Rear wings. Different sizes?

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Cheeseandbeans
Joined: Sun 08 Feb, 2015 12:02
Posts: 70

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Cheeseandbeans »

I have my Zed in the garage at the moment to have the sills repaired so while it's in I thought I'd put my smoked rear light clusters on it. Came to fit them yesterday to find they are too short for this car?

Now they came off a 1997 1.9 and I'm fitting them to a another 1997 1.9 but they are too small. Where they don't fit is where the rear wing meets the light, there's a massive gap? On the other Zed they came off they fit perfectly. I have also took the wings off the other car and was wondering are the wings different sizes on these cars? I don't believe any of them are wide bodies but I may be wrong I suppose?

Any advice appreciated
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Robert T
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Joined: Mon 12 Jun, 2006 10:35
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  Z3 roadster 1.9
Location: Cheshire

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Robert T »

To the best of my knowledge, there are only two sizes of rear cluster - pre-facelift and facelift - and they are different shapes. The pre-facelift is the same for both narrowbody and widebody. The smoked ones will not be OEM, unless they have simply been painted as such - if they are home-smoked, check the part numbers.

Cheers R.

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Del
Joined: Sat 19 Nov, 2011 18:35
Posts: 2136

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Del »

Two 1997 1.9s should have identical wings
Cheeseandbeans
Joined: Sun 08 Feb, 2015 12:02
Posts: 70

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Cheeseandbeans »

Here's a picture of lights fitted on both cars. As I say the smoked lights moved onto the P reg car don't fit? Can't figure it out.

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Cheeseandbeans
Joined: Sun 08 Feb, 2015 12:02
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  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Cheeseandbeans »

Looking at those photos now, I'm wondering if the rear wings on the car in the bottom picture are possibly off a facelift model?
Del
Joined: Sat 19 Nov, 2011 18:35
Posts: 2136

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Del »

The facelift rear lights are a completely different shape with a "stepped" edge on their inner side. If the lights in question are "straight" on their inner side I would suspect they are from a pre-facelift wide-body (6 cylinder car) - some owners of pre-facelift 1.9 cars carry out this modification at the rear i.e. they fit wide-body rear wings and sill covers :shrug
mrscalex
Joined: Fri 13 Mar, 2015 09:14
Posts: 910

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by mrscalex »

Have you tried putting the P reg lights in the other car? What does that look like? Presumably too big?

Can you show a photo of the gap itself? Not too sure what you're looking at is quite what the rest of us trying to help have in our minds.
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BladeRunner919
Joined: Fri 17 Feb, 2012 20:18
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  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by BladeRunner919 »

mrscalex wrote: Can you show a photo of the gap itself? Not too sure what you're looking at is quite what the rest of us trying to help have in our minds.
Yes, I'm struggling to see a fundamental difference between the pictures. My 'clear' rear lights are aftermarket, and they don't fit quite as nicely as the oem lights, but that's pretty normal for aftermarket stuff.
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c_w
Joined: Thu 19 Aug, 2004 16:50
Posts: 4032

  M roadster S50

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by c_w »

Yea, a photo of the light and the gap would be helpful! Not two completely different angled photos :rtm:
mrscalex
Joined: Fri 13 Mar, 2015 09:14
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  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by mrscalex »

Neither car looks like the rear bumper has been aligned/secured properly - specially the target car. That might be the root of the problem if the lights are otherwise physically the same size - and they must surely be unless aftermarket and a couple of mm different. The insertion/removal of the lamp unit could be opening up a gap.
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2001 Z3 2.2 Topaz Blue (Trudy) - Keeper rebuilt from a write-off
2002 Z3 2.2 Titan Silver (Cookies) - Keeper rebuilt having been bought with a seized engine
2002 Z3 3.0 Sapphire Black (Peanut) - Keeper awaiting rebuilding having been bought as an abandoned project
Plus Willy, Kodak & Maycee - All 2.2 Sport projects. Yes, 6 is a lot of Z3s :)
Always happy to try and help with spares :)
bertiejaffa
Joined: Fri 26 Jul, 2013 09:28
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  M roadster S50
Location: Manchester

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by bertiejaffa »

That wheel arch on the lower car is definitely not the right wing for that car.
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Southernboy
Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
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  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Johannesburg

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Southernboy »

The top pic appears to be wide body, whilst the bottom pic seems to be the narrow body... maybe it's just the lighting in the photographs ??
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Parki
Joined: Sun 02 Feb, 2014 17:42
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  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Parki »

Just checked on my P reg 1.9 - there is a small flare over wheel arch easily missed in wrong light so bottom wing seems right for 97 model cant tell in top picture.
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Southernboy
Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
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  Z3 roadster 3.0i
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Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Southernboy »

The top pic appears to be a narrow body whereas the lower pic appears to be a wide body. The lower pic seems to show a small "flare" over the wheel which isn't apparent in the top pic.
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therealdb1
Joined: Tue 25 Jun, 2013 21:47
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  Z3 roadster 2.0

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by therealdb1 »

If the OP has access to both cars he could simply take a photo from directly behind each car (even better in the same picture) and the difference would be immediately apparent without considering lighting angles, damage or whether or not the bumper is correctly attached.
Cheeseandbeans
Joined: Sun 08 Feb, 2015 12:02
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  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Rear wings. Different sizes?

Post by Cheeseandbeans »

Cheers for the responses guys. I'll get in the garage next week and take a picture of both sets of lights and the gap when the smoked ones are fitted. Can't take a picture of the top car from the rear now as I've stripped all the panels off it :?
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