Le uber Z4

Gauges, boost meters, fuel lines, big brakes and all that jazz are usually heard in rabid, hushed discussions by owners of turbo-driven marques such as the WRXes and the Evos. Seldom one hears about force induction in any BMW meet, save for the rare few who dare to push and tweak their rides beyond the “normal mod” limit. This exceptional 2.5l BMW Z4 looks innocent enough, looks are however, as most hardcore car modifiers know… are always deceiving.

This beautiful Interlagos Blue Z4, probably one of the rarest colors found in Singapore has got the royal treatment from its owner, much of it under the bonnet. We have decided to omit the owner’s name due to *ehem* legal issues, but he was indeed kind enough to let us take a couple of good shots of the car and to even show us the dyno figures  he had achieved from his quote “little project”.

The 2.5l normally aspirated inline six block has been mated with a Rennsport SKII Supercharger Kit, which includes the ASA TM-12 Centrifugal supercharger which boosts at 0.6 bar of pressure. Before you think that’s a lot of English to swallow, there’s also a huge ASA FMIC (front mounted intercooler) with its no-nonsense operations to cool the supercharger unit. Air is rammed into the intake through a K&N Air Filter and increased fuel flow has been enhanced by an installed rising rate fuel pressure regulator. Both Fuel and air flow mixtures are completely controlled by ASA’s propriety piggyback system which has modified both the ignition timing to match as well to provide a fully tuned performance profile.

Apart from the engine performance, an Alutec 3 point strut bar lines the engine bay to strengthen and keep the already stiff body from any further flexing around tight corners and track days, together with 19” ACS Type IV 19” Racing rims with Toyo Trampio Vimode performance tyres. The Z sits low on an M Sports suspension which provides both road comfort and performance for active driving sessions. Stopping has no issues with a high performance AP Racing 6 pot caliper setup with 330mm slotted disc brakes.

Under the carriage, the exhaust has been reworked on; both catalytic converters removed and custom stainless steel pipes fixed on, to provide a free flow of power from the engine’s headers to exhaust. Twin Remus 84mm tips give little hints to the sort of horsepower range this 2-seater has. Apart from the slightly different tune while idling, it’s difficult to phantom that this baby screams when provoked to 6,500RPM.

Black-Face Defi Gauges have been installed on the Z4’s dashboard to continuously monitor and track the various temperature parameters from the Oil, water and boost outputs. No doubt the arrangement looks a little strange for a BMW, but the aim is to serve its primary purpose, and it sure does it very well.

The price to pay for the entire force induction setup may frighten most, if not all motoring enthusiasts, but with an additional 110bhp/100nm power-up, from 190bhp/240nm factory specs, to a blistering quick 300bhp@6500RPM and 340nm of mind-numbing torque. This Z4 will take on 5 second century wannabe sprinters, all the way up to the magical 260km/hr range, where even modified cars would have already been left far, far behind. This Z4 is indeed a beautiful cohesion between a wicked autobahn-stormer, and a superb daily drive with head-turning looks to boot.

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