Restoring a rusty old Z3 3.0i

[Simon Currin]

i have had this car since it was built in August 2000 and it has done 139,000 miles. It has a couple of major problems but I am keen to get it back into good order.

1. The rear trailing arm is bent with the wheel 21 degrees out. I have had real problems trying to get an economical spare. I just ordere one from the USA via eBay so I hope it fits!

2. The car is really rusty and will fail the MOT next year so I am looking to replace a lot of body panels and re spray.

I am new to car restoration so advice very welcome particularly on sourcing new wings and sills.

 

[t-tony]

Hi Simon and welcome from near Lincoln. Some one better qualified than I will be along to answer your questions later, but they will need to know the year and model of your car, whether it's wide body or face lift etc.

Tony.

 

[Shelly]

Hi and welcome to the forum @Simon Currin
From Bradwell near Great Yarmouth
Would luv to see the before and after pictures
Please post some pictures of what she looks like now , when you have time

 

[Simon Currin]

Hi Simon and welcome from near Lincoln. Some one better qualified than I will be along to answer your questions later, but they will need to know the year and model of your car, whether it's wide body or face lift etc.

Tony.

It is a blue Z3 3.0i Roadster. Y registered but build date August 2000

 

[Grumps]

It is a blue Z3 3.0i Roadster. Y registered but build date August 2000

If your going whole hogg at it may Gaz could set up a journal for us to keep an eye on things??? The body panels are bolt off bolt on so if there not in good shape you could replace the nessercary panels and repaint. Get in touch with Andy on here (spurs fan in coupe) to see if he has anything at the moment as he breaks Z3''s. Good luck with your project please get some pics up and keep us up to speed. Be interesting to follow. Oh hello by the way from me and @jue1 (the wife) from Mansfield.

 

[billz]

Welcome. Sounds like an interesting project. As said above Spurs fan in a coupe would be my first port of call for body panels. Depending on the level of rust you may just have to sand back to the metal and get them resprayed. If you are sanding back then the main thing is not to leave them hanging around as the atmosphere will be even more vengeful on the parts you have rubbed down

 

[Brian H]

Hi Simon,

A bit of a project????

Luckily most panels bolt on so as other have said, source some new (secondhand) ones preferably in the right colour and you will be more than half way there

The trailing arms are a little trick to change over on the car, whilst carrying out this work I would refresh the bushes in the back end, have a look at some of the recent work done by @Lee,

When it comes to the trailing arm, believe me it is easier to remove the rear beam to fit this.

Good luck and keep us informed, we are a nosey lot here

Brian

 

[Jack Ratt]

Hello Simon, welcome from Truro. Where are you based? You will find the people here very helpful and accommodating.

You've got yourself a bit of a project, but if you've already had 139k miles of fun from your Zed you'll know it will be very satisfying and rewarding to get her back on the road again.

It would be great if you could start a diary and post on here so that we can track your progress.

 

[andyglym]

Hi and welcome from West Cumbria
Good luck in your resto, lots of Zed Guru's on here with a wealth of knowledge. Before and after pics would be great.

 

[Simon Currin]

Ok I will do diary. The key to it will be if the trailing arm from the USA fits! We are in mid Wales. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[GazHyde]

Welcome Simon,

I think the guys have you covered already so far with contacting @spurs fan in a coupe, and some of the techy stuff. If you want to see what we have been doing in @Lee's garage over the winter, here are some interesting threads which you may want to browse.

My project thread at the stage we removed the rear sub frame - https://zroadster.org/threads/gazhy...pasblau-metallic-rosie.3229/page-2#post-74983

Project @Dino D - complete sub frame refresh and fitting coilovers and other bits n bobs - https://zroadster.org/threads/project-dino-d.6735/

Shout out if you need specifics!

Gary

 

[Simon Currin]

Ok I will do diary. The key to it will be if the trailing arm from the USA fits! We are in mid Wales. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[Simon Currin]

 

[Simon Currin]

I guess it begs the question, "is it worth it?"

 

[Grumps]

I guess it begs the question, "is it worth it?"

Yep definitely worth doing Simon! The panels you've shown are all bolt on so isn't to difficult a job. I paid £2000 for a full strip down respray in 2013 and the car looks like new. Get the wheels refurbished etc you've still got a lovely 3.0 Z3. Go for it!

 

[andyglym]

Defo. As @Grumpy says, bolt on panels and all cosmetic. She'll look sweet as when done and plenty of smiles per gallon.

 

[billz]

Once it is restored it will still fetch around the 3k to 4k mark. So just work out what it owes you and as you have had it for the last 15yrs then i would say it does not owe you anything and has given you much more. Its just pay back time like when we get old. We look after the kids till we are old then it is their turn. Look at it that way, now its your turn to look after your Baby like it has done for you

 

[Simon Currin]

Ok I'll let you know how I get on with the trailing arm first. Thanks for the advice.
Simon

 

[Brian4]

As you say a bit rusty but looks to have been stored for a while.

Body panels are available and are all bolt on. The car can be driven without any panels as they are not structural. front wings, sills, rear wings are all available from breakers or some forum members.

With the rear trailing arm it is quite beefy construction so if the replacement doesn't cure the problem it could be damaged rear beam or the trailing arm to beam mountings so have a measure up when it's up in the air with the wheels off and see what differences there are from each side.

Here is a link to the parts page for the rear axle and the two brackets for the trailing arm are welded onto the rear beam so could be the weak point.

The rear beams are standard for all Z3 and E36 3 series compacts so should be available. The trailing arms are different for the wide and narrow body cars

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=CN52-EUR-06-2000-Z3-BMW-Z3_30i&diagId=33_0998

The trailing arms are different for the wide and narrow body cars ,these fit yours.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...&sg=30&diagId=33_0998&q=33321094761&series=Z3

Good luck with the revival and the 3.0i are definitely worth bringing back to life.

The rest of the car should be solid as they were well rust protected when built.

 

[oldcarman]

Wow! Welcome from Canada! You ask whether this project is worth the effort. You've had several answers from people who know these cars well so I'll just add my simple Yes! Good luck!! JIM