Hey everyone!
At the beginning this will look like a 'what broke then got fixed' thread rather than a progress thread, however, this car is allowing me to learn and develop my skills, driving wise and mechanically, whilst at the same time slowly building the car up wherever I can
So I've had my 1.9L 1997 Z3 for around a year and 9 months and it's gone through a fair bit already. I do have plans for it so hopefully I'll get around to those!
Day 1:
Here I am test driving the car. I was beyond scared to say the least. Whilst the 1.9 may not be huge, it's a world apart from my Peugeot 206 1.1L. The car drove and worked and I was happy with it. Then followed the 3 hour journey home, plenty of time to fall utterly in love with her! Although being honest, I was exhausted from making sure I didn't crash the car, making sure no one else hit my car... and looking out for yellow boxes and flashing lights
First Mod:
From this
To this
17" alloys with bigger tires. I love the look but you can tell the increase in road noise.
Oh and a slight parking spot change
First heart break:
Failing her MOT with some small issues and a killer. Both rear control arms were rotten. BMW quoted £1029 a side.
The response from the forum was great. I don't think I've ever seen a thread turn from 'They don't know what they're talking about' to ' You're fmcuk'd mate'
The garage who I took the car to for a second opinion said they can weld it with thicker steel and it passed its MOT afterwards! Everything seems to be holding since.
Heart break 2: The snapped spring that killed Silverstone
The week building up to the Zroadster taster day at Silverstone I serviced the car and got the pads changed ready to go on track. Unfortunately when changing the pads, the snapped spring showed itself.
After a few weeks of using all available luck both front springs were swapped out for Monroe springs.
For normal road use these springs are well balanced and well...not broken! Huge thanks to @t-tony at the Midlands Zedshed HQ!
Also, don't go for Pagid pads, they're hardly worn and now squealing like a pig
Break fluid change:
The fluid that came out wasn't terrible but it had certainly aged. A new can of TYP200 fluid in and the breaks feel great!
8/6/18 Revision- A lot of vibration under breaking. Either I didn't bleed the brakes properly or maybe wheel balancing issue?
The current problem:
Leaking oil, the suspect is the oil filter housing gasket. More learning and more fun!
8/6/18 Revision- I've sourced the parts to fix this, gasket, bearing and bearing seal. Now I need to find time to do it. In the meantime the car is being fed oil like a rotary.
At the beginning this will look like a 'what broke then got fixed' thread rather than a progress thread, however, this car is allowing me to learn and develop my skills, driving wise and mechanically, whilst at the same time slowly building the car up wherever I can
So I've had my 1.9L 1997 Z3 for around a year and 9 months and it's gone through a fair bit already. I do have plans for it so hopefully I'll get around to those!
Day 1:
Here I am test driving the car. I was beyond scared to say the least. Whilst the 1.9 may not be huge, it's a world apart from my Peugeot 206 1.1L. The car drove and worked and I was happy with it. Then followed the 3 hour journey home, plenty of time to fall utterly in love with her! Although being honest, I was exhausted from making sure I didn't crash the car, making sure no one else hit my car... and looking out for yellow boxes and flashing lights
First Mod:
From this
To this
17" alloys with bigger tires. I love the look but you can tell the increase in road noise.
Oh and a slight parking spot change
First heart break:
Failing her MOT with some small issues and a killer. Both rear control arms were rotten. BMW quoted £1029 a side.
The response from the forum was great. I don't think I've ever seen a thread turn from 'They don't know what they're talking about' to ' You're fmcuk'd mate'
The garage who I took the car to for a second opinion said they can weld it with thicker steel and it passed its MOT afterwards! Everything seems to be holding since.
Heart break 2: The snapped spring that killed Silverstone
The week building up to the Zroadster taster day at Silverstone I serviced the car and got the pads changed ready to go on track. Unfortunately when changing the pads, the snapped spring showed itself.
After a few weeks of using all available luck both front springs were swapped out for Monroe springs.
For normal road use these springs are well balanced and well...not broken! Huge thanks to @t-tony at the Midlands Zedshed HQ!
Also, don't go for Pagid pads, they're hardly worn and now squealing like a pig
Break fluid change:
The fluid that came out wasn't terrible but it had certainly aged. A new can of TYP200 fluid in and the breaks feel great!
8/6/18 Revision- A lot of vibration under breaking. Either I didn't bleed the brakes properly or maybe wheel balancing issue?
The current problem:
Leaking oil, the suspect is the oil filter housing gasket. More learning and more fun!
8/6/18 Revision- I've sourced the parts to fix this, gasket, bearing and bearing seal. Now I need to find time to do it. In the meantime the car is being fed oil like a rotary.
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