Chrome question........

Earpy · Post by **Earpy** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 17:02

I expect to get mixed opinion about this but what does everyone think about the chrome windscreen surround? My car is 3.0l sport so it does have a bit of chrome on it already.

I reckon it looks great on the Audi cabriolets but have only seen a couple of Z3's with it on.

*Dons fireproof overalls and runs for cover*

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 17:28

I have always thought that chrome scren surrounds look good - my 2.8 has the bosy coloured surround, and I'm too mean to have the chrome fitted (I think it needs the screen to be removed) but yes - if you like it do it. Forget about other people's opinions - just like me with my silver painted gill meshes and bosy coloured front grilles! It does not matter what others think - you are the person who counts!

Tourniquet · Post by **Tourniquet** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 17:41

Seen it on a few cars and it looks a bit out of place to me. Gills were enough to satify my cravings but if you like the look go for it.

ChrisXL · Post by **ChrisXL** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 17:43

Think it looks good... then again I am biased as I had it on my previous 2.8 on on my GF 1.9.

You can fit it without having to take the windscreen out, 15 minutes work.

2.8 Hell Rot

1.9 Schwarz II

ChrisXL · Post by **ChrisXL** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 18:24

Get the set from the Stealer. Have about 6 credit cards you don't (want) to use anymore, that basically is it.

The surround will click into place, and with the credit cards you will have to pull the rubbers over the surround. The more cards you use the easier it will be as you will be able to open up a larger area of te rubber.

If you have a plastic rurround you will have to peel off most of it first though.

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 18:40

Yep, the chrome windscreen surround is a classy and subtle addition that really works on the Z3, provided you like chrome of course!

Not so sure about Chris' 15 mins work

and any professional will tell you that to fit it properly, you need to have the windscreen out.

They come up often on ebay and go for about £100 - £120.

Let us know what you decide and if you fit it yourself.

A.

ChrisXL · Post by **ChrisXL** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 18:44

Sorry Alfie........... having your windscreen taken out is a lot of @##....

I have heard this so many times and have fitted more than 6 surrounds now without ever having to do this. Untill now nothing has fallen off

The professionals telling you this work on an hourly rate????

Alfie · Post by **Alfie** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 18:47

ChrisXL wrote:... having your windscreen taken out is a lot of @##....
The professionals telling you this work on an hourly rate????

Yep, that's exactly what I meant.

A.

Earpy · Post by **Earpy** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 18:53

ChrisXL- can you give me a quick idea of how to attach it? What tools and fixings did it require?

Cheers

James

flyingalexf68 · Post by **flyingalexf68** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 20:07

Here's a pic of mine. It has the full chrome pack from new. I love it.

ChrisXL · Post by **ChrisXL** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 20:13

flyingalexf68 wrote:@ChrisXL, can I ask you what suspention have you got and what wheel size and spacers (if any) have you used. I have to sort mine out soon with new wheels and lower suspension. Your car looks great.

On the Red one:

8x18" ET40 with 60 mm spacers on the rear.
Lowered with an Eibach Pro Set (adjustable shocks & springs)

Looking for wheels and set ups? Have a look on the Dutch forum, is in Dutch though

http://www.z3forum.nl/index.php?showtopic=3155

flyingalexf68 · Post by **flyingalexf68** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 20:37

@ChrisXL, can I ask you what suspention have you got and what wheel size and spacers (if any) have you used. I have to sort mine out soon with new wheels and lower suspension. Your car looks great.

ChrisXL · Post by **ChrisXL** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 20:58

flyingalexf68 wrote:Thanks Chris. Plenty of good ideas on that site. Do the 60mm spacers upset the handling at all? And do the tyre rub in the wheel arch if you drive on a bumpy road?

Nope , no rubbing at all

...
The handling is great due to the upgraded suspension and the strutbar

flyingalexf68 · Post by **flyingalexf68** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 21:30

Thanks Chris. Plenty of good ideas on that site. Do the 60mm spacers upset the handling at all? And do the tyre rub in the wheel arch if you drive on a bumpy road?

flyingalexf68 · Post by **flyingalexf68** » Wed 28 Jun, 2006 21:38

Thats good. I don't think I'll be going for an advanced set up like yours. I was thinking 30mm pro kit springs, 17" MV2 alloys, Butt Strut and a front strut brace. I'm going to try and get wider wheels for the back. Cheers for the info.

risquenun · Post by **risquenun** » Thu 29 Jun, 2006 07:44

Ive never really loked at the screen surrounds on zeds and forgot that it was part of the standard fitting on my car.
I think it looks okay but if I didn't have it I wouldn't hanker after fitting it.

foxy · Post by **foxy** » Thu 29 Jun, 2006 08:04

As a lover of chrome, I have to be contraversial - i dont like the chrome surrounds! Was thinking of getting one on mine, but just thought it would be too much. But thats my own opinion.

Earpy · Post by **Earpy** » Thu 29 Jun, 2006 08:52

Thanks for all the replies guys and gals! I might go out to the car later and fashion a mock up out of tin foil to give me an idea of what it would look like!

I'll post some pics even if I don't go for it as I've got a brand new bonnet and resprayed front bumper after my Dads G/F reversed in to me a couple of weeks ago! It looks really good now.

flyingalexf68 · Post by **flyingalexf68** » Thu 29 Jun, 2006 09:33

Earpy wrote:Thanks for all the replies guys and gals! I might go out to the car later and fashion a mock up out of tin foil to give me an idea of what it would look like!

I'll post some pics even if I don't go for it as I've got a brand new bonnet and resprayed front bumper after my Dads G/F reversed in to me a couple of weeks ago! It looks really good now.

Tin foil? Are you mad. Just look at ChrisXL's pic to get an idea. Personally I'm chrome mad and I'm going to buy all the chrome bits for the inside of the car as well.

komis · Post by **komis** » Thu 29 Jun, 2006 10:45

Greetings to everyone from lovely Copenhagen! Browsing the forum with my wi-fi PDA is just great!

anyway if you are buying Chrome bits, remember your BMW dealer will probably be cheaper than eBay. I was quoted 75 quid for the Chrome surround from Henry bros Glasgow.

BTW, haven't seen any zeds here so far, missing mine a LOT!

flyingalexf68 · Post by **flyingalexf68** » Thu 29 Jun, 2006 11:23

Erha wrote:
komis wrote:Greetings to everyone from lovely Copenhagen! BTW, haven't seen any zeds here so far, missing mine a LOT!
When I drove my first Zed ('98 2.8 like the current one) three years plus ago through Denmark and stayed overnight in Copenhagen, I didn't see another one on the whole duration, either. Cruising top down in the Copenhagen centrum and the people were looking at me like I was a millionaire.. Or something like that. Also couple of boyracers approached me at a Danish gas station to compliment the car. And why not, it was a nice cosmosschwarz car with some nice M-bits.

Denmark has a mental car tax. It could be 100% on a Z3. Thats why you don't see many nice cars. All Taxi drivers get the car tax free so they all buy E class Mercs, but they can't sell them until they have high mileage. It's nice to know that us Irish aren't paying the highest car tax in Europe, but it's still mad over here.

Erha · Post by **Erha** » Thu 29 Jun, 2006 11:40

komis wrote:Greetings to everyone from lovely Copenhagen! BTW, haven't seen any zeds here so far, missing mine a LOT!

When I drove my first Zed ('98 2.8 like the current one) three years plus ago through Denmark and stayed overnight in Copenhagen, I didn't see another one on the whole duration, either. Cruising top down in the Copenhagen centrum and the people were looking at me like I was a millionaire.. Or something like that.

Also couple of boyracers approached me at a Danish gas station to compliment the car. And why not, it was a nice cosmosschwarz car with some nice M-bits.

Erha · Post by **Erha** » Thu 29 Jun, 2006 11:40

flyingalexf68 wrote:Denmark has a mental car tax. It could be 100% on a Z3. Thats why you don't see many nice cars. All Taxi drivers get the car tax free so they all buy E class Mercs, but they can't sell them until they have high mileage. It's nice to know that us Irish aren't paying the highest car tax in Europe, but it's still mad over here.

Did you see my topic "Am I saving it too much"? The car tax here in Finland is at least as mental as in Denmark, Z3 2.8 '98 €13000 in germany + €13000 registration tax to Finland + €1500 delivery = your €27,5k 8-year old german car...

Same thing about the taxis over here as well.

We've got really nice taxis in Finland, only 1-2% of them are old POS'es, most of them are 0-3 year old E-mercs or E60's.

...still, as a member of equally insane car taxing country, I bought my zed and drove it through Denmark. I need to get a medal for this.

komis · Post by **komis** » Fri 30 Jun, 2006 15:10

That's true, I noticed too that all the good cars were either taxis or foreign registrations (even saw a spanish A8!!!).

I also saw a BMW 5-series estate taxi, which is really weird as I thought BMW don't sell cars for taxis as a general rule (something to do with their image I've been told).

If you think that your tax there is bad, in Greece the import tax is about 50% of the OEM's factory price before tax for an 8yr old car, not a percentage of the actual price you bought the car for, and it gets worse, the younger the car, the higher the tax.

Post by **Robert T** » Fri 30 Jun, 2006 15:35

komis wrote:If you think that your tax there is bad, in Greece the import tax is about 50% of the OEM's factory price before tax for an 8yr old car, not a percentage of the actual price you bought the car for, and it gets worse, the younger the car, the higher the tax.

Eek! And I thought "Rip Off Britain" was bad!

Surely you only pay import tax once on a car - when its actually being imported? So once the car is in the country it can be resold without import tax?

Depending upon what they call the tax (i.e. not an environmental tax), I would have thought that it would be illegal under EU law to tax imports from elsewhere in the EU on the grounds that it creates an unfair advantage to the home market?

I remember that the US got a b*****king for something along these lines not that long ago (not that the US is in the EU...).

As for the UK, it is often cheaper to buy cars on the continent and pay the VAT than it is to buy them in the UK. The $tealers don't like this very much. Perhaps this is why the UK doesn't have much of a car industry...

flyingalexf68 · Post by **flyingalexf68** » Fri 30 Jun, 2006 15:43

komis wrote: I also saw a BMW 5-series estate taxi, which is really weird as I thought BMW don't sell cars for taxis as a general rule (something to do with their image I've been told).

BMW can't stop anyone using their cars as taxis. Not many people use them because they're too expensive to run. I have seen a few here in Dublin e38's, e39's and some e60's but very few. Loads of E class and C class and the odd square S class. (also loads of really old Jap import Corolla's which are crap. I never use taxis though.)

///M_aniac · Post by **///M_aniac** » Fri 30 Jun, 2006 17:37

Annoys the hell out of me seeing BMWs used as taxis. Gotta admit shows good taste, but come on!! Buy a bloody Merc, VW Passat or Skodia Octavia for such work.

komis · Post by **komis** » Fri 30 Jun, 2006 17:48

Yeah, well, Greece and Denmark and Finland are probably making too much money from taxing car imports so heavily and that's why they are still doing it, even though it is illegal under European law. You can't pay tax twice for the same item in the EEA.

I know Greece at least has been taken to court on several occasions and lost. It has also had three warnings (which means it now faces very hefty fines), but they are still not going to do anything about it as the amount of money earned from tax is well above anything the fines will ever be.

The truth is that many used car dealers import from Germany at slightly lower prices, even after all taxes are paid, and then sell in the home market for profit. If ever imports stopped to be taxed so heavily, they would loose a lot of money on the stock they have already bought..

Also they import lots of cars cheaply, by declaring e.g. a 328 as a 316, or by not declaring options like leather and a/c, thus paying a lot less tax. The customs officers receive a small "fee" for their "service", of course. Then they sell for the normal price in the home market for more profit. They are a closed dirty little circle with heavily corrupt connections in the customs offices and I would love to see them suffer for what they do.

flyingalexf68 · Post by **flyingalexf68** » Fri 30 Jun, 2006 18:47

komis wrote:
The truth is that many used car dealers import from Germany at slightly lower prices, even after all taxes are paid, and then sell in the home market for profit. If ever imports stopped to be taxed so heavily, they would loose a lot of money on the stock they have already bought..

Its not just the dealers who would lose money on the cars. What about a buyer who pays 30,000 euro for a car? If they borrow the full amount on finance and the have 15,000 wiped off the value they're f***ed.

zroadster.net

Chrome question........

Chrome question........

Yes!