MOT failed

[Bringit96]

Well the Z3 has been sat since its MOT ran out in October, after worrying a lot about why it was dropping cylinders and misfiring I changed the spark plugs, charged the battery and it seems to be perfectly fine...

Anyway here is the verdict from the MOT

When the garage called me the first thing they said was 'it has a whole page of problems...I don't know how much you want to spend on this car' which was rather annoying.

The emissions failed which is down to the car needing a new cat so that's okay, I new that going into it.

The anti roll bar linkage looks like it's just popped out of the bush. Seems like it just has to be popped back in?

Rear coil springs are relatively easy as long as I can find a friend heavy enough

Headlamps were fixed by changing the height from inside the car...so not a major defect and now solved.

The body panel is that section of paint that has cracked. I've never had that come up on an MOT before but funnily the owner of the garage told the MOT tester 'leave it, who do you think we work for, the government?'

The corroded brake pipe is the next section along to the one that @t-tony kindly changed for me. So that will need some expert hands.

Not sure why the steering lock is incorrectly adjusted, but that doesn't seem like a major problem to fix.

Exhaust leak from central joint will need a proper look at, not sure of any easy exhaust fixes.

With new tyres, new cat, a pair of rear coils and a few days under the car this really doesn't seem crazy to fix it and get it on the road for another year. Am I being too optimistic?

After not driving it since October, bringing it back home with some space ahead of me left me dazed, the car is still so alive. It'd be a real shame to write it off now while it still has life in it.

 

[Paul Rice]

Sure it will sought Al, its a Zed, you know its worth it.

 

[t-tony]

Nothing we can't put right mate. The car does NOT have a steering lock stop (only applies to vehicles that have steering box type not rack and pinion). Reason tyre is catching coukd be down to the steering was "tracked" with the wheel not centralised before adjustment carried out. Exhaust blowing badly causes high Lambda reading and as you know, Cat high CO.
Has Andy got any 1.9 exhausts?
If you're considering doing the rear brake hoses with s/steel this the time.

Tony.

 

[mrscalex]

It will come down to your determination, emotional attachment to the car and finances.

But it’s a long old list to be fair.

The rear anti-roll bar linkage (drop link) will almost certainly need replacing rather than any concept of popping back in.

The headlamp height adjustment has nothing to do with the aim. It’s tested separately.

The CO readings might be another fault. I’d get the codes read off.

If they have really failed the car on crazed paint that’s insane. But they would be entitled to fail for eg rusty arches if they had sharp edges.

 

[mrscalex]

I’d look into the SRS lamp not illuminating. I’m surprised that’s not a fail. They mean during ignition when everything comes up lit like a Christmas tree.

It’s possible the bulb has been removed and is masking a fault. If the ABS warning lamp is removed it switches the system off.

 

[t-tony]

Sharp or corroded edges did have to be a "projection" ie sticking out so that they could possibly cause injury in passing.

Tony.

 

[t-tony]

Headlights were failed for "aim too high" not too for to O/S or N/S so lowering the height adjuster inside the car will make a difference and possibly make it pass. The tester used to have to ensure the height adjuster was fully up before testing. Not so anymore.(Crazy IMHO).

Tony.

 

[Bringit96]

Driving it back definitely made me want to at least try to save it. I'm pretty confident in doing the bolt on bolt off stuff (which is most of the car in all fairness).

I know Sean is breaking a 1.9 so I'll see what parts I can get from that

 

[mrscalex]

Driving it back definitely made me want to at least try to save it. I'm pretty confident in doing the bolt on bolt off stuff (which is most of the car in all fairness).

I know Sean is breaking a 1.9 so I'll see what parts I can get from that

I have decent rear springs if you want them. PM me. But no exhaust.

Other than that drop links are cheap. But there’s a knack to getting the rear ones on without wanting to scream. Brake pipes are cheap and Tony is your man.

I can’t see too much other parts cost there apart from tyres. I have plenty of decent ones on cheap rims if you want to save some pennies. But new is always nice.

Inner steering tie rods are cheap enough and easy enough to fit new if that’s what the advisory refers to.

Other than that I think it’s all labour and determination. But do look at the SRS warning lamp/errors as that concerns me.

And I wouldn’t get too stressed on corrosion advisories. They look like the sort of garage who cover their ar*e.

 

[mrscalex]

Headlights were failed for "aim too high" not too for to O/S or N/S so lowering the height adjuster inside the car will make a difference and possibly make it pass. The tester used to have to ensure the height adjuster was fully up before testing. Not so anymore.(Crazy IMHO).

Tony.

My misunderstanding then. I thought the height adjuster had to be on zero for the alignment check. And then proved to be working itself by switching height to the other 2 positions. That’s definitely how my garage does it but perhaps they are going over the top.

 

[t-tony]

They could be but old habits die hard Rob. Seems stupid to me to give a ticket on something where the lights could be adjusted above the legal limit. I think they had it right before when you tested aim on the high setting.

Tony.

 

[ktnez99]

Driving it back definitely made me want to at least try to save it. I'm pretty confident in doing the bolt on bolt off stuff (which is most of the car in all fairness).

I know Sean is breaking a 1.9 so I'll see what parts I can get from that

Hi Al. Sorry to read your black beauty has failed its MOT. No wonder we haven’t seen you. I’m sure the list looks worse that it actually is and that fellow Z owners will help where possible. Don’t be disheartened: you can do this!

 

[Stevo7682]

Unfortunately looks like the tester went proper through your car and has covered his butt by advising anything that didn't look new.
Like the Dangerous for the drop link way over the top.
He could have just issued a major fail for it being insecure because in my opinion even if you removed the whole roll bar and associated components the car would still drive ok in normal conditions .
Stephen

 

[Sean d]

Have you got a cat,as discussed earlier,

the springs and exhaust off the breaker I have are yours pal, the exhaust is excellent

 

[Bringit96]

Have you got a cat,as discussed earlier, View attachment 132037 View attachment 132039 the springs and exhaust off the breaker I have are yours pal, the exhaust is excellent

I'd need the cat as well please mate

 

[Sean d]

I'd need the cat as well please mate

Cool, I'll take a look at it

 

[Steve Medlock]

My rear drop links kept popping off - this was my solution.

 

[mrscalex]

View attachment 132685 My rear drop links kept popping off - this was my solution.

Interesting. I know that was a problem with some of the early cars from the factory. But I thought that had long since been designed out of the drop link by both BMW and you'd hope 3rd party suppliers. I use Meyle and have not had a problem.

Is it possible a bush somewhere else needs replacing and that's allowing movement?

Btw I thought the issue was the rubber in the centre was popping out which would make it scrap. All the same, if it's been sliding around I'd replace it in case the rubber has worn creating a larger hole.

 

[Bringit96]

@mrscalex The whole anti-roll bar has just popped out of the bushing, hence why I suggested popping it back in as the easiest fix for now

 

[mrscalex]

@mrscalex The whole anti-roll bar has just popped out of the bushing, hence why I suggested popping it back in as the easiest fix for now

Glad you confirmed that as I misunderstood. It will get you through the MOT by pushing back on but well worth trying to resolve this back to the root cause in my view.