Leaning on one side...

[Zooropa]

Hello everyone,

Looking for some of your expert advice on this one.

I have noticed that the Z3 is leaning slightly on the drivers side. I mean that the drivers side is lower than the passenger side. It appears to me that the lean is more pronounced at the back but that might just be perspective. I would need to measure it.

In case I haven't said, this is my first restoration so I am learning as I go.

Any ideas what to look for in diagnosing this?

Thanks in advance!

 

[t-tony]

Hello everyone,

Looking for some of your expert advice on this one.

I have noticed that the Z3 is leaning slightly on the drivers side. I mean that the drivers side is lower than the passenger side. It appears to me that the lean is more pronounced at the back but that might just be perspective. I would need to measure it.

In case I haven't said, this is my first restoration so I am learning as I go.

Any ideas what to look for in diagnosing this?

Thanks in advance!

First thing I would do is measure each corner from the wheel arch down to the ground with the car standing on a flat level surface and record them. This will give you a starting point to refer to later. Check each coil spring for any breaks or cracks, also the condition of the rubber pads they sit on. Also worth checking all tyres are the correct size too.

Tony.

 

[colb]

Good advice from t-tony, could be a broken spring(s),easy to check so that what I would look at first.

 

[Zooropa]

I'm pretty confident that the tyres are all correct. I am looking at replacing the shocks and springs all the way round (any advice on the best kits here would be ideal too btw) would it be easy to see any problems with the springs?

 

[t-tony]

Broken springs are easy to spot, if they break they usually wrap around themselves, or, the broken end falls off. The ends of a good spring will be "square" across the end of the coil from where it was machine cut when it was made. A broken one will have a sloped, ragged end, so if feeling with your fingers be careful as they can be sharp.

Tony.

ps. I see many more broken springs on BMWs at the rear, so start there. Added bonus rear ones much easier to change.

 

[billz]

Yes agree with Tony. Broken springs on the BMWs are more common than any other motor. They are notorious on the rear of the Z4 for snapping

 

[Brian H]

If the lean is only slight it could simply be that the Z3s had an inherent lean toward our drivers side from the factory, the car was built with the LHD market in mind, imagine a driver in the left of the car, the lean of the car is then balanced out.

 

[Redline]

If the lean is only slight it could simply be that the Z3s had an inherent lean toward our drivers side from the factory, the car was built with the LHD market in mind, imagine a driver in the left of the car, the lean of the car is then balanced out.

That sound plausible Brian, but, as they've made so many changes to convert to RHD already, a slight mod on something to change the stance wouldn't be a great addition surely. It would seem a cheapskate thing to do.

I can see that both rear springs on mine were changed before I bought it. With the current state of some of our roads, especially motorways, I'm not surprised that springs get broken.

 

[Brian H]

They did not design this out Ian, If you look at Z3s from the rear they all have a slight lean to them.

 

[Sully]

You can measure the ride height from arch to bottom of the wheel edge, there is an allowance of 10 mm across the axle
Like the lads have said they are common for rear springs to go, so I would be looking there first

 

[Jack Ratt]

Mine has a slight lean on offside front. It's only around 12mm but it's very noticable

 

[Eddie Zedder]

Check this out for ride height specs.
https://zroadster.org/threads/suspension-advice.17624/page-4

 

[Antm72]

Mine leans too about the same 10mm worked it out with spring pads on the rear.
Swapped the springs side to side to rule out and it made no difference.
It could be a poor spring/damper but equally it could be a subframe bush on a rear swing arm bush , play in these would give the same issue.

 

[Zooropa]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I'm going to measure it on all four corners tomorrow and have a look (with my untrained eyes) at the springs etc too. I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[hard top]

They did not design this out Ian, If you look at Z3s from the rear they all have a slight lean to them.

Sounds right to me as my car was LHD and we checked the ride height once at work and with me sat in it, it balanced out.

 

[Nodzed]

If the lean is only slight it could simply be that the Z3s had an inherent lean toward our drivers side from the factory, the car was built with the LHD market in mind, imagine a driver in the left of the car, the lean of the car is then balanced out.

Agree! They all have a slight lean to the UK drivers side, as I understand it its set up for single occupancy in the European / USA market.

 

[Gundun]

If the lean is only slight it could simply be that the Z3s had an inherent lean toward our drivers side from the factory, the car was built with the LHD market in mind, imagine a driver in the left of the car, the lean of the car is then balanced out.

Agreed...and this is why you do the damper settings and wheel alignments with loaded car.