definitely worth the cash.
Court_S said:
The drive home revealed a car that is genuinely transformed. The front end has much more feel on turn in and the turning right, both ends of the car are working together. Based on my experience with Centre Gravity, String Theory and Spires, these more expensive alignments are definitely worth the cash.
Good to hear it's now much better but I don't agree with your conclusion - It's more important that the person doing the alignment has a clue what he's doing and can set up the equipment properly - expensive doesn't always equal excellent resultsB'stard Child said:
Good to hear it's now much better but I don't agree with your conclusion - It's more important that the person doing the alignment has a clue what he's doing and can set up the equipment properly - expensive doesn't always equal excellent results
True, I guess what I meant was that the ones that understand what they’re doing and take their time do a much better job…they just happen to cost more. Some people think it’s nuts to spend hundred plus quid on an alignment when Quik Fit will do it for £40 or whatever.
I agree that expensive isn’t better; BMW did an appalling job on my M140i which basically crabbed sideways of you accelerated hard.
Court_S said:
I took the Zed to Spires Tuning for a proper alignment this morning.
It was popped on the ramps to start with to make sure all of the bolts could be undone (they’re were fine, even the ones not changed).
Matt then spent some time aligning it including one of the locating pins on the passenger side top mount so that the camber could be balanced.
Although it’d had a basic alignment after changing some of the suspension parts, the car still felt a bit crap like the front and rear ends were doing their own thing. It turns out that the passenger rear was toeing out quite a bit despite showing as in spec on the print out I was given at the last place. The rear negative camber was dialled down a bit (these had a lot from factory).
The drive home revealed a car that is genuinely transformed. The front end has much more feel on turn in and the turning right, both ends of the car are working together. Based on my experience with Centre Gravity, String Theory and Spires, these more expensive alignments are definitely worth the cash.
Do you have the actual settings please?It was popped on the ramps to start with to make sure all of the bolts could be undone (they’re were fine, even the ones not changed).
Matt then spent some time aligning it including one of the locating pins on the passenger side top mount so that the camber could be balanced.
Although it’d had a basic alignment after changing some of the suspension parts, the car still felt a bit crap like the front and rear ends were doing their own thing. It turns out that the passenger rear was toeing out quite a bit despite showing as in spec on the print out I was given at the last place. The rear negative camber was dialled down a bit (these had a lot from factory).
The drive home revealed a car that is genuinely transformed. The front end has much more feel on turn in and the turning right, both ends of the car are working together. Based on my experience with Centre Gravity, String Theory and Spires, these more expensive alignments are definitely worth the cash.
Court_S said:
B'stard Child said:
Good to hear it's now much better but I don't agree with your conclusion - It's more important that the person doing the alignment has a clue what he's doing and can set up the equipment properly - expensive doesn't always equal excellent results
True, I guess what I meant was that the ones that understand what they’re doing and take their time do a much better job…they just happen to cost more. Some people think it’s nuts to spend hundred plus quid on an alignment when Quik Fit will do it for £40 or whatever.
I agree that expensive isn’t better; BMW did an appalling job on my M140i which basically crabbed sideways of you accelerated hard.
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