Hi All,
Some of you are already aware of my Z3 1.9 project. It was bought as a project car (a code word for cheap) and it has certainly been a project so far. The reason for having the project car was for something to play with over the winter with the aim of me and the wife driving the North Coast 500 this year. Should be nice with the top down
The car came with a number of issues: -
1. In need of a thermostat
2. Had a "Performance" air filter fitted
3. Decat exhaust fitted (very noisy)
4. Lowered by about 30mm and would catch on humps
5. Break in an air pipe
6. Hood would not go down fully
7. Hood needed to be "persuaded" to fasten back up to the top of the windscreen by manhandling it in to place
8. Rust on passenger rear wing (which turned in to a big hole when I started to sand it down)
9. Rust on both sills
10. Car would only lock and unlock from the boot. Physically could not turn the key in the door looks.
11. Interior digital clock is missing a couple of segments
12. Non-BMW wheels fitted.
13. Antenna was swapped to be a stubby. I knocked it and broke the antenna.
14. Seats move, needs replacement bushes. I have the bushes, just need to take the seats out and replace.
15. leather on the seats in need of a refurbish.
16. Front bumper scuff.
17. Interior light does not come on when you open the doors.The light in the boot comes on when you open the boot lid. INPA shows that the car says the interior light is on when you open the door and shows it as off when you close the doors so the door switches are working. The interior light works when you switch it to permanently on at the switch. Need to trace the wiring from the ZKE module to the light power line to see if there is a break.
18. When I get in to the picky items I need to have the carpet replaced. It's quite worn and has been through a lot of water ingress due to missing rubbers from the hood frame and the car being left out in the rain.
19. Missing rubbers from the hood frame that go over the door.
With a great deal of help and advise from all you lovely Z3 owners on the group, a lot of progress has so far been made on managing these issues.
Here is what has been completed so far: -
1. Swapped non-standard wheels back to standard wheels
2. Swapped the decat exhaust back to a standard
3. Put back all the standard air filter items
4. Local garage performed a full service and replacement thermostat and pipes. Also had corroded brake fuel pipes replaced. Rocket cover gasket changed as there was a small leak.
5. Replaced missing hood frame rubbers
6. Adjusted the hood on the frame and now it opens and closes as it should. It still operates without having to put the foot on the brake so there is still something to look at here.
7. Replaced rear passenger side wing with one of the same colour from a breaker.
8. Replaced sills with brand new sills which I had a paint shop spray for me. Sprayed with waxoyl before fitting.
9. Fixed the doors not operating by getting a replacement key from the dealers. Still had an issue with the drivers door which would not lock from the key or operate the central locking to lock from that door. This is now resolved and was down to a little piece of round plastic that holds a bar which operates the mechanical lock. Put the plastic back in place so that the bar did not slip and it now works perfect. Spent agents trying to track down an electrical fault when it turned out to be a quick and easy fix.
10. Fixed the antenna by soldering the broken wire and gluing back together.
11. Put back the standard springs.
Some of you are already aware of my Z3 1.9 project. It was bought as a project car (a code word for cheap) and it has certainly been a project so far. The reason for having the project car was for something to play with over the winter with the aim of me and the wife driving the North Coast 500 this year. Should be nice with the top down
The car came with a number of issues: -
1. In need of a thermostat
2. Had a "Performance" air filter fitted
3. Decat exhaust fitted (very noisy)
4. Lowered by about 30mm and would catch on humps
5. Break in an air pipe
6. Hood would not go down fully
7. Hood needed to be "persuaded" to fasten back up to the top of the windscreen by manhandling it in to place
8. Rust on passenger rear wing (which turned in to a big hole when I started to sand it down)
9. Rust on both sills
10. Car would only lock and unlock from the boot. Physically could not turn the key in the door looks.
11. Interior digital clock is missing a couple of segments
12. Non-BMW wheels fitted.
13. Antenna was swapped to be a stubby. I knocked it and broke the antenna.
14. Seats move, needs replacement bushes. I have the bushes, just need to take the seats out and replace.
15. leather on the seats in need of a refurbish.
16. Front bumper scuff.
17. Interior light does not come on when you open the doors.The light in the boot comes on when you open the boot lid. INPA shows that the car says the interior light is on when you open the door and shows it as off when you close the doors so the door switches are working. The interior light works when you switch it to permanently on at the switch. Need to trace the wiring from the ZKE module to the light power line to see if there is a break.
18. When I get in to the picky items I need to have the carpet replaced. It's quite worn and has been through a lot of water ingress due to missing rubbers from the hood frame and the car being left out in the rain.
19. Missing rubbers from the hood frame that go over the door.
With a great deal of help and advise from all you lovely Z3 owners on the group, a lot of progress has so far been made on managing these issues.
Here is what has been completed so far: -
1. Swapped non-standard wheels back to standard wheels
2. Swapped the decat exhaust back to a standard
3. Put back all the standard air filter items
4. Local garage performed a full service and replacement thermostat and pipes. Also had corroded brake fuel pipes replaced. Rocket cover gasket changed as there was a small leak.
5. Replaced missing hood frame rubbers
6. Adjusted the hood on the frame and now it opens and closes as it should. It still operates without having to put the foot on the brake so there is still something to look at here.
7. Replaced rear passenger side wing with one of the same colour from a breaker.
8. Replaced sills with brand new sills which I had a paint shop spray for me. Sprayed with waxoyl before fitting.
9. Fixed the doors not operating by getting a replacement key from the dealers. Still had an issue with the drivers door which would not lock from the key or operate the central locking to lock from that door. This is now resolved and was down to a little piece of round plastic that holds a bar which operates the mechanical lock. Put the plastic back in place so that the bar did not slip and it now works perfect. Spent agents trying to track down an electrical fault when it turned out to be a quick and easy fix.
10. Fixed the antenna by soldering the broken wire and gluing back together.
11. Put back the standard springs.
