Z4M Is Inevitable

[juhap]

Well, with this announcement I feel the M brand has been diluted to mean absolutely nothing. Soon everything's an M.

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by juhap

Well, with this announcement I feel the M brand has been diluted to mean absolutely nothing. Soon everything's an M.

That's sort of what the US did back in the 1960's and 1970's with pony cars. They made a handful of cars that were real beasts and then their marketing department convinced us the millions of regular cars produced with nothing more than exterior and interior trim packages were beast too - not!

No doubt BMW execs figure it's time to cash in on ///M.

[az34]

Originally Posted by flpnout

MT vs DCT, check out this 1M review:

i like this video great find!

[az34]

Originally Posted by juhap

Well, with this announcement I feel the M brand has been diluted to mean absolutely nothing. Soon everything's an M.

as for all business: money talk.

[cdeslandes]

Originally Posted by juhap

Well, with this announcement I feel the M brand has been diluted to mean absolutely nothing. Soon everything's an M.

Maybe not. With some luck the "M performance" cars will be for yuppies who like body kits, noisy exhausts and bragging rights, and the //M cars will return to being lightweight high-performance cars without BlueTooth, CD changers or iDrive. And for chrissakes, no //M diesels or //M SUVs!

[az34]

Originally Posted by OrangeOne

So rumor has it that the 6cyc tri-turbo will power the new M3, do you guys think it'll power the "eventual" Z4M?

theres no "eventual" Z4M on the way.

[cdeslandes]

Originally Posted by az34

theres no "eventual" Z4M on the way.

We're more likely to see a Z2M some day.

[az34]

Originally Posted by cdeslandes

We're more likely to see a Z2M some day.

good point.

[35iDriver]

We are entering the 4th year of the e89, so if there was going to be a Z4M they would have built it by now, or we would have at least a firm commitment from BMW it was coming. We do not.

[z4z4z4]

I find the yearning for a new M Z4 interesting. If you go to the e46 fanatic website or e9x sites you find many M owners remove the M3 wheels, M3 brakes, M3 seats, M3 sway bars, M3 shocks, M3 exhaust, M3 bumpers/hoods/roofs/boot/diffusers/skirts and replace them with BBS-etc wheels, StopTech/Brembo brakes, Recaro/Cobra seats, Bilstein-etc shocks and springs, Borla-etc exhaust, and Vorsteiner-etc body parts. If you've done due diligence researching aftermarket products, are prepared to take your Z4 platform to a different level and acknowledge your car will not have the same OE quality comfort, ride, quietness, (dependability?) etc.....then you have skipped over the purchase of all those "M" bits from the factory and ended right where you're already headed.
It's kind of a Red Pill/Blue Pill decision.

[teagueAMX]

Originally Posted by z4z4z4

I find the yearning for a new M Z4 interesting. If you go to the e46 fanatic website or e9x sites you find many M owners remove the M3 wheels, M3 brakes, M3 seats, M3 sway bars, M3 shocks, M3 exhaust, M3 bumpers/hoods/roofs/boot/diffusers/skirts and replace them with BBS-etc wheels, StopTech/Brembo brakes, Recaro/Cobra seats, Bilstein-etc shocks and springs, Borla-etc exhaust, and Vorsteiner-etc body parts. If you've done due diligence researching aftermarket products, are prepared to take your Z4 platform to a different level and acknowledge your car will not have the same OE quality comfort, ride, quietness, (dependability?) etc.....then you have skipped over the purchase of all those "M" bits from the factory and ended right where you're already headed.
It's kind of a Red Pill/Blue Pill decision.

Like that red or blue pill.

But your point is sort of what I've been saying for a while "What's a Z4 ///M anyways?"

If you think about like this, except for the absolute ///M purest, there isn't any real point, and here's my logic.

1. I know the 35is is kool, but if you want to make you're own ///M buy a 35i with the M Sport package. You get the body works and a few ///M bits for show.

2. Get a Dinan Stage III software kit. Let's face, with a TT inline 6 - BMW is not going to do better than that - not with the M3 or the 1M. Except for those very rare extreme track moments, BMW M3 cannot match an n54 with a Dinan Stage III kit. I know there are other kits out there, but for conversation sake I'm using the Dinan.

3. Do a mild suspension tune. The very minor differences between a 3 Series v M3, e86 Z4 vs Z4 ///M and 1 Series v 1M suspension bits can be counted on one hand: A) Different spring and damper rates, B) slightly stiffer torsion bars, C) different rear lower suspension piece (allum instead of stamped steel), D) a hydraulically assisted steering rack rather than electrical, E) Limited slip diff. That's it - there's plenty of people here on this forum, M5Board and elsewhere could help out.

We can't really do the hydraulically assisted steering rack, but but do the other things and you will have a better car than any Z4 ///M BMW puts out - for the same or less money! OK, maybe the ///Ms transmission switches have 12,521 setting combinations.

FWIW

Cheers

[35iDriver]

Originally Posted by flpnout

MT vs DCT, check out this 1M review:

He comes accross as a Manual Transmission zealous, intent on pushing his opinions as facts.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by z4z4z4

I find the yearning for a new M Z4 interesting. If you go to the e46 fanatic website or e9x sites you find many M owners remove the M3 wheels, M3 brakes, M3 seats, M3 sway bars, M3 shocks, M3 exhaust, M3 bumpers/hoods/roofs/boot/diffusers/skirts and replace them with BBS-etc wheels, StopTech/Brembo brakes, Recaro/Cobra seats, Bilstein-etc shocks and springs, Borla-etc exhaust, and Vorsteiner-etc body parts. If you've done due diligence researching aftermarket products, are prepared to take your Z4 platform to a different level and acknowledge your car will not have the same OE quality comfort, ride, quietness, (dependability?) etc.....then you have skipped over the purchase of all those "M" bits from the factory and ended right where you're already headed.
It's kind of a Red Pill/Blue Pill decision.

You will never catch me doing that I like my cars "stock" the one and only mod I do is tint maybe ... other then that I like my car(s) just like they are.

Some minor exceptions of course.

I believe in the saying "What was designed by BMW engineers and designers one should not change" something like that anyway.

[richard in NC]

I do few mods to my cars. One main factor is leasing them but even owning, I buy them for what they are, not what they could be. I did add a Remus exhaust to a 550i just to get the sound level up a bit.

I am tempted to do the Dinan kit on the X5. The Z4 is < 6 months to lease end.

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by Rolf-Dieter

I believe in the saying "What was designed by BMW engineers and designers one should not change" something like that anyway.

That's sort of naive. We're not seeing what they designed - we're seeing what's left of their designs after committees and accountants and marketing execs were thru with them.

[jparnes1]

Originally Posted by epbrown

That's sort of naive. We're not seeing what they designed - we're seeing what's left of their designs after committees and accountants and marketing execs were thru with them.

Truth

[CeEl]

If Mercedes has a market for the 2012 SLK AMG, then surely there is a market for a Z4 M?

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by epbrown

That's sort of naive. We're not seeing what they designed - we're seeing what's left of their designs after committees and accountants and marketing execs were thru with them.

If you ever have the chance to actually meet BMW Engineers and Designers and talk to them at there level, then you will realize how "naive" your way of thinking is my friend ...

While I agree that accountants provide some direction, at BMW that is not the order of business just yet.

[BMWZ4]

^ I disagree. I believe all manufacturers are subjected to their respective finance departments "requirements" to make changes to the underlying designs in order to reduce costs.

Run-flats come to mind, in that they save a spare tire (and not necessarily from weight, but cost). What about quality of dashboards declining over the years, or the back of seats which are generally hard plastic now vs. soft rubber or even leather (like my '11 x3).

I'm sure the list is endless, in terms of design or engineering.

[35iDriver]

Originally Posted by CeEl

If Mercedes has a market for the 2012 SLK AMG, then surely there is a market for a Z4 M?

Maybe BMW feels the 35is is already a good match for any SLK AMG.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by Memphis1

Maybe, but you wouldn't have been able to make out what kinda car it was, you'd have just seen a blue blur...

me like

[battlefury]

boo, I want a new Z4M.