My Z3M Coupe

[Bodge!]

That screams mental!

 

[Waitey]

He's very bossy isnt he!

I like them so they are staying im afraid big man!

WHAT!

 

[Gally]

The headlights caught my eye straight away. Kinda cheapens the car a little but what a machine.

 

[Vish]

So much want! Always loved these, still a few years off for me though with the upcoming expenses.

I've don't usually like the two-tone interior but that looks really nice. The whole car looks great. Ageing well IMO, but could be my biased Bayern-loving eyes.

Not sure on the lights though, think I prefer the OEM look.

 

[chris_cup]

These are one of those cars that are (IMO) so f**king fugly they're beautiful.

 

[Richyy182]

Driven one and I have to say it was amazing - very jealous

might get one to sit next to the 182

enjoy mate

 

[Topgeartom]

With temperatures climbing above 0° for the first time in a while, I decided to give the M its first proper blat out up in the dales today. Came home with a huge smile on my face and the need for more noise!

I stopped off half way through to grab a few shots with my new camera which im mighty chuffed with.

Also show a couple of recent updates:
- Black kidneys
- 15mm rear spacers
- massive aerial back on due to rubbish reception with the short one!

Washed it yesterday as well, which clearly was a complete waste of time.

Cheers
Tom

 

[Adamm.]

Mega jealous of that mate.

 

[sofaboy]

Properly properly jealous of this... Minus the headlights, such a fantastic looking car, Like someone said they suffer from Alfa Romeo SZ syndrome, So ugly they're beautiful, proportions that shouldn't work but in an outlandish way they just do.

 

[hughesclio]

love the rear half of these but the front just doesnt do it for me, have no doubt there a hoot to drive though

 

[dave wilkinson]

love these, wanted one three years ago but was'nt enough leg room for me, ended up buyin a e46 m3 instead :-( these are such a better car, smiles for miles wise!

 

[.Andy.]

That looks sweet!

 

[leeds_182]

Proper car.

 

[JoeyD]

Those pictures are brilliant. Still can't get along with those headlights, but it looks superb other than that. Hero car.

 

[Topgeartom]

Cheers guys. Might have to actually swap the original headlamps back on and see how they look. Not sure i could live without HID's though!

 

[Christopher]

Superb machine.

...minus the awful headlights.

 

[Winston]

stunning!!

You could take the naff headlights apart and spray the black surround silver?

 

[Wick]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3463181.htm

I keep looking at this and wondering what's wrong with it at 8K. Seems a few grand under priced especially with new vanos although maybe the mileage puts some people off. HPI perhaps?

 

[Topgeartom]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3463181.htm

I keep looking at this and wondering what's wrong with it at 8K. Seems a few grand under priced especially with new vanos although maybe the mileage puts some people off. HPI perhaps?

A wrong 'un apparently.

A potential buyer from the z3mcoupe forums went to look at it based on the impressive ad describing it as near mint.

He came back unhappy at a wasted day off and a fair amount spent in fuel.

I quote:

The advert is misleading-it states at the beginning;
'Stored in underground overnight and during winter'
'HPI clear and 12 months MOT'

The car neither had any MOT, was unroadworthy and has been 'stored' on parents driveway for the past year. Open to the elements.

The paintwork is a different colour of red on nearly every panel. Paint quality is also very poor, full of silicone bubbles etc. Overspray on door rubbers too.

Front wheels spray-canned silver.
Pads worn out at front
Heater only works on highest of 4 speeds
Window buttons upside down
Pixels missing from display
Front number plate missing

This is not good enough when;
This guy is a fellow forum member
This guy was asked about the condition of the bodywork with specific reference to rust, bubbles, respraying or damage prior to HPI'ing the car.

I forgot to mention that the passenger door protrudes approx' 10mm when shut to the rest of car. Maybe it was made like it?
This is just a few of the problems....

Cheap for a reason I guess, although at that price you could give it a full respray, sort the bits out and still turn a profit.

 

[Wick]

^ Cheers dude! That's put that thought to bed for me! Beautiful cars in a fugly sort of way. Have a massive soft spot for them!

 

[Topgeartom]

Just ordered myself some cat-less goodness:

Dont think its going to be loud enough though still...

 

[Waitey]

Make sure you get it mapped.

They don't cope with being de catted at all well.

 

[Nick172Cup]

Mine hasnt been that bad on the M3, dont know if they are mega different ECU wise.

How much did you pay for that decat? Got a Supersprint 'race' Xpipe decat for sale which will no doubt be better than what youve ordered there.

Nick

 

[Topgeartom]

Ordered the supersprint xpipe decat for £311.

Would love the race version but im pretty certain m3 exhausts and M Coupe exhausts are a bit different.

 

[Christopher]

That's going to sound mental. lol.

 

[Topgeartom]

Had a couple of weeks off recently so managed to get a few bits done on the M.

First job was 2 new lamda sensors. The car was running fine but being close to 100k it was near the change interval so thought it wise. It took me forever to find the appropriate parts, from BMW they are a fortune and you pretty much cant buy one of the sensors anywhere else anymore. In the end american amazon was the cure, ended up with a pair of new direct fit sensors for less than the price of one from BMW.

Pig of a job to change but with an extra set of hands and a whole boat load of extension bars plus a 22mm lambda socket i was pleasantly surprised how well it went.

Then moved onto a few bodywork bits:
- Ordered some pressed plates to clean up the front and rear
- Went to BMW for a new stopper so the filler cap sits at the right level - a tiny detail but really annoying!
- Next task was a bit of colour coding - I wasnt happy with the black door handles on an otherwise red car. After 1 massively wrong attempt a weekend later and I had them sorted.
- Also bought and fitted a spanking new Sony DAB head unit, which means I can revert back to the stubby aerial - more on the stereo later.

Before:

After:

Then yesterdays jobs were ones I'd been wanting to do for a long while!

My Supersprint front X-pipe decat finally arrived from Italy:

Bit of an arse to fit as most of the bolts where it meets the rear section were rusted/rounded completely. After much use of hammers and inappropriate sockets they came off and the supersprint was installed with new bolts.

First impressions are good, its hardly noticable on normal driving, but at WOT theres now a welcome increase in noise! Even in the short time its been on, it is very clearly more responsive, especially in the mid-range. I genuinely wasnt expecting to feel as much of an improvement as it has clearly made. I reset the adaption values on the car last night as well so hopefully it should 'recognise' the mod a little better.

Vids to follow.

Final job for yesterday was to fit my braided clutch hose i've had lying round for ages.

Stolen from google images as I forgot to take a photo of mine before fitting:

Made a nice improvement and should hopefully really help when the car gets hot after prolonged running which is where the original items go to pieces.

My insurance renewal came up a week ago too, so I'm now massively poor again. Could be a while before I get to mess with anything else.

To do:
New tyres - particularly front pair
Service in a 1000 or so miles.
Storm Motorworks gear knob
Rogue short shift kit
Possibly slight drop
Fruitier back boxes.
Have front bumper blown over
Refurb wheels.

Cheers
Tom

 

[Christopher]

Lovely.

Grab a video of the noise?

 

[Nick172Cup]

Probably something like this Chris

 

[Eddie.]

I'm surprised by how much the pipes extend/contract as the car moves through the rev range!

In terms of the sound.... :hail:

 

[Christopher]

That sounds gorgeous.

 

[Topgeartom]

I'll be honest, its not as nice as Nick's M3.

I think my OEM backboxes are really stifling the sound - I'll try fetch a video in the near future

 

[Topgeartom]

A very quick & dirty phone video.

Ideally need a drive-by to hear the proper sound.

[youtube]p5HTb2WBkUM[/youtube]

 

[Topgeartom]

As a quick update, I bought myself the spanking new sony CDX-DAB700U recently.

Sonys first foray into the DAB market from their current generation of units. It means i'm digital ready and as a nice bonus, the unit has a 36,000 colour display range, meaning i can match it to the e36's dials. It almost looks OEM.

 

[hughesclio]

you were spied today by my best mate in his little black crx, he was telling me about this mint red z3m coupe and it was piped up lol.

 

[JoeyD]

Sounds fantastic in that video! That radio looks good too, beginning to wish I'd never bothered with an Alpine iDA iPod unit - tried about 4 different cables and none of them have worked with my 4th gen nano FFS!

 

[Topgeartom]

you were spied today by my best mate in his little black crx, he was telling me about this mint red z3m coupe and it was piped up lol.

Ha! Wonder where it was, had a really nice little blast out yesterday with the girlfriend up past grassington.

I saw you in the mental mini not long ago, it looks even more lunatic-spec in the flesh than in photos!

Sounds fantastic in that video! That radio looks good too, beginning to wish I'd never bothered with an Alpine iDA iPod unit - tried about 4 different cables and none of them have worked with my 4th gen nano FFS!

The Alpine units are notoriously tricky for getting Ipods to work. Is your model of nano definately covered in the literiature for the alpine? I think it has something to do with apple changing the software slightly in each version, a lot of 'made for ipod' headunits dont like it, so you end up with a compatability list thats a bit hotch-potch.

 

[JoeyD]

I've got absolutely no idea. Rang Alpine stating which iPod I have, they sent a cable and it doesn't work - done absolutely s**t loads of research on it and nobody seems to have a definite answer/solution.. Tried my parents iPod Classic and it worked first bloody time. Useless!

 

[Topgeartom]

Mental. That does seem to ring true to my own experiences though unfortunately. Some HU's seem to support both ancient and spanking new ipods, yet have a massive hole of compatability for anything inbetween.

Which unit is it?

 

[Darren S]

My boss at the time where I currently am - had one of these back in circa 2001. Awesome car - in fact, it was the same colour. I loved the stance, poise and general madness of it.

D.

 

[Christopher]

Lovely additions.

Im still not sold on the lights though.