This car inspired me to change my wheels and get a front stress bar and now the improvements made it to EVO magazine.

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/204614/bmw_z4_m_coupe.html

This car inspired me to change my wheels and get a front stress bar and now the improvements made it to EVO magazine.

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/204614/bmw_z4_m_coupe.html

You can find the owner over at Z4um.com at:
http://www.z4um.com/viewtopic.php?t=25867&highlight=evo
He's a regular on the board there.

It doesn't seem that he has done that much... a set of rims and tires + a strut bar? I can go out and buy a strut bar tomorrow and I'll be on the same page.

I agree it isn't much to do to the car but I have done similar mods and the car is significantly better. I doubt the stress bar does a whole lot but the tires and 19's helped. I recommend everyone go out and get the car aligned. Dialing some more negative camber into the front end made a world of difference on my car. The understeer is all but gone unless you try to induce it. (which I want) I am waiting on Bilstein PSS9's as I really think the car is sprung too tightly.

Where did you get the CSL rims? How much?

Personally I think that the tires are one of the biggest culprit of this car's mushy handling. The Contis sidewall isn't very stiff, probably causes alot of distortion and push in the car.

Steve

Where did you get the CSL rims? How much?


I couldn't justify the extra $1100 for the 1/2" wider (and slightly lighter) CSL wheels so I bought these CS's. I'm running 245'sF and 275'sR and with a good alignment the excessive understeer is gone. I've got a set of RA-1's on the stock wheels for the track.
http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=M3COMPWHEELS

Car looks nice dude,... I think I'm going to stick with the stock rims and slap on some decent tires once I burn through the contis...

Those CS rims are going to be a pain to clean :)

Did you notice a difference with the strut tower brace?

They aren't that bad to clean really. I couldn't tell any difference with the strut bar but I put it on 2 weeks after I bought the car and prior to a track day. The chassis is so stiff I didn't expect to feel a difference.

Did you notice a difference with the strut tower brace?

I added the strut brace at 1400 miles on the car. Turn-in may be slightly improved but its not a large difference. The far greater change I made was replacing the Contis with PS2's.

I would be very shocked to find any improvement with the strut brace. That would mean that the original design of the strut is loose enough to flex around as you corner, and in reality the factory brace that's attached to the chassis bulkhead should prevent flex 100X better than the cross brace ever would.

I think it's all psychological.

I think it's all psychological.
And after spending the $$ and installation it may be just that - I think it's better. I do know it looks better. :)

Thanks for the feedback.. I think I'll use the $400 for the brace to replace the crappy Contis.

Hopefully turnermotorsports will have Moton suspension available soon for our car!

Most of you guys have the Coupe though, right...?

I'm thinking about doing this for my M Roadster. I've driven both, and the Coupe did feel much stiffer. (Much better... I wanted the Coupe, but no smoking lease deal on it.) I would think that the bar would be a more substantial difference in the Roadster...

I had Michelin PS2s and a strut bar on my Z3 and the turn in feel was phenominal. I love the Z4M, but it has a numbness to it compared to the setup on the Z3...

The roadster already has a chassis brace that's attached to the strut tower. The Z4 Roadster is stiffer than the E46 M3 chassis...Again, benefit may mostly be psychological.