Zed's not Dead!

[t-tony]

Brilliant job rescuing another from the "pound" well done. I've been advocating splitting the rear back plates to get them over the hub. As you say it acts as a "thread" enabling you to "screw" it round the hub flange.
Hope you enjoy it for a few weeks before the weather turns.

Tony

 

[jcfaeecht]

Good effort man, These cars can be very testing in the wet with original bushing, so much movement in the rear.

Did you refresh those rear crossbeam bushes when you swapped over the beams ?

I think the original rear bushes were well worn......well that's my excuse anyway! I was probably being a bit too enthusiastic.
I bought a Strongflex complete poly bush kit (link below) and have replaced all the rear including the crossmember bushes. Still to do the front but it feels ok just now.

http://www.strongflexuk.co.uk/bmw/z-series/z3/full-suspension-bush-kit-036110b.html#.XW-kdk2FMeF

 

[jcfaeecht]

It's good to see that someone loves his Z enough to put that amount of effort into repairing it! Well done! I have a similar car - slightly later and Titan Silver - and the one comment I would make on your 'incident' is that it is slightly disappointing that DSC didn't catch the slide before any damage was done. It has certainly saved my bacon on wet roads a couple of times. Once at 70mph on a wet concrete motorway when a car to my left suddenly swung towards my lane and I, instinctively, hauled a load of right lock on and immediately off again to move half a lane's width away from it. Without DSC I would very likely have gone into an unrecoverable fishtail and spin. It's brilliant.

I'm not entirely sure the DSC was working correctly before as the warning flashed quite a bit when driving was a on the spirited side. I haven't managed to get it to light even though i have tried in the 100 miles or so since back on the road........

 

[DrWong]

I'm not entirely sure the DSC was working correctly before as the warning flashed quite a bit when driving was a on the spirited side. I haven't managed to get it to light even though i have tried in the 100 miles or so since back on the road........

That erm, would suggest to me it was working before (i.e. intervening as appropriate, as indicated by the flashing) and isn’t working now (as indicated by the lack of flashing, despite spirited driving).?

 

[jcfaeecht]

That erm, would suggest to me it was working before (i.e. intervening as appropriate, as indicated by the flashing) and isn’t working now (as indicated by the lack of flashing, despite spirited driving).?

You've got me wondering but I do think it came on far too often before. I will check and report back once I have done some more miles.

 

[Lee]

With worn and tired bushes the light would be flashing alot. Now they're changed it should do it far less.

 

[DrWong]

I’ll defer to the greater knowledge of Lee here, as I wasn’t aware worn bushes impacted on the DSC

 

[Lee]

I’ll defer to the greater knowledge of Lee here, as I wasn’t aware worn bushes impacted on the DSC

Yeah it's more noticeable at lower speeds with tighter corners,.

 

[DrWong]

The DSC problem wasn't so easy - steering angle implausible which means the angle sensor required calibrating as I had changed some of the front suspension components. After reading about the fault and being sure that it wasn't the sensor after seeing the data change as the steering wheel was turned I tried to calibrate it but I couldn't find a DIY method that worked.

I also got the DSC light and implausible steering angle error after changing front suspension bits. My steering wheel was pointing at ten to two as the car went straight ahead. I aligned my front wheels with string and then calibrated the steering wheel as it had been spirit-levelled for the alignment. As far as I can remember, all I did was press a 'reset steering angle' button in INPA and the DSC light went off after driving 20 metres down the road

 

[jcfaeecht]

I also got the DSC light and implausible steering angle error after changing front suspension bits. My steering wheel was pointing at ten to two as the car went straight ahead. I aligned my front wheels with string and then calibrated the steering wheel as it had been spirit-levelled for the alignment. As far as I can remember, all I did was press a 'reset steering angle' button in INPA and the DSC light went off after driving 20 metres down the road

I set the tracking using the Trakrite alignment gauge after reading about it on this forum. Steering wheel was slightly off so realigned then took it to Premier Motors. He rest the steering angle using INPA I think but the difference is it went off immediately and stayed off.

 

[Althulas]

Nice to see you have come through the other side of a somewhat depressing event bar the cosmetics that can be addressed you’ve transformed your car into a better state with the rear end overhaul. Enjoy

 

[jcfaeecht]

Nice to see you have come through the other side of a somewhat depressing event bar the cosmetics that can be addressed you’ve transformed your car into a better state with the rear end overhaul. Enjoy

Appreciate your comments and I do think that I have a better car (mechanically) now.

 

[jcfaeecht]

Apologies, I forgot to add the list of parts I bought. Just over £1100 spent with secondhand parts coming from eBay. New parts from ECP or eBay. RealOEM was very helpful as well as this forum.

 

[jcfaeecht]

Second MOT, since the rebuild, carried out on wednesday and a pass with no advisories as I remembered to sort the corroded brake pipe this time!

Only 1400 miles covered in the year but I must say she is going well.......

 

[Rudyrov]

Long Live the Zed! Mine is still going strong at 22 years and 130,000 miles. Love my ZED!
I do need to say that I am glad we don't have a big brother Government program like you guys do in the UK and perhaps all of Europe. That would make it much more difficult to keep the car on the road, although I have to say that my Z is in very good condition, still I dont like the MOT.
Cheers!

 

[t-tony]

To be honest Rudy the MOT test is a good thing as for the majority of people it is the one and only time each year their vehicle will get a rudimentary safety check. In the 40 some years I tested vehicles the safety standard has risen markedly especially in the regards to corrosion issues. The worst item these days is the state of tyres on vehicles!
Sadly few people treat their cars as we enthusiasts do.

Tony.

 

[Rudyrov]

Hi Tony, to be honest, people in the US are the same. They let their cars get into such bad shape by putting off repairs, those folks get to the point that the repair is now an overhaul and many times the car is fixed to just run. Many of these vehicles become homeless shelters! Fortunately, few seem to be ZEDs.

 

[DavidM]

Nice work - lots of effort!

 

[Mint]

...Second MOT, since the rebuild, carried out on Wednesday and a pass with no advisories...

Excellent news, another 12 months of smiles