Good Morning Everybody: A Unique BMW Z4m Coupe
Welcome to Santa Clarita, good day for a drive today! This should be an interesting car, and it is a BMW Z4m Coupe that belongs to a lovely gentleman named Lev. I would have loved for him to come with me in the car but it actually only has one seat at the moment. He's waiting on his other Ricardo Proy XL seat which is a very nice seat. So, this Z4m has been modified a bit with the goal of making it a reliable weekend and occasional track car.
The Powertrain: Mostly Stock with Some Modifications
So, the powertrain is mostly stock, just with some exhaust modifications but it has H&R coilovers, Power Flex poly bushings all the way down to the engine and trans have solid mounts for more direct response. Obviously, the seats have been taken out with this Ricardo put in there's a Wing on top of it all. Bridgestone Re11 tires and stainless steel brake lines with high temp fluid are also part of these basic mods for this car. It looks more modded than it is but I wanted to see what this thing did.
Driving the BMW Z4m Coupe
I liked the stock one I drove, so I wanted to see what it was like when we tightened it up a bit. So, we're just going to have a quick go in sport mode on and see what it's like. This is the S54 inline 6, 3.2 L that with the full exhaust is estimated to make around 350 horsepower at the crank. Right away the car does feel like a race car; the steering feels incredibly direct, and you do not have to input much at all to get this thing to change direction.
Good Power and Tight Braking
Good power and a tight brake pedal are key features of this BMW Z4m Coupe. The sound is also very nice, not too loud, not droney sounds that are pleasing in the car. It feels good; good pedals for proper footwork. The road's a little bumpy for this car but it's handling it pretty well; it's a little stiff and uncomfortable but lots of grip and very direct.
Fun and Responsiveness
This BMW Z4m Coupe is quite fun, actually. It doesn't feel as heavy as the last one I drove, that's cool. We're going to flip around here because I don't want to follow this gentleman let him enjoy his ride; we'll go back up the hill. Wow, this turning radius is very impressive. That was a really good turning radius.
A Weekend Car?
Okay, uphill, it's really good shifter engagement, it's just with the BMW performance knob on it. This would be a very fun weekend car got just enough power to really be fun; nice and balanced. It feels small but with 350 horsepower that's quite a bit to play with you don't need a V8 this is good these cars are a bit underappreciated in the marketplace.
The Experience
That's cuz they're a bit Porky but this one seems to have been made quite a bit lighter on its feet. And for a car with supposedly full poly suspension bushings and solid engine and trans mounts um it's shockingly smooth; I would have expected quite a lot more vibrations in the car now it is, it's firm, it's stiff but uh the color is a wrap; it does look great.
Ride Quality
Bum mid corner there not super upset by uh the mid corner bumps but pretty pretty good fast. I just realized the speed I was carrying it is quite quick fun going down to one route fun quick. It's good, I need to get some fan going it's getting hot.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: engood morning everybody Welcome to uh Santa Clarita good day for a drive today this should be an interesting car this is a BMW z4m Coupe that belongs to a lovely gentleman named Lev and uh I would have loved for him to come with me in the car but it actually only has one seat at the moment uh he's waiting on his other ricaro uh proy XL seat which is a very nice seat so this z4m uh has been modified a bit with the uh the goal of making it a reliable weekend and occasional track car so the powertrain is mostly stock it just has some exhaust modifications but it has H&R coilovers uh Power Flex poly bushings all the uh the engine and the trans have solid mounts for more direct response uh obviously the seats have been taken out with this ricaro put in uh there's a Wing uh Bridgestone re11 tires and stainless steel brake lines with high temp fluid that's it these are some basic uh mods for this car it looks more modded than it is but um but I wanted to see what this thing did uh I liked the stock one I drove and so I wanted to see what it was like when we tightened it up a bit so we're just going to have a quick go sport mode on and uh see what it's like all right so this is the s s54 inline 6 3.2 L that with the full exhaust uh is estimated to make around 350 Hors power at the crank uh right away the car does feel like a race car uh the steering feels incredibly direct uh and you do not have to input much at all to get this thing to change direction good power and a tight brake pedal likes to rev about to hit this water right here makes a good sound not too uh not too loud not droney sounds nice in the car wow that feels good good pedals for uh proper footwork this Road's a little bumpy for this car but it's handling it pretty well it's a little little stiff and uncomfortable but lots of grip and very direct sounds good you caught motorcycle down force over bump nice little car oh heavy braking from the bike uh nice little car good steering feel uh good brake pedal feel linear power uh it's quite a bit of fun actually uh it doesn't feel as heavy as the last uh z4m I drove that's cool we're going to flip around here I don't want to follow this gentleman let him enjoy his ride we'll go back up the hill wow this turning radius is very impressive that was a really good turning radius all right uphill really good shifter engagement it's the stock shifter just with the bmwm performance knob on it this would be a very fun weekend car got just enough power to really be fun nice and balanced oh it's this is good good power to size feels small it doesn't feel much bigger than like a Miata but you know with 350 horsepower that's quite a bit to play with you don't need a V8 this is good these cars are a bit underappreciated in the marketplace that's cuz they're a bit Porky but this one seems to have been made quite a bit lighter on its feet and for a car with supposedly full poly suspension bushings and solid engine and trans mounts um it's shockingly smooth I would have expected quite a lot more vibrations in the car now it is it's firm it's it's very stiff but uh the color is a wrap it's not paint but it does look great bum mid corner there not super upset by uh the mid Corner bumps but pretty pretty pretty good fast I just realized the speed I was carrying it is quite quick fun going down to one rout fun quick it's good I need to get some fan going it's getting h what a neat car it feels like Motorsport that's really what you want I mean it's not necessarily how fast can your car go is is when you're on the weekend it's does it feel like Motorsport without being inconvenient the way an actual race car would be inconvenient on the road that's what the GT3 RS does well oh oh oh wow this is a good car man good power I like it it has a great balance it's got a great balance of sound uh Sound and Fury as it were has a great balance of uh go in here all right we made it I can't believe that yeah three point turns uh it has a really good balance of O sorry ah sound power fun space you know I'm not small but this is uh this is actually quite a comfortable place for me to be sitting right now that's quite lovely just sitting at 6,000 RPM oh there is something to be said for stock powert train suspension mods weight reduction makes the car feel very alive playful wants to dance it wants to be pushed it wants to dance with me that's not something I really got out of the original stock car stock z4m is a very nice car and it's a fun car but I didn't get that real man machine connection the way I just got with this this is uh this is delightful um and this is a a very connected machine um it's amazing how not a whole lot of parts went into it and and uh not a whole lot of power was added um and and it seems it didn't need those things it needed a little weight reduction and some tightening and Firming and wow is that fun so thanks Lev I appreciate it uh thanks for letting me have a go and uh the car is great check out Lev's wheel well to see how he did this because if you happen to have one of these maybe not not go all the way but uh but at least pull some pull some knowledge out of this car cuz this z4m Coupe is really really neat so thanks for watching and uh and I'll see you later\n"
