PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

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janijoeli
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PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Couple of weeks ago I joined the Z3M club by buying a black/red 1998 M Roadster. It isn't perfect (Cat-D repaired amongst other small issues), but the price was right and the car just whispered "buy me... buy meee..." to my ear, so an illogical decision was made. :D A couple of days later, seller had MOT'd the car as agreed: For that he had to get the issue with airbags fixed (seat belt tensioners needed replacing), and handbrake cable and rear brake pads were changed. As the car was now MOT'd and ready, a payment was made, papers signed, and I started my journey towards home as a happy man. :)

Why is the car called "Giorgio"? Difficult to explain really, but long story short: After lengthy discussions about life, the universe and everything at work, everyone and everything was called Giorgio that week. And it just happened to be the week when I bought the car, so the name stuck. :roll:

A few days after buying Giorgio I went on a holiday and then worked a bit remotely, so I haven't had a chance to do anything to the car since I bought it, until today. I wanted to start a project thread when I start working on the car, so here we go.

As I mentioned before, the car needs a bit of TLC, and there are also a couple of things I want to add, change or improve. Here is a list of to-dos, to-buys and (in addition to the usual screwdrivers, sockets and spanners) special tools needed. Some things on this list may never happen as I would just want to do them someday, or am contemplating on doing, but I've added them anyway for my own reference. I will document the progress in going through this list in this thread.

Items with + have already been done
Items in bold have high priority


TODO (ENGINE, MECHANICS ETC):
+ Replace Viscous fan clutch & blades
+ Fit front strut bar
+ Replace Boot / tailgate gas struts
+ Fit Strong Strut butt-strut and mid braces
+ Remove ///M badge from top of engine
- Fix oil sender unit errors
- Diff leak fix
- Trunk & diff mount welding
- Fit Simota air filter
- Fit traction control
- Full service
- Swap cam cover
- Paint fuel rail
- Engine bay cleaning & detailing
- Fit aircon condenser, pipes and fan
- Aircon flush & refill
- Check if getting full WOT
- Fit alarm tilt sensor

TODO (EXTERIOR):
+ Fit black kidneys
+ Fix rear trim properly
+ Fit smoked side ndicators
+ Fit halos to headlights
+ De-tango headlights
+ Tint front bumper indicators
- Align front bumper
- Replace bonnet BMW badge
- Replace trunk lid BMW badge
- Scratch-repair chrome window frame
- Flatten orange-peel paint
- Chip'n'Scratch touchup
- Claying & Polishing
- Replace front wheel arches (plastic liners)
- Fit front brake cooling ducts
- Clean area around trunk lid brake light
- Refurbish rear wheels


TODO (INTERIOR):
+ Replace heater/blower resistor
+ Replace steering wheel BMW badge
+ Replace LH door card
+ Light in middle dial in centre console intermittent (fault disappeared - just lack of use of car by previous owner?)
+ Valeting
- Fit Barry's seat belt guide fixers
- Fix "springy" heater adjustment
- Change to better fitting wind deflector
- Refresh leather seats
- Re-colour mats
- Replace one of the instrument cluster bulbs


TO BUY:
+ Viscous fan clutch
+ Fan blades
+ front strut bar
+ Black kidneys
+ Door card fasteners
+ Tonneau cover
+ Warm white / yellow halos for headlights (after bad luck with breaking halos, replaced whole headlights)
+ Boot / tailgate gas struts
+ Traction control
+ Smoked side indicators
+ Bonnet BMW badge
+ Car cover (stormproof, no-scratch inner lining)
+ LH door card
+ Simota induction kit
+ Barry's seat belt guide fix
+ Refurbished cam cover & gaskets
+ Rear strut brace
+ Mid brace
- Oil sender unit (or contact cleaning or wiring fix)
- Missing aircon piping
- Aircon electric fan
- Steering wheel badge
- Boot BMW badge
- Wind deflector
- Clear headlight indicator lenses (or maybe just leave them without?)
- Alarm tilt sensor (inclination indicator)
- Leather seat refreshing kit
- Carpet coloring kit (spray?)
- Front wheel arches (plastic lining)
- Front brake cooling ducts and other underside plastics
- Front lower grill


TOOLS NEEDED:
+ Viscous fan holder tool
+ 32mm spanner
+ Trim removal tool
+ Torque wrench 28-210NM
+ Torque wrench 2-24NM
+ Micrometer
+ Feeler gauges
Last edited by janijoeli on Sun 02 Feb, 2014 23:29, edited 22 times in total.
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

First, a couple of photos of the car as it is now:
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

As I mentioned in the initial post, after buying the car I started my journey towards home as a happy man.

However, happiness was short-lived. I hit a queue on my way home (due to a fire blocking one of the main roads nearby), and after a while of queuing the car started overheating. :head: After a lot of swearing and a little bit of manual stop-start to keep the engine temp down, I found a bus stop and had a peek under the hood. Turned out that the fan was barely spinning despite high temps. After letting the car cool down a bit I re-joined the queue, found a re-route with no traffic, and drove home without further trouble.

A bit of googling revealed that the viscous fan clutch often fails, either seizing completely (the fan spinning at full speed all the time), or it doesn't engage properly. Latter sounded familiar, so I ordered a new fan clutch. One of the fan blades had broken off, so I decided to change the blades as well while at it.

Changing the fan and fan clutch is really easy and quick. Only tools needed are a 32mm spanner, a fan removal tool (or alternatively a heavy hammer to hit the spanner with), and a hex key (also called Allen key). I already had a hex key (I don't know the size, sorry) but ordered the rest from ebay as I am in UK and all my tools are back home in Finland. :)

Here's a video guide for idiots like me:
[youtube]7Hr3Geh5HjA[/youtube]

Removal was really easy, no need to remove the fan shroud or any plastic trimming, at least on Giorgio. Fan shroud flexes enough to be able to pull the fan up and out of the shroud and then from between the shroud and the engine. Just remember that when unbolting the fan clutch, the 32mm nut loosens clockwise. I didn't even have time to take any photos of this process, as it took maybe 2 mins to get the fan&clutch out. :) The rest was just about removing the hex bolts from old fan and bolting them to the new one, and putting the fan&clutch package back in place. It really is as easy as in the video guide.


Old and new fans with their clutches side-by-side:

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New fan spinning properly, cannot even see the blades!

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I also installed a bit of (hopefully functional) engine bay bling in form of a polished strut brace. There is a lot to do in the engine bay, but this was so easy that I just couldn't resist. :D

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Last edited by janijoeli on Wed 11 Sep, 2013 21:34, edited 1 time in total.
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swamper
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by swamper »

great to see a good thread stared :wink:
whats the thingy missing from the trunk?
todo......you also have to de-tango the headlights ..sorry :lol:
the badness makes me do it...!

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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

swamper wrote:whats the thingy missing from the trunk?
I don't know yet. :) It's something that should be in the trunk behind the LH wheel and under the LH trim piece. There are cut wires that I assume should go somewhere... I'll take a photo when I remove the trunk trim again.
swamper wrote:todo......you also have to de-tango the headlights ..sorry :lol:
Added to the todo-list. :) Someone was just selling his non-tango (or at least less-tango) facelift headlights at stock exchange, but I tried to haggle a bit and missed the deal. :( Aftermarket angel eyes might be an option as well, but so far I haven't seen any models that I would like, so might just de-tango my original headlights as you suggested.
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swamper
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by swamper »

keep your eyes open for just the lenses ...they do come up now and then :wink:
the badness makes me do it...!

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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Will do!
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Del
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Del »

Nice looking car. I think the M model looks nice in black. From your photo the interior looks in decent condition. Fixing the fan was an important job which can now be ticked on the list. Sounds as if it was a bit un-loved by the previous owner - often seems to be the case with cars we see from new owners' posts. A lot of general servicing parts can be bought online cheaply at places like carparts4less.co.uk That K&N filter looks as though it is due for its 50,000 mile wash :D
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Brian H
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Brian H »

Nice project car, looking forward to more progress reports.

One for your Engine TODO list: - :wink:

-Remove ///POWER badge from engine

It is already written on the rocker cover

Z3cade is looking to swap his tinted indicator side markers for clear ones, maybe send him a PM?
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PCSAM
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by PCSAM »

nice bus mate .......... welcome to the madhouse :shock: :D its a nice car and when your finished it will be a stunner ............
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Gazza
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Gazza »

janijoeli wrote:
swamper wrote:whats the thingy missing from the trunk?
I don't know yet. :) It's something that should be in the trunk behind the LH wheel and under the LH trim piece. There are cut wires that I assume should go somewhere... I'll take a photo when I remove the trunk trim again.



Could it be the CD Changer ?
Gazza

"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"

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Badman gee
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Badman gee »

Looks like you have a lot of work to do.

Good luck with it.
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Robert T
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Robert T »

Gazza wrote:Could it be the CD Changer ?
Or leccy roof.

The zeds have a standard wiring harness with connectors for pretty much all options on it. If you find a spare connector, it doesn't necessarily mean there is something missing. In the boot/trunk there will be power and DIN plug for CD multichanger and some more connectors for the leccy roof. Under the seats will be connectors for heated-seats. And so on...

Cheers R.
Arctic Silver '99 Z3 1.9 & Black '59 Frogeye 1275cc
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Del, the interior is in quite good condition. The mileage is only 46k and looking at the interior I can believe this. There are not that many must-dos unless I want to bring it to showroom condition. Re-colouring the seats and carpets is just something I'll do if I have too much time in my hands. :D
Biggest todo is to swap the LH door card as it has a small crack and the leather has come a bit off from front top corner. I already bought a replacement from ebay, but the seller didn't pack it properly, thus now my should-have-been-like-new replacement has a crack as well. :head:
And agreed, the filter defo needs a proper clean, like the rest of the car. :D

Brian, the M badge did look a bit too much of an afterthought to be original. Might rip it off when detailing the engine bay.
I dropped Z3cade a PM. Someone else PM'd him first, but If that deal falls through...

Gazza, I'm not sure about the changer, I thought it is fitted a bit higher up, like in this photo?
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Unless there are variations between Z3s of course, or the CD changer has some kind of power unit a bit lower in the trunk. I'll have a look when I have a bit more time.

Robert, shouldn't be leccy roof stuff either as I have it and it is working, unless someone's replaced it with non-OEM parts.

PCSAM and Badman, cheers! It'll look good after a bit of TLC but there certainly is enough to do to call this a project. :) On the other hand I don't mind at all, I've missed tinkering with cars since I moved abroad in 2006. I have a 1987 MR2 supercharged at home which I've had a chance to work on for only a couple of days per year, so working on Giorgio is great therapy. :)
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Gazza
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Gazza »

Pics of where the missing part should be may help us ;)
Gazza

"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and torque is how far you take the wall with you"

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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Gazza, I'll take a photo when I feel energetic enough to drag myself out and pull the trunk trim off... Today wasn't the day. :D

So, I made a decision about the headlights today. Probably. Maybe. :roll: The current plan is to keep and de-tango the originals, and fit very warm white halos in E39 OEM-style.
IMHO the OEM warm yellow glow looks much better on a black car than the usual cold super-bright blue-white ebay offerings.

This is the colour and brightness I am aiming for:
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Here's another photo, OEM vs. aftermarket. I might have a weird taste, but I would much rather take the yellows than blues.
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(off-topic: Same goes for replacing red/yellow LEDs in electronic devices with bright blue LEDs. I just don't get it. :?)

Although very hard to say from the photos, these might be pretty close to (or exactly) what I am looking for:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130959368618

I am just hoping for them not to be too orange. Anyone have any experiences about those? If not, as they are quite affordable I might just order a set and see what they look like.

On a sidenote, I received my tonneau cover from Djwbiker today. 8-) Apart from needing a quick wipe, it is in as-new condition.
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Jonttt
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Jonttt »

Looks like you have an interesting project on your hands :D

All Z3Ms came with clear lenses with the later post facelift (>04/99) cars getting chrome inner rings. Yours are therefore not originals. As its a cat D I presume it was front end as the tango lights are a lot cheaper / easier to source 2nd hand.

Looking at the engine bay this would be consistent with front end damage and the engine being exposed to the elements for some time before repair. (May also explain the broken fan blade)

Given the weathering I would check you are getting WOT as its not uncommon for either the cable to stretch or the inner lubricant to fail on the S 50s. Worth checking yours is opening fully and smoothly.

The car has the factory chrome pack so the handles are probably the real deal and not just covers. It means turning to black is a much bigger job but the chrome units are worth good money 2nd hand.

Personally I would get rid of the open cone filter. All its doing is dragging in warm engine air and loosing you power. The OEM box is a closed unit fed from the lower bumper duct which would be better. If you want a bit of induction noise you are better with a near sealed carbon unit like Simota or gruppeM.

Are those schnitzer roll hoops ? It's not clear from the pics.

Looking forward to reading your progress

Ps I had that same strut brace on my S50, did the job as good as any.
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Jonttt, very true. Looking at the car a bit closer, it's had two shunts: one to the front, one to the LH side. Also the engine might or might not be original. There is some more talk about this topic:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=38405

Good tip about WOT, thanks! I'll add that to my todo-list.

Plan for de-chroming is to change the kidneys (already bought black ones) and take off the chrome windscreen surround. IIRC, I read from somewhere that the windscreen frame under the surround is body-coloured painted metal, is this true? If removing the chrome surround will leave unpainted metal, empty holes or something like that, I might leave it in place even though it is butt-ugly. I'll have a look at replacing the door handles as well, but as you said it doesn't look like an easy win, so might tackle that after all the other de-chroming and de-cluttering has been done. :D

I might change the air filter in the future as well, but for now there are so many other things to do that just washing the K&N one will have to do for a while.

I believe the roll hoops to be original (chrome?) but they are covered with the ill-fitting wind deflector. One thing on the todo-list is to sell this deflector and buy one that fits my hoops better.
How many different OEM hoop designs did Z3 have? By googling I've seen two that come up constantly: rounder, often chrome ones (pre-facelift?) and pointier, often black ones (facelift?). Then I've also seen some chrome ones that are joined together with a horizontal bar. I have no idea which ones I have... I'll need to take the deflector off and see.
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Jonttt
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Jonttt »

The z3 only came with one type of roll hoop, the black ones. All others are aftermarket. The ones with the chrome bar across are for cars without the roll hoop fitting kit.

The reason I ask if they are schnitzer is the shape may be similar to them but you pic does not show them properly. Schnitzer hoops are worth £600+ and are very rare :shock: . All others are worth less than £50 as you can buy new for c£80

Re the chrome trim I think there is more to removing them. Some early Z3 came with black surrounds which could be peeled off to reveal body colour underneath which I think is what you are getting mixed up with. From memory the chrome trim is not easy to retrofit and therefore probably the same to remove.

I can't say as I can remember anyone actually removing chrome surrounds as they were a pretty rare factory option.
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

I took off the wind deflector last night:
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There is no branding on these hoops whatsoever, so I don't think these are the AC Schnitzer ones (see below), unless they also made hoops without the black things at the top front? The shape is pretty identical though.
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Just curious about what makes AC Schnitzer hoops so bloody expensive?? As chrome hoops are chrome hoops...

I did a quick interwebs search the chrome windscreen surround. Seems that something changed in 1998, at least according to realOEM.
Further investigation is needed on this. My preference would be to remove the surround, but if that is not an option I would like to change it anyway as mine has an ugly dent and scratch near the RH back corner of the bonnet. Seems like the corner of the bonnet moved back and scratched and dented the surround in the frontal crash. This of course if the surrounds are still available.
Maybe it would be possible to change it to a black surround?

The missing thing from trunk and the cut wires. Any idea what is missing?
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It can be seen, poorly, from the photo that there is an empty two-bolt bracket in the bottom of the trunk, in the gap under the roof motor (which I didn't know is pneumatic), where the three wires hang about as well.
Lots of rust there, but seems to be just fine rusty dust sitting on top of solid metal. I couldn't find a source for it, and the trunk is dry. Nevertheless, I'll need to clean the trunk thoroughly and have another look.

And finally, some broken and rusty spot welds. :(
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Brian H
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Brian H »

I think the missing part is the tilt sensor for the alarm system, it usually sits in the recess that you can see. It seems as though there has been quite a bit of water in the bottom of the recess which would have buggered the sensor.

AFAIAA the A C Schnitzer roll bars are TUV approved and are one of, if not the only aftermarket roll bars with this approval. They are also quite rare so command a price when they come on the market.
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('_')Z3
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by ('_')Z3 »

Just curious about what makes AC Schnitzer hoops so bloody expensive?? As chrome hoops are chrome hoops...

As Brian rightly sais partly the reason the AC Schnitzer hoops hold a premium is down to the TUV approval with other chrome hoops being purely cosmetic. Yours do seem to match the shape of the ACS and I (from memory) think that alumex made some for a time that were also TUV approved and had the same shape as the ACS but no pad. The price that the ACS command is pretty much what they cost as an option as they left the factory, and has been said they're pretty rare :( in three years of Z ownership I've probably seen three sets for sale and a single hoop in Germany
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Thanks Brian! I'll add the tilt sensor to the list of things to buy. It does look like there has been a fair amount of water at some point. Possibly a leak that has been since fixed, as the trunk is completely dry.

I did five things today: Fitting the black kidney grilles, tightening the throttle cable, fixing (or rather attempting to fix) the blower/heater resistor, removing the ugly fake ///M badge from steering wheel, and test fitting the tonneau cover.

Original kidney grilles were easy to remove: just tapping them from the middle with a rubber mallet. For people in doubt, they need to be tapped towards the front, i.e. away from the car. Keep your hand on the outside to prevent them from flying around when they come loose. I started with gentle tapping and increased force until they started to come loose, which seemed to be a good technique as none of the plastic clips broke.
The new ones off ebay were simple, but a bit different to install. The front of the grille was put in place first, then the back side just clicks to the front... In theory. The quality of the items wasn't amazing. RH side clicked in place very easily, but the LH side needed some brute force and ignorance to get it fitted. One of the clips didn't even click in place, but I assume it'll stay in place with five out of six clips. Also the fit isn't perfect, there are clear gaps between the bonnet and grilles at places, whereas they sit flush at other places. Oh well.
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Second thing was to tighten the throttle cable, or at least that's what I attempted. If I did it correctly, there is a tension adjuster near throttle body, where the cable joins the throttle body - I just turned the tensioner a couple of times counter-clockwise and the cable became a bit tighter. There wasn't much to play with as I guess the cable is slightly stretched, but at least I tried. :roll: Next step is to do this with someone who can press the throttle while I check that the butterfly valve really opens fully.
I believe the adjustment is done with the black tensioner screw which is in the photo on the right, someone please correct me if I am wrong.
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Then I attempted to fix the heater resistor. My heater only works at full speed, which seems to be a common problem. There is an excellent writeup here, so I won't go into details about how to do it:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... write-up-)
All I wanted to add is that the expansion pins & clips that hold the windscreen wiper cowl in place may or may not come out easily, I guess depending on how long ago they were last removed. I believe mine had never been removed, as they were pretty tight. Best way to pull them off was to wiggle a wide flat screwdriver under both ends, hold the pin/clip tightly against the screwdrivers with your thumb, and pull straight out while wiggling the pin/clip a bit.

I attempted to clean the resistor thoroughly with electronics cleaning spray (isopropanol solvent) with no luck. So I put everything back together, sans the pins and clips. I must now buy a new resistor. Is ebay the cheapest? £30 sounds like an awful lot for a part so simple, the manufacturing costs cannot be more than 30p... The part number is 64116912633.


Then I removed the fugly Chinese ///M badge from the steering wheel. Luckily it was just a sticker, and luckily the original BMW badge was still in place. There is a small dent in the BMW badge, any good ideas on how to pull it back to shape? I was thinking about a suction cup, similar to the ones that are used to pull out small dents from body panels, if I can just find one small enough.
I guess the dent was why the previous owner decided that it is a good idea to cover it with this cheap looking badge. Even the damn M colours are way off!
£0.10, collection only, will offer coffee to buyer. First one knocking on the door takes the cake! :D
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And last, I tested the tonneau cover I bought earlier from Djwbiker. I also gave it a quick wipe. Unfortunately what I though was just dirt wasn't, there is some discolouration and even a couple of light scratches on the cover. :( Nevertheless, the car looks much better with the tonneau cover on, and TBH the rest of the car isn't mint either so a couple of small marks on the cover do not bother me that much.
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It can also be seen from the photos how dirty the car is. Washing it would be pointless, as the car sits on a driveway next to the street, and it's London so there is a lot of sh*t flying in the air. Time to find a good stormproof car cover and then take the car to professional valeters who could maybe shave a couple of years off poor Giorgio. :D
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swamper
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by swamper »

its looking more loved by the minute....good thread :wink:
the badness makes me do it...!

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Del
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Del »

janijoeli wrote:and luckily the original BMW badge was still in place. There is a small dent in the BMW badge, any good ideas on how to pull it back to shape? I was thinking about a suction cup
Not sure if it can be easily fixed. If it is the same as BMW 45mm plaque part number 36 13 118 1082* it can be bought for £2.25 plus postage at the following:-
http://www.bmminiparts.com/

*Enter last 7 digits in search
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Jonttt
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Jonttt »

They could be alumnex (can't remember how to spell it) who made the ac schnitzer hoops if they are identical shape without the black pads. They are also very rare but without the schnitzer logo or some form of proof I'm not sure they would command a premium but as I've never seen a set for sale it's hard to tell.

As stated above full TUV approval means they are not cosmetic like all the other none OEM together with the schnitzer logo and BMW approval when these cars where new makes them worth so much. It's a bit of a mute point as the Z3 don't need roll hoops as the rollover protection is built into the windscreen and seat backs hence why roll hoops where not fitted to all Z3s. Rarity makes them a Z3 holy grail though with only schnitzer fog lights for the M bumper and type II race wheels in M offset being rarer OEM parts.

Re the throttle - there should be a little slack at idle. You should adjust idle with engine running and add a little slack back from the point of increase in engine revs. Of course for wot turn engine off, open fully by hand and ensure full motion is replicated when someone floors the pedal.

The boot welds are a relatively easy fix nowadays if you do a search on recent threads.
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Kornknarr
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Kornknarr »

You shouldn't take the welds in the boot lightly. It's a sign that the crossmember is slowly being ripped out of the floor by the movements of the differential. Often there are cracks in the differential bracket too.
There are different opinions on what to do about it. On the US-forums Randy Forbes method is the most popular. It reinforces the crossmember and moves the stress to the longitudinal rails of the chassis.
Some people argue that you only have to seam weld the crossmember an lap up the bracket. That might work. But when you yourself have cut into the thin metal of the floor and the cross member you tend to not agree with that.

I did this repair last winter (http://perkornhall.se/Per_Kornhall/Subframe.html#137).

FYI. All but one M-roadster in Sweden I've looked into the boot of have had this problem in various degrees. It's something that all M-owners have to look out for.

Before: Image

A crack in the crossmember + one in the bracket: Image

Welding: Image

End result with new dual ear differential cover: Image
You can also keep the original differential cover and strengthen the existing bracket. To do a dual ear you need an aftermarket exhaust.

Per
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Thanks for a good tip Del! I just ordered the steering wheel emblem. 2nd class postage was more than the emblem itself, but still total was only £7.02. Worth the money to get a brand new looking steering wheel IMHO.

Jonttt, you are absolutely right, my hoops might very well be from Alumex. I did a search and found this:
http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22735
It seems that Alumex made two different models of hoops: The 50mm ones which are the exact same shape as ACS hoops (and which Alumex manufactured for them), and 60mm ones which are a bit rounder from top. I have the former. Of course it is possible that there were other manufacturers making replicas of this same shape, but it makes me feel better to think that I got something relatively expensive "for free" with Giorgio. :D

And thanks for the good tip about adjusting the throttle cable! I will do this adjustment when I have someone (who is even remotely interested about cars) visiting. :)

Tackar Kornknarr, I'll definitely tackle the spot weld / diff mount issue sooner rather than later. I haven't seen under the car yet so I don't know how extensive the damage is, but for peace of mind I would like to get this sorted ASAP.

So, I woke up this morning to my own scream, all sweaty, having seen nightmares about paying £30 for a new blower/heater resistor, which basically is just a bunch of springs on a piece of plastic. Being parsimonious (... :roll:), I decided to attempt to repair the broken one... and I now have a fully working blower! :) I'll do a separate writeup on that. Maybe it could be added to the knowledgebase, as I am sure there are a lot of other Z owners too who would like to do an hour of DIY to save £30.
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Oh, and another thing: I found a thread about Z3cade's Z3s, and saw this:
viewtopic.php?p=285189#p285189
I've never been a big fan of the rear of the facelift, but Z3cade's simple change to just the headlights transforms the whole rear end from ugly to attractive! :shock:

It gave me inspiration to do something similar on Giorgio. Unlike the front, there isn't much to improve on Z3M's rear end, maybe just the lights. IMHO they are not in proportion to the rest of the rear end and look too big, catching too much attention which is unfortunate as they are nothing special. They make the rear look less aggressive than it could be. I've always loved the skinny rear lights of Z8, Eagle Speedster, Jaguar F-Type etc, so I wanted to do something similar (given the restrictions of course).

This is just a quick'n'dirty photoshop mockup, and I may or may not ever do this, but nevertheless it's nice to play with the thought. Opinions?
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Just made this writeup on how to repair the heater resistor:
http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... =6&t=38741

Hope someone finds it useful!
Last edited by janijoeli on Fri 16 Aug, 2013 18:52, edited 1 time in total.
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Z3cade
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Z3cade »

I like the dark strip at the top of the rear lights.. :wink: think you should give it ago!

There's a kit called 'flyeyeskit' that's a vinyl film with holes in it that's very easy to apply.. Can also just as easy be removed.. I would give that ago, its only about £10 too!
///M Roadster - Evolve Stage 3
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Cheers mate! I don't know if the honeycomb structure of the flyeyeskit would be too visible on clear lenses, but as it is only a couple of £...

What other tinting options are there? I am guessing 5% window tints are not quite legal...? :roll: It would need to be something that could be removed without leaving any marks on the lights, if I would ever need to go back to original.

I think I have just agreed to buy a second-hand Racelogic adjustable traction control... :D Oh it will be fun installing it, especially pulling the wires for the control unit through the dashboard. And that's before we get to calibration. But when working, it should be great!
http://www.racelogic.co.uk/index.php/en ... on-control
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Gazza
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Gazza »

The Racelogic system works very well.
Gazza

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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

I've only heard good things about it. Not that I would need it that often, no plans for trackdays or excessive hooning, but I think it is good to have for those exciting surprise moments on wet tarmac... Hint to other Z3M owners: do not go to wreckedexotics.com and search for Z3. :shock:
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swamper
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by swamper »

janijoeli wrote:. Hint to other Z3M owners: do not go to wreckedexotics.com and search for Z3. :shock:
theres already a thread on the coupe forum :shock:
the badness makes me do it...!

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Z3cade
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Z3cade »

Traction control!?! That's for old men :twisted:
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Bi11
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Bi11 »

Just looked at exotic wrecks and I am not so worried about the boot welds now - more concerned how well the front end is welded on! :shock:
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Liam I am getting there... I don't feel old yet, but I can only see 2 metres forward on a clear day, and reaction times are measured with a calendar. :D

I would categorise the boot weld disintegration as "chronic", and judging by wreckedexotics, front end weld disintegration as "acute"...
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c_w
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by c_w »

Keep with the standard/oem rear lights, best look IMO.
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

I'm still keen on trying something, but I'm afraid that any tinting would be clearly noticeable, even to non-anoraks. I'd like to keep the car look so that people who don't know Z3s think it came like that from factory. :)

Today was a day (or rather an hour or two in the evening) of tiny little things:
- Changing the side indicators to smoked ones
- Tightening front strut brace bolts (now when I bought a ratchet set)
- Fastening rear trim around reg plate properly
- Replacing (or actually not replacing) the steering wheel emblem
- Testing the angel eye halo ring kit that arrived today.


Side indicators were only £14 incl. shipping from eBay, so why the hell not. :) Not a perfect finish (rubber seals were glued on with rather generous amounts of glue), but pretty close to OEM. The spring in the back had to be bent as far in as it would go, after this the fit was equal to OEM (which is, pretty loose).
Yes I know the car is dirty... Finding a suitable car cover and then valeting is on the high-priority list.
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Before and after:
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Then I tightened the strut brace bolts as they were a bit loose after rushed installation with an Ikea monkey wrench. :D I needed a ratchet & socket set for that, which I bought today on my way home from work. All my tools are in Finland, sucks. :(


After that, I fastened the plastic rear trim around reg plate with a bit of double-sided automotive tape. This seemed to be the factory approach as well, which I find a bit of an afterthought... No photos of this or the previous very exciting activity, I am sure you are all gutted. :D


I was also going to replace the steering wheel emblem with the one I ordered from BM Mini Parts, but it was of such poor quality that I'll rather keep the original dented one. BMMP emblem was just a plastic sticker with a printed logo, and the silver was matte, whereas the original looks like real shiny metal and has a nice "texture" with some depth in it:
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As the last thing for today, I tested the angel eye halos I just received. They were advertised as orange, but luckily the colour is pretty much what I wanted, i.e. very close to the standard BMW angel eyes. Unfortunately one of the halos is noticeably dimmer than others. Camera had trouble catching the difference in brightness until exaggerating it by closing the aperture a couple of notches.
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I noticed that when touching the wires of this faulty halo, it gets much dimmer, so I suppose the problem has something to do with wire insulation. Here's the pair side by side:
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Hopefully the seller will agree to send me a replacement.
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Z3cade
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Z3cade »

Nice to meet you today Jani

You'll soon get that Roady how you want it :wink:

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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Cheers Liam, it was nice to meet you and your cousin as well! Nice day of driving and a mini-meet. :)

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Z3cade
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Z3cade »

Think you should buy my wheels and side grills :P

Yes we will meet up again, hopefully before the weather changes on a meet
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

I could do a swap with your cuz, my wheels for his shadow chrome ones :D

You mentioned that your cars were lowered by 30mm. Looking at our cars side by side, there is very little difference in ride height, or at least it is not easy to see from the photos. I wonder if Giorgio has been lowered a bit as well...
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Mugs
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Mugs »

with reference to you tonneau cover..... mine too had some marks on it so I decided to give it a coat of black trim wax. I got this bottle from Halfrauds but the last bottle I bought from Morrison's in their car cleaning section.
I just gave it a good coat applied with a sponge then let it dry overnight. a good buff up with a clean cloth the next morning and it looked good as new.
might be worth a try?
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

Great tip Mugs, I'll give it a go! :thumb:

My Kiwi mate who is visiting London is thinking about moving to Brighton. Weather was good as well, so two perfect excuses for a roadtrip. :drive

Beautiful beach, awesome pier, blah blah blah. Anyway: While there, I accidentally found a very cheap car hand wash place. Wash & wax was just £6 and full interior clean another £6. What a bargain! Definitely added a ton or two to the value of the car. :D

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swamper
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by swamper »

taking shape now :wink:
the badness makes me do it...!

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BladeRunner919
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by BladeRunner919 »

It does look good. You can't beat a black Zed with red leather - though I do have a slightly biased opinion :D
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janijoeli
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by janijoeli »

I wasn't too hot for the red interior at first (my ideal zed would have been black with either black or tan interior), but it's starting to grow on me... Has more character than black, and if a little bit less classy, it is also a bit sportier than tan. :)

Today the mailman brought Giorgio some new toys.

Greased Lightning Showroom Shine from amazon - automotive equivalent of snake oil. :roll: Cleaning and waxing on one application, in less than 30min, without water. I'm a bit suspicious about this stuff, but then again it's got numerous great reviews on amazon, so I am willing to give it a try.

New (used) bonnet BMW emblem - if you are reading this, cheers Dallan!

And last but not least, Racelogic Traction Control. :D As you can see the wiring loom needs quite a bit of work, and the launch button needs installing on the controller, but it should be a working unit. I can see a weekend of soldering in the near(ish) future... But first I need to RTFM. :rtm:

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I also ordered two other things today: black trim wax from Halfords to restore the tonneau cover as kindly suggested by Mugs, and a winterproof car cover, also from Halfords, as suggested by Mitch in this thread. I am not sure if the trim stuff was what you used Mugs, but if it is no good for the tonneau cover I'm sure I'll find some other use for it.
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Mugs
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Re: PROJECT: 1998 Black M Roadster (aka Giorgio)

Post by Mugs »

black trim wax - that's the stuff :D
it is also great for the black plastics in the engine bay, the black sill covers, the front number plate surround and the mud flaps, and, in watered down form, dying the roof black (although I did then seal it with the hood restoring kit that sealed in the colour :D
if you get it on the bodywork, just buff it off and it doesn't stain but on a black car you won't notice if it does :lol:
oh, and on other cars I have had, I painted it on the tyres then buffed them up the next day and it kept them black and shiny for a couple of months even after washing :D
I think it's good stuff :wink:
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