My Z3 (re)built

t-tony

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Coil springs?;)

Tony.
 

Stormy_be

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Belgian Zeds
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Since this weekend I started work on undoing the rear axle.
Full exhaust removed, driveshaft undone, all brakelines and wiring undone (brakelines will be replaced with steal-braided that I already have got), offcourse wheels, brakes, etc were also removed. Shock-bolts were loosened and the handbrake undone too.
Only the diff-bolt and the beam-nuts still needed to be undone.
The beam-nuts where playing with me, so it took some time to get to them.

Started again this evening to undo them.
And apparently mine are 22mm, not 21mm like most (dixit @Lee)....don't know why.
BTW @Lee: The big *crack* noises in the beginning was not the socket jumping, but with the first full turn the bolt jumps giving that noise.
I've put some chalk on the nut and that's how I did see that it became loose and did not jump within the socket.

But in the end not certain if I want to do all the work on the rear axle directly now.
After reading something on the bearings on some other forum-thread, as I want to do things completely when starting something..
...Thinking forward, I was thinking: when I've got it removed from the car, I should best renew all bearing too (diff and hub-side)...something I don't want to invest money in for now.
So thinking about leaving it all in place and doing it all at once in 6-12 months.

And just concentrate on the front....everything is already removed there and all replacement parts are already in my possession (except for the bushes, which have STILL not been ordered - as I can't seem to be able to decide on which - again).
btw, I did tell some time ago my polybush bushes were ordered, with was the case, until that seller cancelled my order...I didn't get round to order again with an other supplier.

So now not sure what to do with the rear axle....I know it would be worth the effort and the money....but am I willing to invest that money AND the time in this now. Or do I prefer to do other things first.....as I really need to get the car going for the next slalom season.

............I believe my mind is playing with me.
 

Brian H

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You have been meticulous in other areas of your car Koen, leaving the rear beam in will play on your mind, the rear beam bolts will come off one way or another, if the nuts sheer off don't worry the studs will unscrew from the body (I have a spare pair of studs with your name on if they do). Soak everything with a release agent and have one more try :)
 

GazHyde

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Totally agree with Brian, and once it starts playing on your mind when it's all put back together.... you've got a lot of work to get back in there again! Persevere and continue the process with your high standards for getting it right first time.
 

Stormy_be

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I am able to undo the beam nuts now, that is not the issue any longer.
But taking the rear axle out and doing the 'sensible' things will cost an extra 500-800€.
....after already spending 7000-8000 and knowing i will still need 3500 for the KMS ecu and 500-1000 on small bits and pieces.....
...for a car i only drive on a track.

I know i have a very understanding wife, and she will not complain about it, i know that for sure.
But i have limit myself. Just not to get too much carried away.

Doing it in 6-12months will not give that much more work....as all bolts that have been undone will loosen up much better next time round.
When reusing some of the nuts and bolts, what do you guys recon is the best treatment i can give them? To derust them and to relubricate?
Soak them in some to derust them, than in oil for a night?

Regards, Koen
 

FRANKIE

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I am able to undo the beam nuts now, that is not the issue any longer.
But taking the rear axle out and doing the 'sensible' things will cost an extra 500-800€.
....after already spending 7000-8000 and knowing i will still need 3500 for the KMS ecu and 500-1000 on small bits and pieces.....
...for a car i only drive on a track.

I know i have a very understanding wife, and she will not complain about it, i know that for sure.
But i have limit myself. Just not to get too much carried away.

Doing it in 6-12months will not give that much more work....as all bolts that have been undone will loosen up much better next time round.
When reusing some of the nuts and bolts, what do you guys recon is the best treatment i can give them? To derust them and to relubricate?
Soak them in some to derust them, than in oil for a night?

Regards, Koen
Its very difficult or perhaps impossible for me to comment on your posts as with all I've had going on in my life and around me, I hardly work on my car and barely drive it! However, having done countless other projects on other cars, there are some things that are compatible and rusted nuts and bolts are certainly one of those things. Many years ago, when speaking to a machinist who rebuilt engines, he told me that on most occasions, spending time and a great deal of diligence on slowly working free rusted nuts and bolts will usually be successful. Afterwards, I spent 2 to 3 times the time and effort trying to loosen them. It almost always worked out, and they worked free saving me untold heartache trying to remove broken pieces. On those rare occasions when the bolt did snap, I was no worse off that if it had snapped to begin with. I always found it difficult to reuse nuts and bolts as they were often knackered a bit and gave the promise that future use of them, whether tightening them or trying to loosen them would cause their failure. I was lucky once, don't push your luck. So if possible, I replaced anything that gave me trouble. There was sometimes the occasion that the bolts were so unusual that to try find a replacement would be near if actually impossible. I then opted to re-use them. If I replaced them with new ones, usually depending on their size, I would use an anti-seize compound or coating on them.

As I cannot envision your working situation, I don't know if any of this applies to you. As far as the head games are concerned, I usually ask myself if I really want to go through these same problems again the next time I have to get into it, so I use new as much as possible. Oddly enough, there have been situations where I have replaced new hardware instead of using the old, and a day later it occurred that I had to take everything apart again for one reason or another and THEN I was so happy I had replaced everything with new stuff. The second time was almost a delight, a whiz as it all went so fast with no hangups and having the knowledge on HOW to get to everything and what tools to use. Sorry for running on like this.................. Frankie
 

Lee

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Awesome work man. My memory must be letting me down :p I swore mine was a 21mm nut. 1mm out not bad going :)

Keep it coming, maybe some photos :)
 

Stormy_be

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Why change the ECU Koen?
Response is easy: because i have been foolish.
While taking the seats and all the interior out, i found it a waste to keep so many wires in the car that would never be used.
So i started cutting into the loom to get rid of seat electrics, window and mirror elec, hood and hifi stuff etc,etc...
Before i knew it, i was cutting wires from the fuse box....but there are so many interconnections that i lost all overview.
Then again, i wanted to loose the imobilizer (partly because i have only one key)
In the end i opted for ditching the full wiring, except from the twisted wires from the asc/abs sensors.
This means i will need a full customable ecu.....but then again, i am prepared if/when i want to change to a different engine.... 3.2M???.....maybe one day?)

Regards, Koen
 
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Brian H

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It's a shame you are so far away, I would love to help you out with this :)
 
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FRANKIE

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Response is easy: because i have been foolish.
Hile taking the seats and all the interior out, i found it waste to keep so many wires in the car that would never be used.
So i started cutting into the loom to get rid of seat electrics, window and mirror elec, hood and hifi stuff etc,etc...
Before i knew it, i was cutting wires from the fuse box....but there are so many interconnections that i lost all overview.
Then again, i wanted to loose the imobilizer (partly because i have only one key))
In the end i opted for ditching the full wiring, except from the twisted wires from the asc/abs sensors.
This means i will need a full customable ecu.....but then again, i am preparedif/when i want to change to different engine M ....maybe one day?)

Regards, Koen
I'm not usually lost for words but....................................... Frankie
 

Brian H

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At this point I would stay with the stock ECU. IMO It would give you trouble free running for your first year or so in competition, if you need more power then standard remapping is not an issue (and relatively cheap) as there are proven remaps and if required you can get live remaps. I think you quoted 3500euro for a new ECU, that would buy a lot of fuel, tyres brake pads ;)

The way I look at this you are busy enough getting the car together without having to learn how to fit and program an new ECU, I realise that you have chopped the loom out of your car but there are decent electrical manuals (ETMs) that should help with the wiring of a stock ECU.

I have a 3.0i that i am breaking, the loom is mostly intact, if it helps you can have it.
 

Stormy_be

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The issue is not the loom only.
Everything is interconnected: imobilizer, abs/asc, alarm, even airbag, aircon and central locking computers need to be in the car.
As i don't have (and don't want to have) these things on board anymore....but the ecu get signals from these computers.
The engine changes it spark, etc when the aircon is on for example.... it's crazy how many things are taken into account and are interconnected.
Some signals can be "simulated", but some (like the imobilizer) are not a stable signal....wouldn't know where i would start on those things.
I did a lot of reading before i went overboard and said: "let's not try to patch a system, as it will always be 'only' a patch, not properly"

The guys that will (planning up to now) put in the kms ecu have done this more than once for bmw's, even for 2.8's. So they have the mappings, no issues there.
But the system has a cost. Some sensors need to be changed.....as it is a "high end system", it uses very accurate sensors (cam position sensor, lambda,...i didn't understand half of the abbreviations)....which all has a cost.
We all know the price of a normal remap....which automaticallyis included...adding that to the cost
Etc etc etc
Until now I made arrangements over the phone with these people.... Still need to visit the people in person.

Actually at first I had an arrangement with somebody renomated in the circuit racing world in belgium for his bmw engines/remap/etc. He was going to put in the rollcage and the kms ecu. Since beginning of the year he always said his schedule was full, not having time yet for mine. End june I was at the circuit of Zolder and his own race car cought fire. Resulting in a lot of damage. Issue was that he was already registered for the 24h race of zolder (starting in 1 week from now)....so he informed me that getting his car ready for that would be a challenge for him. So I stopped waiting, contacted the company of the ecu myself and asked them for possible dealers/installer that they recommend. Phoned both already, got great info, service and feedback from them straight away (different to the 'I don t have time now' from the other guy).
In parallel made arrangements with an other company for the cage which has already been fitted since.

If there is any other "proper" solution, i'm willing to consider them....as you mentioned it is a lot of money...it has been running in my mind for some time already.
But I didn't find a good alternative (yet).
 
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Brian H

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The fact that it has already been installed in a 2.8 is good news, is it worth trying to get hold of that person and ask them what they would do differently if anything?

Now it makes sense why it costs so much, if this is a turn key price then the only difficult part is paying for it ;)
 

Stormy_be

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Z3 2.8 Roadster
The kms system has been used on a lot of cars already.
The quality is on the same level as omex...which quality is maybe more known.

If you search the web for kms, you will directly see it is used in professional race cars.
So the quality and performance is certain.

Yes, the quote is for a turnkey installation. I drop the car off, and get it back 2 weeks later with everything done.
 
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