Winter progress + second advisory-free MoT in a row!

UK forum for general and technical discussion about the Z3 roadster
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Benw123
Joined: Fri 08 May, 2015 19:09
Posts: 30

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Winter progress + second advisory-free MoT in a row!

Post by Benw123 »

2017 was a good year for my Z3, or Zed as my two sons call it. After being on SORN through winter, it got its first advisory-free MoT in 7 years so I put it back on the road a bit earlier than before and ran it for 8 months and 2,300 happy, uneventful miles in all.

I put it back on SORN at the start of November and in the garage not long after that to get stuck into a few more jobs. The major one, documented in a separate thread, was to repair the ABS module after lots of intermittent lights on the dashboard. I purchased a diagnostic cable for about £30 and then had the module repaired by bbreman for £129. The lights went out straight away when refitted!

I wanted to do some refurb work on some of rustier bits of the underside, starting with the steering arms which were in poor shape. Being at the front of the car and quite low down means they collect loads of crap from the road and they looked worse than they probably were. I sanded them down and used the POR15 rust treatment kit - previously used on the fuel tank strap two years ago - to finish them, and they came out quite well if a bit too shiny. I also removed the undertray, cleaned that and several other bits and pieces while under the car.

Also refurbed were the front discs. I sanded, primed and painted the inner edges of the disc (the hub that connects to the wheel) in silver. Makes such a difference - the discs are far from worn but now they look new.

Finally, one other repair I made, which was really annoying me, was replacing the illumination bulbs behind the heater controls. Mike Fishwick has written about this before, but the problem is I couldn't find any bulb replacements online. They're tiny filament ones and sit in a custom plastic casing too. So I decided to modify it; having got the bulbs out, I measured the filament at 5mm so ordered a set of 5mm, wide-angle, warm light LEDs. Having removed the bulbs, I drilled out the innards of the bulb holder so that the LED could run right through it. The diameter was tight enough to hold the LED in place, as shown (original holder on the left, modified one on the right):

Image

I stripped the wires back inside the dash and used some insulated terminal blocks to connect them to the new LEDs. The bulb holders then go straight back into the heating control panel, like before. And hey presto, a cheap, straightforward fix! The LEDs are also dimmable too:

Image

So with all that done, including an oil and filter service, off we went to the MoT centre - and secured a second, advisory free, MoT pass! The tester was full of praise for the car, describing it as "new underneath". A bit of an exaggeration perhaps, but the cleaning, prepping and painting had helped. And no troublesome ABS lights to speak of!

My next plans are to just enjoy the car this year and next winter, it'll be the cooling system next. There's a slight weep from the front of the engine where coolant is slowly escaping - probably the water pump - so a good chance to renew all that and clean out the radiator too.
99/T Z3 1.9 twin-cam, Boston Green, black leather
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colb
Joined: Sat 05 May, 2012 22:46
Posts: 690

  Z3 roadster 1.8 TU
Location: Newport South Wales UK

Re: Winter progress + second advisory-free MoT in a row!

Post by colb »

If its leaking out of the water pump it would be prudent to change it out for a new one sooner rather than later.
Just check its not one of the hoses leaking at a joint, the rubber on our cars is getting rather old now and tend to start leaking, the crimp clips they used to connect hoses often looses its grip as the rubber ages, good idea to swap them out for stainless jubilee clips when your in there.
Colb
1999 BMW 1.8 Z3
2003 BMW 2.5 Z4
1998 Honda Deauville NT650V
Benw123
Joined: Fri 08 May, 2015 19:09
Posts: 30

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: Winter progress + second advisory-free MoT in a row!

Post by Benw123 »

colb wrote: Thu 08 Feb, 2018 15:57 If its leaking out of the water pump it would be prudent to change it out for a new one sooner rather than later.
Just check its not one of the hoses leaking at a joint, the rubber on our cars is getting rather old now and tend to start leaking, the crimp clips they used to connect hoses often looses its grip as the rubber ages, good idea to swap them out for stainless jubilee clips when your in there.
Good call; it could be as simple as that. The front face of the engine shows evidence of where grime has been clumped together with water, so it could be a pipe or hose.

Anyone know how strong water pumps are on these engines? Mine's done 91k.
99/T Z3 1.9 twin-cam, Boston Green, black leather
peter2b
Joined: Sat 01 Nov, 2014 18:47
Posts: 963

  Z3 roadster 2.2i
Location: cheshire

Re: Winter progress + second advisory-free MoT in a row!

Post by peter2b »

one thing I need to get arround to for the new a light onto the left heater control tried it by going through the radio hole but could not find it so I thought ok follow the other wires bingo got it so I though gave a tug now I don't have either the light or the power to my clock, now just to wait till its warmer and get swmbo who has smallerhands to fix it
peterz3
4wheels
Joined: Sat 24 Sep, 2016 19:42
Posts: 83

  Z3 roadster 3.0i

Re: Winter progress + second advisory-free MoT in a row!

Post by 4wheels »

ive just done the water pump, belts, thermostat (cos it broke when doing the other bits) and header tank and cap too... and the orings in the pipes!
it all works fine... took a while tho.. but i am a tight arse and like to do things cheaply.. and it was winter so wasnt using this car much.
was all pretty easy.
header tank took me by surprise, never seen one fail.
and has a 2 bar cap on it.. which is pretty high!
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