Bucket List automobile

[Watson]

Hello, I am a 64 year old ex cyclist that back in 2008 had a bad over the bars crash trying to pass another racer half my age. It left me with a broken neck and paralyzed with cervical spine contusions. After a lot of surgery and therapy I am back walking and somewhat normal, but my driving days are numbered as I have constant spinal stenosis pain from all the titanium and scar tissue now in my neck. Since 2008 my ability to drive more than 10 or 20 miles at a time and never at night has made me yearn for one last shot at driving fun and I have been coveting getting a similar small sports car like my 1982 Mazda RX7 that had less horsepower than my Honda CBF 1100 motorcycle, yet was a blast to drive. I had been pretty sure a lightly used Miata or possibly the new 2022 Toyota GR86 would fit my goals of just having a ride that was fun for short outings. I never drive more than in our city limits and only short distances and in good weather. So when I went to check out the Miata and new GR86 for test drives, the dealer helping me said that if my only criteria was to have fun, I should check out an older 2007 BMW Z4 3.0i roadster with sport package. One test drive and I was sold. I love the car but had never considered a Beemer due to price and prestige, but this particular car is perfect for me. No extra high tech gadgets, an automatic ( good for an old guy like myself ) and while the car is in great condition it does have nearly 85,000 miles on it just like I have a lot of miles on my poor old body. I only drive the car in good road conditions and am wanting to find a good BMW mechanic in Omaha that is honest and will help preserve the car for me. I must admit that the ride is quite rough and I am thinking about looking into upgrading the suspension and handling. I will never use the car for track days, but I do enjoy "spirited" driving in town and would not mind any upgrades to suspension and handling. Currently the car has Continental Extreme Contact tires on it and I would imagine that might be a good place to start along with replacing any needed parts overall. Everything seems to work well, just a very rough ride which is not all bad as it is a sports car, but I can not help but think the ride quality could be improved along with handling, not that I will be really needing a track setup. Anyway, I found this sight and thought it would be insightful to hear what expert enthusiast are doing to their older Beemer Z4s.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated as I admit I am no expert on cars, especially BMWs and this one has already won my heart and will probably be the last car I drive as in a couple years my health will not permit it. Until then though, I would like to keep a big smile on my face while driving this little gem. Sure beats being a passenger in my wife's Subaru SUV! And I am grateful to her for realizing I will not be driving a ton longer and letting me pick out a sports car of my choice. So any advice to upgrades and not only am I grateful but I am all ears. Nothing exotic, just basic possible improvements.

Cheers everyone!

 

[obi_waynne]

Greetings and a warm welcome to you from me, Waynne, the forum admin. I would like to apologize for my delayed response to your joining request and any messages you may have sent recently. Unfortunately, I had to deal with some family health problems, and recently, I contracted Covid, which caused the delay.

But now that I'm feeling better, I'm thrilled to welcome you all to our community. Thank you for taking the time to introduce yourselves, and I'm excited to hear about your passion for automotive projects and interests. I'm confident you'll find a wealth of information and friendly members here.

At TorqueCars, we are enthusiasts of all types of automotive projects, from minor tweaks to full-blown builds. Our forum is a great place to connect with like-minded people and to learn more about cars.

Our website has a vast amount of information, and our members are always happy to help with any questions you may have. We're all here to support each other and share our experiences.

We take pride in being one of the friendliest car communities around, and we are committed to maintaining a welcoming and respectful atmosphere. So please feel free to participate in discussions and start new ones. We want to hear from you and learn from your experiences.

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Thank you for joining TorqueCars, and I'm looking forward to "talking cars" with you.

Best regards,

Waynne

 

[Watson]

Hello everyone, now that I have had my '07 BMW Z4 for a couple of months, I love it more and more each day. If I would have realized I would have ended up in a Z4 Bimmer I would have probably have held off and bought an si version, but it is what it is.

Regardless, I love this car and am firmly committed to it for the rest of my driving days ( probably limited to a couple more seasons due to declining health issues ) and I am very interested in moding it out a bit with the 3 stage 330i intake with the disa valves, an aFe Magnum force stage 2 dry intake specifically for the Z4 3.0i. and finishing it up with an Active Autowerke's N52 performance tune or thier Z4 specific tune. Of course I will have a local expert BMW shop do all the work as I know nothing about car mechanics and freely admit it, but I would love to hear from those of you who are in the know please. Also, I have read in other post that using a performance intake may take away torque but increase horsepower, which I do not want. Maybe I am all wrong here. Lastly, do you think since the N52 engine will be breathing so much better, especially with the help of the remapped tune that it will need lets say a Active Autowerke's N52 header also? I certainly do not want a loud obnoxious car, but a deeper growl would be welcome. I have hear that anything beyone the header in the exhaust is not really cost effective and can be obnoxioulsy noisy for an old man like me. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Hope everyone is getting ready to enjoy Spring driving.