Z3 3.0 2000 “Project White Elephant”

[Michael Burridge]

Good stuff - thanks. Luckily I’ve nothing to hide . May well get them in anyway but if I run out of time it’s good to know

 

[Michael Burridge]

The next steps:

Having seen under the car when it was being serviced I knew roughly what I was in for at the front end and with the sills, the back looked hard and scary.

At this point of my project I discovered this fantastic forum. It is a superb guide and confidence builder. You’re not alone in your project and you can trust the advice. Phew!

So.
Rust.

Before the sills were off I knew they were condemned. They’re shot to bits and both sides have had patches welded in. The patches had some sort of Waxoyl covering inside and out which was just horrible. So so horrible.

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I’m fortunate that my dad has a habit of buying just about every tool so that’s keeping my capital costs down. The challenge is finding them all!

Jacking up the car I’m using a cheap euro car parts 2 tonne trolley jack. It’s alright but the 3 tonne jack is better.
The axle stands I’m using are a pair of 2 tonne jacks and a pair of 3 tonne. Again. The 3 tonne are far more reassuring.

When removing the wheel arch liners I broke some of the threaded studs holding the liner in place. Oops.
I’ve since learnt you should cut the plastic retaining nuts off with a dremmel or butcher them off with a pair of side cutters to avoid snapping the threaded stud.
I’ve also learnt to fix this you can grind the stud back to bare metal then drill and fix a threaded rivet.
https://zroadster.org/threads/threaded-studs-wheel-well-and-underbody.40273/

There’s plenty of YouTube videos and threads on how to remove the sills
https://zroadster.org/articles/bmw-z3-sill-removal-and-protection.67/

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U7pYIbwNZt0


With the sills off they’re as expected and dead.
BMW have quoted £130 inc VAT per sill bare.

Having got the arch liners off you begin to realise why things go rusty!

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With access to the chassis I got to work with the wire brushes in a drill and grinder. This is a loooong task but worth doing well. I’m working on my drive, with the car on 4 stands, lying on my back. It’s a chore but I’m enjoying it.
If you’re going to work like this make sure you wear a decent FFP2 or 3 mask (screwfix 1344K £2.91), goggles (screwfix 36877 £11.66) and decent preferably cut resistant gloves. The muck that comes off you don’t want in your eyes or lungs.
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@Woodsta888 2.0 Refurb Project is a worthwhile read. He’s doing a similar project and he’s doing a good write up. I stole some of his ideas. He has a bucket of grinding pads etc which I’ve copied the use of.

https://zroadster.org/threads/2-0-refurb-project.37507/


The parts I used / copied:
I strongly recommend an angle grinder, I’ve borrowed one from my father in law.
I was going to buy a Mac Allister or Erbauer grinder. Cheap and cheerful. I’ve taken walls down and refurbished a house with a battery Mac Allister SDS so don’t underestimate the brand for DIY use.

Screwfix:
970GF or 763FV angle grinder £24.99-£34.99(what I was going to buy, cheap and cheerful for what I need)
868JG flap disc 120 grit £3.49 x1
346JG flap disc 80 grit £3.49 x1
7650G flap disc 60 grit £3.49 x1
61401 Abrasive flap wheel 60 grit £4.49 x1
289JJ Spindle flap wheel 80 grit £4.49 x1
415JG Crimped wire wheel 50mm £1.99 x1
644JF Norton crimped wire wheel 50mm £3.49 x2
380JF Norton preparation brush set 25-50mm 3 piece £7.99

In brief. The angle grinder flap wheels are great for covering all the flat areas as well as some of the angles, for making sparks and feeling like a boss!
60 grit is too rough but was great at removing the Waxoyl as were the wire brushes.
80 grit is good for the rustiest ends.
120 grit is good for getting rid of the existing paint.
The wire brushes are essential for all the bits and bobs especially the crimped wire wheel. I used the wire wheel more than anything, it’s especially good at getting rid of seam sealer on the underside.
The abrasive flap wheel is alright for getting around things but overall I prefer the wire brushes.

Any surface rust was taken back to bare metal.
All deep rust has been ground back to solid metal ready for the rust inhibiter.
All the flat painted areas were gone over with the wire brushes or flap wheels to remove any developing rust spots and etch the existing paint (which seems very thin).

Unfortunately the front ends of my sills have rusted through around the 25mm grommet. I’ll need to cut this section out and weld in a small patch on both sides. I’ve painted it for the time being.

View attachment 160135
Rust treatment and paint:

I spent sometime reading about what paint and rust inhibitor to use. It got boring.
I have experience using Jenolite, I’ve got a bit left but needed a lot more.
Having spent a while looking about and comparing I decided to go with a 2 part epoxy paint.
I’m using everything from Rustbuster (www.rust.co.uk). I liked their website it’s very informative so check it out.
They’re a UK based company, reasonably priced and well regarded in the classic car world. I had a couple of questions so rang them, they were responsive, keen and informed.

I got their “Chassis Restoration Value Pack” which contains a degreaser, rust inhibitor and the epoxy paint with thinners £79.99
I also bought some measuring / paint mixing cups from them, 10 for £3. Cheaper than amazon and quicker than ebay.

Typically I use 100ml (50ml of Part A and B) of the 2 part epoxy with 5% thinners to generously cover one sill and a bit extra here and there. It’s about 15degrees and it goes on like treacle.
I’ve brushed it on with a 2” brush £2, which gets thrown out afterwards.
(If I wasn’t getting odds and sods powder coated I suspect the quantity of paint in this kit would cover all control arms, chassis, sills and back end tasks).

One alternative was Por15 which a friend is using to restore a TVR. He really likes it. To me it seems expensive and I don’t buy into “paint direct over rust” claims.
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I’m tempted to give everything a second coat with white (for contrast) hammerite smooth for a belt and braces approach.
Once I’m done with the painting I’ll cover all necessary areas with paint on seam sealer (G+Pro 1kg ebay £16.49).
I’m also pondering wether to dust over the areas with some Topaz blue spray paint on the more visible areas just for a closer to OEM finish and for my own satisfaction.

I’ve bought cavity waxes (penetrator and active) from Rustbuster but I haven’t got to this job yet.

Have you got new sill covers yet? If not, I have a pair I took off mine in cosmos black. I was going to put them back on and have treated all the inside rust but I ended up getting carried away and going for new ones. Bit (not too much) of work needed on the front and back edges and will need a change of colour but there’s still plenty of life in them if you’d like them? Not looking to sell them - they’re yours if you’d like them? Can send some pics....

 

[Martin Sullivan]

I tell you what. I’m getting bored of rust now. None of it is really that bad, it’s all surface stuff just bubbling away, I can’t help myself, I just have to clean it off, it’s like having a constant moving itch.
It’ll be worth it in the long run.

The sills are all painted and the wheel arches are largely finished.
The epoxy paint seems solid so I’ll leave it as that for the sills. The sills will be protected by the outer sill covers too.
Where the sills wrap around under the car there are 2 or 3 drain holes. I’ll temporarily bung the drain holes up and get seam sealer all along that edge as it’s quite an exposed edge. I’ll then give it a top coat of hammerite paint for protection and aesthetics.

I’ve moved all the brackets, electrical connections holders in the wheel arches. It looks like this may have been done before as a couple of the studs are broken.
The wheel arches have been touched up and seam sealer applied in various places.
I’ve then sprayed the arch with primer ready for the topaz blue top coat. I’m not going for a pristine professional finish, more of freshen up so we don’t have black splotches of paint everywhere.

I noticed the inside of the sills had a fair bit of muck in them. I’ve sprayed a load of degreaser in there and given them a proper scrub with bottle brushes. They then had a good blast out with the hose and dried as much as possible using a high pressure air line.

I still need to do (or have done) a spot of welding on the sills but this will wait for now. I’ve splashed some paint over the area for now to stop the rust.

The roll bar, brace and other bits have come back from the bead blasters and look so much healthier (£60 cash local engineering firm).
I now realise the brake dust covers are not worth keeping so the front pair have been replaced (ebay £43).
The new covers have a very poor quality powder coat which is already scratched through, I’ll get them redone which is kinda annoying as they’ll need bead blasting first.
Because they sit behind the wheel bearing they need to be done well as they won’t come off again easily.
Because I’ve got held up I’ve just noticed some surface rust appearing on my bead blasted stuff. I’ll treat this with rust inhibitor then clean throughly with degreaser before taking them to be powder coated.

I’m a bit further on from this point now and will hopefully update soon.

 

[Michael Burridge]

I tell you what. I’m getting bored of rust now. None of it is really that bad, it’s all surface stuff just bubbling away, I can’t help myself, I just have to clean it off, it’s like having a constant moving itch.
It’ll be worth it in the long run.

The sills are all painted and the wheel arches are largely finished.
The epoxy paint seems solid so I’ll leave it as that for the sills. The sills will be protected by the outer sill covers too.
Where the sills wrap around under the car there are 2 or 3 drain holes. I’ll temporarily bung the drain holes up and get seam sealer all along that edge as it’s quite an exposed edge. I’ll then give it a top coat of hammerite paint for protection and aesthetics.
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I’ve moved all the brackets, electrical connections holders in the wheel arches. It looks like this may have been done before as a couple of the studs are broken.
The wheel arches have been touched up and seam sealer applied in various places.
I’ve then sprayed the arch with primer ready for the topaz blue top coat. I’m not going for a pristine professional finish, more of freshen up so we don’t have black splotches of paint everywhere.
View attachment 161847
View attachment 161841

I noticed the inside of the sills had a fair bit of muck in them. I’ve sprayed a load of degreaser in there and given them a proper scrub with bottle brushes. They then had a good blast out with the hose and dried as much as possible using a high pressure air line.

I still need to do (or have done) a spot of welding on the sills but this will wait for now. I’ve splashed some paint over the area for now to stop the rust.

The roll bar, brace and other bits have come back from the bead blasters and look so much healthier (£60 cash local engineering firm).
I now realise the brake dust covers are not worth keeping so the front pair have been replaced (ebay £43).
The new covers have a very poor quality powder coat which is already scratched through, I’ll get them redone which is kinda annoying as they’ll need bead blasting first.
Because they sit behind the wheel bearing they need to be done well as they won’t come off again easily.
Because I’ve got held up I’ve just noticed some surface rust appearing on my bead blasted stuff. I’ll treat this with rust inhibitor then clean throughly with degreaser before taking them to be powder coated.
View attachment 161903I’m a bit further on from this point now and will hopefully update soon.

Doing a good job there

 

[Martin Sullivan]

I’ve just realised I’ve glossed over the removal of the front suspension and wish bones.
Once I got cracking on this it became obvious as to why the car handled so poorly.
All the rubber is perished, falling apart, too soft, too hard.
My plan was to take the whole lot out. Control arms, roll bars, suspension. As you can see it’s all brown bread.

In brief I followed this how to guide to get the wish bones (control arms) out.
Pelican Parts is a superb resource and often very accurate, well written and informative.
I needed plenty of WD40 and a liberal amount of targeted force.
The ball joint separator i looks like a tuning fork and did a good job.

BMW Z3 Front Control Arm Replacement | 1996-2002 | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article

More than one faulty part in your control arm? This tech article shows you how to replace the entire assembly.

www.pelicanparts.com

On one side one of the bolts was seized to the hub so the whole lot came off together.
You’ll have to release the suspension which is easy. 3 bolts and a pry bar job done. Check YouTube for how to do this. Look for the BMW E36 front suspension removal.
I cut the seized nut off the bolt to free everything up (more sparks! Yeah! Love it). Nice and simple.

I’ve sourced replacement Meyle HD control arms fully assembled with the roll bar drop links and full track rods from eBay. £224.00. The new kit has come with all new bolts.
Having taken everything apart I realised that to remove the brake dust covers you need to remove the wheel bearings.
I should have slackened the wheel bearings off whilst they were on the car. One of them was so solid it was a mission to remove. I ended up fixing the hubs to a fence post using coaching bolts and going at them with a 1 metre long bar. I didn’t have a blow torch that would get them hot enough to brake!
You need a 46mm socket (amazon £22).

I followed this guide to remove the bearings. It’s quite a simple task. Easier if it wasn’t seized.

View: https://youtu.be/yNE6EI0J4ds

Once the bearings were removed I could disassemble the the rest of the hub ready for bead blasting.
The bearings will be replaced (eBay £77 for the pair). I should have bought a bearing kit which includes the rear dust covers. They’re £10+ each on eBay. Direct from BMW they’re £5 each.

I then took the roll bar out which was easy, only 4 more nuts. It’s self explanatory once you get to this point.


This left the brake callipers and suspension struts on the car.
I think I should have removed the callipers earlier as it would have been easier rather than having them tied up.
The hydraulic hoses on the callipers were seized on and I risked rounding them off using a spanner. I just cut through the pipe and got a socket set on there. It all came apart easily.

I read a tip on this forum. Basically compress the brake pedal and wedge it there with a broom handle and a piece of wood. It holds a valve closed so all the brake fluid doesn’t drain out which would be a pain to bleed.
https://zroadster.org/threads/brake-hose-replacement.35555/#post-561575

This guy talks a lot while his dad works but I quite like his videos.)
https://youtu.be/

The callipers will be cleaned up, fully stripped down and rebuilt. It’s quite an easy task and kits are readily available.

The suspension struts were only held on with 3 bolts in the engine compartment. Nice and easy.
They’ll be fully replaced.

Knowing that I will be replacing just about all of these parts gave me plenty of confidence to crack on. Parts are readily available so even if I knackered a component ebay, bmw or a breakers will have the part.

Parts for bead blasting, not quite fully disassembled.

I did all this quite a while ago so I’m sure I’ve forgotten certain points. Sorry about that.

 

[Martin Sullivan]

Current spend:


Service £125
Upholstery cleaner and dye £75
Car cleaning and polish £160
Headlight Polish £25.70
Engine and Gearbox Oils £110
Power Steering Reservoir £20
Gear Knob £15
Chassis rust proofing and cavity wax £227
Bits and bobs including basic tools, nuts and bolts £240
Control arms with full track rods £224
Sway bar brackets front pair £34
Brake hoses and clutch hose £95.97
Front brake covers £44
Engine mounts £80
Wheel bearings £77
Roll bar bushes £14
Calliper rebuild £15
Track rod covers £20
Suspension and springs £720

 

[Martin Sullivan]

Everything came back from powder coating a little while ago now and is looking great. £100 cash to have it all painted only (the sand blasting was £60 excluding the engine mount).

The wheel arches are largely finished. They’ve been sprayed with a few coats of Topaz paint. They just need a few coats of lacquer for protection.

I’ve patched the rotten end of the chassis sill. It only needed a 3” square on each side. I used a mig welder to weld the patch in place. It isn’t pretty and is what I’d call a “heavy” weld, it will be incredibly strong. looks fine now it’s been ground back and coated in epoxy paint.
The area will have a liberal coating of seam sealer and then I’ll prime and spray paint it to match the wheel arch.

In other news I have a new low pressure line for the power steering. It’s all hand bent and needs a slight tweak to improve the fit.

 

[Martin Sullivan]

New BC racing Coilovers! So shiny!

 

[Dakar Z3]

Hello Martin,

I was feeling tired just reading what you have done, never mind carrying out the work, I did similar earlier in the year. I pretty much have done exactly the same as you, it gives a sense of achievement in the end.

I completed a full frontal rebuild and replace, with an inner arch tidy up, now all I have to do is decide when I'm going to start on the rear, a full strip down blast powder coat and replace, then Dakar should be ready for another 20 years plus, however the car will probably be in the hands of my Grand daughter by then, keep the posts coming very interesting.............................

 

[D0nni]

Hi Martin,

Good build so far. You're making me jealous of your power steering. I neglected to remove mine while i had the front subframe off and now ive seen yours im really tempted to drop out again and replace my own.

I'm working at a similar and a bit rougher round the edges machine as well. mines a 2.8 hoping to have the rear subframe and diff dropped out tonight, but hoping for it and and actually succeeding in it are 2 different things

 

[Dakar Z3]

Hello D0nni,

Got an idea, why don't you come and experiment on my car dropping the backend refurbing then re assembling, then when you come to do yours you know how it's all done.

 

[Dakar Z3]

Hi Martin,

Good build so far. You're making me jealous of your power steering. I neglected to remove mine while i had the front subframe off and now ive seen yours im really tempted to drop out again and replace my own.

I'm working at a similar and a bit rougher round the edges machine as well. mines a 2.8 hoping to have the rear subframe and diff dropped out tonight, but hoping for it and and actually succeeding in it are 2 different things

Hello D0nni,

Got an idea, why don't you come and experiment on my car dropping the backend refurbing then re assembling, then when you come to do yours you know how it's all done.

 

[D0nni]

Hello D0nni,

Got an idea, why don't you come and experiment on my car dropping the backend refurbing then re assembling, then when you come to do yours you know how it's all done.

I would love to assist but i'm a good week into doing mine on and off. Its not been easy on the hairline lol @Lee has been good enough to baby step me through it all. I'm 3 bolts and a break line away from hopefully successfully dropping it to the floor in one piece.

 

[Martin Sullivan]

Hi Martin,

Good build so far. You're making me jealous of your power steering. I neglected to remove mine while i had the front subframe off and now ive seen yours im really tempted to drop out again and replace my own.

I'm working at a similar and a bit rougher round the edges machine as well. mines a 2.8 hoping to have the rear subframe and diff dropped out tonight, but hoping for it and and actually succeeding in it are 2 different things

Hi D0nni,

I didn’t intend to take out the steering rack but I didn’t have a choice.
I gave it a wipe over with a rag and degreaser but I’ve left all the intervals alone.
I was quoted just shy of £180 to refurb it by 2 separate companies which I didn’t see the point in.

The low pressure line was a right state so I’ve sourced a new pipe and bent it all by hand. It was a bit of a faff but is by far the best solution in my opinion.

 

[Dakar Z3]

Hello Martin,
enjoying the read keep those updates coming.............

john

 

[Martin Sullivan]

So the last few sessions I’ve had have been a faff so not a lot of forward progress has been made.

The powder coat on the front wheel hubs failed totally. I’ve now stripped them back to bare metal again and brush painted in epoxy paint. The finish is pretty amateur in comparison to powder costing but it’s rock hard, it won’t fail easily and it won’t be seen.
Now the powder coated dust covers (which are solid) and new bearings are put on it looks smart.

The new control arms were supplied with nuts that had the wrong thread pitch, it’s not something I thought to check. So I went for it and tried tightening down wheel hub and track rod end nuts, it got to a point where they felt cross threaded so I stopped but the threads were already damaged. I swore....
I’ve now spent £40 buying a tap and die set. I’ve managed to recut the control arm and track rod threads.
I’ve bought more new stainless lock nuts to suit.
If anyone needs to recut an external thread you MUST use a split die.
It’s was quite satisfying.

The next hold up was not having any paper gasket for the top of the suspension strut. Luckily my brother in law had some leftovers to suit so a few quid saved there at least. An hour of arts and crafts in the evening got that done.

All of the above has been sorted and I now have the front suspension and wheel hubs back on.
Coilovers look great!

The front brake lines could do with replacing. I’ve asked for all the bits and bobs for Christmas. Hopefully Santa will see my Amazon wish list.
If he doesn’t what I need is in my basked so will be bough ASAP Boxing Day

I’m going to progress with the back end rebuild including the gearbox drop for replacement shift pins. I’ll do a clutch while I’m at it. I fancy a lightened flywheel but perhaps that’s excessive.

I suspect I’ll pause the front end now. There’s no point reinstalling brake callipers and discs etc as the weather will abuse them for several months before I get to use the car.

Time to make a shopping list so I’ve got anything I need for the Christmas period.

 

[D0nni]

Good work lad. Look forward to seeing some pics!

Ive really enjoyed working on mine so far. Not something i ever considered myself liking.

Whats the plan with the rear? keeping all standard or any upgrades anywhere?

 

[Dakar Z3]

So the last few sessions I’ve had have been a faff so not a lot of forward progress has been made.

The powder coat on the front wheel hubs failed totally. I’ve now stripped them back to bare metal again and brush painted in epoxy paint. The finish is pretty amateur in comparison to powder costing but it’s rock hard, it won’t fail easily and it won’t be seen.
Now the powder coated dust covers (which are solid) and new bearings are put on it looks smart.

The new control arms were supplied with nuts that had the wrong thread pitch, it’s not something I thought to check. So I went for it and tried tightening down wheel hub and track rod end nuts, it got to a point where they felt cross threaded so I stopped but the threads were already damaged. I swore....
I’ve now spent £40 buying a tap and die set. I’ve managed to recut the control arm and track rod threads.
I’ve bought more new stainless lock nuts to suit.
If anyone needs to recut an external thread you MUST use a split die.
It’s was quite satisfying.

The next hold up was not having any paper gasket for the top of the suspension strut. Luckily my brother in law had some leftovers to suit so a few quid saved there at least. An hour of arts and crafts in the evening got that done.

All of the above has been sorted and I now have the front suspension and wheel hubs back on.
Coilovers look great!

The front brake lines could do with replacing. I’ve asked for all the bits and bobs for Christmas. Hopefully Santa will see my Amazon wish list.
If he doesn’t what I need is in my basked so will be bough ASAP Boxing Day

I’m going to progress with the back end rebuild including the gearbox drop for replacement shift pins. I’ll do a clutch while I’m at it. I fancy a lightened flywheel but perhaps that’s excessive.

I suspect I’ll pause the front end now. There’s no point reinstalling brake callipers and discs etc as the weather will abuse them for several months before I get to use the car.

Time to make a shopping list so I’ve got anything I need for the Christmas period.

hello Martin,

what make of control arms did you purchase and where from?

John
Dakar

 

[Martin Sullivan]

Good work lad. Look forward to seeing some pics!

Ive really enjoyed working on mine so far. Not something i ever considered myself liking.

Whats the plan with the rear? keeping all standard or any upgrades anywhere?

So I’ve got BC BR racing coilovers. I like the customisable approach for height and stiffness. It allows for an OEM setup or lowered and stiffened one. I originally planned to go for OEM Sachs, then realised what a dreadful ride height OEM is aesthetically, decided on a B12 kit then I was offered BC coilovers, new, for a good price.

I’ll stick with standard rubber bushes as I want a car that suits the driving requirements of both my wife and I. It’s a weekend fair weather cruiser not a track car. I appreciate rubber might be harder to install but it’s a one off task which will last years.
When comparing 20 year old rubber vs solid polyurethane I’d rather try and get back to roughly OEM standards first.

The exhaust is solid and largely free of rust but the joining bolts are a rusty mess. I’ll tackle it, I’m sure it’ll be fine, I hope.

From what I can see so far the diff mount looks solid. The car has never been ragged hard.

I’ll be dropping the gearbox for shift pins and clutch.

Ill be getting some new alloys. Some sexy 17”s vs my basic 16s which I’m excited about

I’d also like some heated sports seats but again, that’s a luxury and I must stay focused on the mechanics for now.

 

[Althulas]

Good progress Martin to get a better finish with expoxy paint I went over it with a gloss type roller brush they don’t last long as the paint makes them elongate a bit but at least it improves the finish in visable areas that I sprayed over after. Nice to have the BC’s and have options.