#ZedShed Dave’s Z3M Coupe
- Thread starter Lee
- Start date
Been a very productive day today. I managed to source what I think is the last Z3M front shocks in the country.
First up we have the diff a paint and service.
While this was going on security started painting the brake parts.
We soon moved onto building the arms.
everything looking so clean and tidy.
we then laid out the rear end assembly. Gave everything a check over before assembling and torquing.
Now together.
fresh bushes
we moved the roll drop link to the outer setting, this is plenty stiff enough.
The front shocks assembled with no problems. Everything looking fresh again.
Both shocks built.
In place ready for the front end to be finished.
It was then time to fit the rear subframe.
view from the outer side.
Real productive day in all. Everything is looking very new and factory fresh. Even the beam bushes are now pert.
This leaves me with a few jobs for early next week. The rocker cover needs powder coating. She’ll be ready for next weekend all things being well.
First up we have the diff a paint and service.
While this was going on security started painting the brake parts.
We soon moved onto building the arms.
everything looking so clean and tidy.
we then laid out the rear end assembly. Gave everything a check over before assembling and torquing.
Now together.
fresh bushes
we moved the roll drop link to the outer setting, this is plenty stiff enough.
The front shocks assembled with no problems. Everything looking fresh again.
Both shocks built.
In place ready for the front end to be finished.
It was then time to fit the rear subframe.
view from the outer side.
Real productive day in all. Everything is looking very new and factory fresh. Even the beam bushes are now pert.
This leaves me with a few jobs for early next week. The rocker cover needs powder coating. She’ll be ready for next weekend all things being well.
Done a few little jobs over the last couple of days, I’m not rushing due to the rocker cover being down the coaters. I finished of fitting the hardware yesterday.
The rocker cover I pulled Monday and dropped off.
Not looking too bad just needs a freshen up.
again very little oil staining. Good sign of regular oil changes.
Last bits of hardware going on was the front hub assemblies.
New dust shield on.
Next was the bearing and drop link. Worth noting now the correct length of the drop link.
then finally brake assembly and braided lines.
Then rinse repeat on the other side. The discs will get a coat of silver paint along with rattle clips.
Next I fitted the last of the brakes at the rear.
near side.
This now leaves some under trays and arch liners. Also the new noise makers Dave gave us to fit, she’s so close to being finished
The rocker cover I pulled Monday and dropped off.
Not looking too bad just needs a freshen up.
again very little oil staining. Good sign of regular oil changes.
Last bits of hardware going on was the front hub assemblies.
New dust shield on.
Next was the bearing and drop link. Worth noting now the correct length of the drop link.
then finally brake assembly and braided lines.
Then rinse repeat on the other side. The discs will get a coat of silver paint along with rattle clips.
Next I fitted the last of the brakes at the rear.
near side.
This now leaves some under trays and arch liners. Also the new noise makers Dave gave us to fit, she’s so close to being finished
FittedQuick question - what are Dave's noise makers???
was waiting for a few more photos to do another post.
The last couple of days I got to test drive the coupe, she drives superb now. I also got the tracking done yesterday so she steers in the right direction. The only issue I noticed on the test drive was the odd leaning up front, this was due to the drop links being too short so the original 9” style drop links were fitted.
Before I took her out I fitted the last few bits. The pretty Remus pipes went on.
I thought these would be loud but they’re only a little louder then stock. Next I fitted the rear diffuser. This really makes the back look smart.
then it was the shinny rocker cover. Looks so pretty again.
something I noticed before fitting, was the clumsy use of silicon sealant engine side of the rocker gasket. It was everywhere, this can cause serious issues if your not careful.
anyway cover on, really looking tidy.
After a few miles test driving. Straight away I noticed a similar problem to millers M, lumpy idle and flickering oil light once I refitted the rocker. This must be only one thing, the rocker cover gasket allowing air into the engine, so I’ve ordered a new gasket and bolt seals. This might explain all the gasket sealant I’ve found. Bits on their way from Germany for Thursday
Dam she’s pretty.
Before I took her out I fitted the last few bits. The pretty Remus pipes went on.
I thought these would be loud but they’re only a little louder then stock. Next I fitted the rear diffuser. This really makes the back look smart.
then it was the shinny rocker cover. Looks so pretty again.
something I noticed before fitting, was the clumsy use of silicon sealant engine side of the rocker gasket. It was everywhere, this can cause serious issues if your not careful.
anyway cover on, really looking tidy.
After a few miles test driving. Straight away I noticed a similar problem to millers M, lumpy idle and flickering oil light once I refitted the rocker. This must be only one thing, the rocker cover gasket allowing air into the engine, so I’ve ordered a new gasket and bolt seals. This might explain all the gasket sealant I’ve found. Bits on their way from Germany for Thursday
Dam she’s pretty.
The thing people don't realise is that the silcon which squeezes out on the inside does nothing for sealing the gasket but can end up blocking oilways. Rocker cover looks very nice. Wurth do a very good silicon gasket sealant and the beauty of it is is red so you're more likely to clean any excess on the outside too.
Tony.
Tony.
She was running fine before, plus it’s the only thing we’ve touched. I’m confident
Hi Bill, we did some basic checks but couldn’t work out why it’s started running lumpy. I just had the car trailed to Munich legends for a good inspection. Non M engines were happy to work on but M engines require a whole new level of expertise.
Coming back to my ZedShed thread... It's taken some time but happy to say my Coupe is now running beautifully.
A potted history of what happened in the meantime...
Lee took the car to Munich Legends in May - they dropped the sump and found the oil filter had been clogged by shot debris from the powdercoated rocker cover. So they did a flush & oil change and got it running to the point that the oil light was no longer flickering on - though they did say in their opinion it felt a bit "flat" and down on power. I collected it - got 20 miles down the road toward home before taking it back - it wasn't idling well at all and though it seemed to drive ok, it didn't "feel" right.
They took it in for more tests and found the VANOS had failed which was surprising as it had only been rebuilt about 5000 miles ago. They sent it to Dr Vanos in the US for overhaul who sent it back with a note saying the reason for premature failure had been due to contamination. ML hoped this was due to the shot debris which had since been flushed through but they did an oil sample on the fresh oil to be sure and found swarf in the oil which lead them to inspect the shells which they found were severely worn - to the point where it had scored the crank to the point that it was beyond being reground.
At this point they surmised that the rocker cover had not been cleaned up fully after powdercoating and the debris had formed a paste and made its way through the engine causing damage as it did and aside from crank there was the potential to find bore wear etc. So the choice was to either:
- Rebuild my engine which could be "open cheque book" for cost and in fact might turn out to be beyond salvage, or,
- Source a replacement engine
With their guidance we went the latter route and I was introduced to a chap with an M3 Evo who had removed his engine in readiness to fit a V8. ML did a full analysis of the donor engine, and set about a refresh of this engine - set the valve clearances, replaced the shells, replaced the main seal, fitted the rebuilt VANOS & ancillaries from my old engine, replaced water pump, filled with fresh oil, filter, spark plugs etc.
Also replaced clutch and aircon dryer unit...
They spent a few weeks road testing and setting up then called me in September to say it's ready for collection, so I went over & grabbed it on a Friday afternoon and immediately took it away for the weekend. Initially all seemed well (except I pinged on the airbag light when I adjusted the driver seat) but after a few miles I started to notice an intermittent hesitation at around 3000rpm - couldn't be reproduced at will annoyingly - just every now & then, and would drive beautifully in the rev range either side of the hesitation.
So back to ML last week - they drove the car and couldn't reproduce the fault but it did ping up O2/lambda sensor faults so, belt and braces, changed both - picked up Saturday morning & I've driven a few hundred miles this weekend and no hesitation whatsoever - and indeed it actually feels way more responsive, so I'm pretty sure that it's now 100%.
Which means for the first time since Lee took the car away for it's overhaul in March, I have had the chance to properly put it through it's paces. And oh my god it is delivering on every level! The rebuilt engine feels VERY STRONG and all the work Lee & the ZedShed team put into the suspension is paying dividends too as the handling is CRISP! I did 80 miles across the south downs and loved every yard of it.
It's been an expensive year for this car...
£15k on zedshed/engine
£3.5k on bodywork & ppf
£1k on enhancements (exhaust, rear diffuser etc.)
So basically just shy of £20k it's cost me this year and so far, I've not even run 1000 miles in it!
Was planning to SORN it end of October but I might have to keep it going until end of November and put some more miles on it now it's running so nicely.
Roll on 2022!
A potted history of what happened in the meantime...
Lee took the car to Munich Legends in May - they dropped the sump and found the oil filter had been clogged by shot debris from the powdercoated rocker cover. So they did a flush & oil change and got it running to the point that the oil light was no longer flickering on - though they did say in their opinion it felt a bit "flat" and down on power. I collected it - got 20 miles down the road toward home before taking it back - it wasn't idling well at all and though it seemed to drive ok, it didn't "feel" right.
They took it in for more tests and found the VANOS had failed which was surprising as it had only been rebuilt about 5000 miles ago. They sent it to Dr Vanos in the US for overhaul who sent it back with a note saying the reason for premature failure had been due to contamination. ML hoped this was due to the shot debris which had since been flushed through but they did an oil sample on the fresh oil to be sure and found swarf in the oil which lead them to inspect the shells which they found were severely worn - to the point where it had scored the crank to the point that it was beyond being reground.
At this point they surmised that the rocker cover had not been cleaned up fully after powdercoating and the debris had formed a paste and made its way through the engine causing damage as it did and aside from crank there was the potential to find bore wear etc. So the choice was to either:
- Rebuild my engine which could be "open cheque book" for cost and in fact might turn out to be beyond salvage, or,
- Source a replacement engine
With their guidance we went the latter route and I was introduced to a chap with an M3 Evo who had removed his engine in readiness to fit a V8. ML did a full analysis of the donor engine, and set about a refresh of this engine - set the valve clearances, replaced the shells, replaced the main seal, fitted the rebuilt VANOS & ancillaries from my old engine, replaced water pump, filled with fresh oil, filter, spark plugs etc.
Also replaced clutch and aircon dryer unit...
They spent a few weeks road testing and setting up then called me in September to say it's ready for collection, so I went over & grabbed it on a Friday afternoon and immediately took it away for the weekend. Initially all seemed well (except I pinged on the airbag light when I adjusted the driver seat) but after a few miles I started to notice an intermittent hesitation at around 3000rpm - couldn't be reproduced at will annoyingly - just every now & then, and would drive beautifully in the rev range either side of the hesitation.
So back to ML last week - they drove the car and couldn't reproduce the fault but it did ping up O2/lambda sensor faults so, belt and braces, changed both - picked up Saturday morning & I've driven a few hundred miles this weekend and no hesitation whatsoever - and indeed it actually feels way more responsive, so I'm pretty sure that it's now 100%.
Which means for the first time since Lee took the car away for it's overhaul in March, I have had the chance to properly put it through it's paces. And oh my god it is delivering on every level! The rebuilt engine feels VERY STRONG and all the work Lee & the ZedShed team put into the suspension is paying dividends too as the handling is CRISP! I did 80 miles across the south downs and loved every yard of it.
It's been an expensive year for this car...
£15k on zedshed/engine
£3.5k on bodywork & ppf
£1k on enhancements (exhaust, rear diffuser etc.)
So basically just shy of £20k it's cost me this year and so far, I've not even run 1000 miles in it!
Was planning to SORN it end of October but I might have to keep it going until end of November and put some more miles on it now it's running so nicely.
Roll on 2022!