[TheStoka]

Had my car a little while now so thought I start a thread with my thoughts and the various bits I’ve done. Hopefully I can get some decent pictures of the car when the British weather starts behaving and will update here with any future plans.

Car Spec
Melbourne Red with Vernasca leather black with blue and gloss black trims
Tech Pack Plus, Comfort pack, M Technology Pack
M Adaptive suspension and HK sound system

Coming from a F82 M4 Comp, was struggling to find what I wanted next. Loved the car but wanted some more tech and insurance in the UK for that model has gone crazy.

Tested a G87 M2, G82 M4 xDrive and a G42 M420i. The G87 and G42 were in typical miserable weather. Although impressed how much more composed the G87 is over my F82 it still had a lot of issues getting power down in the damp, G42 had no such issues. G82 felt another step above but just could not make the money side of it work with the £100k+ price tag with options.
After a lot of thinking I went for the G42, kind of fell in love with xDrive. No more getting dropped at the traffic light GP from Vag hatches on a damp day! it may sound silly but having no option of surround cams on the M2 really put me off it, had them on M4 and the G42 ones had really impressed me.
To me it’s so much better of a daily car. The lower power isn’t really that noticeable unless you’re doing some pulls in Mexico. Much more torque low down plus xDrive traction is brilliant without the drama the M4 often had getting the power to road. A far more softer ride that just seems to deal with humps and bumps far better. New iDrive and tech is awesome and a massive step from previous. Finally getting back into a ZF8 equipped car made me realise how much I disliked the DCT for anything other than spirited driving.
On the negative the S55 does feel more special, miss merino leather and its softness compared to Vernacsa (wont miss it scratching if you even look at it)


Added Bits
Mperf 795M 20” Matte black – 36116893514, 36116893515
w/ PIRELLI P Zero PZ4 LS RUNFLAT * 225/35R20 90Y XL, 255/30R20 92Y XL
Mperf Carbon splitter - 51195A34859, 51195A34857, 51195A34858
Mperf Carbon side skirts - 51195A270F3, 51195A270F2
Mperf Carbon diffuser - 51125A36893
Mperf Carbon spoiler - 51195A36950
AC Schnitzer lowering springs - 3130342310
Eibach Pro-Spacer Kit - 12mm Front, 15mm Rear
G22 Strut Braces – 51617456115, 7147270121, 51716966566, 51648491817
Carbon steering wheel trim – 32309882893, 32309882894
Carbon centre console – 51168094584, 51168094592
Mperf Sill covers – 51472472521
Mperf Door projectors - 63312463924
MPerf Spiny centre caps – 36122455268
MPerf Carbon fuel cover – 16112472988
MPerf Valve caps – 36122447402
Jogon carbon dash cover
Jogon carbon vent cover
Automotive Passion Carbon Arch guards
Chyna carbon shark fin cover and paddles

[TheStoka]

Steering wheel trim

Wasn’t a fan of the sliver trims on the steering wheel, seems to get smudged with finger prints very easy. Also the black plastic trim on the back of the wheel behind the cruise control was slightly loose. Just enough to move back and forward.

Purchased genuine trims, very expensive for what these are but cannot fault the quality there flawless. Wanted the paddles but £600 too much Imo so was going to leave the stock ones on. Saw these ones on AliExpress for a massive £25 so decided it was worth a punt. Happy with them for the price, look similar to the trims for what you can see.

Couple of things to note G series wheels don’t have the holes for poking through to disengage the clips for the airbag. Does feel sort of wrong bodging two holes straight through the side of the wheel. Gone is the 16mm bolt of the F series now a T60 is used. Trip to Halfrauds to be extorted £16 for a T60 driver later and the wheel was off. Other than those just an unscrew the current and replace with the new ones.

[TheStoka]

Center console and sill

Don’t really like either trim options but gloss black defiantly worse for fingerprints and scratches.
Genuine replacements again as didn’t want any fit issues or lips that the stick on ones have.

Pretty easy to do, just work around with a trim tool, front two clips on the lower part were bit of pain but nothing major. The door piece probably took around 2 minutes, super easy just slots off and back on.
Slips covers really easy again, did break a couple clips on the first one but was more carful with the second making sure to get to pry tool right around the clips before pulling up. New ones come with clips so not a major issue anyway.

[TheStoka]

G22 Strut braces

Not really sure why the 4 series has these and there not included on the 2.

Not an hard job took about 2 hours to take everything off and get them back on. All parts ordered from BMW. Could use the stock cross member as there is holes and just nut and bolt it but wanted ease of access for the future as needs removing to get at the air filter.
Strut towers have the holes in them just required tapping to accept the bolts. Used an M10 x 1.5 tap for this. 4 bolts torx bolts to the frame are stretch bolts and recommended to replace. Not really sure if this is necessary but for the sake of £15 why not. 56nm then 90 degrees of rotation to stretch the new bolts.

Followed the attached guide for removal and fitting, its for a G20 but its all the same under there really.

2x Strut brace 51617456115
Front cross member 51716966566
4x Torx bolts (sold as a pack of 5) 7147270121
4x Hex bolts 51716966566

Doesn’t feel that different after installing them, it might just be in my head but I feel the turn in response to be a little better at high speed. Ride comfort seems the same.

[JoeyJoeJo]

Very nice, I toyed with red but had a Melbourne 335 a few years ago, it's another colour that comes alive in the sun. Nice write ups too.

How do you find the ride with 20s and the ACS springs?

I was looking at them at the weekend and they have full setups too so was quite intrigued...

[TheStoka]

Thanks, it’s my second Melbourne car. Definitely needs abit of light to looks special. Think it contrasts so well with the carbon and black.

Mainly for the arch gap reasons but its still surprisingly good. I thought the 20’ rft plus springs combo will kill all comfort but is still rather composed. There no question its way stiffer, less body roll but the adaptive dampers do a really good job of smoothing out bumps and thumps. Only long term comparison I can make is to my old F82 M4c on 20’s which its better than and deals with potholes and bumps better for daily use. Sport mode they do get really quite harsh but imo I want that when getting on it.

Compared to my brothers F30 he had with RFT 20's with non-adaptive which used to crash really bad over bumps this is far better. Seems damping has come a long way.

[TheStoka]

Dash Carbon Trims


Next bit of carbon added to the inside today. Was going to buy genuine trims but after seeing it was a screen out job and the part cost £500 on its own decided to give these a ago first.

Very happy with quality for the price, fitment and weave on the dash piece is very good. Completely happy with that part.

Still not 100% convinced if I like the vent piece. Quality is still very good, weave does get slightly wobbly in the corners but with how the shape of the part is I guess that expected. Just feel it sticks out a lot more now than before.

Overall for the price these are think they are very good quality. Match pretty well to the oem carbon on the centre console.

[TheStoka]

Finally had some time to get out and take some decent pictures of the car.

Next one the list is a new exhaust, want to keep the OPF’s in place but get a bit more noise. Currently undecided but favouring the Remus options due to proper exit per side being used and extra valve.
Also tempted to have the roof wrapped in gloss black to continue the red and black contrast.

[rsatabaki]

It looks gorgeous!

[aguycalleddb]

Stunning, nice subtle mods too

[TheStoka]

Next steps have been decided, Remus race exhaust has been ordered and a dinan intake to follow shortly afterwards. Hoping to address the only real complaints I have about the car as current. A little lacklustre on the sound department.

[Jolman]

What kind of place is this. The lighting is fantastic. The best I can do is the sun!

[TheStoka]

Originally Posted by Jolman

What kind of place is this. The lighting is fantastic. The best I can do is the sun!Attachment 3580394

It’s just a car park at a shopping centre close to me, the lighting on the ground floor is super cool. Makes for some good photos. I was a little cheeky and parked up on the walkway briefly to get some better shots.

[2srsman]

Looks super nice