New Old Z Enthusiast

[Sport]

Bought my 1998 Z3 2.8L in 1998 and have enjoyed it as a weekend to the store car etc.
Now as it approaches 35,000 miles, time to do some maintenance!
Found this site with some helpful articles and thought I'd join up.

My list of work on the Z is small, but as rubber degrades with time etc, things need
updating.

Just did my first "at home" oil change and replaced drain bolt with magnetic.
(will be using MityVac in future)
Had my coolant replaced @5k miles ago @ last oil change.
Replaced antenna rubber grommet.
New BMW valve stem caps.
Replaced seat bushings hand made with plexiglass a few years ago.
Of course I then bought the AirBag reset tool!
Added Bluetooth cassette to go with original HK & 6 disk cd changer

Well, that's it, did have a guy dent a panel and had repair and repaint quarter panel.
That made me really mad.

Next, have some Akebono Ceramic brake pads ordered and will need new tires very soon.
Considering replacing Rear Sub Floor Bushings with Ireland Engineering or comparable.
May change manual transmission fluid and rear differential fluids soon too.

Did I leave anything out? Steering is very tight and responsive so hopefully other rubber
bushings will survive a while longer.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[zedonist]

Welcome, and thanks for reminding me about Ireland engineering, I was looking for ages last night and could not remember the company.......

 

[t-tony]

Hey, welcome to the forum from Lincoln UK. Lovely looking Z you have, and owned from new? There is a mine of info on here from many very knowledge guys and gals too. If you need to know anything just shout up. Where abouts are you located?

Tony.

 

[Jack Ratt]

Hello from Cornwall

 

[Shelly]

Welcome to the forum
Lovely looking Z you have
Hope you enjoy the forum

 

[GazHyde]

Welcome to our community @Sport!

Sounds like you have everything under control with your maintenance. Rubber bushings are the weak point, just refreshed the rear end on my 2001 with OEM quality. This was pretty much everything including the main sub frame bushes. Makes such a difference to the handling of the car, but mine has done nearly 3 times more miles than yours.

If it's of any use to you, you can see what we did on mine here - https://zroadster.org/threads/gazhy...pasblau-metallic-rosie.3229/page-2#post-75587

Cheers, Gary

 

[hard top]

Welcome on the forum from me too.
Am I right thinking that your avatar is a pic of "Evel" Knievel?

 

[Mint]

It's a from me too in Staffordshire, UK.

 

[POG]

Welcome from Portsmouth, England.

 

[oldcarman]

Hello from Manitoba, Canada! Might I suggest you take a look through the menu to see what is available to you. Any questions? Lots of knowledge here to solve most any problem you may encounter, JIM

 

[jonco]

from another Helrot. You've no problems with knowing service history then - many of us wish we knew ours better.

 

[Sport]

Yes that is Evel Knievel, thought maybe someone would get a kick out of that av.
I live in Birmingham......Alabama in the suburb of Mountain Brook.
Lots of nice twisty hilly roads and short winters!

Thanks for the welcome, thinking about looking at the non working windshield washer tonight.
Going to drain the tank and check the hoses, the pump motor makes noise, but no fluid movement.

 

[t-tony]

You will likely find that the strainer attached to the grommet into which the pump is pushed will be blocked. We have a place in Florida where we stay for 3 weeks twice a year. I only wish I could keep a Z in my garage to use over there.

Tony.

 

[DavidM]

Welcome from Ireland!

 

[bonzo]

from Bonzo and Z3lda... 2.8's = fun.

Cheers.

 

[Sport]

Thanks for the warm welcome, winter is about to blow back in here so I'll get some maintenance done
this weekend!

 

[Sport]

Put on new brake pads which was easier than anticipated although I almost missed those little metal clips on the sensors.
Windshield washer was clogged full of mold, t-tony nailed it right!
Next are the IE RSFBs & tires, probably next month.

 

[Zeti]

Welcome @Sport!
What a nice surprise to have as forum member, a first hand owner! and of a beautiful car too....
Enjoy the self maintenance! Just one suggestion : if you have no losses of the rear axle, is too soon , at 35k miles, for an oil change!

 

[Sport]

I was thinking since it was 17 years old and better quality oils are available now, it couldn't hurt.
One thing, I added a full can of Seafoam to a fresh tank of gas and after about 3 miles, I could really tell difference in pep & throttle responsiveness.

 

[Zeti]

My Zed is a M44 1996 and I changed the oil on the rear axle at 140 000 km , when I bought the car; the oil was clean and clear and not smelling old.
If you have a LSD 25% you have to replace the oil with a special one: check it before!