New member in Texas

[AggieBlake]

Glad to find this site. I live in College Station, Texas about an hour north of Houston. I am not yet a ZHP owner but hope to be soon. I currently drive a 2013 Accord EX that bores the snot out of me but does a good job taking the kids to school (I have twins in kindergarten). Every day they're not in school I drive a '96 Miata that I've set up for track and autocross duty and maintain myself (roll bar, ultra shield seats and harnesses, suspension, brakes, intake, catback, cooling, etc). I hope to keep that car forever, but am ready to dump the Accord for something much more engaging, and the ZHP is currently at the top of my list for its proven dynamic capabilities. It seems like the ideal car for reliable school bus duty Mon-Fri and laps at the track on Sat. So if any of you come across one for sale in my neck of the woods, below is what I'm looking for. Thanks for putting together this great online resource for researching and maintaining these cars!

Year(s):'02-'05
Budget: $15k max
Desired location of vehicle:Texas or nearby
Desired Mileage: as little as possible :)
Transmission type: must be manual
Desired number of Doors: 4
Desired Color combos: prefer to avoid black - can't keep it clean in our town
Desired Packages: ZHP
Funds lined up? Yes
Have a car you need to sell first? No

[KevinC]

Welcome! $15k will buy you a top-notch example. Be patient and settle on the "right" car - no need for compromises when your budget is that high. GLWS!

[Go Horns!]

Welcome to the site. Always good to have more Texans here.

Do you have an interior preference?

[3ZHPGUY]

Welcome!


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[AggieBlake]

in reply to Go Horns
Good to meet another Texan, though from your username it looks like we're rivals :)

No strong preferences on interior, though I tend to prefer black or tan rather than grey. But that wouldn't be a deal killer. I like the power lumbar support and from what I've read leather is better than the alcantara in terms of longevity, but again, not a big deal to me. Prior history and mechanical condition are much more important in my book.

[rguti153]

U miss out on a clean ass alpine white a member just sold like two weeks ago here in houston

[AggieBlake]

U miss out on a clean ass alpine white a member just sold like two weeks ago here in houston

Yeah, don't remind me. I contacted him immediately when I saw the ad, but he'd just set up the deal. I missed out by a day. Such is life. I'm hoping another that nice will come up soon.

[danewilson77]

Welcome.

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[ELCID86]

Lots of cars linked in the For Sale section. Happy hunting!


Thumbs, iPhone, TaT.

[rguti153]

Yeah, don't remind me. I contacted him immediately when I saw the ad, but he'd just set up the deal. I missed out by a day. Such is life. I'm hoping another that nice will come up soon.
Yeah no shit there's some good ones out there but out of state

[Oli77]

Welcome and good luck on your hunt.

[oldzilla]

Welcome and happy hunting.

[BMWCurves]

Welcome! As others have said, keep your eyes peeled, a good deal will come around. Especially with that $15k budget.

[johnrando]

Welcome. GLWSearch

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[SwiftyM3]

Sounds like you are going to be modifying your future ZHP to pull double duty. With ~$15k my opinion would be to find a fair-good condition one in the 10k range and use the rest of the budget on maintenance and upgrades for track time. Just my .02

Welcome to the club!

[fredo]

Welcome. CL Austin has 2 ZHP for sale right now. Let me know if you are interested, I can check them out.

[AggieBlake]

Looks like I found one! I've bought an '05 silver ZHP with 97k miles from Christian at Supreme Auto Imports. Should arrive here in Texas the middle of next week. For the record, I've been very impressed with his service and price. I checked with one of his former customers who had only great things to say. I'll let you all know how this works out. Keeping my fingers crossed!

[3ZHPGUY]

Congrats!


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[fredo]

Congrats, Aggie ! Hope the car exceeds your expectations.

[BMWCurves]

Nice! Pics?

[Vas]

That's great. Looking forward to pics and details

[AggieBlake]

This might be a bit premature since I won't have car and title in hand till Wednesday, but here are a few pics Christian sent me this week. They're before it was detailed, but give a good sense of the car. It's silver over black alcantara (I know most people prefer the leather, but I prefer the cloth because it grips better on track and auto-x courses). The car is totally stock at the moment. I'll do a bunch of maintenance on it in the next few weeks, put in Motul 600, and get it out for a couple sessions on my local track (Texas World Speedway) at the end of December to set a baseline on performance before I begin making improvements.
22710227112271222713

[Vas]

Great looking car.

[BMWCurves]

Great looking car.

+1

Let us know what you think when you get it in your hands

[Ted Striker]

Another new Texan (and Aggie) here. Glad you found one you like!

[330i Lover]

U miss out on a clean ass alpine white a member just sold like two weeks ago here in houston

And it was a beauty too! Anyone know if it was sold to a Mafia member?

[330i Lover]

Welcome to the best forum site around. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do to your silver bullet. If I didn't find an Imola I would have gone with the silver.

[AggieBlake]

Update - it arrived yesterday. A bit dirty but no worse for wear. Christian at Supreme Auto Imports (https://www.facebook.com/SupremeAutoImports/?fref=ts) did an excellent job. The car was as advertised, the price was reasonable, and shipping was far less money than expected. When a PPI identified a few expected upcoming maintenance issues (a couple gaskets and A-pillar fabric delaminated), Christian got me the parts and threw them in the trunk basically free of charge. And then when storms and a mechanical issue with the delivery truck delayed delivery, he stayed on top of the shipping company to keep me informed. I was very impressed with his service.
22833

[330i Lover]

Yay! Congrats! I'm glad she made it to her new home safe and sound.

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[AggieBlake]

I'll post more pictures and reviews later. For now, some first impressions. This car is astounding for 11 years old and 97k miles! My previous cars include a first gen integra, a 240sx, Civic, '13 Accord, and NA miata. This is certainly the best of the lot. But I am also surprised at how similar it is in driving dynamics to an e46 M3 and e90 M3 I tested. The e90 M3 was just too expensive to track, so I passed on it. And the e46 M3 was a 2 door, and I've got to take kids to school everyday, so that was a non-starter. So I had accepted that I wouldn't be able to find comparable dynamics in whatever car I chose. I was wrong. While the engine/acceleration/sound are all less in this car, the overall impression of grip, stability, and readiness to rotate are so impressive. I feel like the suspension tuning is perfect right out of the box. The transmission is excellent and the engine is plenty willing. Brakes are also stout. I can't wait to get a few laps at my local track and see what it's capable of.

[Vas]

Glad to hear it made it to you. Now enjoy.

[fredo]

Congrats ! The ZHP looks great. :thumbsup

[slater]

I'll post more pictures and reviews later. For now, some first impressions. This car is astounding for 11 years old and 97k miles! My previous cars include a first gen integra, a 240sx, Civic, '13 Accord, and NA miata. This is certainly the best of the lot. But I am also surprised at how similar it is in driving dynamics to an e46 M3 and e90 M3 I tested. The e90 M3 was just too expensive to track, so I passed on it. And the e46 M3 was a 2 door, and I've got to take kids to school everyday, so that was a non-starter. So I had accepted that I wouldn't be able to find comparable dynamics in whatever car I chose. I was wrong. While the engine/acceleration/sound are all less in this car, the overall impression of grip, stability, and readiness to rotate are so impressive. I feel like the suspension tuning is perfect right out of the box. The transmission is excellent and the engine is plenty willing. Brakes are also stout. I can't wait to get a few laps at my local track and see what it's capable of.

awesome - glad you found The Car! i feel the same way. it's proven to be an excellent family hauler for the four of us, we even did a 2500km road trip in it last year. and yes, the stock balance is quite good!

car looks great - what is that blemish on the lower edge of the driver's door?

peter

[AggieBlake]

slater - it's a small bend and scrape in the bottom of the door. It looks like PO opened the door next to a curb or tall object and caught that bit on it. I will be researching how to address it. I don't mind the blemish - it's an 11 year old car. But I want to ensure that the sheetmetal is protected so no rust can creep in. Ideally, I'd also like to straighten it out a bit if I can. If anybody has advice on how to fix it, I'd appreciate it!

I see your family is sporting the ZHP / Honda Odyssey combo, too! We love our '09 Odyssey. No fun to drive, but so useful when you've got young kids.

[slater]

slater - it's a small bend and scrape in the bottom of the door. It looks like PO opened the door next to a curb or tall object and caught that bit on it. I will be researching how to address it. I don't mind the blemish - it's an 11 year old car. But I want to ensure that the sheetmetal is protected so no rust can creep in. Ideally, I'd also like to straighten it out a bit if I can. If anybody has advice on how to fix it, I'd appreciate it!

I see your family is sporting the ZHP / Honda Odyssey combo, too! We love our '09 Odyssey. No fun to drive, but so useful when you've got young kids.

yeah, definitely protect it from rust. to me that is more important than the cosmetic aspect.

the odyssey has been pretty invaluable... especially when my car was just down for 5 weeks. and, today, i folded down the rear seat, removed one of the middle ones, put both kids in, and put in the entire ZHP exhaust and drove it down to the shop that is repairing it for me. talk about convenient!

the kids love it. i hate driving it... the lights suck, the seats suck (for me, i have neck and back issues), the torque steer sucks, the driver's door doesn't seal right, the electronic rear door buzzer goes off randomly... but when i can do the above, or put 6-7 people in it, then its' redeeming quality comes through.

[danewilson77]

Yay! Congrats! I'm glad she made it to her new home safe and sound.

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+1

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[johnrando]

+2

[AggieBlake]

That moment of relief when you pop the valve cover off your just-purchased 100k mile BMW to find it pristine inside...
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[AggieBlake]

VCG and plugs done. Now for OFHG, cooling system, belts, pulleys. I went with the TMS OEM kit with Stewart water pump and aluminum pulley. Added pulleys, belts, etc.

So far I'm loving this car. My only complaint is that I can't hear the engine as well as I'd like while driving. The throttle response is also slower than I'd like when heel-toe shifting. I'm thinking an AFE Magnum will fix that. Maybe a Corsa exhaust as well. Maybe a Shark injector to fix throttle response... or something to that effect. Suggestions always appreciated.

[BMWCurves]

Nice work!

I have the Shark Injector and while it had some improvement in various areas, it was not particularly significant. I don't regret installing it though.

For throttle response, a lot of people here will probably suggest PedalBox or Sprint Booster that increase the signal of the throttle pedal for a given amount of input. I don't have it but am interested in trying it out eventually.

[danewilson77]

VCG and plugs done. Now for OFHG, cooling system, belts, pulleys. I went with the TMS OEM kit with Stewart water pump and aluminum pulley. Added pulleys, belts, etc.

So far I'm loving this car. My only complaint is that I can't hear the engine as well as I'd like while driving. The throttle response is also slower than I'd like when heel-toe shifting. I'm thinking an AFE Magnum will fix that. Maybe a Corsa exhaust as well. Maybe a Shark injector to fix throttle response... or something to that effect. Suggestions always appreciated.
You're doing the VANOS, correct?

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[AggieBlake]

I was not planning on doing the VANOS seals yet. It's not showing any signs of needing it as far as I can tell (rough idle, lack of torque at low end).

[danewilson77]

I was not planning on doing the VANOS seals yet. It's not showing any signs of needing it as far as I can tell (rough idle, lack of torque at low end).
:scratchinghead

Okey dokey

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[AggieBlake]

I gather you suggest otherwise, Dane? My PPI identified the VCG and OFHG as needing replacement. And I've seen plenty of you guys mention the importance of a cooling system rebuild. A friend who is a Beamer mechanic suggested I do the pulleys and belts when I do the cooling system. So that's what all I had on the list (minus suspension items that will be a separate job). Would you add VANOS to the list of essential PM items?

[danewilson77]

They just say that the vanos seals can fail in as little as 20k miles, so it makes sense to change them out.

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[AggieBlake]

Definitely looks better with tint. 30% ceramic LLumar all around. 23064

[johnrando]

Good stuff

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[AggieBlake]

Just installed my AFE stage 1 intake last night. Got it with the 15% rebate AFE was running. I don't know if there's any performance gained. My butt-dyno isn't sensitive enough to register that small a change. But the sound is a BIG improvement, especially at 3k+ rpm. And the throttle feels perhaps a bit more responsive when I'm heel-toeing. Should help when I get the car on track for the first time this weekend (had to cancel my December outing due to a neck injury... going on 40 sucks!)

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Next up (hopefully) is an aftermarket exhaust to complete the tone I'm looking for. Also maybe a sprint booster or similar gizmo to get the throttle response up, though I'm wondering if a light-weight flywheel would have better results than the booster.

[justinwilson77]

Just installed my AFE stage 1 intake last night. Got it with the 15% rebate AFE was running. I don't know if there's any performance gained. My butt-dyno isn't sensitive enough to register that small a change. But the sound is a BIG improvement, especially at 3k+ rpm. And the throttle feels perhaps a bit more responsive when I'm heel-toeing. Should help when I get the car on track for the first time this weekend (had to cancel my December outing due to a neck injury... going on 40 sucks!)

23531

Next up (hopefully) is an aftermarket exhaust to complete the tone I'm looking for. Also maybe a sprint booster or similar gizmo to get the throttle response up, though I'm wondering if a light-weight flywheel would have better results than the booster.

+1 on the AFE, I've had mine for about a year and a half and I love it.

[BMWCurves]

Coming along nicely, looks good!

[ELCID86]

Nice addition.


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"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - an e46f member