wind deflector

[dave treg]

Hello folks, I have now bought two different wind deflectors...both times now the wrong ones! For a car that was only in production for about six years they certainly seem to have tweaked it a fair bit. The first deflector I bought was sold to me as fitting '96-02, no way was that the case. You need to have removeable discs in the seat belt turrets for that one. So I then bought the one with two prongs that fit into the pre-drilled holes just insde the seat belt turrets and guess what, the spacing betwwen those prongs is different from my mid '99 model. It would appear that the one I need is the one with the prongs set a bit closer together...anyway I sold the first one I purchased, and for the time being am using the second one by attaching it to one hole and supporting it along the back shelf. But, ideally i am looking to buy the third sort and would also like to sell the one I am now using. If there is anyone out there either with the correct one for sale or who would be interested in buying my other one, then please get in touch.
Regards...Dave

[Robert T]

Why did the first one not fit? I had this type first on my zed and in order to fit it, I had to remove some of the polystyrene packing inside the seatbelt turret. The turrets on my car had a removable disc in the top, and I would have thought that they would all be like this, regardless of whether they were the type for fitting roll hoops or not. When I fitted roll hoops, I actually swapped the turrets for ones that had an additional removable piece on the side. If your car is a facelift, then I don't honestly know what the non-rollhoop turrets look like, but the rollhoop versions would certainly have the hole in the top, so you could have fitted these. The deflector I had had some scope for adjustment in the width, but some aftermarket deflectors do not - I have never actually checked the distance between the centres to see whether pre- and post-facelift are the same, but as the hardtop is a universal fit, I would assume that are the same.

The other two types are not interchangeable and so you need the correct one for your car - either pre- or post-facelift.

Cheers R.

[seasurfer]

What is the measurement you need between the prongs ? Do you have roll hoops?

I have one to sell, type without roll hoops .

[frog farmer]

Hi, I am back in the UK near Bristol over the Easter weekend and need a pre-facelift wind deflector for a Z3 without roll hoops in anyone has one to sell, Mel.

[Rig sparky]

Hi try searching for this on ebay.de Windschott für BMW Z3 Baujahr 97-2001 company www.Kawi-trading.de last item listed no 310458101954
I brought one from them a while ago. company based in Germany but they posted to Scotland for 15 euros if memory serves me right. so shouldn't imagine postage to south coast of England or France would be a problem and half the price of listings in the uk

[dave treg]

Hi there. First question..my turrets don't have removeable discs (I think that was up until 98-99).
Question 2, the little discs that are there are inside the turrets and are 27" apart. The second wind deflector i bought has 29" centres on the metal prongs,
Sorry for not getting back sooner..Dave

[dave treg]

Hi there. Rig sparky, the first one I bought was indeed from Kawi in Germany and although they describe it as universal, it isn't suitable for the later ones, Dave

[QueenAnne]

Wow, purchased two wind deflectors and both didn't work for you? That seems like a $400 lesson. I hope you were able to sell them on ebay. If your Z3 has the factory roll hoops, there's lots of options listed over at windscreen review. Else, the folks over at Windblox have windscreens for different Z3 configurations, of the chrome roll hoops, no roll hoops, and the Hard Dog roll bar. You should be able to find a solution for less than a hundred bucks there. Anyway, I hope the third time is charm for you.

[dave treg]

Thanks Queen Anne, sold the first one on ebay (for a small profit!) the second one (which i know I will lose on) I'm using as I can use the prong on one side and just rest it across the top box and in front of the seat belt turret. But I will certainly look into Windblox and see what I can sort, many thanks and have a good summer, Dave

[colb]

My 1999 1.9 has the small sockets for a windbreak at 27" centres, looked for ages for a windbreak to fit, they are like rocking horse s**t to find, so got hold of a 29" one and made up a couple of alloy square bars and fitted them to the rear of the storage box using self tapping screws in countersunk holes along the lengths of the alloy upright bars. Tops were drilled to fit the windbreaker mounting pins. Windbreaker slots in the alloy bar uprights and sits just behind the storage box lid. I did add a lift-dot fastener to the top of the storage box lid and the material pull tab in the centre of the windbreaker to keep it in it's upright position as it was prone to falling forward when air pressure behind it got a bit much for it to stay in place.

With the hood folded I have to pad between the uprights and the rear window as the uprights I used were a bit oversize and could rub, if I was doing it again I would use smaller alloy square bar to increase the clearance.

Will post some pictures when I get time.

Colb

[dave treg]

Cheers colb, my old beast is the same colour by the way. (If they were French made, I'd say that alone could be the difference between 27 and 30 inch holes).
I'd be interested in seeing pics, but at the moment I'm inserting one pin and resting the deflector across in front of other turret it certainly makes all the difference.
Regards..Dave

[colb]

Just been out and took some pictures of my wind deflector mod.
The small mounting holes on my 1.9 are 27.5inches / 70cm centres.
The wind deflector mounting pegs are 29.5 inches / 75cm centres.
Alloy square bars mounted at 29.5inches / 75cm centres which mount the wind deflector at the rear of the storage box.
The lift dot fastener fitted to the material tab stops the air pressure overcoming the ratchets on the side and collapsing the blocker forward.
I find having it tilted to the first click of the ratchet is the best position to use.

[/img]
Wind Deflector 29.5inches between pins.


Alloy Square Bar with mounting hole for Deflector mounting pin.





Lift dot fastener fitted to top of storage box lid.

When the hood is folded I use some foam to slip between the folded screen and the alloy bars to prevent any contact rubbing.


Finished position


If you do it this way try and use a smaller dimensioned alloy bar to increase the gap between the folded screen.

Colb

[dave treg]

Cheers Colb, you said in earlier message that you used self tappers to fix it in place. I take it then that the turrets do have something substantial to fix to. I assumed they were just cosmetic (possibly hardboard covered in plastic) to hide the seat belt upstands.
Regards and I'll now look into this, Dave

[colb]

The rear is a plastic panel, hollow where the bars are screwed into using good quality longish self tappers, I managed to get a nice firm fit using the self tappers, feels rock steady. The fixing holes are drilled through and then opened up to a larger diameter halfway through so the self tapper length required is reduced and to get the thread to hold tight in the plastic back panel.
I suppose once you know where the uprights need fixing and marked out another option would be to strip the storage box out and bond captive nuts on the inside of the panel or even bond a strip of wood on the inside to beef up the mounting on the panel.
Colb

[frog farmer]

Hi, thanks for the link to Kawi trading, my wind deflector was delivered (85 euros posted to France) and fitted yesterday. It was a bit of a fiddle as they don't provide instructions I had to remove the polystyrene and plastic discs from both towers, but it's in and does the job well, and the roof passes it easily now which was a concern at the start.