Hey guys new owner to a z3 but not to the beamer world. List of cars owned so far; 325es, 535i e28, 633csi e24, two mr2's aw11, '97 mercedes sl500 (very short ownership), two toyota previa's, and now a '97 z3 2.8!
My favorites so far was my 2nd mr2 n/a because of it's superior handling, my e28 because it was comfy, classy looking, and great handling, and my z3 is becoming my favorite all around because its all of the things mentioned above in one, ride is even more comfortable than the 5'er! For the first week or so I kept trying to drive it like my mr2 where you have more of a push sensation behind you pushing you through the corners at speed, and that didnt work. Was starting to regret my purchase instead of buying a 3rd gen mr2. But took it out to the canyons one night and it all just kind of clicked. My mr2 was my last sporty car and easy to take to the limit because the limit wasnt a whole lot but taught me a lot about car control. The z3 though is another level of speed though in comparison. The mr2 you kind of use the weight bias to determine how you approach the corner. In these you really just attack the apex and beamer thought about the weight bias and fixed it before putting the car in development. Just my 2 cent. I swore after the mr2 I wouldnt go back to front engine unless it was a beamer (I played endless days of Forza 3/4 when it was newish and taught me a lot about where the apex was amongst other things. And playing countless ghosts [seriously i played everyday for years] I noticed that there was no front engine car that could keep up to the crappiest mid engine car when tuned with around the same power to weight, all except a beamer. I still remember testing out a nsx and a ghost came up next to me and I thought "eh its a front engine I'm cool", then looked a little farther and thought "Oh crap its a beamer I actually have to try!", barely got away from a e39 m5 breathing down my tailpipe. my friend in formula d would also use the game for practice, besides bumps in the road forza 3/4 were pretty good simulators. I heard they got worse since then and horizon is basically playing grand theft auto).
Anyways love my purchase and after I get an e39 as a second car to make into an ev daily i plan to make this a racecar as it seems to be the best bang for buck when it comes to price,maintenance, handling, and power.
I eventually (hopefully within this next year) plan to reduce the weight down to 2500lbs, and get to about 250-260hp and get m suspension on the front.
Problem is from my knowledge of this car what'll probably be more reasonable in terms of weight reduction without losing all drivability outside of it I'll probably only get 26-2700lbs (seats 100lbs, spare/tools/carpet/hardtop with softtop removal maybe 50-75lbs?, debating on AC and power steering) and hp wise I'm know that s52 cams/m50b25 intake/chip or edu flash will put me at around 220-230hp. Also plan on electric fan and electric water pump to free up some power. Until I go full race car those are the best mods i can think of that wont make it undrivable, unless, anyone else has some ideas?
I'll post that part somewhere else in case the majority of people snoozed out while I was talking about video games.
I live in ca and been a mechanic for a few years as well as went to school so what that means in terms of mods is, I gotta be able to do simplish mods so when smog season comes around I'll be able to swap all the eco stuff out myself (besides the edu flash). But ya if anyone knows how to get to 260hp reasonably well and knows any tips for reducing weight that I havent mentioned that wont make the car undrivable love to hear from you.
Glad to be back in beamer world! Thanks guys
-Sean
My favorites so far was my 2nd mr2 n/a because of it's superior handling, my e28 because it was comfy, classy looking, and great handling, and my z3 is becoming my favorite all around because its all of the things mentioned above in one, ride is even more comfortable than the 5'er! For the first week or so I kept trying to drive it like my mr2 where you have more of a push sensation behind you pushing you through the corners at speed, and that didnt work. Was starting to regret my purchase instead of buying a 3rd gen mr2. But took it out to the canyons one night and it all just kind of clicked. My mr2 was my last sporty car and easy to take to the limit because the limit wasnt a whole lot but taught me a lot about car control. The z3 though is another level of speed though in comparison. The mr2 you kind of use the weight bias to determine how you approach the corner. In these you really just attack the apex and beamer thought about the weight bias and fixed it before putting the car in development. Just my 2 cent. I swore after the mr2 I wouldnt go back to front engine unless it was a beamer (I played endless days of Forza 3/4 when it was newish and taught me a lot about where the apex was amongst other things. And playing countless ghosts [seriously i played everyday for years] I noticed that there was no front engine car that could keep up to the crappiest mid engine car when tuned with around the same power to weight, all except a beamer. I still remember testing out a nsx and a ghost came up next to me and I thought "eh its a front engine I'm cool", then looked a little farther and thought "Oh crap its a beamer I actually have to try!", barely got away from a e39 m5 breathing down my tailpipe. my friend in formula d would also use the game for practice, besides bumps in the road forza 3/4 were pretty good simulators. I heard they got worse since then and horizon is basically playing grand theft auto).
Anyways love my purchase and after I get an e39 as a second car to make into an ev daily i plan to make this a racecar as it seems to be the best bang for buck when it comes to price,maintenance, handling, and power.
I eventually (hopefully within this next year) plan to reduce the weight down to 2500lbs, and get to about 250-260hp and get m suspension on the front.
Problem is from my knowledge of this car what'll probably be more reasonable in terms of weight reduction without losing all drivability outside of it I'll probably only get 26-2700lbs (seats 100lbs, spare/tools/carpet/hardtop with softtop removal maybe 50-75lbs?, debating on AC and power steering) and hp wise I'm know that s52 cams/m50b25 intake/chip or edu flash will put me at around 220-230hp. Also plan on electric fan and electric water pump to free up some power. Until I go full race car those are the best mods i can think of that wont make it undrivable, unless, anyone else has some ideas?
I'll post that part somewhere else in case the majority of people snoozed out while I was talking about video games.
I live in ca and been a mechanic for a few years as well as went to school so what that means in terms of mods is, I gotta be able to do simplish mods so when smog season comes around I'll be able to swap all the eco stuff out myself (besides the edu flash). But ya if anyone knows how to get to 260hp reasonably well and knows any tips for reducing weight that I havent mentioned that wont make the car undrivable love to hear from you.
Glad to be back in beamer world! Thanks guys
-Sean
from Surrey UK.
