Mrwhippy's '03 Z3 3.0 Sport

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Sun 20 May, 2012 08:18

I've recently been thinking of upgrading my 1.9 for a 2.8 or 3.0 litre. I noticed a black Z3 3.0 Sport appear on autotrader at a dealership less than 10 minutes from home. A quick phone-call and a test drive was booked - I was to be the first to see it.

To cut a long story short, I've now left a deposit & I pick her up on Monday. Here's the ad:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

Details:
57,000 miles
Full BMW service history
3 previous owners, the last since 2006.
10 months MOT
6 months tax
3 months warranty

The auto hood has recently stopped working. The official line was that neither the previous owner or the dealer has made any attempt to determine the cause of the fault. I was happy with the rest of the car / deal, so I've taken a chance on this. Hopefully just the fuse or micro-switch. I'll keep you informed!

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Sun 20 May, 2012 09:17

That's a lot of car for the money and a great colour combo with the optional staggered split rims.

As you say the roof is probably a DIY fix

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Sun 20 May, 2012 09:55

Thanks Jonttt. Fingers crossed for the roof.

The wheels on the 3.0 are not in perfect condition and could do with a refurb at some point. In the short-term I'll probably transfer the ACS Type 1's from the 1.9. I won't be selling those with the car! I'm thinking a 12mm spacer should account for the difference in the pre to post facelift rear arches?

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Mon 21 May, 2012 20:23

Picked her up this evening and carried out my first 'repair'. It was the easiest DIY fix I've ever had to do.....I tried the roof with my foot on the brake! The electric roof is in perfect working order

si-forks · Post by **si-forks** » Mon 21 May, 2012 20:57

Great looking car just what i would like to up grade to well done

Si-forks on tapatalk

texasjohn · Post by **texasjohn** » Wed 23 May, 2012 20:44

mrwhippy wrote:Picked her up this evening and carried out my first 'repair'. It was the easiest DIY fix I've ever had to do.....I tried the roof with my foot on the brake! The electric roof is in perfect working order

That's great news!

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Wed 23 May, 2012 22:41

Wow that's so funny

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Sun 27 May, 2012 19:10

Over to Leeds & back this weekend visiting friends & family. First real chance to see what she can do. I was smiling all the way

First pic:

Brian H · Post by **Brian H** » Sun 27 May, 2012 20:01

Nice looking car, I did the same swap a while back from a 1.9 to a 3.0, did you buy spacers for the real wheels in the end?

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Sun 27 May, 2012 21:03

No spacers fitted to the rears currently, but that remains the plan. The fronts fill the arches totally, the rears don't at the moment. I made the wheel switch immediately because the type 42 split rims were suffering from the rim problems that those wheels are notorious for. I do think they look good however and once refurbished they may give the Schnitzers a run for their money.

18" Schnitzers 1's or 17" BMW Type 42 (BBS)???

[

Brian H · Post by **Brian H** » Mon 28 May, 2012 06:22

mrwhippy wrote:18" Schnitzers 1's or 17" BMW Type 42 (BBS)???

18" Schnitzers 1's

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Sat 02 Jun, 2012 21:23

Very sad to say goodbye to the 1.9 today. The brother-in-law has bought her - so I least I can keep an eye on her.

I put 12mm spacers on the rear wheels of my new love this afternoon. She looks much better for it too imho. The rear wheels are 18"x9 ET45. So with spacers fitted they line up with the arches just as offset 33 wheels would. The fronts are
18"x8.5 ET38, so no adjustment required.

John1950 · Post by **John1950** » Sun 03 Jun, 2012 09:13

mrwhippy wrote:Picked her up this evening and carried out my first 'repair'. It was the easiest DIY fix I've ever had to do.....I tried the roof with my foot on the brake! The electric roof is in perfect working order

Funnily enough, I had the same problem with my new Zed last year. I had the fuses out, sniffed around the hood mechanism and generally got myself into a lather - until I remembered to put my foot on the brake! How embarrasing...

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Sun 03 Jun, 2012 11:31

Those type Is are so rare in 18inch. The 17 inch staggered split rims are my fav BMW wheel for the Z3 but the schnitzers look better.

The car looks great. Where the schnitzer roll hoops already on or have you swapped those over as well ?

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Sun 03 Jun, 2012 23:06

Jonttt wrote:The car looks great. Where the schnitzer roll hoops already on or have you swapped those over as well ?

I swapped these over too. Funnily enough I viewed a 2.2 Sport recently that had ACS hoops already fitted. The car wasn't for me but I ended up making an offer for the hoops only, |OEM hoops plus cash.

After having the car for a couple of weeks the following jobs need doing:

1) Clean, recolour & reproof the hood. DONE
2) Change the gear-shift boot. Current one is non-OEM & the wrong shade of black. I think it should be red to match the seats & handbrake boot. DONE
3) Put some decent floor mats down. Current mats are non-OEM, wrong material & shade. DONE
4) Fit short-shift gear knob. The current gear knob is too high for my natural driving position. DONE
5) Key scratch on door above lock to deal with. Also some stone-chips on the front & bonnet that need attention. I may give a Halfords scratch kit a go in the short-term. I have checked and they do a kit in sapphire black metallic.

Other ideas for the medium/longer term:

1) Front Strut brace
2) Changing speakers & fitting the sub I removed from my 1.9 before sale.
3) Front-end respray
4) M Mirrors
5) Eisenmann 2x76mm exhaust

peterandjenny · Post by **peterandjenny** » Mon 04 Jun, 2012 08:07

Love the the wheels , we have the 17 inch versions on ours but would like to have a set of 18's

Done the mirrors and stut brace short gear lever sports seats and m console
Extended leather and z8 washers next rear spacers ready to go on as well . Have fun keeping the black clean

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Mon 04 Jun, 2012 11:51

And very nice it looks too. I must stop looking at your m console!

You're not kidding about keeping the black nice and shiny. Put in garage clean + leave overnight = take out of garage dirty!

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 23:47

I hit my first problem this afternoon. The 'exhaust emissions' warning light on the dash stayed on when I took the car out of the garage . I gave the car a couple of good runs to see if the problem would sort itself out. The car drove absolutely fine but on every trip the emissions warning light stayed on.

I made a call last thing to the Nissan dealer from whom I bought the car. There was no fuss - I am booked in for Friday under warranty. They were upfront & told me that they may need to take the car to BMW for diagnostics and that I may not get the car back until Monday. Obviously I'm not pleased about the fault on the car, but so far I'm happy with the way the dealer has handled it.

peterandjenny · Post by **peterandjenny** » Thu 07 Jun, 2012 13:54

one for mr whippy
?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... SS:GB:1123

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Thu 07 Jun, 2012 14:32

hehehe

Already on my watch list......I was hoping to keep it quiet lol

Do 'dream red' and 'imola red' look ok in the same car?

Thanks

peterandjenny · Post by **peterandjenny** » Thu 07 Jun, 2012 14:40

Your seats look the same colour as ours which are tanin red
Dream red is brighter

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Thu 07 Jun, 2012 15:15

I agree they look the same. I thought your seats were dream red too until I read otherwise. Cameras & computers seem to struggle with reds.

I have the original new car specification and sales invoice for my car. 'Dream Red Chameleon Leather' is stated several places. I'm concerned the dream red would clash with the imola red console. I may be better off doing as you did and waiting for a black console to come up, and then painting the covers.

shantybeater · Post by **shantybeater** » Sat 09 Jun, 2012 16:34

Lovely looking car, the schnitzers look really good against black as well

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Fri 15 Jun, 2012 23:52

Thanks very much for the positive comments.

The Schnitzers do look better on this car than they did on my previous 1.9. imho. The photo's of the zed do flatter her a bit however, with the front end stone chips not being visible.

I now have my car back from its visit to bmw, complete with a new set of spark plugs. I had a few 'welcome home' goodies waiting for her that I have now fitted. A ZHP short shift gear knob, an OEM dream-red gear gaiter, a black tax disc holder and a set of genuine AC Schnitzer mats. Photo's to follow over the weekend, weather permitting.

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Sun 17 Jun, 2012 21:15

New weighted short-shift gear knob & OEM 'dream-red' gaiter now fitted. These replaced the worn standard OEM knob and a black non-OEM gaiter. A much better look and feel imho.

And again from further away showing the AC Schnitzer drivers side mat.

Coming soon...genuine AC Schnitzer foot pedals

simonbud100 · Post by **simonbud100** » Mon 18 Jun, 2012 19:28

Very, very nice. ACS wheels and red / black interior looks superb.

peterandjenny · Post by **peterandjenny** » Mon 18 Jun, 2012 20:14

we think so as well

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Sun 07 Apr, 2013 08:19

I always enjoy reading the progress threads in 'The Gallery' so I thought it was about time I brought my own up-to-date.

I have replaced the Sony head unit that was in the car with the all singing, all dancing Becker Cascade. I have an ipod connected to the unit in the glove box. I can't comment on the built-in Sat Nav as I've not used it yet. The understated OEM look of the unit is great.

I have fitted a 'Strong Strut' strut brace to stiffen up the front end.. As others have said, it's not cheap but it is quality.

ACS Foot Pedal set fitted. Bought from ebay Germany so probably copies. The clutch & brake pedals did have the rear clamps included unlike most copies.

Finally, I have acquired a black Wiesmann Hardtop. This has a larger rear window and is more rakish than the BMW top. It's not massively different to the OEM version, but I personally prefer the look. Its a good colour match too so no repainting required. Quite rare too.

Brian H · Post by **Brian H** » Sun 07 Apr, 2013 08:33

Quality updates, good job. That Wiesmann hardtop is lovely.

('_')Z3 · Post by **('_')Z3** » Sun 07 Apr, 2013 10:59

Some great mods, but I might be biased

What make of 12mm spacers did you get? I need to get some for my type 3 rears

Captain · Post by **Captain** » Sun 07 Apr, 2013 11:32

Cars looking great, some nice mods

mrwhippy · Post by **mrwhippy** » Sun 07 Apr, 2013 12:34

Cheers all for the positive comments.

('_')Z3 - I have a BIMECC 12mm Spacer Kit on the rears (SP80C). I got it via ebay from 'MAPS' http://stores.ebay.co.uk/M-A-P-S-LTD?_t ... 7675.l2563.

They did me a set with only 6 chromed extended bolts. I then bought a set of extended locking bolts, McGuard Ultra 27013SL. The locking bolts that were on the rears previously have been moved to the fronts so that each of my wheels now has 2 Ultra locking bolts on.

zroadster.net