J20 - BMW Z3 Project

[Jess]

Exterior part 2
Because these cars are mostly bolt on panels the rebuild was fairly quick although, we had to be careful of the paintwork as it takes a long time to harden fully. Once all panels were back on the car Jason fitted front fog lights & a switch inside the car for these. He also fitted the angel eye headlights that I had purchased, really helpful post found on here to help with that and fitted the clear side repeater lenses & one replacement side light lens as the original had some crazing.
We purchased new BMW badges & replaced all of the ones that were on the car with these (except the 'Z3' which is the original). Jason gave all the wheels a good clean & once back on the car he replaced all the centre BMW badges with shiny new ones. Number plate holder & new number plates were also fitted.
A few pictures below at different stages:
Ready for & during rebuild





Fog lights fitted & lit


Angel Eye Headlights fitted

 

[Jess]

Exterior part 3
Just a quick post about the hood. The hood had been replaced at some point in the last 10 years so was in good condition but having been stood up for 2.5 years outside uncovered it was rather green & the rear window was milky & had some light scratches. Jason pressure washed & agitated the material with a stiff brush and steam cleaned the hood, this has got rid of the majority of the green but there are still the odd patches which will be dealt with come the warmer weather. The rear window was wet sanded with 3000 grit on a 75mm rotary polisher. A random orbital polisher was then used to compound & polish the window both inside & out.
Before

After

 

[Jess]

Good evening everyone, I have been looking forward to writing this post since we started the project in September 2020. Last weekend we had a nice day weather wise so gave the zed a clean & had a 'topping out' ceremony by adding the final touch... the new front badge on the bonnet. I am going to have the paintwork protected however, the fresh paint still needs time to vent & harden so this will be done in March. This is also when I will get the car MOT'd (fingers crossed for a straight pass) ready for putting on the road in April. I have a daily runner so the zed will be used mainly for fun spring/summer days
Below are some pictures of my finished zed, I am really pleased with the result & hope you all like too:
Before

After

 

[Althulas]

Nice job.

 

[Jess]

My little zed hiding from the snow we've had & are continuing to have today

 

[Ian&Sue]

Looking good Jess. Great job.

 

[Jess]

Today I am taking the spare wheel to our local Wilco's in Norwich to have the tyre put back on. The spare wheel was severely rusty so Jason has rubbed it down, rust treated & repainted it in a black base coat & semi gloss lacquer. It looks so much better and is another step forward in getting the Zed on the road

 

[DavidM]

Read this thread with interest, Jess - great work!

 

[Jess]

Never call a project car finished
As it is such a lovely day I thought I would provide a quick update. We have been waiting for the new paintwork to vent & harden fully, so the Z3 has been undercover waiting very patiently for MOT day. Whilst I too have been waiting, I have had some more time to think (& shop) so I now have a further list of jobs to do before MOT day:

• Fit clear rear lights
• Replace side light bulbs with led's
• Fit replacement door cards thanks to @Mario for these
• Fit Radio
• Fit interior led 'ambient' lighting
• Fit wind deflector
• Paintwork to be lightly detailed & protected

I think that's everything pictures to follow when there is space in the garage for the car to go in

 

[TrevD66]

Looking great @Jess ..... great to see how your Zed has progressed

 

[Jess]

Hi everyone

The Zed went back into the garage last week for the finishing touches to be made

Jason fitted the clear rear lights, it should have been a simple change but for some reason the bulb holder wasn't the same fitment as the old amber set however, these were easily swapped over & chrome bulbs installed. I think that the clear rear lights look great & it has meant that the 'clear' theme now flows from front to back.


Next job was to swap the bulbs in the side lights for led's, the more yellow light wasnt complimenting the halo's of the angel eyes so led's were the answer! These are now much brighter & look great


On to the interior & Jason fitted my new to me immaculate door cards, courtesy of & big thanks to @Mario for these They look fantastic & have really lifted the interior of car



Another job that needed doing was installing the aftermarket Sony DSX-A410BT radio I had purchased. I decided not to spend a fortune on the radio as the car won't be a daily driver however, I did want Bluetooth for handsfree calls. I have to say I am impressed so far with the sound quality on calls & music but it's not the easiest bit of kit to use & annoyingly you can't seem to change the display colour which is bright red so I will be dimming this as much as possible.


The next interior item was fitting the coloured led strip lights I had bought, Jason fitted these in the footwells & behind the seats & wired them to the ignition so that they will switch on & off with the car ignition unless I manually switch them off with the remote (safer as knowing me I would forget to switch them off with the remote & get a flat battery). Naturally some of the colours are stronger than others but they look pretty cool IMO & I'm really pleased with this little mod.


Jason lightly detailed the paintwork & protected it with GTECHNIQ EXO Hydrophobic Coating & GTECHNIQ Crystal Serum, I have this on my Ford Focus & it really does help keep the paintwork in good condition (it is also easier to clean...always a bonus) so I was eager for the Zed to have the same treatment. He also cleaned the hood again and protected that as well.


Last but not least yesterday we put the hood down & attached the wind deflector to the roll hoops. I considered an OEM one (but they are hard to find in good condition) & plain/tinted perspex but eventually I found this on ebay & just loved the etched BMW Z3 logo (I think some other zorg owners have this too so I've joined good company )


So J20 is now ready & booked in for MOT on Wednesday, fingers crossed for a pass!



Thank you for reading & following the 'recommissioning' of my Z3! As a project I have throughly enjoyed it, I am really pleased with the result & I can't wait to get out & start meeting some of you for drives/at shows

 

[Jess]

I will keep this thread updated on whats happening with J20 & if I do anything else.... just got to stop myself from finding another Z3 project now

 

[andyglym]

A great thread, your Zed looks superb

 

[Jess]

A great thread, your Zed looks superb

Thank you, lots of hard work & money but absolutely worth it! We took her to fill up with fuel yesterday (1min up road) & someone at the garage stopped to chat & admired her (drove a Mercedes but knew his BMW Zeds!) Makes it all worthwhile

 

[Jess]

MOT day for a straight pass!

 

[Jess]

MOT day for a straight pass!

It passed, no advisories & great emissions whoop whoop The garage also checked & adjusted the tracking, headlights & the handbrake whilst she was there. She's now taxed & ready for a drive out with the roof down this evening if the weather improves...

Unfortunately although the tyres weren't an advisory they are a cheap make, the wrong size, are losing pressure & have some flat spots due to not moving for 2.5years so I will be replacing all 4 tyres come Saturday which is a bit sooner than I had hoped but better to get it sorted before I really want to start using her lots Anybody got any tyre brands they recommend for the 1.8 z3?

 

[Jess]

Size really does matter!
So on the first couple of trips out in my Z3 it really didn't feel good, handling was off and actually made both me & my mum feel motion sick (not unusual for me but very unusual for Mum). The tyres on the car were 215/55 R16 so a bit of an odd size on that vehicle, we knew they were losing pressure and having sat & gone flat over 2.5 years probably had worn on those areas. A quick phone call to our Norwich Fast Fit & they ordered a set of 225/50 R16's in for us & they were fitted yesterday. The difference is incredible! The car now sits better, ride height is a little bit higher, handles amazingly, is a much smoother ride & most importantly no more motion sickness.....yay lol
Anyway I'm all set now for 6months of top down motoring

 

[andyglym]

These cars are very much tyre dependant, for some reason.

 

[miller1098]

Just caught up what a great write up ,really like what you’ve done.you should be proud

 

[Jess]

Just caught up what a great write up ,really like what you’ve done.you should be proud

Thank you @miller1098 I am so pleased with it and its great fun to drive