Z3 MoT (2001 1.9i) 140k miles: fix or not...?

[Zeddicus]

Hello
So, after 6 weeks of mostly topless pleasure, i know need to decide how much to invest.
Scrap merchant would give me £150

Failed on brakes (mixture of parking and main) would probably replace front disks too.
Main problem is emissions. Garage advice was it’s failed on idle, so probably worth spending a few hours cleaning up the inlet system. If it passes get the rest of the work done.
See attached picture.

So approx £100 to invest to see if it’s worth getting brakes fixed.
Assume £250 for brakes

I won’t drive it much this winter.
But I might get the leaky hood replaced (£350 in Wales)
And I’ll need a new set of tyres before the spring. About £300 for low end branded tyres

Worth doing? Or buy something lower mileage with 12m MoT. ?
Note: I do have all the history on this car. It’s been well serviced for last 8 years and was given to me by a family friend.

Any insights appreciated
Thanks.

 

[t-tony]

Hello
So, after 6 weeks of mostly topless pleasure, i know need to decide how much to invest.
Scrap merchant would give me £150

Failed on brakes (mixture of parking and main) would probably replace front disks too.
Main problem is emissions. Garage advice was it’s failed on idle, so probably worth spending a few hours cleaning up the inlet system. If it passes get the rest of the work done.
See attached picture.

So approx £100 to invest to see if it’s worth getting brakes fixed.
Assume £250 for brakes

I won’t drive it much this winter.
But I might get the leaky hood replaced (£350 in Wales)
And I’ll need a new set of tyres before the spring. About £300 for low end branded tyres

Worth doing? Or buy something lower mileage with 12m MoT. ?
Note: I do have all the history on this car. It’s been well serviced for last 8 years and was given to me by a family friend.

Any insights appreciated
Thanks.

Have you got an emissions print out you can post please?
Where are you located?

Tony.

 

[Zeddicus]

Sorry, no, I left that at the garage who did i the mot test.
Southampton

 

[Ianmc]

It cost me close to £1500.00 to sort my emissions for the MOT earlier this year. Only a BMW cat would do it. Hope your emissions is other than cat, is yours a twin cam?

 

[colb]

If the bodywork is in good condition inner and outer sills then it may be worth saving. Put a code reader on it and see if any codes have been set, strange you havn't got the EML lit up indicating a fault. As others have said you could be spending a lot on getting the emmissions solved with possible replacement of Cat and exhaust sensors if they are the cause. Best check for air leaks on the induction side before throwing parts at it replacement rubber hose parts are cheap and air leaks may be the cause of overfueling and large emmission readings. Is it a M43 or M44 engine?

 

[Kevlaar]

i put a euro car parts cat on mine and had no problem with my emissions test.cost 160 quid but can be a gamble as others here had problems with their cats from euros.main dealer cat cost around a grand plus.brake discs and pads are reasonable and an easy fix.hope this helps.

 

[DavidM]

Hello
So, after 6 weeks of mostly topless pleasure, i know need to decide how much to invest.
Scrap merchant would give me £150

Failed on brakes (mixture of parking and main) would probably replace front disks too.
Main problem is emissions. Garage advice was it’s failed on idle, so probably worth spending a few hours cleaning up the inlet system. If it passes get the rest of the work done.
See attached picture.

So approx £100 to invest to see if it’s worth getting brakes fixed.
Assume £250 for brakes

I won’t drive it much this winter.
But I might get the leaky hood replaced (£350 in Wales)
And I’ll need a new set of tyres before the spring. About £300 for low end branded tyres

Worth doing? Or buy something lower mileage with 12m MoT. ?
Note: I do have all the history on this car. It’s been well serviced for last 8 years and was given to me by a family friend.

Any insights appreciated
Thanks.

As said in an earlier response if the bodywork is very good start with resolving the emissions and ensure the engine is sound.

Based on the above points > you were given the car - make a project of it - spend a few pounds - as most of us have - and enjoy the experience on the way to making the car your own whilst saving another Zed. Good luck!

 

[t-tony]

Sorry, no, I left that at the garage who did i the mot test.
Southampton

They will be able to print you a copy if you ask them nicely as the analyser has to keep that in it's database.

Tony.

 

[Jjim]

Keep

All the points look fixable at a reasonable cost.

Unless you have the urge for more power and this is a reason for an upgrade?!?

 

[mrscalex]

Bear in mind it’s worth more than £150 sold as an end of life vehicle.

It should fetch you £500+ sold as a breaker.

You might get lucky with the emissions fix. See if it has any stored errors and post them on here.

And any car goes through brakes and tyres. You shouldn’t be letting your pads get down to less than 1.5mm before replacement btw! Was the brake pad warning light not on?

That said it’s a 1.9 on fairly big miles. Perhaps £1,250-£1,500 all good?

And the advisories suggest there may be more expense to come next year.

But back on the positive side nothing much here that isn’t par for the course for most Z3s being of the age they are now?

What’s your ambition car wise? Are you interested in another Z3? Or are you attached to this and looking for reasons to keep it?

 

[antodeco]

When I bought mine last year it needed new fuel lines, new exhaust and new rear discs. Paid and got them sorted.

This year I've had to replace the seat bushings, got the rear subframe cutout and reinforced, and got the rest bushings replaced.

On top of the above I've also done an M50 manifold swap and new induction kit.

Cost me loadsz but knowing I'm going to get years and years of fun out of it, is worth every penny. I don't smoke and don't drink a huge amount, so at least my "wasted" money is an investment!

 

[mrscalex]

The thing is, if you want a car that doesn’t need work then you’ll need to go spend £20k on a new one. And even then it needs service parts. And it will depreciate 20% a year.

I work off a total cost of ownership. Then repair costs and depreciation can be compared against each other as you flatten everything off.

An older car is always likely to win. And the deciding factor about keeping it comes down to other factors. Like are you attached to the car, is it reliable, does it look like a shed, have you got an ambition to drive something different etc

 

[Zeddicus]

Thanks all.
Basically confirming my thoughts
I’m going to spend a little more to see if it’s worth getting the brakes done.
Bodywork is ok (bar one sill), hood is shot, stitching rot in quite a few places at top, and all round rear window.
Tyres.. consumables.
It’s a project for sure, but I don’t have enough time (or skill) to do much myself.
Don’t know if it’s m44 or 43. Engine code from v5 is 00069802. (2001 facelift 1.9i)
I figure that with the high mileage it’s worth max £1350, even after hood replaced.
Really the main question is am I keep struggling with the emissions test every year... I guess I’ll find out next October!

 

[t-tony]

Still try to get a copy of the emission test result and post it.

Tony.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

If the emissions are sortable then there's nothing else too tricky on that list. Doesn't matter what car you've got you'll still need brakes and tyres every now and again. Depends how much you want a Z3, really. And is that a hard-top in the picture? If it is you've just doubled the value of the car.

 

[stevie_a]

I changed all discs, pads, handbrake shoes and drum spring all under £200

I would start with the codes first and if this fixes the emissions, would then go ahead and repair the rest.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MINTEX-F...f:g:JXcAAOSwj25Y8MJX:rk:3:pf:1&frcectupt=true

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z3-1...9:g:ufQAAOxy43FRZG7L:rk:3:pf:1&frcectupt=true

 

[the Nefyn cat]

I changed all discs, pads, handbrake shoes and drum spring all under £200

I would start with the codes first and if this fixes the emissions, would then go ahead and repair the rest.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MINTEX-FRONT-DISCS-AND-PADS-300mm-FOR-BMW-Z3-1-9-118-BHP-1998-03/111838646415?fits=Model:Z3+Roadster&epid=25006825147&hash=item1a0a1a508f:g:JXcAAOSwj25Y8MJX:rk:3f:1&frcectupt=true

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z3-1-9-E36-REAR-BRAKE-DISCS-BRAKE-PADS-REAR-MINTEX/301940826073?fits=Model:Z3+Roadster&hash=item464d135fd9:g:ufQAAOxy43FRZG7L:rk:3f:1&frcectupt=true

At prices like that you can't go wrong. Almost makes me wish I'd gone for standard brakes and not the 325mm ones. Almost.

 

[BMBabe]

FIX IT FIX IT FIX IT

 

[colb]

You can look up the build details of your car here by entering last six letters and numbers of your VIN number, it will list what engine type you have https://decoder.bvzine.com/

Info also available here with pictures of engine types http://users.belgacom.net/bmw_z3/bmw_z3_engines.htm

 

[Ianmc]

Almost certainly you have a M43 B19 engine given the year of the car. The more powerful M44 B19 twin cam was discontinued around 1999 due to difficulty in meeting emission requirements at the time.