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Roundozo's zed

2003 - 2009, roadster, coupe, facelift
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Roundozo
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Roundozo's zed

Post by Roundozo » Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:48 pm

Hi everyone,

I thought I give you all a little update of my car maintenance themed weekend. I planned on doing some work on the car over the weekend and had bought lots of bits prior to this. I got the oil from Asda as they had a deal on Castrol Edge and the service parts from ECP. I haven’t managed to photograph all of the work done as time was precious as I needed the car back on the road by Sunday afternoon.

Things I bought;

Oil – 8lt
Oil filter and seal
New sump bolt and seal
Air filter
Cabin filter
Front Pads & new wear sensor
Rear Pads & new wear sensor
Oil filter removal tool
2 x torque wrenches (low range/high range)
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The day started well (I know the car is filthy but I was going to clean it after the work was complete but just didn’t have time). I ran the car for 5 to10 minuets to warm up the oil. I then drove her onto some makeshift ramps to enable me to get the trolley jack underneath so that I could then get the axle stands under her (Oh I wish I had a pit).

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I then loosened of the oil filter hosing to aid the draining process and put my oil pan underneath.

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The air filter was a quick easy change and no pictures to show for it I’ afraid.
I then started to remove the front wheels to change the pads and wear sensor. Oh dear....

As other people have mentioned before the wheels didn’t want to come off even after the bolts were undone. Lying on the floor and using my feet to kick at 9 & 3 o’clock positions it eventually started to move but only after I discovered a lot of play in the rear of the front wishbone bushes. I had started to notice this in the feel of the drive but I was planning on changing it all in the summer when working on a car outside is more pleasurable. Anyhow another trip to ECP and i had come back with some replacement bushes.

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To remove the old ones the lower trays were removed. Then with the wishbone hanging down I attempted to remove the bush. This was a complete PITA!! I gave up trying to remove it gracefully and brought out the big guns.

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Ok, so this grinder was a bit too big for the job but it worked.

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New bushes fitted and a much tighter front end.

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This took almost all of Saturday up so changing the pads had to be done on Sunday. I didn’t get any pictures of this I’m afraid as I just got on with it. All the callipers came off nice and easy and pads were also easy to fit. However whoever designed the location of the rear brake pad wear sensor junction box needs to be hung. It’s the most inaccessible thing to get to so I’ll try to never let the pads wear down enough to need to change this again.

I will be changing more bushes etc on the car but I’m going to wait until warmer weather graces our shores as I was frozen to the bone, I usually enjoy this type of thing but not with freezing weather beating down on me.

p.s. I will clean the car soon!
Last edited by Roundozo on Mon Jun 27, 2016 12:58 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Past - Z4 Coupe, gone but not forgotten
Present - 530d M sport touring

bimmerjoe
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by bimmerjoe » Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:10 pm

Weekend well spent id say! :thumbsup:
Love car weekends like this
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srhutch
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by srhutch » Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:16 pm

What's the iron for :?
Image

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Roundozo
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by Roundozo » Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:25 pm

errrm, Iron is for....errrr.......steam cleaning the under tray? Ok so this pick was taken in my utility room, the Iron photo bombed me.
Past - Z4 Coupe, gone but not forgotten
Present - 530d M sport touring

Stu Boy
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by Stu Boy » Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:31 pm

srhutch wrote:What's the iron for :?
To put creases in his overalls before he started work of course :lol:
2007 Z4 ///M Roadster, Black Sapphire, Nav, Deflector, Eibach's, Bilstein B6's, OEM CSL's 6 Pot BMW Performance Calipers

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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by DebZ4 » Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:34 pm

Stu Boy wrote:
srhutch wrote:What's the iron for :?
To put creases in his overalls before he started work of course :lol:
:rofl:

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Stratts
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by Stratts » Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:40 pm

Nice work. Doing these things yourself is so satisfying.

Just a couple of pieces of advice if you don't mind...

1) Make yourself some ramps out of some old scaffold boards or similar. You can drive up these and get underneath for an oil change. Makes the whole process simple. I have mine made like this (pictured under my old E38):

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2) If you got the OCAP or similar bushes from ECP, I would budget on replacing them within a year or so. They're not the best quality. If they were Lemförder then that's better.

3) Removal of the bushes needs a £15 3-arm puller from Halfords. 5 minute job each side, just so you know next time (if there is one)
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Roundozo
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by Roundozo » Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:07 pm

Thanks for the tips. I used some old decking boards but used the stands as I wanted loads of room for working under. Yes the bushes are Lemförder as I'd never heard of the other brand. Will next time definitely use the bush puller though as the grinder was a ball ache.
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Beatman
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by Beatman » Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:37 pm

Stratts I like the ramps a good idea. :thumbsup:
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by Taz » Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:50 pm

:thumbsup:

I so wish I had a garage, nothing worse than car jobs out in the freezing cold

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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by shortfuse 2 » Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:13 pm

great week end of messing on the motor .trouble is I just like to drive the car not work on it but only did 1200 miles last year :thumbsup:

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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by Bazoz4 » Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:13 pm

Nice weekends work, surprising what you find when you get up close, working on a car outside in winter is a ball ache, but your adding some good tackle to your tool kit, get your spade out and get digging out that pit that will keep you warm. like srhutch says very satisfying when you do it yourself. Cheers Baz :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by ronk » Wed Feb 04, 2015 10:20 pm

In the 80's I had a Saab 99 Turbo and it had a very deep spoiler which prevented the use of ramps - Until I fabricated some half ramps which latched half way up the full rams.

Im sure they would work for the zed!
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So I bought a 35is with all the toys to play with. :thumbsup:

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Roundozo
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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by Roundozo » Wed Feb 04, 2015 10:32 pm

The previous owner of our home got planning permission to build one of those barn type double garages but the cost is a bit out of my budget ATM (They're bloody expensive). When it does finally get built I'm making sure it either has a pit or a type of car lift.

No more under car shenanigans for me until the summer is here and the temperature rises a little. :thumbsup:
Past - Z4 Coupe, gone but not forgotten
Present - 530d M sport touring

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Re: My weekend of tinkering!

Post by Zed Five » Wed Feb 04, 2015 10:39 pm

My garage has a pit. Never wanted one until I got one free with the new house. Now love it. :wink:
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