Wow its been quite a while since I updated my thread
The updates are getting less and less now as I have done so much to the car there isn't really a lot else I can do, although there has been several changes over the past 6 months which I need to add to my journal.
First up, I refurbished my style 78's a while ago and after 1 winter the paint started to crack for some reason (maybe because it was freezing cold when I did them or could have been cheap paint). Anyway as this was always meant as a temporary measure to get rid of the gold they had when I got them, I finally took them to be refurbed a couple of weeks ago. As I needed 2 new rear tyres I though I would buy them and get them swapped at the same time as the refurb as they didn't charge to do it and it was going to cost at least £20 elsewhere.
Here is what they looked like
So I took them to be powder coated at City Powder Coating in Birmingham. Unsure of what colour from a choice between silver or anthracite/gunmetal, I had a look at examples whilst I was there and went for one called silver sparkle. This is a colour which is silver but when the sunlight or any other light hits it they give of a sparkle from the flakes in the paint. Almost like a metallic but with more sparkle.
They came out looking like this (normal daylight)
And under the lights in the garage, showing the sparkle
Overall I am extremely impressed with the quality of the work and they have done a fantastic job on all 4 wheels. I added some new badges and tyre valves and put them back on the car
And all this for just £30 per wheel (with tyres on and off and then rebalanced). Without tyres is only £20 a wheel!
The wheels look like a good job, no for that kind of money it's a great job
I can sympathise with you, My cars a bit like yours! I'm running out of jobs too
Well, I haven't really seen what kind of sparkle they give yet in the sunlight, as its done nothing but rain
Don't worry I'm still finding stuff to do though, done a couple of things this week and hopefully swapping over the rear wings tomorrow. Oh, and I had a brand new set of headlights turn up this morning. Only trouble is they are for a LHD but I only wanted them for the front lenses really and for £60 for 2 brand new headlights I couldn't let them go.
That's a job for another day though, splitting 4 headlights to make 2 mint ones and I will probably stick a brand new set on angel eyes in there whilst they are apart.
g8jka wrote:Well, I haven't really seen what kind of sparkle they give yet in the sunlight, as its done nothing but rain
Don't worry I'm still finding stuff to do though, done a couple of things this week and hopefully swapping over the rear wings tomorrow. Oh, and I had a brand new set of headlights turn up this morning. Only trouble is they are for a LHD but I only wanted them for the front lenses really and for £60 for 2 brand new headlights I couldn't let them go.
That's a job for another day though, splitting 4 headlights to make 2 mint ones and I will probably stick a brand new set on angel eyes in there whilst they are apart.
Any chance you'll have a pair of clear indicator lenses from out of those headlights that you'd like to sell? (to me!)
If any ever came up they would probably cost more to buy than I paid for these lights. I remember I had to buy a whole set of headlights with them in to get rid of the orange lenses. As more zeds are being broken these days there are more and more of them coming up on eBay at decent prices.
g8jka wrote:Well, I haven't really seen what kind of sparkle they give yet in the sunlight, as its done nothing but rain
Don't worry I'm still finding stuff to do though, done a couple of things this week and hopefully swapping over the rear wings tomorrow. Oh, and I had a brand new set of headlights turn up this morning. Only trouble is they are for a LHD but I only wanted them for the front lenses really and for £60 for 2 brand new headlights I couldn't let them go.
That's a job for another day though, splitting 4 headlights to make 2 mint ones and I will probably stick a brand new set on angel eyes in there whilst they are apart.
Drivers side has always had a deep scratch and a couple of marks which wouldn't polish out since I got the car and has later picked up a very large stone chip, even though it is covered by a stone guard.
Passenger side has some lacquer peel around the aerial grommet and at the end of last year I hit something in the road that wedged in my tyre and scuffed all the way around the arch down to the primer. Also both were very, very chipped at the bottoms even though I covered them with stone guards.
I got some off a car that was been broken. They have recently been resprayed which I didn't realise and look pretty neat (although you can see a couple of sanding marks) and the colour match is pretty much spot on. They are a hell of a lot better than the ones that were on the car. I was quoted over £200 to repair and respray the passenger side one and as there is marks on both I would have wanted both done, which would eventually turn into a full respray as I couldn't have 2 pristine wings with marks still on other panels. Also there is no 100% guarantee of a colour match so that's when its starts getting expensive and for the age of the car it isn't really worth spending all that money. These 2 wings cost me less than repairing the one so I'm pretty happy with the outcome.
Got them fitted today, fairly simple job despite breaking almost all of the clips from the plastic trim that need removing. Need to get some pics up now when it stops raining!
So most of these mods were done over the past few months and some at the end of summer last year. The first one is actually one of my dad's ideas and he did the mod first (don't really want to admit that but he does have some uses).
A small, pop up screen is fitted to the dash which allows 2 cameras to be connected into it and it turns on and off automatically when wired into the ignition. My dad fitted a front camera in the bumper, but I wanted one that can record footage of when driving along and one that saves the footage to a micro sd. This is a tiny camera fitted above the rear view mirror which will record automatically and loops every 3 minutes and connected into the flip up screen you can also watch the footage back or even view it in real time. As the screen had 2 video inputs I started to wonder what I could use the other one for and thought about fitting a rear parking camera. I got one that fits into the number plate lamp in the rear bumper and also has an LED to replace the one being removed. It gives a nice wide angle and has lines on so distances can be judged easily. Also I have it wired up so that when I select reverse it automatically switches from the front camera to the reverse camera
The camera folded down, looks nice and neat and the wires go through the dash.
Push the button on the front and it pops up automatically (ignition off so nothing on screen).
Front camera above mirror.
Front facing camera view (picture is better but looks blurred when trying to photograph).
Rear camera in place of number plate light.
Rear facing camera view.
After the old headunit decided to give up I purchased and new Kenwood one that works with an iPhone / iPod via USB, has a Parrot bluetooth unit fitted which can also stream music, SD card slot, oh and one of them CD things.
The key colours can also be matched up exactly to the colour of the original dash lights.
And the microphone was fitted under the speedo unit just behind the steering wheel.
Next up I fitted cruise control, which I had for christmas. Just the stalk and interface was needed and it took about 5 mins to fit.
Recently I also got my steering wheel re-trimmed at royal steering wheels. Had it double padded, with perforated leather at the sides and smooth nappa top and bottom finished off with silver stitching to match the colour of the car and my carbon dash. Finally a new monochrome ///M badge was fitted. This is probably one of the best mods I have done and it really improves the driving experience and feels much more like a modern BMW wheel.
And lastly a mod I had been contemplating for a while. I have seen some doorcards that have an aluminium / silver trim above the leather padding and though they looked OK on silver cars as they match the outside. As I have done my dash and steering wheel tabs in silver carbon fibre vinyl I wondered what these trims would look like covered the same. Here is the answer, I very much like them and it all matches up now.
That's all for now and sorry for the long post, its been a while since a major update
I like it... my 1st Z has followed a lot of what you have done. I have just bought an M and the Center console is cracked where the air conditioning button is so I was looking for a chrome/brushed aluminum one but I cant find any for the M console (?) wondering if your carbon fibre covering could do the same trick?
All looking good
I've got the cruise control bits to fit. When you fitted the remote closing roof was there much involved?
g8jka - 2.0 Progress Journal - Latest (Feb 2014)
Posted: Wed 19 Feb, 2014 21:59
by g8jka
bertiejaffa wrote:I like it... my 1st Z has followed a lot of what you have done. I have just bought an M and the Center console is cracked where the air conditioning button is so I was looking for a chrome/brushed aluminum one but I cant find any for the M console (?) wondering if your carbon fibre covering could do the same trick?
Yes it would cover it but depending on the size if the crack you may feel it underneath. Other option is to fill the crack so its smooth and the either wrap it or spray it. You can also get vinyl in chrome or brushed aluminium and it is fairly easy to do although it requires patience and ideally the trim to be removed from the console which means taking the centre console out. Personally I would go for the brushed aluminium it would look pretty neat and tidy on the console.
The eBay kits you see for the standard console don't often fit perfectly and I have never seen them for an M console. You are better off getting some vinyl like carbon fibre or brushed aluminium etc. A sheet of 1500 x 300 will cost you less than a fiver.
Thanks mate. It's very tempting to carry on wrapping other parts but then it would look a bit ott. I think I have a nice balance at the moment.
g8jka - 2.0 Progress Journal - Latest (Feb 2014)
Posted: Wed 19 Feb, 2014 22:02
by g8jka
('_')Z3 wrote:All looking good
I've got the cruise control bits to fit. When you fitted the remote closing roof was there much involved?
Not really as far as I know it just requires some wire modifications and maybe a relay or two. But I had it working with my alarm system and fob. You can do it by a universal fob which can be picked up pretty cheap. If you PM gookah he will give you some details of what needs doing
bertiejaffa wrote:I like it... my 1st Z has followed a lot of what you have done. I have just bought an M and the Center console is cracked where the air conditioning button is so I was looking for a chrome/brushed aluminum one but I cant find any for the M console (?) wondering if your carbon fibre covering could do the same trick?
Yes it would cover it but depending on the size if the crack you may feel it underneath. Other option is to fill the crack so its smooth and the either wrap it or spray it. You can also get vinyl in chrome or brushed aluminium and it is fairly easy to do although it requires patience and ideally the trim to be removed from the console which means taking the centre console out. Personally I would go for the brushed aluminium it would look pretty neat and tidy on the console.
Cheers fella.... the brushed aluminum vinyl sounds like the way to go (assuming it will look like your earlier posts and my current journal in my 2.0l.) Would help so much as I don't think anyone has ever made after market M center consoles in brushed alloy/chrome look like they do for the normal Z3. I can do this later in the year, I have to take the console out to replace my carpet and do stuff to the dash etc so I think that's my plan. Cheers mate (PS where do you get it from?)
*EDIT* thanks for the comment below and the edit to your comment above.... Starting to get ideas now !!
Sorry, just edited the post above with regards to the kits vs the vinyl. eBay is your friend when getting the vinyl there are so many options now you could go mad
Really nice car you got and fun to follow youre updates here .I have done some updates this winter myself and one of those is installing an alarm from United auto security with comfort lock. The alarm is working fine but I cant get the comfort lock to roll up the windows, do I have to connect a seperate wire to do this . I saw the video how youre car do this and I sure could use some help .
Bugbear wrote:Really nice car you got and fun to follow youre updates here .I have done some updates this winter myself and one of those is installing an alarm from United auto security with comfort lock. The alarm is working fine but I cant get the comfort lock to roll up the windows, do I have to connect a seperate wire to do this . I saw the video how youre car do this and I sure could use some help .
The windows roll up is as follows, (it simulates putting the key in the door and holding it while the windows go up)
Behind the glovebox is the A104 unit (ZKE) this is the long unit mounted horizontally with 3 plugs showing from the front.
The purple plug is the one you need to access.
It is terminal 13 on the purple plug, but more identifiable is it is the red and white wire. That is the input signal for the window roll up.
This needs an extended 12v (+ve) for the duration of the windows roll up, There is is slight delay after applying the 12v before it starts.
If your comfort lock is a -ve output, then you will need to fit a relay with the -ve switching the coil, and supplying the +ve instead.
Bugbear wrote:Really nice car you got and fun to follow youre updates here .I have done some updates this winter myself and one of those is installing an alarm from United auto security with comfort lock. The alarm is working fine but I cant get the comfort lock to roll up the windows, do I have to connect a seperate wire to do this . I saw the video how youre car do this and I sure could use some help .
The windows roll up is as follows, (it simulates putting the key in the door and holding it while the windows go up)
Behind the glovebox is the A104 unit (ZKE) this is the long unit mounted horizontally with 3 plugs showing from the front.
The purple plug is the one you need to access.
It is terminal 13 on the purple plug, but more identifiable is it is the red and white wire. That is the input signal for the window roll up.
This needs an extended 12v (+ve) for the duration of the windows roll up, There is is slight delay after applying the 12v before it starts.
If your comfort lock is a -ve output, then you will need to fit a relay with the -ve switching the coil, and supplying the +ve instead.
This is the most thorough and thought through project I think I've ever seen, genuinely love coming back to see the updates!
Also, how was it possible for you to get the newer style BMW fob to work on the Z3? Is it just the casing with the old internals and key flip key cut, or is it a completely new programmed unit?
Thanks!
edit: did an eBay search and found the kits, looks good - does the boot opening button remain as the interior light switch we have on the Z3?
The key is a newer style flip one but non of the buttons actually work on it as the internals of a normal Z3 key are different and will not fit into the newer style key. As my alarm has a fob which is used to unlock and lock the doors, so I don't need to use any of the buttons from the key meaning it is basically just a key to start the engine. The only thing I had to put into the newer style key is the chip for the immobiliser otherwise the engine wouldn't start. I had it cut to match my old key and it works perfectly.
So if you have an alarm fob that locks and unlocks the doors and don't need to use the key to do it then it is a simple upgrade, although if you use the buttons on the key then its a no go unfortunately.
I've done the diamond key mod. If you do that, with the internals from the diamond key plus your original immobiliser chip, there should be no reason why you can't then modify that diamond key to the flip key!
So got a bit bored and still looking for things to do on the zed, I decided to tint the fog lights a few weeks back. Wasn't sure at first but they have grown on me. Goes quite well against the black blanking plates next to them. Also fitted some of the flat style after market side lights as one of the old ones broke.
And this weekend I had delivery of a couple of tailpipes made by the guy on the z4-forum who made the handbrake and gearknob I have. Great quality workmanship made in stainless steel, with 76mm tips (I think the same as eisenmann exhausts?). Took a bit of modifying as he didn't quite make the retaining bracket big enough so they wouldn't go over the original pipes and they had to be trimmed back slightly. They are staggered so they follow the lines of the bumper just like the originals.
Should have my old angel eyes back up and running again soon as I have had an idea. Plus the new ones I got to replace them are the bigger type and I decided to break 2 of them on a trial fit
sirius-c wrote:How much was the Rieger lip and where from?
I think it was around the £100 mark, can't remember I had it for Christmas a couple of years ago. There is a couple of sellers on the net that do them but I think it came from a website call mad motors who sell them for 102.
g8jka wrote:
A few changes were made to the interior, I got my new centre console in and went for a change from the aluminium centre section fitted previously by covering the standard black trim in carbon fibre and also did the steering wheel tabs to match.
Hi g8jka,
Can you tell me how you removed the steering wheel tabs,
I'm struggling with mine and I really don't want to break them! (Air bag is current disconnected and out)
Could you also tell me what method you used to remove the emblems on the gills, bonnet and boot.....Ive tried fishing wire, plastic pry bars....I just cant get the bloody things off
Once you have the air bag out, the tabs should just pull out. They are held in with 3 lugs from what I remember and just pull out, although they are normally in there quite tight.
The badges are easily removed by slipping a credit card down the side and then prised off with a screwdriver or similar (the credit card protects the bodywork). The bonnet and boot are held in with 2 lugs but I can't remember if the side gill ones had them or not. The procedure is the same on all the badges, if you can't get them off they maybe stuck on with really strong tape or even adhesive. They will come of but it maybe the lugs are holding them in so securely that you need a bit more force.
g8jka wrote:Once you have the air bag out, the tabs should just pull out. They are held in with 3 lugs from what I remember and just pull out, although they are normally in there quite tight.
The badges are easily removed by slipping a credit card down the side and then prised off with a screwdriver or similar (the credit card protects the bodywork). The bonnet and boot are held in with 2 lugs but I can't remember if the side gill ones had them or not. The procedure is the same on all the badges, if you can't get them off they maybe stuck on with really strong tape or even adhesive. They will come of but it maybe the lugs are holding them in so securely that you need a bit more force.
I got the steering tabs off, and broke 2 pins on each one
thanks for the info....I found removing the gills and pushing the pins from the rear side was easier than trying to pull them off from the front.
I'll post this just for info in-case anyone else is considering removing the steering wheel tabs in the future....
You can jump to 5m 10Secs...
the steering tabs in this video have control buttons but they are similar to the non button ones . Infact mine had openings underneath for the cables for the buttons
New carbon fibre stubby aerial. £2.27 from China and its improved my radio reception
And some shotgun cartridges as covers for my wheel bolts
Also I have recently changed my ABS / ASC unit as the old one was faulty and bled the whole brake system which cleared my error codes and took the car for an MOT. Unfortunately, it failed as the front brakes were imbalanced
We couldn't find anything wrong and wondered why they were suddenly imbalanced and came to the conclusion it could have been air still in the system after changing the ABS unit and bleeding the brakes. So we changed over the 2 front brake hoses (as these were an advisory) and bled the system again and I took it back in for a retest and it passed second time round
My next thing is some new angel eyes as my last ones broke and the idea I had of using some El wire in the old rings didn't really work as they were not that bright in daylight. I have some more on order which need to be modified which I hope will work but I like a challenge.
After my old angel eyes gave up after a few years use I had a couple of different options that I tried in getting a set I liked. I ended up finding a set of LED SMD angel eyes made for the E36. Of course at least one of the rings are too big to go in the headlights of the zed, but after splitting the lights I found out they were both to big
The new ones were measured against my old ones and after a bit of time with the hacksaw I got them to fit perfectly just like my old ones. Being the LED SMD type they have lots of little LED's instead of the CCFL tube types and should last a lot longer. Also a pretty cool feature with these ones is that they come with a remote which allow them to change colour (16 different types), adjust brightness, strobe, flash and dim (although I have them set on white all the time as the coloured ones look a bit chavy!).
Here's a few pics
Full brightness
Low brightness (how I have them all the time)
Some different colours
Some of the flash and strobe functions
Also picked up 4 winter tyres for a decent price on eBay after 450 miles use put onto my winter wheels, which have made a massive improvement in the lower temps although I have yet to use them in the snow but I am expecting them to be a lot better than standard tyres.
A quick pic of what the car was like last time it was clean which was back in November
And finally for Christmas Santa bought me a coilover kit and some new top mounts for the front a rear which will be fitted soon
I'm sure it could scare a few people! I can only control the functions from outside of the car though, as the infra red sensor for the remote is located behind the bonnet grilles as its not long enough to reach anywhere to allow the lights to be controlled whilst inside the car.
My old dash cam was starting to play up a bit by staying on all the time and not recording properly so I treated the zed to a new one. This one has a front facing camera and a separate camera for the rear, both displayed on the small screen on the unit where the front camera is itself. I fancied one that can record footage both and rear and at just over £30 I thought I would try one. I attached the front one just above the interior mirror so that it is out of the way but still accessible and the wires could be easily hidden. I routed the wires behind the panels for the back camera and mounted it facing the rear on the perspex wind deflector.
The quality is pretty good from both cameras although the rear one performs better at night time, but both are still acceptable and it all records to a micro SD card.
Poor picture but you can see both cameras here
The new camera means I now have a spare input to the dash monitor so I will be fitting a camera in the front grill soon to help when parking. I have also got rid of my rear number plate camera and installed a smaller one that fits into the bumper itself and I have put it right in the middle of the number plate lights so it looks a lot neater and looks more factory fitted than the previous one. This plugged into the old wiring and shows up on my dash monitor as before.
Got my coilovers fitted (forgot to take some pics) but I'm happy with them so far. The ride is a little harder and bouncier but it corners better now and I have gone slightly lower at the front than it was before. The rear is sitting similar to how it was on the eibachs even on the lowest setting so I may end up taking the adjusters out completely and maybe the spring pads to give me a bigger drop. We also fitted new meyle top mounts all round when doing the change. I have yet to try my summer wheels with the coilovers fitted but I hoping they fit as the front wheels sit very close to the coilovers now.
And finally my new angel eyes gave up recently Found out that is was the control box, possibly due to water ingress as I fitted it next to the headlight but I have a spare one coming which will hopefully work and this time the wiring will be extended into the car so it can be fitted behind the dash and the lights can be control from inside the car.
neat camera.
i was just talking with my wife about getting one into all our cars but was unsure of which to go for.
at just over £30 it sounds like a bargain, do you mind if i ask where you got it from?
Sorry Mugs, missed your post. It is the same as the one linked above, search dual car camera on eBay. They are around the £30 mark usually from the UK but they only seem to be that price if you buy from China at the moment and UK prices seem to have shot up to almost 60 quid