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Mike123

I know this isn't going to be a very helpful reply, but the contrast between your problems and my most enjoyable drive through the Forest of Dean today shows that the Z3 can be a great handling car. Narrow twisting roads, off camber corners, very wet surface going, lots of standing water coming back...

Mike123

Great stuff!

Glad you managed not to clip the D Type!

Annoying (and satisfying) being held up through the Carousel by a 458!

How were the brake pads/ tyres?

Mike123

No, but the sense of speed was greatly enhanced by the view of the road rushing by through the holes in the floor, and the bald remoulds meant an instant course in the art of staying alive!

(I was a penniless student at the time).

Loved the car! Yours looks great!

Mike123

OK, but seriously................... I've owned the Z3M for nearly 8 years, driving year round in all conditions, and have found it to be almost perfect for me. The combination of performance and handling, with just enough 'edge', is exactly what I want in a car. I don't want to discuss power output...

Mike123

Yes - I too get a little tired of M Owners telling us all how much power they think they have! If the rear end breaks away it is seldom caused by an excess of power, but a deficiency of judgement and too heavy a right foot, neither of which are anything to boast about . . . Remember - maximum power...

Mike123

I can't comment on the 912s, but love the 452s, but not in snow and ice :shock: I've fitted Kumho winter tyres for the second year, which are great, including an exciting but safe drive back from a rural restaurant in yesterday's heavy snow. If I still had the 452s fitted we wouldn't have been able...

Mike123

I have reread my post from latish yesterday evening with some embarrassment. :oops: It makes me sound like one of the Grumpy Old Men! Boanke, your workmanship is astoundingly good, and although I still want to drive rather than polish, I am envious of your skills, and particularly the amount of time...

Mike123

Sorry to be a dissenting voice, but if you gave me the choice of spending hours in your immaculate workshop polishing the exhaust system or throwing my amazing car around in the snow on its winter tyres, it wouldn't take me long to make a decision. I can understand others being thrilled by your incr...

Mike123

I can't comment on the 912s, but love the 452s, but not in snow and ice :shock: I've fitted Kumho winter tyres for the second year, which are great, including an exciting but safe drive back from a rural restaurant in yesterday's heavy snow. If I still had the 452s fitted we wouldn't have been able ...

Mike123

:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P All fixed! Steve (Mr Vanos) arrived on time, and replaced my faulty Vanos with a fully reconditioned and upgraded unit that looked as if it was brand new. He reset the timing and the ECU, checked the fault codes - now clear - and now the Z3M is back to its best! Excelle...

Mike123

Jonttt wrote:ps can someone post the reason for the car being parked like that on the original forum so imola Z3m's don't all get tarnished with the same brush

Already done, Jonttt, but I'm not making any promises about future conduct - next time I'll just say it was you!

Mike123

The car does look vaguely familiar :oops: I have been known to 'executive' park from time to time, and it's one way to avoid clumsy door openers, and I'd be happy to put my hands up if I had parked it there, but I'm afraid there's a slightly boring reason..... ......you'll see from my recent post ab...

Mike123

I think you will have a lot of fun in your Z3 on track. You don't need to be the fastest or have the best handling car to get a great deal of satisfaction from driving well, and improving lap times. I agree with Jonttt - start with a stock car, and find out about the car and yourself, improving both...

Mike123

Spoke to Steven (Mr Vanos) today, and booked him for the 30th.

He's happy to come to me and do the work in my garage.

I'll let you know the result.

Mike123

No growling, no rattles, no warnings of any kind. Always brought the oil up to temperature before using the revs, and maintained to money-no-object standards. On a week's holiday in Devon, parked for a couple of hours in Plymouth, started the engine to rough tickover. Diagnostics show Fault Codes 22...

Mike123

I've done 45k miles on Falken 452s (not the same set!

) - they are fabulous wet and dry. They match the M's characteristics perfectly, so will continue with these.

They are completely hopeless in snow and ice

, so I change to winter tyres for about 4 months of the year,

Mike123

Never too old to learn!

I'm taking the Alpina B12 for the first time, so that should be interesting!

I really enjoyed the Porsche experience at Silverstone. Please let me know when you plan to go again.

Mike

Mike123

This was the reply Hi Mike I've not firmed up times yet but guess it will be similar to the last ones so the AM session people will need to turn up by 8:30 for a briefing and prompt start at 9am PM session will likely be 12:30 arrival to start at 1pm. Thanks Neil The sessions are 3-3½ hours each. Th...

Mike123

I'll find out the exact times, but it was something like 9am to 12.30pm and 1pm to 4pm.

Mike123

I've taken the Z3M to a couple of these events organised by the Alpina Register, and found them to be very enjoyable and rewarding. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/arc123uk/Z3M%20Rockingham/D8URO4.jpg http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/arc123uk/Z3M%20Rockingham/D8URO3.jpg This gives...

Mike123

I put mine on on at the weekend and it looks really good. It is only put on when the weather is good ali day as it's a pain in the Whotsits to take off when it's raining. One answer is to leave the centre clips unfastened - it certainly stays in place, but also allows more dirt and dust to find its...

Mike123

I've read a lot of varied information about EBC pads on this and other forums, and having just returned from an informative visit to EBC head office this is the 'straight from the horses mouth' info - Red Stuff is perfectly usable for fast road work, as I've found out personally, but NOT suitable fo...

Mike123

Loss of straight line stability at over 100mph sounds more like aerodynamics than tyre grip - was there a side wind?. The Z3M does lose rear downforce at higher speeds - the body shape and undertray create a slight lift. I've found the car starts to feel less secure at high speed, but only really no...

Mike123

Prepare for sub-zero temperatures and 10' drifts!

The Falcons are going back on!

Mike123

My winter tyres were great in the snow and ice, but with the milder weather I'm looking forward to getting the Falken 452s back on. I'm quite tempted do do it now, with the forecast for March showing slightly above average temperatures, but I realise it's tempting fate. :? Anyone else thinking about...

Mike123

peterandjenny wrote:quote was £475 fitted for a pair of 225 and a pair of 245's falken 452's 17 inch
anyone got a better price?

I last paid £360 for a set including fitting and balancing (about a year ago) at my local guy - Marcus at Bespoke Wheels - probably a bit dearer now.

Mike123

IMHO the single most important factor in Z handling and safety is tyres. Common sense says that equal and predictable levels of grip at all 4 corners is an essential factor - cornering, braking, and accelerating, so I definitely would not mix tyres of any kind. Option 3 would be my choice, without h...

Mike123

Looks good!

Mike123

I've still got mine fitted, however it doesn't help one of the other issues, that is the overall height of the seat is too high even on the lowest settings, so I think when the weather gets better I might see if I can modify the seat somehow so that it sits lower. I might look into possibly reshapi...

Mike123

Similar build, I did the mod about 4 years ago - no problems.

Mike123

I fitted mine at 17k miles - there was an immediate and noticeable feeling of solidity.

55k miles on, the body still feels as stiff as new - no rattles or creaks (the car, that is!).

After tyres, this is the next 'essential' improvement.

Mike123

snatch wrote:I've got one fitted to my Zm ... fits exactly the same...massive improvement over standard even at speed. IMO.

Which rack did you fit -was it the Z3 2.8?

Mike123

I'm really surprised you don't use the aircon. I find it essential in damp conditions for rapid demisting.

I accept that it's not too important with the roof down in the height of summer!

Mike123

2nd best camera, very little light, and not much time, so not great but...... http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/arc123uk/DSC02611_edited-1.jpg This shows the knob and gaiter removed - you don't need to unclip the chrome trim. http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/arc123uk/DSC02609_edited...

Mike123

Hi Jonttt

Maybe - but it took me 5½ years to replace a 90p clip!

Thanks for your helpful advice.

Mike

Mike123

This would take some catching, and under £75k!:twisted:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2249638.htm

Mike123

There have been numerous notes about this topic, and it really is straightforward, but here's a few notes anyway. The chrome surround had been missing one of the black allen key clips since I bought the car 5½ years ago, which has irritated me, but obviously not enough to do something about it until...

Mike123

Robert T wrote:Red is pink in disguise.

Cheers R.

....and I always thought that the pic of your Z's interior was slightly washed out!

I understand now - but I think the matching pink floormats are a step too far!

Mike123

Titan wrote:
Mike123 wrote:It's just simple envy!

They know that Imola is the only cool colour for a Z!
I beg to disagree
Red cannot be construed as cool - it's HOT

C'mon Titan, this is 2011!

RED is SICK!
RED is BAD!
RED is SLAMMIN'!
RED is....................SWEET!

Mike123

It's just simple envy!

They know that Imola is the only cool colour for a Z!

Mike123

A new challenge. I've seen a lot of beauty shots after days of loving polishing. Can anyone beat these grimy shots of the Z3M after yesterday's trip to Devon? :oops: http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/arc123uk/P1030213_edited-1.jpg http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/arc123uk/P1030214_e...

Mike123

Hi Ben Are you sure? A quick calculation shows that you should save about £1,500 in fuel costs a year. I'm not convinced that depreciation and reliability of an Alfa diesel would not wipe that out. I have driven some great Alfas, but the 156 diesel wasn't one of them, and I'd certainly be happier ab...

Mike123

Last year the Z3M was undriveable on its Falken 452s in any sort of ice or snow, so I decided to try the winter tyre route this year, expecting some improvement, but not a complete transformation. The 321bhp, RWD, no traction control, no real weight over the driven wheels all say that it shouldn't w...

Mike123

We've had 6" or so of snow for some time. Last year the Z would have stayed warm and comfortable in its heated garage. This year it's mixing it with the 4x4s! Amazing

Mike123

Skid pan training for everyone is fantasy nonsense IMO. The reason being that in 99.99% of driving conditions a skid will only be initiated by the driver driving to erratically, I'm probably basically alluding to the suggestion that those who've been on skid pan training will likely think to themse...

Mike123

Being serious for a moment, I suppose that, having learnt better car control skills, there will inevitably greater confidence to tackle conditions that previously would have been avoided. I have to say that applies in my own case, having been on a number of these courses (see the photo in my panel),...

Mike123

Read an article recently, sorry can't remember where, that suggested that skid pan training is not good. What it does, allegedly, is give confidence. That, allegedly, has the effect that people will drive faster and then come unstuck. I don't necessarily agree with it, but just thought I'd share it...

Mike123

corky wrote:Hey Taz is your car lemon colour

Mike123

So the Z3m will make you feel special because they're aren't many about but the novelty will soon wear off when your vanos packs up, your lumbered with a 3k bill for a diff mount repair and you run out of road before you get out of 3rd gear ! Not to mention the wobbly steering, 2 bob materials, lea...

Mike123

As I said, they have a strong action - they need a good push to close, but they have steel ball joints rather than the plastic OEM struts, so hopefully won't need to be replaced.

Mine have calmed down now - I don't notice them any more.

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