Fantastic! Love to get down there when I've finally got my Z300S conversion done. And increased the range a bit...and added fast charging...
Rebody Z3 to Kobra build thread
Latest on my Kobra build is that I have fitted new dash and associated instruments. I have tried to keep it simple and minimum required. That suits my pocket and skills. Still have a few things to sort (making vinyl covering look less sh*** and fitting basic glovebox. No stereo in the car now.
I had made some new doorcards but they were made of too thick ply so having another attempt soon. Will post further pics as progress made.
I had made some new doorcards but they were made of too thick ply so having another attempt soon. Will post further pics as progress made.
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Steve, thanks. Yes they are. I went for oil pressure, water temp, fuel level, clock, speedo and tacho. I prefer the minimal approach. Kept std light switch and hazard switches to keep that simple. Most other switches and tell-tales were from Europa or Bowers.
Dave
Today I progressed the new dash a bit.
Cut the vinyl (cheapskate so not leather dash covering) to make way and fit the glovebox.
Also changed my fog light switch and tell tale solution.
I had fitted a foglight switch that had an led integral to the switch which is neat. However this lit up every time the switch was on. Due to the OEM BMW style of energising and de-energising the foglight relay it meant that during the cycle of switching on and off I would have a light on the dash saying foglights were on when they were not.
So I took the view that BMW thought it best to have the fused supply and relay so kept all that in place. I replaced the Led switch with a plain metal toggle type and installed a tell tale light on the dash next to it. All I needed to do was find which connector and wire on the instrument cluster wiring was used and tee into it. (X271 (Black) /5)
Cut the vinyl (cheapskate so not leather dash covering) to make way and fit the glovebox.
Also changed my fog light switch and tell tale solution.
I had fitted a foglight switch that had an led integral to the switch which is neat. However this lit up every time the switch was on. Due to the OEM BMW style of energising and de-energising the foglight relay it meant that during the cycle of switching on and off I would have a light on the dash saying foglights were on when they were not.
So I took the view that BMW thought it best to have the fused supply and relay so kept all that in place. I replaced the Led switch with a plain metal toggle type and installed a tell tale light on the dash next to it. All I needed to do was find which connector and wire on the instrument cluster wiring was used and tee into it. (X271 (Black) /5)
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jaguartvr
Zorg Guru (I)
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2017
- Points
- 95
Dash is a great improvement, I have used leather and vinyl in the past but in the future, I will use leather on the seat faces and vinyl for everything else.
Shame about the fog switch as I have the same that I was intending to use for the fog and spotlights, I will have a grovel to Gookah and see if he has a solution.
The car builder solutions hazard switch is easy to wire in and looks much better than the BMW stock item. Whilst you are fitting it you can get rid of your embarrassing "rucked up knicker" syndrome!
Place a straight edge on both edges of the dash and then measure how much further back the centre of the dash is. You can then replicate this on the workbench and refit the vinyl and lose the baggy knicker look, a pain but worth doing/
Shame about the fog switch as I have the same that I was intending to use for the fog and spotlights, I will have a grovel to Gookah and see if he has a solution.
The car builder solutions hazard switch is easy to wire in and looks much better than the BMW stock item. Whilst you are fitting it you can get rid of your embarrassing "rucked up knicker" syndrome!
Place a straight edge on both edges of the dash and then measure how much further back the centre of the dash is. You can then replicate this on the workbench and refit the vinyl and lose the baggy knicker look, a pain but worth doing/
I like the dash too Dave, it looks spot on to me.
Tony.
Tony.
I will stick with the baggy knicker thanks Steve. I’m also going to stick with stock hazard switch too. I feel that if the new owner (when I pop my clogs) wants to fix these they can. Taking the dash back out etc is a task I’m not sure I want to go through again.
If you want to get around the led switch you can look at wiring fogs all the way back to the switch itself. This could bypass the fuse in place for them of course. Relay K29 under dash left side is where the necessary wiring resides connectors 8 and 4 perform the switching while 2 and 9 are where the energising from the foglight switch happens.I didn’t want to rewire too much and now that I consider it I’m not too keen on the led style metal toggles. They look ok but not particularly period.
Good luck in using them. Every thing we do is a bit of a challenge !
Oh and thanks for posting the DM article on Madabout. Have taken the liberty in sharing it on FB as interesting pics.
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Thanks Tony
Another year another MOT. This year was a fail pass as the headlight alignment was not correct. The garage testing rectified the problem so have another year. Most pleasing fact that this was the first year with the replacement dash. Have a new mileage too. Only done 600+ miles 
Very little to report recently.
Another year and another MOT pass in a new location. The Tester was intrigued by the kobra and what should / shouldn't be fitted. On V5 it's a Kobra. On MOT dbase it's still a Z3 dammit...
Another year and another MOT pass in a new location. The Tester was intrigued by the kobra and what should / shouldn't be fitted. On V5 it's a Kobra. On MOT dbase it's still a Z3 dammit...
So many different databases.
Do the dvla tax check and the car make/model is same as v5
Do the dvla view mot history and you get BMW Z3 ignoring what's on the v5
Do the dvla check MOT status and you get the v5 name (so mot status and mot history don't use the same database)
Go to go.compare and key in a reg number find car and, 9 times out of 10 it'll say z3 ignoring what's on v5.
I'm sure there'll be cases where the above isn't true.
Do the dvla tax check and the car make/model is same as v5
Do the dvla view mot history and you get BMW Z3 ignoring what's on the v5
Do the dvla check MOT status and you get the v5 name (so mot status and mot history don't use the same database)
Go to go.compare and key in a reg number find car and, 9 times out of 10 it'll say z3 ignoring what's on v5.
I'm sure there'll be cases where the above isn't true.
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2011
- Points
- 145
Mine changed the name. He just needed to see the V5C and take a copy.
When did he do that? Recently? So the MOT guy changed the make model from z3 to something else? What did he change it to? Did you get a new v5 from dvla?
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2011
- Points
- 145
I will ask my tester to change mine if I take along the V5. I wish I had asked that before. Mind you the last testers I used didn't highlight my lack of warning dash lights as per a Z3.
We live and learn. Thanks Gary and Steve.
We live and learn. Thanks Gary and Steve.
So theres no need to send in the form V627