#ZedShed Ade’s Stunning Silver 3.0

[Lee]

This week I took delivery Adrian’s stunning 3.0 Zed, this car is in fantastic condition so taking her apart has been a joy. She in for a whole host of work. Basically a full front to back overhaul of the main mechanical items. We don’t need to powdercoat due to everything being in such good condition.

bodywork is also brilliant

Rear running gear

front

So today I begun the full strip down. First up was getting the sports springs out, these are the only items I’m powder coating as they’re rare and need to be protected.

didn’t take long

funny because at the time of writing this the springs are already done and waiting to be collected.

Next up was the subframe. Need to drop this to fit the new beam bushes

Next up I need to remove the gearbox, Adrian is finding the notchy 1st -2nd gear an annoyance so I’ll be fitting new pins to 1-3 gears.

amazing how it’s only the rear straps that show any age.

new straps on.

beam bushes removed waiting

gearbox also waiting for pins now

was a 07:30am start to avoid the heat but got it all done by 5pm result . Now I’m just waiting on shocks to arrive and gearbox pins. Called Sachs today and they said they’re no longer making Z3 shocks, they’ve sold out of rear shocks and now clearing the fronts they have left, this is slightly worrying to hear.

 

[Lee]

Nice little update. Not many parts arrived but I did refit the front shocks, gave the engine a service also fitted the new Fuel filter.

Bits ready to go.

testing out the new spring compressor

handy bit of kit.

all fitted.

all looking tidy up front

next the Zed got some fresh oil. Can see she’s not long had a service, filter was in good condition and so was the oil.

Waiting for the oil to drain

new oil supplied by Adrian. Never seen this brand before

next up was the messy fuel filter.

old filter, couldn’t find a date but I did write the date of install on the new filter

tomorrow I’ll be doing the rest of the suspension and Gearbox shift pins

 

[Zephyr]

Great Job.
fyi Mannol is a German brand and a trademark that belongs to a mega-dealer of engine oils.
They were bulk sellers of lubricants back in the day and decided to have their own brand along with the rest they were selling.
after some years using the network of retailers that they provided with other brands, they penetrated the market with this brand and now have an established name in Germany, India, Russia and former eastern countries.
no idea about the quality of engine oils but we use their products (under the SCT brand) im Greece quite a lot and they also sell their "own" spark plugs, air filters, coils etc.
in reality the oils are Aral and the rest are brands like Boach, Mann, Wurth etc that they buy bulk and sell for less.

 

[Lee]

Really rattling through the jobs on this car. First job today was the gearbox shift pins. Very common finding 1st - 2nd very notchy and this solves it every time.

First pin going in with new head and spring

Moving on

full house. All old pins extracted.

ready to go back in.

next job was replacing the rear shocks, little work for big gains here

Ready to rock

lovely job

next job was to remove the lollipop bushes and fit Z3M bushes. These put up a real fight but after a bit of talking dirty they came off.

was about to install but I don’t think these are Z3M bushes so need to check.

just waiting on the beam bushes now and she’ll be very nearly finished. I also did the gearbox oil which came out very clean so it’s clearly been looked after over the years.

 

[AntStark]

I thought the Z3M ones were solid rubber, no holes @Lee Also did Sachs say why they are no longer making z3 shocks ?

 

[t-tony]

I thought the ///M bushes were "off centre".

Tony.

 

[Lee]

Did some of the final jobs today. Got the lollipop bushes fitted that took some going fitting them while the wishbones were already fitted, also did the diff oil change, Ariel grommet was fitted. Also finished off just doing the cruise control retrofit.

Wishbone bushes changed

Ariel now replaced and water tight

Diff oil looked really dirty, been in there a while.

Last job of the day was retro fitting the cruise control. If you look really closely you can see the connector hidden up out the way.

Hoping to test drive her tomorrow.

 

[AntStark]

What does a cruise control retro fit involve @Lee ?

 

[Lee]

What does a cruise control retro fit involve @Lee ?

Not a lot on the M54 platform. All plug n play.

 

[Lee]

Big final push today. Been struggling to get the bits delivered for these builds, I’m assuming the delivery companies are short staffed.

First job this morning was beam bushes and subframe re assembly.

Much better looking fresh.

ready to be re attached to the car.

Very hard fitting this back on the car solo, I need an apprentice.

there we go, this is how the beam bushes should sit, nice n proud off the plate.

back end re assembled, now onto the rest of the car.

few hours later and she’s looking grand, ready for the full brake flush
Safe to say the old brake fluid was long past its best. Looked like coffee. All lines flushed with fresh Dot 4.

while working my way round the brakes I noticed the front brake pads were very low. Be rude not to fit some fresh pads.

moneys worth out of those pads

last job refit the wheels and test drive. Drive was spot on, feels more confident now the back ends not moving. Also tested the cruise control and that works fine. Last little job is the Airbag light, out of my depth here so have a car Autotech guy coming over tomorrow. I have both faults with the drivers seats (occupancy & tensioner) I’m guessing a wiring issue as the fuses are ok.

 

[andyglym]

Looks pretty solid underneath mate

 

[Lee]

The plot thickens with Adriens Airbag fault. Diagnostics pointed towards the main Airbag control module being at fault, this needed us to remove the centre console to inspect it only to find it was the incorrect module for a Z3, so someone had been here previous trying to sort the issue.

Once we fitted a Z3 airbag module and set it up the fault pointed towards the passenger seat occupancy sensor. Looping it out showed the fault clear so a part has been ordered, fingers crossed this is the end of the airbag light as it’s been on for some time.

Looking closer you can now see it says V2.5 and now Z3. Before it stated V3.6 and Z4. Assuming the newer module uses the wrong coding to operate the system.

Every day is a school day when it comes to electronics for me.

Incorrect module removed. Notice V 3.6 & Z4

 

[AntStark]

That doesn’t look like a 5 minute job

 

[Mint]

The plot thickens with Adriens Airbag fault. Diagnostics pointed towards the main Airbag control module being at fault, this needed us to remove the centre console to inspect it only to find it was the incorrect module for a Z3, so someone had been here previous trying to sort the issue.

Once we fitted a Z3 airbag module at set it up the fault pointed towards the passenger seat occupancy sensor. Looping it out showed the fault to clear so a part has been ordered, fingers crossed this is the end of the airbag light as it’s been on for some time.


View attachment 308241
Looking closer you can now see it says V2.5 and now Z3. Before it stated V3.6 and Z4. Assuming the newer module uses the wrong coding to run operate the system.
View attachment 308243
Every day is a school day when it comes to electronics for me.

Incorrect module removed. Notice V 3.6 & Z4
View attachment 308245

Great result, well done chaps

 

[Lee]

So to close this build thread out. The airbag issue continued for a number of weeks, after we replaced the module we could then interrogate the system and see a passenger occupency issue. But no matter how many emulators I tried it would never clear. In the end I had to call our auto electrician to work his magic, this took some serious time to pin him down, after a few weeks I managed to get him over and he confirmed the original unit to be dead (likely a broken soldered joint) he then had to alter to code to make the light clear and bring the system back online. He muttered some other stuff which I didn’t have a clue about. =((

on a big positive Adrian collected today and found the car blew his mind. Another car ready for many more summers.

 

[as400]

Did changing the pins make for a smoother gear change?...mines still a bugger sometimes getting into 1st.

 

[Lee]

Did changing the pins make for a smoother gear change?...mines still a bugger sometimes getting into 1st.

Yeah common thing we do to all ZF boxes that have notchy gear changes.

 

[Ade33]

A little update from me the owner of this car a year on from when I picked up my Z3 3.0 from Lee's workshop near Basingstoke..

I had owned this car for two years prior, having bought an immaculate low mileage example which was produced in the last two months of Z3 production..It's a sport model which apart from meaning it had all the bells and whistles fitted as standard, it has special sports M suspension fitted which is a bit firmer than the standard Z3 but not as firm as the Z3M model. It looked and went ok and had never let me down but I never felt that entirely confident with the handling..It had that judder/shake rattle & roll going over uneven roads from the front wheels and more disconcertingly had a slight feel of being on an elastic band when going on long sweeping bends which did not exactly inspire confidence..

We have a regular meeting of Z3s down at Cotwolds airport in the summer and last year I parked my Z3 next to another 3.0 owner.."Have you had your car sorted at Lee's yet?" enquired the owner?..He explained that despite his car passing an MOT he had taken it to the Zshed where Lee had literally transformed the way his car handled from being "a sack of potatoes enclosed in a rubber chassis" to something that had transformed into something "planted on rails and connected"

I was sceptical!..Yeah if you've spent all that money you are going to convince yourself it was money well spent irrespective of any major improvement I thought to myself!!

Anyway in the end I did end up taking it to the Zshed and asked Lee to overhaul the suspension and do any other work to the car he saw fit as the car is a keeper and my plan is to own it for many years.

Lee showed me (despite my car having passed an MOT with no advisories the previous week) that the rear beam bushes were completely shot..According to him unless they have been replaced already on a Z3 virtually all Z3s that come into his workshop have these rubber bushes deteriorated to an extent they need replacing (my car had only done 65,000 miles but is 23 years old)

The lower suspension arms "Lollipop" bushes were worn and I supplied Lee with genuine BMW supplied late Z3M /E35 M3 concentric rubber bushes..These are not solid like the early Z3 M bushes but have less holes than the standard Z3 lollipop bushes. My car has 17" rims as standard and these replacement bushes have worked well for me (not too harsh, not too soft) although I understand some folk prefer going the poly route.

...Anyway the day I picked up the car I asked Lee how it would feel before getting in it..He commented that it would feel as if it was sitting a bit higher at the back (this was because my old rear beam bushes had dropped)..... I got in the car to drive back to the Midlands

And
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WOW! An incredible difference..It's like a totally different car to drive and the enjoyment factor has increased by 100%..The handling now inspires confidence where safe for spirited driving. The gear change is smooth whereas before it had been notchy . Zero tramlining (Tyres not changed and running on existing)

A year late I've now covered over 3,500 trouble free miles. We have been all over the UK in it and next year a trip on the continent is planned. I can honestly say I never imagined a suspension overhaul could transform a car so much. Please bear in mind this was an immaculate low mileage car that we were starting from and not a high mileage neglected example..Basically these cars are now at least 22 years old and the original rubbers on the bushes on mine had has worn through age & shock absorbers were also not doing what they did when new.

I do wonder whether peoples views on the handling ability of Z3s has been made by either them driving or a friend driving a tired example ?

All I can say is that whether you take it to the Zshed or elsewhere or DIY, check out the wear on your suspension as a refresh can transform the enjoyment of your ownership of a Z3

Thanks Lee really appreciated what you did on my car ....