We welcomed this lovely Z3 to the #ZedShed today! @ZTec's lovely early 1.9 is due some TLC, and arrived with a reasonable list of things needing replacement or improvement. The details of which will be revealed over the next 2 weeks while it stays with us.
Credit where credit is due, it's in fantastic condition! The key things Tec wanted us to look at was replacing the rear beam bushes, and generally check over the suspension. New water pump and other general sundries too!
Up in the air, and lets get started! Paul and I had been left in charge while Lee & Oldguysrule went for a wedding suit fitting. After we got back from an extended Costa break we got stuck in
Removal of the rear exhaust section, spare wheel carrier, wheel arch liners, disconnection of the drop links (we are leaving the anti roll bar in place for a change). The liberal spraying of Double T penetrating fluid on all the nuts and bolts we are going to remove!
By this time Lee & Trev had returned, and we could get on with the sub frame removal. Most of the process went smoothly - mainly due to most parts not being corroded badly - but there were a couple of curve balls thrown in... Don't worry Tec, it will all be fine when you collect!
As expected the beam bushes are starting to fail and the rubber is cracking and weak. You can see it reasonable well from this close up before the sub frame was dropped. Plenty of play in them too!
Clamping the brake lines was a paint, and we had to block them off further back than we normally do but no biggy. T-tony's brake line plugs work spot on as usual.
Dropping the sub frame was a little more tricky than usual, the drivers side of the beam unscrewed easily. The passenger side beam however didn't. The corrosion on the thread literally screwed us over. Lots of penetrating fluid, tightening then unscrewing eventually ended with a loud crack as the bolt snapped off near the end.
The good news about all this is that these bolts unscrew, and can easily be replaced. Will order one from BMW and then they nylock in in place. We've had these unscrew themselves on other cars, so nothing to worry about.
Nut took some coaxing out of the socket...
Anyway, all this faffing about worked out and the subframe was on the floor...
...and then on to the bench!
I'd be prepared to have put money that the diff bush was knackered... Yup! Whats left of the middle section came out with a small twist of a screw driver.
Should be here ideally. The metal outer ring that it delaminated from.
Then it's break the sub frame down and remove the rear beam. At this point we were all tired and it was clocking off time.
Credit where credit is due, it's in fantastic condition! The key things Tec wanted us to look at was replacing the rear beam bushes, and generally check over the suspension. New water pump and other general sundries too!
Up in the air, and lets get started! Paul and I had been left in charge while Lee & Oldguysrule went for a wedding suit fitting. After we got back from an extended Costa break we got stuck in
Removal of the rear exhaust section, spare wheel carrier, wheel arch liners, disconnection of the drop links (we are leaving the anti roll bar in place for a change). The liberal spraying of Double T penetrating fluid on all the nuts and bolts we are going to remove!
By this time Lee & Trev had returned, and we could get on with the sub frame removal. Most of the process went smoothly - mainly due to most parts not being corroded badly - but there were a couple of curve balls thrown in... Don't worry Tec, it will all be fine when you collect!
As expected the beam bushes are starting to fail and the rubber is cracking and weak. You can see it reasonable well from this close up before the sub frame was dropped. Plenty of play in them too!
Clamping the brake lines was a paint, and we had to block them off further back than we normally do but no biggy. T-tony's brake line plugs work spot on as usual.
Dropping the sub frame was a little more tricky than usual, the drivers side of the beam unscrewed easily. The passenger side beam however didn't. The corrosion on the thread literally screwed us over. Lots of penetrating fluid, tightening then unscrewing eventually ended with a loud crack as the bolt snapped off near the end.
The good news about all this is that these bolts unscrew, and can easily be replaced. Will order one from BMW and then they nylock in in place. We've had these unscrew themselves on other cars, so nothing to worry about.
Nut took some coaxing out of the socket...
Anyway, all this faffing about worked out and the subframe was on the floor...
...and then on to the bench!
I'd be prepared to have put money that the diff bush was knackered... Yup! Whats left of the middle section came out with a small twist of a screw driver.
Should be here ideally
. The metal outer ring that it delaminated from.Then it's break the sub frame down and remove the rear beam. At this point we were all tired and it was clocking off time.
. Had a look at Paul's 
