E85 3.0 Z4 Roadster Project

[Scrooge]

Do you see the rubber vacuum pipe (No.4) attached to the rear exhaust box? Well, you pull this out and either stick a golf tee or a precise fit screw onto the end of this rubber pipe and tie up somewhere out of the way using a tie wrap or similar. A neater job is to take the pipe out, insert a ball bearing slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe, and then attach the pipe back to the exhaust. What you are tying to do is block the vacuum from the valve (No.1).

 

[Rob]

Do like your little drop-top.

Can we have a rag-top only section at CSS?

Cheers Brendan, the other marques section at CSS this year should be awesome, soft top corner for sure.

Search for E46 330 Golf tee mod.

Do you see the rubber vacuum pipe (No.4) attached to the rear exhaust box? Well, you pull this out and either stick a golf tee or a precise fit screw onto the end of this rubber pipe and tie up somewhere out of the way using a tie wrap or similar. A neater job is to take the pipe out, insert a ball bearing slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe, and then attach the pipe back to the exhaust. What you are tying to do is block the vacuum from the valve (No.1).

Well, I know what we'll be doing next weekend for a laugh... LOL!

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Do you see the rubber vacuum pipe (No.4) attached to the rear exhaust box? Well, you pull this out and either stick a golf tee or a precise fit screw onto the end of this rubber pipe and tie up somewhere out of the way using a tie wrap or similar. A neater job is to take the pipe out, insert a ball bearing slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe, and then attach the pipe back to the exhaust. What you are tying to do is block the vacuum from the valve (No.1).

Did this to my 130i, did make a bit of difference. I did wonder whether the Z had the same operation, i'm gonna have a look this weekend now :approve:

 

[Scrooge]

Oh yes! Didn't realise it could be done the Z4 too. Do this and put the foam back in, should be a winner.

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Well, I know what we'll be doing next weekend for a laugh... LOL![/QUOTE]

5 min job Rob. Will have to raid my mates golf bag again for more tee's.

 

[Hixle]

Ahem...I still have a bumper in my garage.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Ahem...I still have a bumper in my garage.

eBay it.

See if he wins it !

 

[Tommy_C]

Well, I didn't do the mod, Laura, did, so I'm not entirely sure what the foam is supposed to look like. If I could see some pics of some or something maybe I could cut a sponge up and stick it in? lol!

It's just a foam cylinder, if you ever need it I can measure the one I took out, it's about 4" long 2" diameter. I've only got the cabin side one out. I've got an epic itch for something a bit more substantial atm, 123d coupe is calling me haha.

 

[Rob]

Tommy - 135i coupe has been shouting at me for a while now but I'm avoiding it, maybe in a year

If you could find and photo that piece of foam I'd really apprecaite it mate, I'm pretty sure I remember Laura saying she only took the same bit out you have, so should be prefect.

Deutsche - I'm not sure where my golf bag is at the moment, will have to find it... if you do your before I do (next weekend) report back please!

Luke - well it's not going to deliver itself!!!

 

[Tommy_C]

135i is lovely, had a mate who had one - rocket ship. Awesome brakes too! Do love the idea of a twin turbo diesel though, and as a 'sensible' car and one to keep for a bit think it's a fantastic all rounder. Saying that I also looked at Saab 9-3 1.9 TTiD Aero's, they're for nothing!

It's approx:

80mm long
50mm diameter

 

[Rob]

I have some big fat Brembos for mine, just need to get them on. May actually do that next month

Cheers Tommy.

 

[Scrooge]

It will be soo much better witht the foam back in.

 

[Rob]

Fancy sending me your bit Tommy?

 

[Scrooge]

Go to a fish/aquarium shop Rob, they'll have loads of the stuff.

 

[Rob]

Really? WTF for??

I'll pop by one day then.

 

[Scrooge]

They use that foam for filters. Alot of the fluval stuff uses cylinder foam filters like the above.

 

[Tommy_C]

Fancy sending me your bit Tommy?

Lol I'll need mine when I sell my car to the mother (no really..)

Aquatics shops is a god shout, the finer Juwel filter media is a similar-ish consistency and it comes in quite big blocks.

 

[Wick]

Exhaust mod you're right. Only the /// model.

Sorry! Misread previously. It's the same one they do on the s2000's.

Eta. I had no idea you could golf tee the zed lol! You can also use a self taper rob! Then just tape over the end. Only active at low revs so will sound good on idle and town driving and it's open anyway about certain rpm so no difference on full chat/cruise.

 

[Laura]

DONT PUT THE FOAM BACK IN....

youll loose all the lovely noise it makes

i dont get why you cant have the foam out and an exhaust? the noise generator doesnt exactly do anything other than chanel noise into the cabin.. well to the passenger foot well haha.

engine noise over exhaust every single day

 

[Scrooge]

Lovely noise. Sounds like you've trapped an angry midget in the glovebox and atached a spike to the go pedal that stabs him. The noise is the same wether you're doing 2k or 6k. It sounded awesome the first time I hear it, now whenever i'm in it I just like to go slow lol

The trackday ruined the noise for me. All day...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[Rob]

My plan is to buy some foam to play with the size of it, unlike Ant, I love the noise, but I'd like to it be about 25% quieter.

As for why not have exhaust and induction noise, I've had a mixture before, I quite like just having one or t'other personally.

 

[not normal dan]

I think that's the //M? I'd love to be proved wrong though!



Well, I didn't do the mod, Laura, did, so I'm not entirely sure what the foam is supposed to look like. If I could see some pics of some or something maybe I could cut a sponge up and stick it in? lol!



Thanks mate, I love the sport seats, but they're an expensive game! I have the standard black leather which is OK, but the sports leather just looks immense. I've been pretty lucky with my roof motor so far, next weekend I'm going to clear the drain holes out as this is supposed to stop the problem.



Maybe I'll have a look, I'm not sure if I'd regret it or not...

Yeah the drain holes blocking tends to be a root course, the way the motor is mounted is a little heath robinson its in like a plastic container covered in sealent lol. Yeah he said the seats were an expensive option.

I really am looking into getting one of these next bit more "grown up" lol

 

[jicholasnackson]

Christ Rob, Ill send you the bit I took out of mine, I take it it's the firewall side bit and not the bit by the generator you need.

 

[chris_p]

Ohh I want to see this golf tee mod! Take photos/vid for me Robert pwease.

 

[Turkish]

Sounds like you've trapped an angry midget in the glovebox and atached a spike to the go pedal that stabs him.

So that's where Christopher has been?

 

[Rob]

Christ Rob, Ill send you the bit I took out of mine, I take it it's the firewall side bit and not the bit by the generator you need.

Oohhh, yes please!

Ohh I want to see this golf tee mod! Take photos/vid for me Robert pwease.

When I/we do it I'll be sure to the photo and video the process just for you.

As I may well need you one day for boiler information.

So that's where Christopher has been?

Genuine LOL considering who it used to belong to.

 

[Turkish]

Well he's been in that glovebox, I just didn't realise he was still stuck in it.

 

[Jamie86]

Sorry Rob...


Turkish empty your inbox

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

The trackday ruined the noise for me. All day...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

EHHMEERHHHGAAAAHD the noise. What a fcuking racket. :dead:

Worse as a passenger than driver.

 

[Scrooge]

EHHMEERHHHGAAAAHD the noise. What a fcuking racket. :dead:

Worse as a passenger than driver.

<3

 

[Goodj]

Induction snort > exhaust fart

Blower whine > all

 

[VeinAST]

Ohh I want to see this golf tee mod! Take photos/vid for me Robert pwease.

I've done it on mine, tbh it didn't really make a difference!

I hammered the butterfly valve out of the second tailpipe which was jammed shut, think it gave me a bit more idle noise but nothing dramatic.

 

[Rob]

Well I got a little bored tonight and had these laying in the cupboard off of my original wheel:

I'm fairly sure it'll be too much carbon effect inside, but as said, it cost me nothing so I thought why not.

I may even trial lacquering these, see what sort of finish it gives.

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Well I got a little bored tonight and had these laying in the cupboard off of my original wheel:

I'm fairly sure it'll be too much carbon effect inside, but as said, it cost me nothing so I thought why not.

I may even trial lacquering these, see what sort of finish it gives.

Look alright. I'd try the lacquer, it may look less like it's 'stuck on'.

How's your roof for creaks? Our's creaked like a b*gger initially. Used a silicone spray and it's better but still annoying. I'm gonna apply another coat tomorrow.

 

[Rob]

My roof is fine.. How does yours 'creak'? There is however SOMETHING behind the passenger seat that clicks/creaks. I need to find it before I lose the plot.

As I said, they're spare so I'll probably give lacquering them a go. I don't know if they'll need a high grade wet sand first though?

 

[deutsche_blonde]

I wouldn't bother with the sanding. I used to be very meticulous when spraying bits, sanding each piece and waiting 12 hrs between coats. Now I can’t be bothered and I’ll primer, paint & lacquer pieces, without sanding, over a weekend and the finish is exactly the same.

The creak is the whole plastic bit that retracts with the roof. It creaks when I press on it, and drives me scatty over potholes etc. As I say it is better, so a few more coats of silicone spray may cure it.

Funny you say about the creak behind the passenger seat. My girlfriend has been moaning about that for a while. She’s since fixed it with the spray and I just asked her to show me where it was. Apparently it’s the small plastic bit on the passenger door just below where the b pillar actually meets the door. May be worth a spray.

 

[Rob]

Right, update today and a bit of mammoth post:

Fitted my "gaptech" today, for those in the non z4 world this basically a small unit that piggybacks on the roof control system. It allows two things:

1) Control of the roof using the BMW key, (three taps of unlock to open roof, two taps of unlock and one of lock to close roof)

2) It removes the need to annoyingly hold the roof open/close button when in the car, one quick press and it completes the whole motion.

The whole thing was surprisingly easy to fit, just using scotch locks to interrupt the signal wires (5 in total) and with perfect instructions, the whole thing took about 40 minutes including removing and re-fitting trim!!!!

I've also got a few more things en route:

Another rear wheel (just so I have spares of bolts etc, it was a bargin price) This now means by original 108 wheels (which are being powder coated in two weeks) are now 100% mint with all bolts perfectly intact and I have spares.

Also I'm about to order an iPod interface unit, I'm just not sure which one yet. I'll speak to MT Audio this week.

Finally, I'm back to my old wheel conundrum. I can do one of two things, spend £700 on my 108's (500 tyres, 200 refurb) or I can spend £1000 on some CSL wheels and then get at least 250 back for selling the 108's..

Proper conundrum. After seeing a few photos lately of the perfect CSL's, (19" wheels, wide rears) they just look perfect, so I really am stuck.

I wouldn't bother with the sanding. I used to be very meticulous when spraying bits, sanding each piece and waiting 12 hrs between coats. Now I can’t be bothered and I’ll primer, paint & lacquer pieces, without sanding, over a weekend and the finish is exactly the same.

The creak is the whole plastic bit that retracts with the roof. It creaks when I press on it, and drives me scatty over potholes etc. As I say it is better, so a few more coats of silicone spray may cure it.

Funny you say about the creak behind the passenger seat. My girlfriend has been moaning about that for a while. She’s since fixed it with the spray and I just asked her to show me where it was. Apparently it’s the small plastic bit on the passenger door just below where the b pillar actually meets the door. May be worth a spray.

Interesting, well I'll try to lacquer one of them later this week and see how it turns out, if it's not good, i'll try lightly keying first.

 

[jicholasnackson]

have you got 2nd dibs on those ones you missed then Rob?

 

[Jon.G]

Originally I said CSL's, but the 108's have grown on me. Tough choice. It'll look good either way.

Do the CSL's come with tyres?

 

[lewisredfern001]

Agreed, the 108's look good, but I also think the csl's suite the z4 very very well.