Hi all, thought that I would start a thread to document my journey of ownership of my summer toy.
Built - Aug 1997
Engine - 1.9 M44
Colour - Arctic Silver
Hood - Black
Interior - Red
I purchased her at the beginning of June 2017, for £1,500 and she was in excellent condition for her age.
The previous owner had had her for 13 years!
She came with a factory fitted AC Schnitzer bodykit and exhaust.
Interior and paintwork had been well looked after. The leather just needed cleaning and feeding.
Only 2 minor repairs we needed initially:
So, being as I can't sit still and that I have a bit of an affection for all things AC Schnitzer I got to work with some improvements / modifications.
First thing to be changed was the steering wheel. The original was an old style one that I did not like:
So I managed to source a E36 M3 tri-colour stitched wheel in good condition. When it arrived I gave it a good clean with warm water, then a leather shampoo clean with a soft toothbrush, left it to dry in the garage for a day and then a couple of goes with a leather conditioner. In the end the leather came up excellent, no longer shiny but soft and with a matt finish.
I also removed the 2 side tabs next to the airbag, sanded them down and attached some red leather to match the interior. Ever since I saw this colour combination in an E36 M3 Evo GT2 I wanted one, and loved the way it looked, so I gave it a go and thought the finished looked good
Next on the agenda were roll hoops. I managed to source a full set with all the fittings for £250. So as soon as they arrived and I got home from work I decided that I was going to do it in 2 stages - first strip out the old plastic trim and clean up what I found underneath and then fit the set in following day after work. Well, I got carried away and did it all in one evening (it was dark when I finished, so no photos then).
The kit was surprisingly easy to install without instructions or any guides, and luckily the breakers yard had included all the correct screws!!
Next, was the wheels and brakes. Now the original brakes didn't need replacing, as they had a lot of mileage left in them, but they were rubbish. The front discs were solid and not vented (286mm diameter and 12mm think) and the stopping power was a little underwhelming to say the least.
So I sourced some front calipers and carriers from a Z3 3.0 for £30 each. As these are the biggest ones that would fit without other modifications, and would allow discs up to 300mm diameter and 22mm thick.
Ordered some MTEC front and rear drilled and grooved vented discs and some EBC Ultimate Pads.
Installing the new calipers was a simple swap over process.
Prior to the swap, I cleaned up the new calipers and painted them red to match the colour theme with the rest of the car.
Whilst I had the discs off I also installed new handbrake shoes on the rear, as the originals were very very worn and one side didn't even work!
Whilst the wheels were off, it gave me a good excuse to fit my AC Schnitzer Type 2 non-racing 18" wheels I had stored in my loft
So I got the wheel wrapped in some new rubber - 225/40/18 front and 255/35/18 rear, for when it all went back together.
Quite happy with the end result:
Now as they have been in storage since I sold my E46 (about 5 years ago) they could do with a refurb. So I will be getting them powdercoated at the end of this summer, and when I finally get the E70 X5 back from a full engine rebuild
For now thou they will do for the rest of the summer and my trip down to Cornwall:
After the holiday, I managed to source a full electric hood with hydraulics, switch and mounting brackets. So a couple of weeks ago I stripped out most of the seats, interior trim, roll hops, boot trip, removed the entire roof and got to work.
Was great fun and and the poor Zed looked very sorry for herself. After fitting all the new parts, getting the hydraulic pump brackets welded in, fitting the new roof, refitting all the trim and seats it was a long weekend, but worth it. I enjoyed doing the work and really found out about how the car goes together.
Sorry no pics, as all there is really to look at is a new switch on the dash board!
On Monday my new (but used) gear knob and pedals arrived, and got them installed after work
As a result of these changes I have some bits for sale if anyone is interested in them - https://zroadster.org/threads/z3-wheels-bits.19244/
That all for now, but I am waiting for a couple of other bits to arrive
Built - Aug 1997
Engine - 1.9 M44
Colour - Arctic Silver
Hood - Black
Interior - Red
I purchased her at the beginning of June 2017, for £1,500 and she was in excellent condition for her age.
The previous owner had had her for 13 years!
She came with a factory fitted AC Schnitzer bodykit and exhaust.
Interior and paintwork had been well looked after. The leather just needed cleaning and feeding.
Only 2 minor repairs we needed initially:
- Replace - Passenger wing mirror motor
- Replace - Windscreen washer jet
So, being as I can't sit still and that I have a bit of an affection for all things AC Schnitzer I got to work with some improvements / modifications.
First thing to be changed was the steering wheel. The original was an old style one that I did not like:
So I managed to source a E36 M3 tri-colour stitched wheel in good condition. When it arrived I gave it a good clean with warm water, then a leather shampoo clean with a soft toothbrush, left it to dry in the garage for a day and then a couple of goes with a leather conditioner. In the end the leather came up excellent, no longer shiny but soft and with a matt finish.
I also removed the 2 side tabs next to the airbag, sanded them down and attached some red leather to match the interior. Ever since I saw this colour combination in an E36 M3 Evo GT2 I wanted one, and loved the way it looked, so I gave it a go and thought the finished looked good
Next on the agenda were roll hoops. I managed to source a full set with all the fittings for £250. So as soon as they arrived and I got home from work I decided that I was going to do it in 2 stages - first strip out the old plastic trim and clean up what I found underneath and then fit the set in following day after work. Well, I got carried away and did it all in one evening (it was dark when I finished, so no photos then).
The kit was surprisingly easy to install without instructions or any guides, and luckily the breakers yard had included all the correct screws!!
Next, was the wheels and brakes. Now the original brakes didn't need replacing, as they had a lot of mileage left in them, but they were rubbish. The front discs were solid and not vented (286mm diameter and 12mm think) and the stopping power was a little underwhelming to say the least.
So I sourced some front calipers and carriers from a Z3 3.0 for £30 each. As these are the biggest ones that would fit without other modifications, and would allow discs up to 300mm diameter and 22mm thick.
Ordered some MTEC front and rear drilled and grooved vented discs and some EBC Ultimate Pads.
Installing the new calipers was a simple swap over process.
Prior to the swap, I cleaned up the new calipers and painted them red to match the colour theme with the rest of the car.
Whilst I had the discs off I also installed new handbrake shoes on the rear, as the originals were very very worn and one side didn't even work!
Whilst the wheels were off, it gave me a good excuse to fit my AC Schnitzer Type 2 non-racing 18" wheels I had stored in my loft
So I got the wheel wrapped in some new rubber - 225/40/18 front and 255/35/18 rear, for when it all went back together.
Quite happy with the end result:
Now as they have been in storage since I sold my E46 (about 5 years ago) they could do with a refurb. So I will be getting them powdercoated at the end of this summer, and when I finally get the E70 X5 back from a full engine rebuild
For now thou they will do for the rest of the summer and my trip down to Cornwall:
After the holiday, I managed to source a full electric hood with hydraulics, switch and mounting brackets. So a couple of weeks ago I stripped out most of the seats, interior trim, roll hops, boot trip, removed the entire roof and got to work.
Was great fun and and the poor Zed looked very sorry for herself. After fitting all the new parts, getting the hydraulic pump brackets welded in, fitting the new roof, refitting all the trim and seats it was a long weekend, but worth it. I enjoyed doing the work and really found out about how the car goes together.
Sorry no pics, as all there is really to look at is a new switch on the dash board!
On Monday my new (but used) gear knob and pedals arrived, and got them installed after work
As a result of these changes I have some bits for sale if anyone is interested in them - https://zroadster.org/threads/z3-wheels-bits.19244/
That all for now, but I am waiting for a couple of other bits to arrive
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