"Bumblebee" The Speed Yellow M4

[S100WRS]

Instagram: Sloow_RS

Hi, new here my name is Luke, from South Wales. My mate suggested I should start one of these as he is a PH follower. Previously I built a Megane 265 RS as a track/clubsport spec car and it still holds a place in my garage, but I wanted to build a clubsport spec RWD car. I think the F82 M4 is one of the best platforms to do it.

After reading through some of the forums, it was interesting to read up on the history of the OP's cars, so I thought I'd include mine (even though it's not all that interesting) here's a brief history of my cars/bikes with some pictures of them:

Peugeot 306 D turbo ~ 120bhp BHP/Ton : 106



Peugeot 306 D turbo ~ 120bhp BHP/Ton : 106



Honda CBF125 11bhp BHP/Ton : 88



Peugeot 306 HDi estate 90bhp BHP/Ton : 75
No Picture


Lexus IS200 153bhp BHP/Ton : 113



Peugeot 306 GTI 167bhp BHP/Ton : 176 - Track car



Peugeot 306 Rallye 167bhp BHP/Ton : 144



Peugeot 306 GTI 167bhp (didn't finish) - Track car
No Picture


Peugeot 306 GTI Supercharged 250bhp BHP/Ton : 200
No Picture


Kawasaki ER6F (Still have) 67bhp BHP/Ton : 335



Peugeot 306 GTI Supercharged 520bhp BHP/Ton : 416



Renault Megane 265 RS (Still have) 306bhp BHP/Ton : 229



Renault Clio R26 13/500 (Still have) 197bhp BHP/Ton: 171 - Track car



Peugeot 306 2.0 HDi 90bhp BHP/Ton : 75



BMW X5 320bhp BHP/Ton : 152



Kawasaki ZX10RR 214bhp BHP/Ton : 1034



VW Golf 7.5R 389bhp BHP/Ton : 264



Audi Q7 (Still have) 300bhp BHP/Ton : 130



This leads me to the M4:



Since purchase in Jan 2023 @18k, it had sat in my garage for 6 months, while I detailed and waited for a PPF slot. Whilst detailing I noticed the dreaded exhaust camshaft tapping (which seems to be fairly common) whilst adjusting the car's position, BMW agreed and booked it for a new camshaft/bearings (st experience from the dealer btw). Heres some pictures detailing the car

Edited by S100W RS on Monday 6th November 12:54

[S100W RS]

The next time out was a quick test on some local twisty roads. Ended up at baffle Haus. All was good with the car.

Next up was a Spain/Portugal trip of 2500+ miles with a mate and his GT3RS. Lovely place Spain, there are some crazy beautiful places we found on our trip. Neither car had a single issue thankfully... even though both cars were pushed hard, (might put a YouTube video up at some point) the noises from the GT3 were insane when we launched them next to each other.










I did manage to ruin the outside of the fronts, due to the standard set-up and lack of camber. Rears more even wear, but did go down to just above the wear bars. These were like new before leaving, which shows how much we did get a move on any time possible.




3 weeks later 1500+ miles for NC500 another dump of pics, not able to get a move on here really way too busy and very tight roads. Nice sightseeing though.

Edited by S100W RS on Monday 6th November 20:54

[macron]

You've got some very nice cars there!

[MustangGT]

Agreed, some nice cars, but no Bumblebee. Bumblebee started out as a VW Beetle, became a 1975 Camaro RS, then a 2009 Camaro LT, had black stripes as well. Later on he became a Camaro SS, always yellow.

[d_a_n1979]

S100W RS said:

The next time out was a quick test on some local twisty roads. Ended up at baffle Haus. All was good with the car.

Next up was a Spain/Portugal trip of 2500+ miles with a mate and his GT3RS. Some lovely places in Spain are some crazy beautiful places we found on our trip. Neither car had a single issue thankfully... even though both cars were pushed hard, (might put a YouTube video up at some point) the noises from the GT3 were insane when we launched them next to each other.










I did manage to ruin the outside of the fronts, due to the standard set-up and lack of camber. Rears more even wear, but did go down to just above the wear bars. These were like new before leaving, which shows how much we did get a move on any time possible.




3 weeks later 1500+ miles for NC500 another dump of pics, not able to get a move on here really way too busy and very tight roads. Nice sightseeing though.

Edited by S100W RS on Monday 6th November 00:29

Fantastic car & fantastic colour

some brilliant shots there too; hoping to do some of the NC500 next year

[TGCOTF-dewey]

Peugeot 306 GTI Supercharged 520bhp!

Apologies, but I'd rather hear more about that thing... Lovely as the BMW is.

How the hell do you get 520bhp out of the pug 2.0 via an SC. That's quite a feat of engineering.

[mikebradford]

Nice write up.
Always good to see cars in a brighter colour. Yellow looks great on yours.

[Zarco]

MustangGT said:

Agreed, some nice cars, but no Bumblebee. Bumblebee started out as a VW Beetle, became a 1975 Camaro RS, then a 2009 Camaro LT, had black stripes as well. Later on he became a Camaro SS, always yellow.

Who says?

[MustangGT]

Zarco said:

MustangGT said:

Agreed, some nice cars, but no Bumblebee. Bumblebee started out as a VW Beetle, became a 1975 Camaro RS, then a 2009 Camaro LT, had black stripes as well. Later on he became a Camaro SS, always yellow.

Who says?

Transformers

[Court_S]

The M4 looks grand in yellow.

Good to see it being used properly too; looks like is gone on sone great road trips.

[jackcactii]

For the semi-regular track use, these cars don't need more than a quality set of coilovers (not Ohlins, though, I'd not recommend them) with more camber, Girodisc/EBC disks, 19" wheels maybe a Recaro Pole Position for better support.

Anything more than that and it's a race car which is a bit of a shame if starting with an 18k-mile Individual example. I'm never selling mine.

[S100W RS]

Dont know how this works, or if people answer everyones posts individually on here.... so I'll just do my best to give some responses to some of the posts! Correct me if there is a "normal" format to respond haha

Thanks to everyone who's praised the car! I'll update some more tomorrow!

MustangGT said:

Agreed, some nice cars, but no Bumblebee. Bumblebee started out as a VW Beetle, became a 1975 Camaro RS, then a 2009 Camaro LT, had black stripes as well. Later on he became a Camaro SS, always yellow.

Yeah it was just a nickname it got on the NC500 trip haha!

d_a_n1979 said:

Fantastic car & fantastic colour

some brilliant shots there too; hoping to do some of the NC500 next year

I do admit its a very good scenic route but less so for being able to get your foot down a little , very tight roads most of it!

TGCOTF-dewey said:

Peugeot 306 GTI Supercharged 520bhp!

Apologies, but I'd rather hear more about that thing... Lovely as the BMW is.

How the hell do you get 520bhp out of the pug 2.0 via an SC. That's quite a feat of engineering.

I got to be honest, I didn't build this thing even though it was a big animal... I did love it, the sound it made was insane! Me not building it was probably the reason I didn't end up keeping it.

There was a massive build thread on one of the 306 forums, I'll have a dig around later for those who would like to have a read.

sunnyb13 said:

Bumblebee looks lovely. can't imagine many around in this colour.

Not sure how many F82's in this color are around, but there was a rumor of only 44 F80's.

jackcactii said:

For the semi-regular track use, these cars don't need more than a quality set of coilovers (not Ohlins, though, I'd not recommend them) with more camber, Girodisc/EBC disks, 19" wheels maybe a Recaro Pole Position for better support.

Anything more than that and it's a race car which is a bit of a shame if starting with an 18k-mile Individual example. I'm never selling mine.

We'll see how it goes haha, I do plan on doing a fair bit to this to be fair

Edited by S100W RS on Saturday 11th November 10:32

Edited by S100W RS on Saturday 4th January 07:52

[S100W RS]

Once back from Scotland, I decided to give the Bumblebee a fresh oil change and a nice new magnetic sump plug @23k updated idrive along with it, the oil did arrive with a small issue though haha + Ordered a bunch of filters (forgot to take pics of me doing the oil change





I bought a stud and nut kit from BIMMEC along with new 2forge ZF6 wheels, 10x18 et25 and 11x18 et40 wrapped with AR1's. Fitted these and cleaned arches with some SurfexHD. I gave the hubs a wire brush/cleaned out the threads. I got behind the strut with a detailing brush and anywhere I could haha
Pretty nice outcome:

Before:


After:




Booked in for an alignment with The Motorworks in Gloucester Specs were:


Front Left Toe out 0.5mm
Front Right Toe out 0.5mm
Front Left Camber -1.3 deg  (Not Adjustable)
Front Right Camber -1.2 deg (Not Adjustable)


Rear Left Toe in  0.5mm
Rear Right Toe in  0.5mm
Rear Left Camber  -1.5 deg
Rear Right Camber-1.5 deg

Edited by S100W RS on Sunday 12th November 13:16

[S100W RS]

Next up Nürburgring trip - 24th of August


The trip to the Nürburgring was very good, but I was a little disappointed in the M4's performance compared to the Megane. The time I have for the Megane was quicker than the M4. Although the time for the Megane was a couple years ago now, I am sure that the Megane would be quicker again with the amount that has been changed. I had got 8.10 with minimal mods (intake, exhaust, intercooler, pads, TSW Interlargos alloys, AD08R tyres and a remap), the M4 was just on AR1's and lighter wheels at 8.53.


The M4 did not feel as fast/quick as I was assuming it would be. For some data, I think I'll get booked on to another trackday at Combe (the local track) at some point this year or early next year. I then should be able to benchmark without a million yellow flags on big sections of the track (the worst it had been out of any of my previous times there). Even with the predicted lap time of the best segment stitched together, the 8.03 didn't look so good. I can't tell if the good segments the app put together were under a yellow flag either (therefore slower), and the fact it only recorded 5 out of my 11 laps due to the app not registering the bridge (start line) on multiple occasions. I was only using Harry's Lap Timer on my phone (so I know it's not the most reliable and accurate, but it's good for just basic data).




The brakes were much better than the R's as standard, but still got nothing on what the Meganes brakes performed like when standard. The M4's were almost non existent after half a lap, this would have also hurt the times. Now my drivers excuses are out of the way  time for some pictures





We also did the official track walk, as it was my dad's first time at the ring. I had never done it before either! The walk was good, on foot, the hills are steeper again than what it feels like in the car, which I already found crazy! The guide did speak more in German than English, so I'm sure we missed out on a lot of interesting facts about the circuit as we toured around.

Edited by S100W RS on Sunday 12th November 14:06

[d_a_n1979]

S100W RS said:

Once back from Scotland, I decided to give the Bumblebee a fresh oil change and a nice new magnetic sump plug @23k updated idrive along with it, the oil did arrive with a small issue though haha + Ordered a bunch of filters (forgot to take pics of me doing the oil change





I bought a stud and nut kit from BIMMEC along with new 2forge ZF6 wheels, 10x18 et25 and 11x18 et40 wrapped with AR1's. Fitted these and cleaned arches with some SurfexHD. I gave the hubs a wire brush/cleaned out the threads. I got behind the strut with a detailing brush and anywhere I could haha
Pretty nice outcome:

Before:


After:




Booked in for an alignment with The Motorworks in Gloucester Specs were:


Front Left Toe out 0.5mm
Front Right Toe out 0.5mm
Front Left Camber -1.3 deg  (Not Adjustable)
Front Right Camber -1.2 deg (Not Adjustable)


Rear Left Toe in  0.5mm
Rear Right Toe in  0.5mm
Rear Left Camber  -1.5 deg
Rear Right Camber-1.5 deg

Edited by S100W RS on Sunday 12th November 13:16

Always a satisfying job cleaning the suspension You know it'll be filthy in a few days again, but it's done...

Did the same yesterday whilst the car was jacked up and wheels off to change the bloody headlight bulbs

Those wheels look super as well; never come across them before. Forged, lightweight and a good deal cheaper than Apex wheels too!

[S100W RS]

d_a_n1979 said:

Always a satisfying job cleaning the suspension You know it'll be filthy in a few days again, but it's done...

Did the same yesterday whilst the car was jacked up and wheels off to change the bloody headlight bulbs

Those wheels look super as well; never come across them before. Forged, lightweight and a good deal cheaper than Apex wheels too!

Yeah once I got back from Germany they were stinking again! Haha

Yeah I have the same wheels on the megane they are good for the value tbh... I paid more for the tyres than I did for the wheels! Another positive of the wheels, they are very customisable with the offsets, perfect if you don't want to run spacers I also weighed the oem comp wheels to the 2forge wheels

Oem Comp wheels pss front -  22kg
Oem Comp wheels pss back -  23.68kg

2forge zf6 ar1 front - 22.3kg
2forge zf6 ar1 back - 23.75kg

Not any weight saving but they are a inch bigger on the front and back in width so I run 275 on the front an 315 on the rears!

[d_a_n1979]

S100W RS said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Always a satisfying job cleaning the suspension You know it'll be filthy in a few days again, but it's done...

Did the same yesterday whilst the car was jacked up and wheels off to change the bloody headlight bulbs

Those wheels look super as well; never come across them before. Forged, lightweight and a good deal cheaper than Apex wheels too!

Yeah once I got back from Germany they were stinking again! Haha

Yeah I have the same wheels on the megane they are good for the value tbh... I paid more for the tyres than I did for the wheels! Another positive of the wheels, they are very customisable with the offsets, perfect if you don't want to run spacers I also weighed the oem comp wheels to the 2forge wheels

Oem Comp wheels pss front -  22kg
Oem Comp wheels pss back -  23.68kg

2forge zf6 ar1 front - 22.3kg
2forge zf6 ar1 back - 23.75kg

Not any weight saving but they are a inch bigger on the front and back in width so I run 275 on the front an 315 on the rears!

Do they take normal 60º taper wheel bolts; or do you need to use 'racing lugs' like some wheels do?

[S100W RS]

d_a_n1979 said:

Do they take normal 60º taper wheel bolts; or do you need to use 'racing lugs' like some wheels do?

Yeah just the normal tapered wheel bolts bud! Depending on your previous wheel depths you may need longer/shorter wheel bolts though

[d_a_n1979]

S100W RS said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Do they take normal 60º taper wheel bolts; or do you need to use 'racing lugs' like some wheels do?

Yeah just the normal tapered wheel bolts bud! Depending on your previous wheel depths you may need longer/shorter wheel bolts though

Cheers

I've just ordered a stud conversion kit to run 12mm spacers all round; so will use the 19mm bolts for that and the OEM wheels for now

But I know some aftermarket wheels like Japan Racing etc; you need to use those 'internal drive racing lugs' as the bolt holes seem quite tight

[S100W RS]

While I was in Germany the pads had worn down and were on their last legs (warning lights on for the wear sensor) I would have done more than the 11 laps but tried limiting myself due to the pads. I visually checked them, there was plenty left but didn't want to push on due to the heat on a small amount of material left. Once I got back, I bought and fitted Ferodo 3.12's along with a full flush on ISTA with RBF660. Again didn't take pictures of doing this! Need to get into the habit, I did take a picture of the used pad next to the new though!



I then went out late one night with the intention of bedding them in along some quiet twisty roads, they felt great. The amount of dust new pads create is beyond The wheels were clean before I left!



On the way back pushing on a little, I went over a little hump, car goes into limp mode.
Pulled over turned the car off, back on limp mode gone. Pulled away again hard, straight back into limp mode...

Pulled over again an thought I'd just drive it home slowly, got to the dual carriage way and eased on the power, completely fine to some higher end speeds. Strange, so I took it to work the next day, the way in fine, on the way home got on the power aggressively once warm, again limp mode.

Decided I'd look into it when I was off work next.

After a little research, I found it was fairly common for the charge pipes to crack so I decided to look into this first. I pulled off the charge pipes + J pipe to inspect for cracks in the plastic. Nothing spotted, after a little cleaning of the airbox/piping etc... remembered that ista specifically mentioned cylinder 3 misfire and this was on my list of things to check next anyway (sparkplugs) Ista only identified cylinder 3 once as every other time it was multiple misfires but no number or I was just blind, more likely the latter.

After attempting to lift the coil pack off.... straight away I noticed it was loose, lifted it off found white dust, the arcing between the gap from coil pack and plug causing this.



It seems what was causing the limp when on full power was the coil lifting/pulling back from accelerating. I removed the plug cleaned up both the plug and coil pack hoping this fixes the issue. It must have been this way since BMW had worked on the car, they could not have installed the coil pack correctly. As the charge pipes were already off I'd change them anyway. After a quick trip to Garagewhifbitz, I fitted the new charge pipes and J pipe not too painful of a task. While I was working on the engine bay I decided to give it a bit of a clean/detail:

(Forgot to take a picture)

Although while I was removing the J pipe, I did manage to drop a socket that landed on the stiffening undertray, so I removed this and it looked a little tatty so thought it would be a good idea to give it a quick clean and sand back.

My OCD wasn't happy with a little sand back and ended up spending hours on it by hand. Still was not happy, so bought a sander and it now looks great, then I just needed to get the brushed aluminum look back with some 600 grit/Scotchbrite and give the underside of the engine/subframe a quick clean while the tray is off...

Left half cleaned but still corrosion marks:



Fully sanded an clean:



I cleaned the full underside of the Megane previously and it came out great, would like the M4 to be at this standard if not better in the long term.