Jess Wiseman
Dedicated Member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2019
- Points
- 31
My '96 Z3 is now tucked away for the winter in my heated garage, with fuel stabilizer in the gasoline. I have several months of snowy, icy, cold Canadian winter to make some needed and wanted fixes.
My general issue is this: Every time I've ever worked on a vehicle, I've broken something taking apart what I need to in order to fix the problem. This doubles the work, and leaves me full of trepidation approaching even simple repairs. So replacing a 10 cent bulb can instead mean replacing a $200 housing. So I'm hoping to have a good understanding of what errors to avoid before starting anything. Thank goodness I have time.
Here's my initial list, in priority order:
1) Get rear R and L brake lights working. 3rd light works, as do turn signals and running lights. The car has a fresh safety inspection from the dealer, so I assume they "missed" the lack of brake lights, and further assume that it isn't a simple "replace the bulbs" fix, or they would have done it at inspection. I need to remove the housings without damaging them, check the current outlets with fresh bulbs, and then trouble-shoot. Any guides, hints or suggestions are welcome.
2) Replace bushings in P seat. It has the classic symptom of shifting slightly on hard acceleration or braking. The seat also is about 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) higher that the D seat. Is this a common thing? or a sign of non-standard alteration? And again, guides, hints, suggestions? Yes please.
3) Troubleshoot and replace damaged or broken speakers. I'd like to enjoy better music quality while motoring, and accessing various door panels and interior panels to get to the speakers is a perfect chance to triple the cost of repairs by screwing up the panel trying to get to the speakers. My D door panel already has a small tear on the top edge, under the window, that may have resulted from previous work of this type.
4) May be out of order, but just thought of this: while accessing door panels for speaker work, I may also replace the electric window motors, as they operate sluggishly at present.
If I could effect these repairs without damaging anything further, I would count it a great success. Even aside from the cost of replacing panels, the age of the originals would cause a new replacement to match poorly. I hope this is a reasonable goal, and the right place to ask for advice.
Cheers!
My general issue is this: Every time I've ever worked on a vehicle, I've broken something taking apart what I need to in order to fix the problem. This doubles the work, and leaves me full of trepidation approaching even simple repairs. So replacing a 10 cent bulb can instead mean replacing a $200 housing. So I'm hoping to have a good understanding of what errors to avoid before starting anything. Thank goodness I have time.
Here's my initial list, in priority order:
1) Get rear R and L brake lights working. 3rd light works, as do turn signals and running lights. The car has a fresh safety inspection from the dealer, so I assume they "missed" the lack of brake lights, and further assume that it isn't a simple "replace the bulbs" fix, or they would have done it at inspection. I need to remove the housings without damaging them, check the current outlets with fresh bulbs, and then trouble-shoot. Any guides, hints or suggestions are welcome.
2) Replace bushings in P seat. It has the classic symptom of shifting slightly on hard acceleration or braking. The seat also is about 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) higher that the D seat. Is this a common thing? or a sign of non-standard alteration? And again, guides, hints, suggestions? Yes please.
3) Troubleshoot and replace damaged or broken speakers. I'd like to enjoy better music quality while motoring, and accessing various door panels and interior panels to get to the speakers is a perfect chance to triple the cost of repairs by screwing up the panel trying to get to the speakers. My D door panel already has a small tear on the top edge, under the window, that may have resulted from previous work of this type.
4) May be out of order, but just thought of this: while accessing door panels for speaker work, I may also replace the electric window motors, as they operate sluggishly at present.
If I could effect these repairs without damaging anything further, I would count it a great success. Even aside from the cost of replacing panels, the age of the originals would cause a new replacement to match poorly. I hope this is a reasonable goal, and the right place to ask for advice.
Cheers!