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  • My Imola S50 Coupe

    I've posted lots of individual threads before, but not a coherent journal.

    I've managed to lash together a rough cut for another forum so thought I'd post it here so I can update as neccessary.

    Lots is missing (mainly the mundane service stuff) and there are many abridged sections, but it gives the general idea:

    In December of 2011, after 5 months of constant searching I found my perfect spec Z3 M Coupe.

    Its a 1999 car with the earlier s50 engine, in Imola Red II, with a black/imola interior.

    96k miles on the clock when bought.
    The first owner had it 9 years
    Fully stamped BMW Service History

    In the early days:







    First mods included:
    - Removing the silver door handle covers and random stick-on M badges the previous owner had fitted
    - Fitting Bosch Aerotwin flat wipers
    - Fitting stubby Honda S2000 Aerial
    - Black kindeys
    - 15mm rear spacers
    - Fit HID kit to projector headlamps
    - Fit amber side markers

    That left me roughly here:




    Skipping forward another big chunk of time I added/did the following:

    - Colour coded door handles
    - Fitted superspring decat x-pipe
    - Refitted the factory headlamps (these were included with the car)
    - Had new tyres fitted all round
    - Replaced front discs and pads
    - Fitted braided clutch hose
    - Ordered pressed number plates
    - Fit 2x new lambda sensors
    - Fitted new Sony DAB head unit
    - Fitted Storm Motorwerks weighted gear knob
    - Applied silly sticker to rear screen






    Most importantly however, I got some much need LOWS!





    The had a custom exhaust made for even more noise, but didn't like it very much:

  • #2
    Following that, I:
    - Replaced faded rear ///M badge
    - Colour coded the rear spoiler


    Before:


    After:






    Then this happened:


    A guy pulled out of a junction without even looking in my direction. Thankfully it was not an insurance write-off and the damage was only cosmetic which was repaired beautifully:



    As a sorry to the car (and not being happy with the custom exhaust i had made only weeks earlier) I dug deep and spent £1000 on this piece of art:




    On the car:




    Then had some Never Done front mini splitters and rear diffuser sent over from America:




    Most recently I got really carried away and splashed out hugely on a Carbon Fibre airbox:





    All fitted up:




    And that pretty much brings me to the present day.

    Plans are to save up so I can buy another clio 172 /182 as a daily driver, and therefore take the M Coupe off the road for a bit and get bits like the front bumper resprayed, the alloys refurbed and possibly the gearbox out as I suspect the shift pins would benefit from a refresh.

    Other than that, i'm now at 106k miles, its my daily commuter. It is wonderfully, utterly mad. And I love every single minute of it.

    Cheers
    Tom

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    • #3
      How are you finding the airbox now its been fitted a while?

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      • #4
        Its superb Dave.

        I'm staggered how good the thing drives on the standard ecu. A custom map is on the to do list but it is perfectly drivable day to day, i completely forget there is no maf connected.

        On my daily commute there has been a slight rise in mpg however i suspect this is due to the recent warmer weather rather than the box. On a 220 mile motorway trip recently i returned 32mpg which was very pleasing.

        Mosy importantly though, the noise that turns up around 5k is completely addictive and instantly turns me into a 9-yr old

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        • #5
          How do you like your exhaust? I'm in the market and was considering a supersprint system to replace my Hamann catback.
          '99 Z3 ///M Coupe
          '09 997 GT2

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          • #6
            saw this old picture on the forum of your coupe, (sorry about the other cars )

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by MCoupe321 View Post
              How do you like your exhaust? I'm in the market and was considering a supersprint system to replace my Hamann catback.
              Its a very high quality bit of kit.

              Really not as loud as I had expected despite being the 'race' specification. The regular 'sport' version must be pretty damn quiet.

              It is surprisingly heavy though. Lighter than standard, but much, much heavier than the custom exhaust I had made before buying the eisenmann.

              It makes a great refined sound and doesn't drone anywhere like as much as my custom system. It only really gets slightly boomy when under load at lower revs. You can tell there has been some good r&d involved in regards to the sound.

              Hope this helps,
              Tom

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Dave P View Post
                saw this old picture on the forum of your coupe, (sorry about the other cars )

                Very strangely I have that same scene from a different angle:

                Comment


                • #9
                  Car looking

                  How you finding those tyres?

                  Is the eisenmann any lighter than stock?

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by topgeartom View Post
                    It is surprisingly heavy though. Lighter than standard, but much, much heavier than the custom exhaust I had made before buying the eisenmann.
                    Originally posted by M1ke View Post
                    Car looking

                    How you finding those tyres?

                    Is the eisenmann any lighter than stock?
                    2002 '52 S54 - Titanium Silver with 18" BBS LMs, AP Racing BBK, KW V3, H&R anti roll bars & ACS flippers (previously 2000 'X' S50 - Arctic Silver)

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I've got an early Eisenmann RoadSport, fairly quiet, bit more noise at the top. But as said it's quite heavy, mine feel like stock weight so not a good weight save like say SuperSprints which are featherlight in comparison.

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                      • #12
                        Finally grabbed a couple of videos from outside the car:

                        http://youtu.be/zXFWzSNHvT8

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Sounds bloody fantastic Tom!
                          Not actually in the least bit fat

                          2000 S50 Titanium Silver / Black
                          ACS Suspension, Exhaust & Type III Wheels
                          Simota carbon air intake | Strong Strut Front Brace

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Ordered a Scuffmaster kit recently for my ropey looking drivers bolster. Really pleased with the results.

                            A surprising improvement.

                            Before:


                            After:

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              good job! what do you think about the colour match?
                              looks a million times better, but colour difference from top/bottom parts of the bolsters look different.

                              do you think a bit of light wear/use will even it out?

                              Click here to email me

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