Jim's Z3 Journey

[Sean d]

Great write up James. When I changed the heat pad on my sport seat, I cheated a bit with the hog rings. I used heavy duty cable ties, much easier, no fighting with two pairs of pliers

I also did that with the m seats as there are about 3 times as many

 

[Jjim]

After Blues recent visit to the ZedShed, @Lee pointed out that the centre exhaust mount and rubber needed to be replaced.

So last week I ordered the mount and rubber, along with some new anti roll bar (front and rear) brackets and nuts. I ordered them from the official BMW parts on eBay
https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/bmw_direct

These arrived promptly and I decided to give them an additional sacrificial coating of Hammerite just to help against the dreaded rust.

How they arrived

Painted up and ready to be fitted

Front anti roll bar brackets fitted

Rear anti roll bar brackets fitted

Then the centre exhaust mount and rubber fitted

The old rubber was definitely past its best, and when Lee removed it to do the rear beam. It was being held in place by zip ties

Whilst the spare wheel was out I ran the wire rotary brush over the wheel and bracket and gave them both a coat of Hammerite

 

[Michael Burridge]

I have a spare beam taken from my 2.8 its free if someone wants it but it may have to be collection.
I powdercoated another before i swapped so the beam is fine, it wasn't replaced for issues

Great job!

I'm just thinking about doing the same but its a daunting challenge (I'm getting carried away now I've got my sills off )

 

[Jjim]

My Silver ‘97 1.9 has slowly been progressing over time with more and more AC Schnitzer parts being added.

My latest addition is a genuine AC Schnitzer steering wheel. Unfortunately the one I found was in a bit of a sad state, but the leather was still intact. Time for a refurb

The steering wheel in its raw state as I received it

So the carbon wings were removed, the leather cleaned downed and prepped.

There were a couple deep scrapes on the leather, so these were filled and flattened a couple of times.

I then applied 4 coats of black nappa dye, and then 4 coats of Matt sealer.

The top clear coat on the carbon wings was extremely discoloured and peeling. So the clear coat was removed and 2 layers of clear resin applied. Between the layers wet and dry sanding was used to level out high and low spots.

The finished wheel

Happy with the end result

Just waiting to fit it to the Z3. Problem is the Z3 is in storage 260 miles away, and I’m in lockdown till who knows when

 

[t-tony]

My Silver ‘97 1.9 has slowly been progressing over time with more and more AC Schnitzer parts being added.

My latest addition is a genuine AC Schnitzer steering wheel. Unfortunately the found was in a bit of a sad state, but the leather was still intact. Time for a refurb

The steering wheel in its raw state as I received it
View attachment 139705
View attachment 139707 View attachment 139709 View attachment 139711


So the carbon wings were removed, the leather cleaned downed and prepped.

View attachment 139713


There were a couple deep scrapes on the leather, so these were filled and flattened a couple of times.

View attachment 139715 View attachment 139717


I then applied 4 coats of black nappa dye, and then 4 coats of Matt sealer.

View attachment 139719 View attachment 139721 View attachment 139723 View attachment 139725 View attachment 139735


The top clear coat on the carbon wings was extremely discoloured and peeling. So the clear coat was removed and 2 layers of clear resin applied. Between the layers wet and dry sanding was used to level out high and low spots.

View attachment 139727 View attachment 139729 View attachment 139731 View attachment 139733 View attachment 139739


The finished wheel

View attachment 139737 View attachment 139741 View attachment 139743


Happy with the end result

Just waiting to fit it to the Z3. Problem is the Z3 is in storage 260 miles away, and I’m in lockdown till who knows when

Looks fantastic Jim, you really did a great job mate.

Tony.

 

[Jack Ratt]

Nice job Jim. I don't think I've ever seen an AC steering wheel before. What was it fitted to?

 

[Jjim]

Looks fantastic Jim, you really did a great job mate.

Tony.

Thanks

Nice job Jim. I don't think I've ever seen an AC steering wheel before. What was it fitted to?

Thanks. These were fitted to E36 and Z3

 

[TaffDaddy]

That's a complete transformation. Looks superb

 

[Jjim]

That's a complete transformation. Looks superb

Thanks, can’t wait to get it installed.

 

[g8jka]

That's an amazing transformation, you must be chuffed how well it's turned out. Great job!

 

[Althulas]

Great restoration on the carbon Jim. That type of wheel looks so much better than the standard big air bag cover.

 

[Jjim]

Today I recovered Blue’s steering wheel tabs with some spare door card leather.

The original

The new ones

The more astute of you might have noticed some interior missing. With the lockdown in progress I’ve taken the opportunity to attend to the extended leather shrinkage issue. So the dash pods are now with a leather trimmer, and original samples have been sent off for a leather dye match. The plan is to clean and recolour all the extended leather parts and the seat bolsters.

 

[t-tony]

Will be a bit special when you’ve done mate. Look forward to seeing it Jim.

Tony.

 

[Jjim]

Will be a bit special when you’ve done mate. Look forward to seeing it Jim.

Tony.

Thanks Tony. Just hoping that the leather dye colour is good.

 

[TaffDaddy]

Looks good. I like the flat bottomed wheel. Does it feel better than the standard Royal?

 

[Jjim]

Looks good. I like the flat bottomed wheel. Does it feel better than the standard Royal?

Thanks.
I just like the shape of the flat bottom. I feel I have more space between my legs and the wheel - probably just a placebo though.

 

[ktnez99]

My Silver ‘97 1.9 has slowly been progressing over time with more and more AC Schnitzer parts being added.

My latest addition is a genuine AC Schnitzer steering wheel. Unfortunately the one I found was in a bit of a sad state, but the leather was still intact. Time for a refurb

The steering wheel in its raw state as I received it
View attachment 139705
View attachment 139707 View attachment 139709 View attachment 139711


So the carbon wings were removed, the leather cleaned downed and prepped.

View attachment 139713


There were a couple deep scrapes on the leather, so these were filled and flattened a couple of times.

View attachment 139715 View attachment 139717


I then applied 4 coats of black nappa dye, and then 4 coats of Matt sealer.

View attachment 139719 View attachment 139721 View attachment 139723 View attachment 139725 View attachment 139735


The top clear coat on the carbon wings was extremely discoloured and peeling. So the clear coat was removed and 2 layers of clear resin applied. Between the layers wet and dry sanding was used to level out high and low spots.

View attachment 139727 View attachment 139729 View attachment 139731 View attachment 139733 View attachment 139739


The finished wheel

View attachment 139737 View attachment 139741 View attachment 139743


Happy with the end result

Just waiting to fit it to the Z3. Problem is the Z3 is in storage 260 miles away, and I’m in lockdown till who knows when

Great looking restoration job @Jjim You have done a superb job there.
What do you use to remove the clear coating from the inserts? Makes interesting reading: thanks.

 

[Jjim]

Great looking restoration job @Jjim You have done a superb job there.
What do you use to remove the clear coating from the inserts? Makes interesting reading: thanks.

Thanks.
The clear coat was already peeling so I used a plastic tool, from a kit for changing iPhone screens, to scrap and remove the coating.

 

[ktnez99]

Thanks.
The clear coat was already peeling so I used a plastic tool, from a kit for changing iPhone screens, to scrap and remove the coating.

Gosh! That sounds very time consuming. I thought you’d say a spray or liquid to dissolve it and then wipe away.

 

[Jjim]

Gosh! That sounds very time consuming. I thought you’d say a spray or liquid to dissolve it and then wipe away.

Afraid not, it was a very time consuming process, as I had to ensure that the carbon fibre weave was not damaged