Tank straps, good news bad news

[Z3I]

Well, I've put another order into BMW for a bunch of new parts, which included :

16111185029 tension strap
16111185025 support strap

I think, looking at realoem that these are the 2 tanks straps, that rust away faster than an MGB!

The reply from BMW is that 029 is available, 025 will be early Feb! So my order is in. Bad news is the price, 029 £49.34 025 £41.98.

I'm going to live in hope!

 

[GazHyde]

Good call on replacing the tank straps while the subframe is out

 

[mrscalex]

Perhaps that price isn't so bad. You could pay £30 for a decent second-hand pair and then need to spend a couple of hours cleaning up and painting them.

That said it was one of the reasons I decided to scrap my 1.9 rather than fix it. £90 becomes a lot more material when the car is only worth £1,500.

Don't forget you will need some large high density self-adhesive pads to sit between the straps and tank. The current ones probably won't be worth putting back.

 

[Z3I]

Oddly, the current pads are nowhere as near as bad as the straps themselves, but I am also thinking of using some thick rubber that I have. We will see when they arrive!

 

[Z3I]

I've just chased up BMW for delivery of the longer strap on back order, only to be told the status has changed from delivery in February to NLA, no longer available. BMW Cotswold Cheltenham are contacting BMW Germany for a confirmed status.

May mean a clean up best-I-can of the old strap and refit pending a new one in the future.

Boo hoo!

 

[Bonzeau]

Well, I've put another order into BMW for a bunch of new parts, which included :

16111185029 tension strap
16111185025 support strap


The reply from BMW is that 029 is available 029 £49.34 025 £41.98.

I'm going to live in hope!

Are they cheaper there then?..

 

[gookah]

I had the same with a diff cover
8 weeks delivery, so ordered and paid, and when 6 weeks in it was 'no longer available'. so refunded

 

[Antm72]

Not getting mine either then ! False advertising taking money for parts not being made any longer is a bit poor It should have arrived this week i think its not coming then !!

 

[Antm72]

I have called my local dealer and they advised that the order has not been met yet i.e the dead line but its not at a status of NLA its just there is no revised date. They will update me tomorrow.

 

[5harp3y]

Going to become more and more frequent with these cars now as they are getting old

 

[Z3I]

Are they cheaper there then?..

They give a bit of discount, just mention you are an e30zone member when ordering!

 

[Z3I]

I have called my local dealer and they advised that the order has not been met yet i.e the dead line but its not at a status of NLA its just there is no revised date. They will update me tomorrow.

That's exactly what BMW Cotswold said. They then looked on another system relating to Germany, and it said NLA there. They are going to enquire and let me know.

 

[Z3I]

Going to become more and more frequent with these cars now as they are getting old

Sadly, yes.

But with the E30s, they are starting to make some parts that were NLA for years, available again, such as the wind deflector. The Z3 I think is at that stage of just being an old car, to being seen as a classic car. Yes the bigger engine cars are there already, but its the 4 cylinder cars that are not there yet, and until they do in quantity, I guess the demand for original spares will be low.

Nice thing is that BMW don't scrap spares generally, they keep them in stock, unlike Fords and Vauxhall!

 

[Antm72]

I have been told today the new date is Middle of March. Part went on to back order but they have so they say this new eta

 

[roadvoyager1]

I have clean and painted mine in situ recently and they may last a couple more years, however, as this seems to be something of an on-going problem, it also presents an opportunity.
We have a number of clever mechanical engineers on here and I wonder if we could come up with a replacement strap made from (say) 20mm x 2mm 304 Stainless (needs calculation obviously). The basic design seems fairly simple and to me fabrication would not require any specialist forming tools. If we could get a batch of (say) 50 made for around £50 a pair I think they would be snapped up by members. Logistics for distribution etc would need thinking about also.
Any thoughts from the clever lads?
@Lee, @GazHyde does the Z-shed have contacts who might be interested in making something like this?

PS: I'm just the daft bloke who comes up with silly ideas like this but sometimes they inspire others to come up with good ideas that would work.

 

[t-tony]

If you can give me the dimensions I know a guy a a metal works in Lincoln who I can approach.

Tony.

 

[Z3I]

I decided today to clean up the old, larger strap and reuse. Not too bad in the end, may well last a good few more years?

 

[Jjim]

Looks like it cleaned up alright.

What are going to paint / protect it with?

 

[Z3I]

At the moment it has Kurust, then undercover, then high temp paint. Ideally would have liked powder coat, but I'd like to see the car back together soonish!

 

[colb]

I would avoid powder coating, it seldom lasts and where these live they have a hard life. Water soon gets behind the powder coating and it starts to lift. A good red oxide undercoat after the Krust has done its work followed by a thick coat of an enamel paint, even Smoothright will last a lot longer than powder coating.