I've been lurking on these forums now for almost a year. Mainly the C5Z06 forums. My reason for lurking is for the better part of my driving life, as i'm sure all of yours, we were considered enemies. I drive a E36 BMW M3 Now, i've always been an avid car guy, regardless of make, as long as its tasteful. Unfortunately for me, I had lumped the Corvette Z06 in the same category as every other american sports car...fast in a straight line...DAMN fast in a straight line, but not so much in the corners. Well, the more research i've done, and the more reading i've obsessed over, I can honestly concede that the Z06 outperforms BMW in all aspects.....EXCEPT interior
At the present on my M3 I have the following Mods:

S52 3.2 OBD I
Euro HFM/ Chip/ Injectors/M50 manifold
DINAN Cold air intake
Carbon Fiber valve and engine cover
UUC oil cap
UUC coolant cap
HID's high beam/ low beam
ZKW Projector headlights head lights.
DDE- Angel Eyes
OEM red/white taillights
Rogue Engineering Octane short shift kit
Rogue Engineering 12mm spacers
UUC swaybarbarians
UUC rear camber control arms
Ground Control track coilovers kit 550f/600r
CCW wheels 17x9 with Falken RT-615 tires 255/40/17
BB tri flow exhaust DTM tips
SPARCO torino seats/ side mounts/ sliders (black, recline)
SPARCO 3 point street harness with quick release (blue)
ORION amp powering MB Quarts front and rear
MOMO race steering wheel and hub
AUTOMETER Oil pressure gauge/ vacuum gauge.
PLX wideband O2 and gauge
BREMBO cross drilled rotors




Now, I've come here looking, for my next car. I just re-enlisted (Marine Corps) for EOD, and am currently at school here in florida, anyways, i've made the decscion (SP) to cross over to the dark side (in your case "see the light") and purchase a Z06 for my next car. Reasons being, market is excellent right now, the z06 is an extremely capable in a straight line as well as the corners, responds EXCELLENTLY to mods (unlike BMW's ), and finally, as much as i love the sound of my car, i've always been a closet fan of the gurgling V8's
So anyways, hope you guys can accept a german car guy for the time being, maybe show me a thing or two!

 

You're on the right track with your color (blue), now just add the car to it and you're set.

 

I had never been a fan of Blue until I bought this car in Avus, I see i can get my z06 in blue, i'd probably end up putting the same CCW's on it...but i'm also liking the look of silver as well!

 

Please Share; what's the reason for the cable, and the strap around the spokes?
Nothing obvious is occurring to me.

 

Nice car, but a E36 or E46 M3 is simply no match for a 01-04 Z06 in ANY performance category.

 

It was a Dyno day, so I went with a bunch of guys from Pendleton (I was the only german car there, everyone else had camaros or mustang GT's), and the guys at the event had to secure my car from the front and rear.

I don't deny that whatsoever Theres no way possible match up between a stock for stock Z06 - M3 where the m3 would come out on top. For a moment I had thought an M3 would at least be able to take a vette on the nurburgring, again, I was so very surprised to find out that even on my cars home turf, it's no match against a Z. Needless I'm impressed!!!

My overall goal for my car is HP goal of 500whp (if not more ) while still maintaining it as a D/D,
what kind of mods would I be looking into for this kind of goal?

I'm definately glad to be here on these forums, alot of nice people here with plenty of information! And within the year i'll be driving one of these amazing cars as well!

 

Welcome duderabides,

You need to fill in your profile so we know who you are. You will find out this forum is a great place for information. We welcome all without regard for race, color, creed or religion.....even BMW

 

I came from a BMW too

I had a 00 E39 540 Dinan S2 540/6 speed. The BMW was great and I loved the refinement and power all in one package, but I got sick of the constant maintenance. It seemed like every time I turned around there was at least $100 bill for something on that car.

The Z06 will feed the raw side of your performance craving, but will leave more money in your pocket compared to the BMW in all aspects. Insurance is cheap, brake rotors are $30. Oil changes are $50, etc

Here is picture of my old Dinan S2

 

HAHA, thats so very nice of you!

Thats a nice looking 540, but i totally agree with you on the maint. side of BMW's, it costs me about 90 bucks to get my oil changed.
5 grand for a new cylinder head and gasket!!
So my insurance will actually go down from driving a old M3 to a much "newer" z06? That in itself is ridiculous!

By the way, in my previous post, how much am i looking at $ wise to reach that 500whp goal?

 

Depends, want F/I or a big-cube N/A motor? lol Nice E36, my DD is an E46 sedan, and I had an E39 and an E31 before that

 

I'd more than likely go with F/I. I've seen several owners here using F/I'd vettes as D/D's. I'd just like to make sure I have a relatively low maintenance car, and from what i've read in general, a S/C setup would more than likely suffice.
I LOVE your 8 series eschantra! Please tell me if you sold that, you at least were able to turn a proffit on it

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, any other advice you can offer on a set up for me will be appreciated, i'll still be lurking and searching for info myself of course...and def. looking around the for sale forums

cheers