The end of a brilliant, brilliant ///M owenership experience
Discussion
Thought I'd do a little write up (and shameless adver plug) for by Z4M. Got her in February and have had had the best few months of car ownership of my car-reer to date. Unfortunatley having to part with due to needing more seats/space and all the usual stuff that gets in the way.
Picked up with 13k on the clock, totally pristine it was a real credit to the previous owner I was left with nothing to barter the price down on at all. A quick test drive to confirm all was in order and drove back home to Wakefield (the car was just opver the hills in Lancashire)
First impressions were generally positive although I always take a while to properly settle into a new car. I was surprised how easy it was to pootle round in the engine being quite docile round town. The gearchange was the only major thing to get used to as its typically mechanical. I'd read that some people remove a valve on the clutch (CDV?) to make it smoother but to be honest both me and the wife find it quite easy just to get used to. Driving position is perfect although the long bonnet makes for limited visibility and parking can be awkward as you cant see the bay lines when you pull in. Interior was just how I like them basic and functional made with very high quality plastics (apart from the sun visors which appear to have been lifted from a 1980's Reanult!) The switchgear has a very light feel to it which could be interpreted as a bit of a cheap feel but it all works ok. Not quite what I was expecting from a car that cost over 45k when new......
When I got chance to open the taps up this is where it got interesting as you would expect. I'd previosuly had a tuned Megane 225 which was no slouch but this thing was something else. I had my dad in the car and had him grabbing for the door handles! It really is incredibly quick and felt quite the monster on the greasy February roads. Turning off the DSC was not an option! The noise was also fantastic and its something I've never tired of for a second with this car.
It was soon time for a trip to Cadwell park to see what she could really do. It's a car that you cant really access the top 10% of its performance safely on the road so I was looking forward to baing able to explore things more thoroughly on track.
It seemed the Z4M was becoming a bit of an onion car as getting on track with it peeled of a whole new layer of what its about. Bearing in mind I'd had a couple of VX220's before I went into it with eyes wide open and not expecting too much from it but my god it was bloody brilliant! For a 1500kg car the handling is truly sublime with excellent feel, progressive transfer from grip to slip and minimal (in fact virtually non existant) body roll. Contrary to what I'd heard about M3 brakes the Z4's were remarkable and although I only did 4 15 minute ish sessions in the day there was no hint of fade at all. It turns out that the Z4M has CSL brakes as standard. I returned home that day with a very very big grin on my face. Only the VX220 had delivered such high satisfaction levels!
Now I'd had the car a little while the already lowish rear tyres were now looking ready for changing. After a bit of research on tyres and wheels I came up with a cunning plan of selling my standard wheels and getting some CSL wheels and tyres instead.
One of my better ideas I think the CSL's although not the most original idea certainly finish the car off superbly. They should have come like this from the factory really as they do make the standard car look a bit ordinary!
Next up was a long standing idea of doing a Euro roadtrip. We had the perfect car, two weeks booked off work so after much planning we set off to Lake Garda.
A couple of very very carefull laps of the ring
Rest stop in the Alps
Did the Stelvio of course
In the Porsche museum carpark
Did 2000 miles on the trip and the car has now covered 19k. The only problems I've had are a leaky wiper fluid bottle which was done fuss free under warranty at the local dealers.
A bit gutted to be parting with her really as it is essentially the perfect car. Oddles of power, brilliant handling, looks (without being too overt) and for a 2 seater its actually quite practical. We took a tent, airbed and loggage on the trip with us. But other stuff going on at the moment is forcing my hand really which is a shame but along with the VX220 its probably the only car I'd want to own again. Even now I'm still learning from it and it still continues to entertain. And the Noise is just so good
Anyway heres the classified ad for anyone that's interested. Even if my particular one doesnt suit I would highly recommend these cars if your looking at any of the competition (boxters - pah!). If you compare the prices to the M3 they favour very well too for the age/mileage. I'm so taken with the whole straight 6/RWD thing I'm hoping to get a 1 series 130i to replce her with but they seem to be a bit thin on the ground so it might take a while to drop on a good one. Hopefully get a little something for the weekend to keep it company too.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1124443.htm
Thanks for reading
Picked up with 13k on the clock, totally pristine it was a real credit to the previous owner I was left with nothing to barter the price down on at all. A quick test drive to confirm all was in order and drove back home to Wakefield (the car was just opver the hills in Lancashire)
First impressions were generally positive although I always take a while to properly settle into a new car. I was surprised how easy it was to pootle round in the engine being quite docile round town. The gearchange was the only major thing to get used to as its typically mechanical. I'd read that some people remove a valve on the clutch (CDV?) to make it smoother but to be honest both me and the wife find it quite easy just to get used to. Driving position is perfect although the long bonnet makes for limited visibility and parking can be awkward as you cant see the bay lines when you pull in. Interior was just how I like them basic and functional made with very high quality plastics (apart from the sun visors which appear to have been lifted from a 1980's Reanult!) The switchgear has a very light feel to it which could be interpreted as a bit of a cheap feel but it all works ok. Not quite what I was expecting from a car that cost over 45k when new......
When I got chance to open the taps up this is where it got interesting as you would expect. I'd previosuly had a tuned Megane 225 which was no slouch but this thing was something else. I had my dad in the car and had him grabbing for the door handles! It really is incredibly quick and felt quite the monster on the greasy February roads. Turning off the DSC was not an option! The noise was also fantastic and its something I've never tired of for a second with this car.
It was soon time for a trip to Cadwell park to see what she could really do. It's a car that you cant really access the top 10% of its performance safely on the road so I was looking forward to baing able to explore things more thoroughly on track.
It seemed the Z4M was becoming a bit of an onion car as getting on track with it peeled of a whole new layer of what its about. Bearing in mind I'd had a couple of VX220's before I went into it with eyes wide open and not expecting too much from it but my god it was bloody brilliant! For a 1500kg car the handling is truly sublime with excellent feel, progressive transfer from grip to slip and minimal (in fact virtually non existant) body roll. Contrary to what I'd heard about M3 brakes the Z4's were remarkable and although I only did 4 15 minute ish sessions in the day there was no hint of fade at all. It turns out that the Z4M has CSL brakes as standard. I returned home that day with a very very big grin on my face. Only the VX220 had delivered such high satisfaction levels!
Now I'd had the car a little while the already lowish rear tyres were now looking ready for changing. After a bit of research on tyres and wheels I came up with a cunning plan of selling my standard wheels and getting some CSL wheels and tyres instead.
One of my better ideas I think the CSL's although not the most original idea certainly finish the car off superbly. They should have come like this from the factory really as they do make the standard car look a bit ordinary!
Next up was a long standing idea of doing a Euro roadtrip. We had the perfect car, two weeks booked off work so after much planning we set off to Lake Garda.
A couple of very very carefull laps of the ring
Rest stop in the Alps
Did the Stelvio of course
In the Porsche museum carpark
Did 2000 miles on the trip and the car has now covered 19k. The only problems I've had are a leaky wiper fluid bottle which was done fuss free under warranty at the local dealers.
A bit gutted to be parting with her really as it is essentially the perfect car. Oddles of power, brilliant handling, looks (without being too overt) and for a 2 seater its actually quite practical. We took a tent, airbed and loggage on the trip with us. But other stuff going on at the moment is forcing my hand really which is a shame but along with the VX220 its probably the only car I'd want to own again. Even now I'm still learning from it and it still continues to entertain. And the Noise is just so good
Anyway heres the classified ad for anyone that's interested. Even if my particular one doesnt suit I would highly recommend these cars if your looking at any of the competition (boxters - pah!). If you compare the prices to the M3 they favour very well too for the age/mileage. I'm so taken with the whole straight 6/RWD thing I'm hoping to get a 1 series 130i to replce her with but they seem to be a bit thin on the ground so it might take a while to drop on a good one. Hopefully get a little something for the weekend to keep it company too.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1124443.htm
Thanks for reading
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