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The wild Z3 M Coupé is one of the M division’s most potentcreations, but there’s always room for improvement…Words: Sebastian de LatourPhotography: James Lipman

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“Is that the new one?” We turn to see thesource of the question, which transpires tobe a rotund builder sort, doing his rounds ofthe as yet unsold units in this trading estate,who is now sauntering over for a closer look

at the menacing Z3 M Coupé, back paintworkglistening in the late afternoon sun. It soon becomesevident that he actually knows less than nothingabout cars but so unusual is the original M Coupéand so rare are they that it’s unsurprising that peoplestill mistake it for a new model.

When the Z3 M Coupé was first launched peopleweren’t quite sure what to make of it – it did lookcompletely bizarre, unlike any other BMW and wasprobably more hatchback or miniature shooting brakethan coupé. The looks were probably the biggesthurdle and unfortunately that’s no doubt where mostpotential buyers fell. Even if you managed to get overthat the two-tone interior that most examples camewith was likely to raise a few eyebrows and there wasprobably too much E30 switchgear for a £36,000 car.

But, if you could look beyond all this, you wouldfind one of the most thrilling cars BMW has everproduced. Initially powered by the 3.2-litre S50engine from the E36 M3 Evo, it had 321hp and258lb ft of torque, and with the M Coupé weighing inat just shy of 1400kg, less than the E36 M3, thatmeant an impressive power-to-weight ratio of around230hp/ton. This made the Z3 M Coupé ferociouslyquick, capable of sprinting to 60 in a whisker underfive seconds, while the lack of traction control wouldturn a spirited drive into a bit of a white knuckle ride.It would light up the rears in the dry if you were tryinghard enough and sometimes even if you weren’twhile in the wet a delicate touch was required ifscenery interaction was to be avoided. It was a savagething, possibly the wildest BMW ever made and theclosest you’ll ever get to a Bavarian TVR.

In 2001 the M Coupé received a facelift whichincluded a 3.15 final drive and the S54 engine fromthe E46 M3 but, due to differences in the intake,exhaust and a lower redline, it only had 325hp with261lb ft. The newer engine was a welcome additionbut it was BMW’s decision to fit DSC as standard thatwas probably the biggest improvement. However,while it did go some way to taming the M Coupé’swild ways it was still all too easy to lose the back enddue to the traction control system’s lazy nature. Therewere a few other areas where the M Coupé was

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disappointing such as the suspension, which wasquite soft, the brakes, which didn’t stand up torepeated hard deceleration particularly well and thegear change, which was a little slow so there was stillplenty of room for improvement.

Which brings us neatly to Tony Chapman’s Z3 MCoupé, a car that has had every last ounce of slackbeaten out of it, resulting in one of the most finelyhoned examples I’ve ever seen. But first, a little backstory. Tony’s owned his Z3 for four and half yearsnow, the longest he’s ever owned a car, he says,which is surely a good sign especially when youconsider that he was never even into cars. Tony usedto be a biker and worked his way through a numberof track cars, bikes (obviously) and Subarus beforethis particular M Coupé caught his eye. “I’ve alwaysloved them,” he says, “and this was up for sale at avery good price so I decided to go for it.” Initially, he

wasn’t planning on doing anything to the car but hegot talking to a few owners, which planted themodifying seed in his mind but it was after a coupleof track days and a scary session at the ‘Ring that hedecided that some improvements were in order.

The standard suspension is too soft for serioustrack work, not helped by the antiquated E30 reararrangement so Tony completely overhauled it. At theheart of it all sit the adjustable AC Schnitzer Racecoilovers, which are much stiffer than the standarditems and the adjustability allows Tony to tailor themto his needs. These have been fitted in conjunctionwith Rogue rear top mounts and are backed up bystiffer H&R anti-roll bars to further eliminate anychassis roll, giving the M Coupé incredible corneringabilities. With its fixed roof, the M Coupé is 2.6 timesmore resistant to chassis twist than the Roadster, andaccording to BMW it was at one stage the most

structurally stiff model ever produced by the company.Despite this, the uprated suspension meant that Tonycould put a lot more stress on the chassis due towhat the car was now capable of so fitted not only aStrong Strut front strut brace but also a Butt Strut rearstrut brace, the combination of which means thatchassis flex has now been all but eliminated.

Tony found that the standard brakes wilted on trackso decided to look around for some alternatives andin the end went down a slightly unusual route.Porsches have pretty immense brakes out of the boxand a bit of searching revealed that it was possible topick up a pair of 911 C4 four-pot front callipers fornot a lot of money and they’d offer serious stoppingpower. Tony managed to snap up a pair for just £200,making them a conspicuous bargain, and matedthem to some Pagid pads and a pair of E46 M3 CSLfront discs. All that he then needed to do was get

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some mounts machined and the setup was ready –all for under £1000. Clearance wasn’t an issue forhim either, the big callipers fitting nicely beneath hissexy 18-inch BBS LMs, arguably the best-lookingwheel out there for the Z3.

The M Coupé was fitted with a 3.15 ratio 25 percent locking limited-slip differential as standard butTony decided to go one better and bought a spareHawthorns Motorsport Britcar diff, as you do. It’s beenrebuilt inside and boasts a shorter 3.64 ratio, modifiedramp angles and a 40 per cent lock, making it a moreaggressive piece of kit than the standard diff.

With the chassis sorted, Tony was after a bit morepower and actually came very close to getting an E39 M5 V8 installed in the M Coupé’s nose butunfortunately the plan never came to fruition. “Ibought the engine, ready for the conversion,” saysTony, “but the company that was going to carry out

the Z3 M’s lack of traction control would turn a spirited drive into a bit of a white knuckle ride

AC Schnitzer front flippers and Hamann spoiler enhance the Z3’s looks

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the conversion went bust so that was that.” In theend, he opted for a couple of rather more sedate butnonetheless potent modifications to squeeze a littlemore power from the S54 lump. The car’s been fittedwith a Pro Speed exhaust system complete with 100cell cats to minimise restriction and it’s also had acouple of Evolve Automotive goodies installed. Lift thelong bonnet and you’ll see the gorgeous carbonairbox and plenum that dominates the engine bay –it looks stunning, a real centrepiece and it producesthe most sensational M3 CSL-style induction roar.What you can’t see is that Evolve live Alpha N remapthat the company has carried out – as its nameimplies, the remap is carried out with the car beingdriven on the road to give the best possible gains.

The end result of Tony’s tuning is a dyno confirmed341hp which is a fairly small on paper gain for whatis quite a lot of work but such is the way when tuningnaturally aspirated engines and it’s pretty impressivefor an S54. It’s more than enough power out on theroad but for track days Tony reckons it could do witha bit more grunt. Unfortunately, the options availablearen’t plentiful or cheap. The S54 isn’t really suited tosupercharging as it’s not strong enough so if youwere to spend around £6500 on a kit you’d need tospend another £3-4000 on the engine internals. Hereckons the M5 engine conversion would be perfectand it’s cheaper too, weighing in at about £7500 foran engine and the fitting costs, but it’s a very involvedconversion and it’s extremely hard to get the M5’s V8to work properly with the Z3’s electronics. “It’s actuallya lot easier to fit the LS1 V8 that you’d find in aCorvette,” says Tony, “and it’s a solid, reliable enginewith more torque than the M5’s S62 can muster.” Fornow though, Tony’s happy with the Z3 M in its currentstate of tune and it’s going to be a while before hesplashes out on any more performance upgrades.

Open the door and it’s obvious this is no ordinaryM Coupé. Tony has removed the standard seats andreplaced them with a par of Recaro Pole Positionchairs instead, which have not only saved a whopping40kg but he says they also offer a better drivingposition as well as being exceptionally supportive.Dropping into the snug Recaro seat, the Z3’s cosycabin doesn’t do much to put you at ease. You sit

low, your legs tucked into the footwell with your leftfoot trying to find somewhere to perch between theclutch pedal and the transmission tunnel. The viewahead is pretty much steering wheel – Sparco in thiscase – and bonnet, its swooping lines disappearingsomewhere into the middle distance. The M Coupémay be a small car but it feels pretty intimidating fromthe driver’s seat and it’s an odd sensation, sitting sofar back in the car, your bum almost over the rear axle.

Despite their single-piece design, the seats aresurprisingly comfortable and the steering wheel’ssuede rim feels fantastic beneath your fingers whilethe standard gear knob has been replaced with aWhalen Shift Machine item. This 18oz metal ball sitsover an inch lower than the standard knob, giving you a short-shift effect at a fraction of the cost andwithout having to take apart the shift mechanism.Because it weighs three times as much as thestandard knob it takes less effort to change gear,despite the reduced height, and it’s an absolute joy to use. Lever travel is significantly reduced, shift times are shorter and each gear slots home with asatisfying thunk. It might not be a cheap item but it’smoney well spent.

Within 50 yards you’ve pretty much got themeasure of this Z3 – it’s hardcore and then some.The suspension is extremely stiff, probably too stiff foreveryday use, and a world away from the standardcar’s slightly wallowy set up but for track use it’s bangon and that is what Tony geared the car towards afterall. It’s surprisingly easy to drive, though, once you getused to peering along the bonnet and the additionalpower and torque from the performance upgradesmean it’s particularly tractable, happily pulling a highergear at town speeds. That’s all well and good butTony didn’t buy this car to drive it slowly around town– drop down a couple of gears, open up the throttleand the Z3 comes alive. It’s a really rev hungry engineand it’s never happier than when its gulping downgallons of air right at the redline, a fantastic howlemanating from the carbon intake.

The M Coupé was always a seriously quick car andTony’s example is just that little bit more responsive,that little bit more savage. It’s intoxicating stuff and Ican’t resist giving the Coupé a bootful of throttle

It’s a really rev hungry engine and it’s never happier than when its gulping down gallons of air right at the redline

Interior resembles that of a Touring Car; BBS LMs look very sexy indeed

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whenever a gap in the traffic appears. The exhaustsounds fantastic too, giving the straight-six a deepburble at idle which transforms into a high pitchedwail as you rush towards the redline. The upratedbrakes are immense, biting right from the top of thepedal and generating some serious stopping powerwhen you stand on them. It’s just a shame that theroads around here aren’t best suited to showcasingthe M Coupé’s cornering capabilities but from theway it responds to steering inputs you can tell itwould be sensational down a challenging back road.

While the wider rear tyres have gone some way totaming the Z3’s tail-happy nature, in the wet Tonysays the car is lethal and while there’s more grip inthe dry once you overstep the mark it lets go in a bigway. I can’t imagine what it would be like with a400hp V8 tucked under the bonnet…

Tony says he can’t see himself selling the M Coupéanytime soon – it’s a nice club to be in, with most MCoupés owned by enthusiasts and the cars are notyet cheap enough to fall into the hands of those whocan’t look after them properly. Despite eyeing up a

few 911 GT3s and test driving a TVR 350 – whichbroke down a mile down the road – nothing’smanaged to top the M Coupé. Having driven it, it’seasy to see why; where the standard car is a bit of arough diamond this one is unapologetically raw, aroad-legal track warrior and it’s all the better for it ●

CONTACT:Evolve Automotive:Tel: 0870 0850 111website: evolveyourcar.com

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