S50 Z3M Roadster Progress
- Thread starter Chazzy
- Start date
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
Apart from driving it, I've not really done much recently. I have noticed a bit of a rattle from the engine at high rpm.......I think the Vanos needs doing soon. I think it'll have to wait for the moment as it'll cost about £900 to get it done, and I don't have any of the specialist tools to do it so can't do it myself. It'll be a call to Mr Vanos in the new year I think!
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
With the sun coming out I've been out on the road again and I'm committing to the car for the long term. So there are some issues that need sorting out:
General service (plugs, oil, filter)
New tyres
Remote central locking/alarm
Battery draining in two weeks
Oil temp gauge has a loose connection
Air temp sensor needs replacing
Various scratches/minor dents
Vanos service
Then on the upgrade list:
Brakes,
Wheels
Exhaust
Sound system
Adjustable top mounts
General service (plugs, oil, filter)
New tyres
Remote central locking/alarm
Battery draining in two weeks
Oil temp gauge has a loose connection
Air temp sensor needs replacing
Various scratches/minor dents
Vanos service
Then on the upgrade list:
Brakes,
Wheels
Exhaust
Sound system
Adjustable top mounts
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2014
- Points
- 181
- Model of Z
- Z4 coupe sport.
Not much to do then Chazzy maybe better to part with it, I could offer you a good deal with my trusty steed in partX with a good batt.
Keep an eye open on the boot light, has been known to stay on in Zs.We haven't heard much from you of late, hope all goes well with the repairs.
Will you be Going to the Derby meet next Sunday. Batt should be OK cos it's within its operating period.
Rha, Roy.
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
Hahaha very funny!Not much to do then Chazzy maybe better to part with it, I could offer you a good deal with my trusty steed in partX with a good batt.
We haven't heard much from you of late, hope all goes well with the repairs.
Will you be Going to the Derby meet next Sunday. Batt should be OK cos it's within its operating period.
Rha, Roy.
I've been a bit of a hermit recently, the car's been coming out once a week or so but I've not done anything with it. I've been working on my kit car recently and as the Z works, I don't want to start doing anything which means I can't use it! There are just a few problems that I need to sort out.
Can't do next weekend unfortunately, but I will be joining in soon!
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2014
- Points
- 181
- Model of Z
- Z4 coupe sport.
Nice to hear from you and now we want to see some pics of this kit car.
Know what you mean regards the getting things sorted on the Z if it means non usage, that's why I try to get it all done in winter even though I don't SORN it, trouble is my lockup ain't big enough to work in so I've been hampered by the bl...y wet weather this time and only just started to get things done.
Rha,Roy.
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
A bit of an update....
I've fixed the battery draining issue, just turned out to be an unsalvageable battery. The new one holds charge and cranks much faster. The old one was a bit of a cheapo brand though (I blame the previous owner for that!).
I'm working on the alarm issue, that appears to be due to the bonnet sensor interfering with the carbon airbox....I've not solved it yet as the battery has died in the remote key...another minor job to fix.
I've done a minor service changing the oil and filter - In doing this I've found there are some screws missing from the panelling. I'll have to try and find some suitable replacements.
and then this.....
So Mr.Vanos is booked in at the end of the month to fix it. Tyres and brakes are going to have to wait!
I've fixed the battery draining issue, just turned out to be an unsalvageable battery. The new one holds charge and cranks much faster. The old one was a bit of a cheapo brand though (I blame the previous owner for that!).
I'm working on the alarm issue, that appears to be due to the bonnet sensor interfering with the carbon airbox....I've not solved it yet as the battery has died in the remote key...another minor job to fix.
I've done a minor service changing the oil and filter - In doing this I've found there are some screws missing from the panelling. I'll have to try and find some suitable replacements.
and then this.....
So Mr.Vanos is booked in at the end of the month to fix it. Tyres and brakes are going to have to wait!
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
It's been ages since I've updated this! Anyway, Mr vanos came last year in May and sorted it all out. The vid below is of the engine sounding much more healthy.
The car has been off the road from October last year until the beginning of this month, mainly because I bought a new car and was having too much fun in it. That has now been taken over by my wife after her Mercedes got to the end of its deal. In the mean time though I let rip on the zed with my new polishing machine. I've done the whole car with a cutting compound, then a polishing compound and finally a wax. Annoyingly I never took a decent photo of it after I did it. It does look quite shiny now though!
The next thing on the list was to start addressing the chronic understeer which these cars suffer from. You can get the back end out, but that's not the type of handling balance I'm looking for. I just find that the car tends to push on mid corner unless you really stab the throttle. I think the main cause is the old rubber on the front tyres which I intend to replace with Yokohama AD008s when I have the cash. In the mean time though I thought I'd have a look at what adjustments I can make with the set up I have. The front dampers are currently on their softest rebound setting so there's nothing I could do there, but the rears could be stiffened a little to aid with forward weight transfer. However, taking the shocks off is a bit of a faff, and went for the easiest option which is to go to the stiffer setting on the rear anti roll bar. This is a quick job so made a lot of sense to give it go.....and it worked. The car is less understeery on entry, which makes it much more rewarding to drive. It's still not fixed and I'm sure that the new tyres will sort it out.
Other than that, I've just been driving it and enjoying it, until yesterday morning on the way to work when it started grumbling. It wasn't running right and felt like it was down a cylinder. In my lunch break I started it and then individually disconnected the coil packs one by one and identified that it wasn't firing on cylinder 3. I only had limited tools with me so tried swapping the coil packs between 2 and 3 to see if the problem moved to 2 but it didn't. I nursed the car home after work and took out the no.3 plug and it didn't look that bad, although was definitely well used! I swapped it with cylinder 4 and the problem moved. Bingo. Spark plug. Anyway, a new set is on its way and I'll be fitting them straight away.
The car has been off the road from October last year until the beginning of this month, mainly because I bought a new car and was having too much fun in it. That has now been taken over by my wife after her Mercedes got to the end of its deal. In the mean time though I let rip on the zed with my new polishing machine. I've done the whole car with a cutting compound, then a polishing compound and finally a wax. Annoyingly I never took a decent photo of it after I did it. It does look quite shiny now though!
The next thing on the list was to start addressing the chronic understeer which these cars suffer from. You can get the back end out, but that's not the type of handling balance I'm looking for. I just find that the car tends to push on mid corner unless you really stab the throttle. I think the main cause is the old rubber on the front tyres which I intend to replace with Yokohama AD008s when I have the cash. In the mean time though I thought I'd have a look at what adjustments I can make with the set up I have. The front dampers are currently on their softest rebound setting so there's nothing I could do there, but the rears could be stiffened a little to aid with forward weight transfer. However, taking the shocks off is a bit of a faff, and went for the easiest option which is to go to the stiffer setting on the rear anti roll bar. This is a quick job so made a lot of sense to give it go.....and it worked. The car is less understeery on entry, which makes it much more rewarding to drive. It's still not fixed and I'm sure that the new tyres will sort it out.
Other than that, I've just been driving it and enjoying it, until yesterday morning on the way to work when it started grumbling. It wasn't running right and felt like it was down a cylinder. In my lunch break I started it and then individually disconnected the coil packs one by one and identified that it wasn't firing on cylinder 3. I only had limited tools with me so tried swapping the coil packs between 2 and 3 to see if the problem moved to 2 but it didn't. I nursed the car home after work and took out the no.3 plug and it didn't look that bad, although was definitely well used! I swapped it with cylinder 4 and the problem moved. Bingo. Spark plug. Anyway, a new set is on its way and I'll be fitting them straight away.
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
This was just after I finished polishing, parked up next to the new daily.
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2014
- Points
- 181
- Model of Z
- Z4 coupe sport.
Nice new Dailey Chazzy but I know which one I'd have. "M" looks nice clean and shiney. Defo a lot quieter and should run better now. Z fest coming up.
RHA.Roy.
RHA.Roy.
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
New spark plugs arrived this morning so they'll be going in this evening. Looking good for the classic on Sunday!
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
I've been using the zed for the last few months as my daily (and will do until I get my impreza on the road) and have now accrude quite a jobslist which needs addressing reasonably soon.
New tyres - it needs a complete new set. I'm not sure what to go for, but as I'm planning on it being a summer car, probably yokohama AD008R
Front auxiliary belts and pulleys - I have no idea when these were last changed but they often start squeaking and it's very irritating.
Oil and filter
Front discs - I need to find where I can get some of the 2 piece OEM discs. I've seen ATE do them, but I'll see how much BMW charge.
Rear discs
Front and rear pads and front wear sensor - I'll probably go for some ferodo DS performance pads
Braided brake hoses and fluid change
Air temp sensor - I'm hoping I can get one from VDO and then wire it up rather than spend £150 on a BMW one
New exhaust mounts
Gearbox and diff oil change - I don't know how to do this and I don't have a ramp so may book this in at a garage
Gearknob light is intermittent so needs checking
Oil temperature gauge reads full scale so needs the wiring checking
Passenger side door speaker (at the top) has come loose so needs refitting
Alloys need refurbing
Dent in passenger side sil needs repairing/respraing
Both key fobs need new batteries
Air filter needs cleaning
New tyres - it needs a complete new set. I'm not sure what to go for, but as I'm planning on it being a summer car, probably yokohama AD008R
Front auxiliary belts and pulleys - I have no idea when these were last changed but they often start squeaking and it's very irritating.
Oil and filter
Front discs - I need to find where I can get some of the 2 piece OEM discs. I've seen ATE do them, but I'll see how much BMW charge.
Rear discs
Front and rear pads and front wear sensor - I'll probably go for some ferodo DS performance pads
Braided brake hoses and fluid change
Air temp sensor - I'm hoping I can get one from VDO and then wire it up rather than spend £150 on a BMW one
New exhaust mounts
Gearbox and diff oil change - I don't know how to do this and I don't have a ramp so may book this in at a garage
Gearknob light is intermittent so needs checking
Oil temperature gauge reads full scale so needs the wiring checking
Passenger side door speaker (at the top) has come loose so needs refitting
Alloys need refurbing
Dent in passenger side sil needs repairing/respraing
Both key fobs need new batteries
Air filter needs cleaning
Just read this post from the beginning. Sounds like you’ve had a great journey so far 
Good luck with the ever continuing job list (well I know my list is ever growing and changing).
Can’t wait to see so more pics!
Good luck with the ever continuing job list (well I know my list is ever growing and changing
).Can’t wait to see so more pics!
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
It's been a while since I've posted, but here's a bit of an update. I've been using the Z as my daily for nearly a year now, and have had a few ups and downs.
I had a shocker a month ago where I had a bump and suddenly there was an awful knocking noise coming from the rear. When I got home, I jacked up the car to find the near side anti roll bar bracket had sheared off. I took the ARB off, and the bracket came off with it.
It looks like they are only spot welded on, so with 19 years of corrosion and the stiffer H&R ARB it’s not surprising. Anyway, I cleaned it all up and welded it back on. I also cleaned up the other side and welded that up as inevitably that will fail as well. Whilst doing this I replaced all the exhaust rubbers as they’ve needed to be done for quite some time. However, with the new, stiffer rubber the near side exhaust started to rattle on the ARB. I’ve spaced the exhaust down by 5mm and now there’s enough clearance.
It’s had a new set of tyres. I ended up getting a set of kumho ecsta PS71 as I was a bit short of cash to buy the yokos I wanted. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were, a massive improvement over the worn out hankooks that were on it before.
There been a bit of a rust bubble on the driver’s side arch, just in front of the wheel, above the split for the sil and on the sil. I tried to repair it but stupidly got the wrong paint so I need to sand it off and do it again. It’ll do for the moment though while I use the car on a regular basis.
Other than that, I’m constantly unsure if it’s down on power. I’m sure it’s just me and switching between that and my other car which is turbocharged….they have very different engine characteristics. I’m wondering if it could be the plugs I put in last year. At some point I’ll do a full service and compression check and put some better quality plugs in and see if that clears it up.
It still cleans up nicely though!
I had a shocker a month ago where I had a bump and suddenly there was an awful knocking noise coming from the rear. When I got home, I jacked up the car to find the near side anti roll bar bracket had sheared off. I took the ARB off, and the bracket came off with it.
It looks like they are only spot welded on, so with 19 years of corrosion and the stiffer H&R ARB it’s not surprising. Anyway, I cleaned it all up and welded it back on. I also cleaned up the other side and welded that up as inevitably that will fail as well. Whilst doing this I replaced all the exhaust rubbers as they’ve needed to be done for quite some time. However, with the new, stiffer rubber the near side exhaust started to rattle on the ARB. I’ve spaced the exhaust down by 5mm and now there’s enough clearance.
It’s had a new set of tyres. I ended up getting a set of kumho ecsta PS71 as I was a bit short of cash to buy the yokos I wanted. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were, a massive improvement over the worn out hankooks that were on it before.
There been a bit of a rust bubble on the driver’s side arch, just in front of the wheel, above the split for the sil and on the sil. I tried to repair it but stupidly got the wrong paint so I need to sand it off and do it again. It’ll do for the moment though while I use the car on a regular basis.
Other than that, I’m constantly unsure if it’s down on power. I’m sure it’s just me and switching between that and my other car which is turbocharged….they have very different engine characteristics. I’m wondering if it could be the plugs I put in last year. At some point I’ll do a full service and compression check and put some better quality plugs in and see if that clears it up.
It still cleans up nicely though!
Lovely car , your mum had good taste.
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
Another little job tackled over the weekend. New front brake pads.
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2016
- Points
- 231
- Model of Z
- Z3M Imola and Z4 (e89)
Good read from the start.. I'll drop my M off and you can do the boot and ARB brackets 
I'll drop my M off and you can do the boot and ARB brackets 
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2011
- Points
- 145
I've just seen this thread for the first time. Cracking job - much more fun making a good car than buying one.
Does the car have an Irish history? I've only ever seen one other '02' plated S50 and it was from Ireland.
It looks like your car was in the same condition as mine when you got it, but you've gone further with the modifications than me. Did you need to change the bushes, or just want to?
The ambient temperature gauge is notoriously inaccurate. My solution is to fit an appropriate resistor in the circuit (if I can be bothered).
My thread if you are interested.
.Does the car have an Irish history? I've only ever seen one other '02' plated S50 and it was from Ireland.
It looks like your car was in the same condition as mine when you got it, but you've gone further with the modifications than me. Did you need to change the bushes, or just want to?
The ambient temperature gauge is notoriously inaccurate. My solution is to fit an appropriate resistor in the circuit (if I can be bothered).
My thread if you are interested.
Chazzy
Zorg Legend
Yes - the car was originally from Northern Ireland I believe and re registered in Northampton in 2002.
As for the bushes, a combination of both, a little tired and wanted to improve the handling.