Houston Drive FM-3090

[jordanegan44]

Hi everyone,

Thought I would post some of my amateur pics from a couple hundred mile drive I went on with a friend of mine.
So that everyone knows, the car is my dad's and he lets me take it out frequently, which I am ridiculously thankful for!
We started our love affair with the Z8 all the way back in 2000, in Belgium, when my dad was trying to buy a Z3 and mistakenly asked to see a Z8, to which they replied (in Flemmish of course) "Sir, you do realise that car costs 120 000 euros?" Following this, we swiftly left the dealership tail between legs...

Anyways, 13 years later we were living in Houston and decided it was time to 'invest' into a special car, the Z8 was the immediate choice.
I'd still admit we're not experts on the car, but we are learning more and more as time goes on, including how ridiculously expensive replacement tail lights are ..

Considering we have just had the Performance Package fitted to the car, we thought it was appropriate to take the car for a leisurely Sunday drive.
Unfortunately, my dad could not come along but he was trusting enough to let me take the car out!

Here's a few photos, the road we went to drive along was FM-3090. We took a few photos along the way, unfortunately I'm not the best photographer and we ran out of battery in the main camera - forcing us to switch to phone cameras...

Would love to see a few people to come out for a drive if it is possible, we stopped for lunch at a biker's bar called 'Yankees' Tavern'. Great atmosphere and a lovely billiards table for some inter-drive fun!

Also, if there are any Houston area Z8s, any of you planning to go to Coffee & Cars this upcoming Saturday?

Oh and by the way - we went through a mile of gravel road due to roadworks, it was inevitable after we got to it and we went about 3 mph, so it was okay in the end. however, we believe that we managed to re work the route so we wouldn't have to go through it if we went again, thankfully.

[macfly]

Great story, and looks like a nice day out too!

[EDEZ8]

Congratulations to you and your father on the Z8 purchase! Top down driving in the Z8 is a great pleasure. One word of caution, on my initial test drive the wind deflector was in place but the boot was not, and once we hit a speed somewhere north of 65 the deflector tried exiting the car. Since then I always drive with the deflector and with the boot in place to secure it. Enjoy!

[Z8Mania]

Congratulations on the Z8! And thank you for sharing your story and drive pictures with us.

Good eyes Ed.

I would also say you want the boot cover on to protect the soft top- it doesn't just keep junk from accumulating on the exposed surface, but due to aerodynamics of cars there will be significant turbulence back there and it can get under the soft top and put a lot of stress on it. The boot cover will keep that from happening.

Final thought is if those are the bridgestone run flat tires, I would switch them out for something non run flat as soon as you can. Given that you are in TX with what look like smooth roads you should be ok but you really are better off with regular tires. It will protect the car from the frame damage much better and the car will drive better too!

[jordanegan44]

Thanks guys, I just want to clarify that when you say 'boot', you mean the tonneau cover for the soft top? Sorry, just in British English it would mean the trunk, and I don't usually drive with that open haha

Thank you for the tip though, that's the sort of thing this forum is great for!

I think we will be getting those RFTs off as soon as they wear down, it's a good call but just seems like a lot of money to throw away right now considering they have decent tread on them, we'll be sure to change them out as soon as they wear down though!

[Z8Mania]

Yes, in this case boot cover is what you can call the tonneau cover. Apologize for any confusion. Years ago someone argued with me that a real tonneau cover is for the cockpit and therefore this is a boot cover. How about we just call it the Soft Top Folded Down Position Protective Apparatus, or STFDPPA for short.

[AlpinaOkie]

[Charles]

If you really want to drive the car, you should try to hook up on one of our trips. Next one is in late April to Broken Bow, OK and Mena, AR (Richard, I saw your post before mine... are you going?). My first trip was with Mark Hollingsworth and Ken Hollins, from the Austin area. They are both great drivers and really know the back roads. In Houston our main contact is Manuel Junco, who owns two Z8's. PM me and I can get you contact info, and info on our trip, if you want....or maybe you and your dad would like it.

[AlpinaOkie]

Yes, I will be there. Z8Egan you should join us if you can. More info can be found over in a previous thread in the forum by Routineer.

http://www.bmwz8.us/forum/drives-tri...trip-3774.html