Im the big winner!... hopefully. 98 Z3 with a Dinan Supercharger

[peakay]

Reached out to Dinan and asked a few questions. They sent me a free gift because this car should’ve had this already... yes it will lose some of its sleeper status but that’s ok with me. I’m not totally sure where I want to mount it on the back.

Here's some images I found of a Dark Green Dinan S3, Z3 from BAT showing what I believe is the Dinan correct placement. Thoughts from the internet??

z3-dinan-badge4.jpeg

z3-dinan-badge2.jpeg

[2mAn]

Here's some images I found of a Dark Green Dinan S3, Z3 from BAT showing what I believe is the Dinan correct placement. Thoughts from the internet??

z3-dinan-badge4.jpeg

z3-dinan-badge2.jpeg

I like it!

Also!
Update Time!

Brandon finished the car and the car was shipped to California!



BUT , it didnt get shipped to my house. It actually went to Orange County where a friend has taken over ownership
[

Why?
In the last ~6 months of winning this car, "helping" Brandon fix this car and then having it ready to come to Sunny SoCal the priorities shifted a little and my wife also never warmed up to the idea of me having multiple cars in the garage. In that same timeframe, my buddy had always asked me to keep him in the loop and when I finally made the decision that I needed to let it go we made the deal.

When it arrived to him, it was obvious that the work wasnt done, so he immediately pulled the supercharger and sent it out for a rebuild. The Powerdyne needs it much more frequently than the Vortech, which might be why Dinan switched over. Regardless, a friend is now the owner and I should actually see and possibly drive the car this coming weekend when a local Targa Rally is happening.


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You should hopefully still see updates on this car as the friend who bought is none-other than @peakay himself lol

[Pinehurstz3]

I would say the moral to this story is 1. First check with the boss and get approval, and 2. Do not buy sight unseen

[BimmerBreaker]

Ive bought almost every car I own sight unseen and most from out of state... Then again none were on auction sites where I think there's a lot of sellers who pay more towards a good detailer and photographer than they do for a good mechanic 🤔

[peakay]

Hey All, I'm very happy with the car. Yes, the seller hid the supercharger noise in the listing, but he did slide 2mAn a small bit of cash at least, which he generously passed my way. The supercharger had been installed for 21 years, so a rebuild was not a crazy thing to need. A simple walk around video would have revealed this issue though and I fault Bringatrailer for not having a more thorough process for this.

While I was in there with the SC, I did a full cooling system replacement and all new belts. As annoying as it was to have to immediately work on the car, I have a very good understanding of the Dinan SC system now, which could be crucial on a backroad rally. If I hadn't, I'd have no idea how to change or tension the SC belt. Plus now the cooling system is done. AND it already has the Randy Forbes kit installed.

Am driving some epic roads in Central Cal this weekend, so should have a good appreciation for the car and what else it might need to make it my own and better for the type of driving I do. Wish us luck!

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[peakay]

OK, so @2mAn and I did a backroads rally in Central California this weekend and the car did great!

The supercharging system worked well in this kind of driving as the car still has the original low-rpm, high torque powerband, but then the supercharging kicks in at 3-3500k rpms and increases boost very progressively all the way to redline. The smooth torque build combined with the factory Torsen diff work well together to make it a fast and stable backroads car. Even the new cooling system worked well and no heat ups at all. Incredibly, the oem suspension is even surprisingly competent and somehow the shocks are still very good after 25 years and 63k

The only real cons on the car as it sits is the brakes are not too strong, so I wonder what brake pads are on there. It has braided lines, a recent brake fluid flush, and drilled/slotted rotors, so I'll probably just put on a set of Porerfield R4S pads and see how that works.

Beyond that, I'll probably swap for an aftermarket steering wheel (Any Recommendations?) and just catch up on any remaining maintenance. I did buy some Konis for it that I can install and I'd like to square up the wheels so any understeer is neutralized and I can rotate tires.

Here are some photos from the weekend:

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