Z3 instrument dials
One of my few criticisms of the Z3 is that the interior is unimaginative and not very 'retro'. Specifiying beige interior and wood trim helps reduce the funereal appearance, but the instruments are still straight out of BMW's saloon parts bins.

The MGF, by comparison, has a pretty cream-colored instrument dial, and I thought it would help the Z3 retro look to seek a replacement. The picture below shows what I installed.

The standard dial is black/white (black background with white markings). Custom Z3 dials are available with white markings as follows

• red / white
• blue / white
• carbon / white
• violet / white

• yellow / black
• pink / black
• grey / black
• white / black

Unfortunately, most of the replacement dials for the Z3 are only available with kilometers/hour speed markings. Why is this when a high proportion of Z3s need a miles/hour speedo? The answer is that the Z3 uses the 3 Series dial (made by VDO) and many of the companies producing 3 Series customisation parts are based in Germany. So the only speedo available with joint mph/kpm markings was white/black.

For reasons that I will explain later, the customisation exercise cannot, at the moment, be described as a success. The problem could, however, potentially be overcome, so it makes sense to document the process.

Reading up on the process in the 'Z3 Service Manual' by Bentley Publishers, I started to get worried about the work this would entail. According to Bentley, getting access to the instrument dials involves removing the steering wheel, which in turn entails first removing the air bag. To prevent the air bag exploding in your face (!!) it is first be necessary to disconnect the battery and wait until the system capacitor has discharged.

Fortunately, when at the Homecoming I noticed that Keith Wertman of RoadUpstate.com had carried out a similar upgrade, and I took the precaution of emailing Keith to see whether he had any tips. Back came detailed installation instructions which, although for an earlier Z3, gave me a vital insight into the installation (like don't bother with the steering wheel/airbag removal). The instructions below are a combination of Keith's instructions and what I found in the process on a MY00 Z3.

Before starting
1. Check out what you have been sent, read the instructions and ensure you have the correct tools. The photograph below shows a specialised tool for removing the instrument needles and some (terribly generic) instructions.

   

2. Take the car for a spin and make a note of the relationship between revs and speed. For example, on my 2.8 automatic, 3000 revs in first gear corresponded exactly to 20 mph. If you have an on-board computer note the relationship between the speed shown on the speedo and the computer. Take a note of this at a couple of different speeds.

3. With the engine at operating temperature, then take a photograph of the position of the dials at tickover. You will need this to help adjust the needles later.

   

   Removing the old dial

4. Use a T-25 torx driver to remove the two screws at the top of the instrument cluster.

5. Then use two small-bladed screw drivers to slide the cluster toward you. The cluster can be easily removed on older Z3s if the steering wheel is in the vertical position (Roundel should be right side up)

   

6. There are three lots of electrical connections to the instrument cluster. You unplug it by squeezing in the sides of the connectors and rotating the lever to the open position. The first one takes a little time the rest come and go quickly. You will be doing this several times later as the needles are adjusted, so get used to it!

7. Slide the cluster from behind the wheel.

   Disassembling

8. Now the fun begins, remove the torx screws the on the back of the cluster using a T-10 torx driver. There's 5 of these on MY00 models; 8 or 10 of them on older models. There wasn't the space to get my T-10 driver down the plastic guides, so I had to grind down the edges of the torx driver, plus cut away the plastic guides to get access. The picture below shows the ground-down torx driver. And yes, the scratch on the table was there already.

   

9. Now that you have the cluster in two pieces, as above, you need to separate the dial from the front of the cluster. You will see three posts on the back of the cluster with arrows marked zu/auf (closed/open). Use a straight-edge screw driver to rotate these a half turn to release the gauges from the rings. On MY00 models, twist the white part of the post in the direction of 'auf'. I found I had to trim some plastic from the post to make it easier to undo.

10. When the instrument dial is separated you will see some more torx screws. Don't worry about these as they stay in place. There are two posts which prevent the speedo and rev counter needles from passing zero. Remove these and let the needles sweep back into a relaxed position. Try to remember the position to reduce the number of subsequent trial-and-error needle fittings.

11. Carefully remove the needles (no trick here just be careful). Peel up the old gauge face.

    Reassembly and adjustments

12. Apply the new face and reassemble.

13. Reinstall into the car. You may need to remove the cluster several times to get the needles exactly lined up to where they were before.
    • Operating temperature and fuel are easy.
    • Make sure the tickover revs shown on the rev counter match the photo you took earlier.
    • Then set the speedo so that the relationship between the rev counter and speedo matches the note you took earlier
      (in my case 3,000 rpm at 20 mph in first).
    • Now check the speedo against the OBC to make any final adjustments.

I was not at all happy with the night-time display of the white dial. It was practically impossible to determine the road speed or revs, and the car would not pass British roadworthy tests in that state.

Keith Wertman's tip of cleaning the adhesive from the reverse of the face before fitting (using rubbing alcohol or white spirit) made no difference for me. I am in the process of returning the dial to the supplier for a refund.

I am sorry it didn't work out, but thinking about it I now understand the reason. The 'black' markings on the white dial are in fact a dark red. The dial is lit from the back and the dark red/black markings do not let enough light through. What I need is a dark dial (blue or red) with white markings but unfortunately these are not available with mph markings. Someone is missing out on a huge US/UK market!

Tim Cullis, October 1999