Not a Project but...

[BigDaddy]

It doesn’t seem to have a dead spot in power at all to be honest. It’s consistent throughout the rev range, just not a very powerful car. However I do have a c250 diesel to tool around in which although is a dirty diesel still has a twin turbo engine with 500nm of torque so it might be that I’m just used to the shove of that car.

Plus my last ‘fun’ car was a 290bhp fiat coupe which again was turbo charged so maybe I was just expecting too much from the zed.

However I don’t want to crap on the zed too much. It looks nice and the roof goes down which puts a huge smile on the kids faces when they’re in it. I’ve only had it throughout the terrible recent weather so every time the roof has been down it’s started peeing it down a couple of minutes later but I imagine when the weather is nice it is probably a different experience.

[Andrew J]

I had a little look in the boot today and found some water in the battery tray. Doesn't look too bad as the battery well isn't flooded but not idea considering the recent weather. I've some some research and centre brake light and rear light clusters seem to be common culprits. I did check the light clusters and both looked dry but will check more when the weather clears up. I do need to check my roof drains so I'm planning on doing this at the same time.

[BigDaddy]

Could be the rubber seal that fits around the boot too. Time to get the hose out!

[Andrew J]

Could be the rubber seal that fits around the boot too. Time to get the hose out!

Yeah seems that way. Glad it's not swimming given the amount of rain we've had recently.

[Andrew J]

Also need to find a decent code reader for the car. C310+ seems to be popular. What are folks using? I'm currently only using Torque Lite with an old ebay obd reader that is years old. It reads codes and give live data but not sure it's up to the job when trouble shooting.

[Andrew J]

How different does it feel now you’ve done the vanos? I have a 2004 3.0 with 91k and i have the vanos kit but haven’t done it yet. I’m dreading it in a way but if the car feels perkier after that would be good.

Is it just responsiveness or does overall power go up?

The only complaint I have about the car really is it’s not that quick. Not slow, but not quick.

Anyway the websites selling the kit say it’s the best thing ever, but what’s your real life experience?

I'll report back once I've done a few more miles to let the new seals settle in.

I promised I'd report back once I'd got some miles under my belt. I've done 230 miles now and given it the full beans a few times. There's no lag anymore, it just pulls and pulls now. It's not actually running on the MAF either so I'm surprised it's so smooth. Definitely worth the mo ey and time if it feels a bit laggy in the mid range. I guess it depends on how bad the seals are before changing though. Some folks get codes thrown up which means it must be like a wizards sleeve in there whereas others like me that just get the dead band around 3-4k. If nothing else it's peace of mind and an interesting job to do albeit with a couple of sticky points to get around (notably clearing the vanos studs on unit removal).

[Andrew J]

SitRep!

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. I got quotes for smoke tests north of 100 beer tokens which got me thinking, how cheap could I build a decent smoke for. Well it turns out it's £60.79. Here it is in all its glory (minus the lid):

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So I cover the maf inlet with a glove, taped the tube inside a glove finger and did a smoke test:

20240413_112655.jpg (235.18 KiB) Viewed 228 times

No leaks brilliant!

It a bit of a beast of a smoke machine but I wanted to make sure there was enough room in the cylinder to generate a decent amount of smoke.

Since then I took it to a friend's house who works for the AA and he scanned the car.

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Air flow faulty. It would rwad 0.41 kg/h wherever it was revved to so diagnosis = jiggered maf! Whoever said these cars were money pits wasn't wrong (M54 sound track makes up for it though )!

I've ordered that and a left front ABS sensor from autodoc however I'm still waiting for them to arrive . Hopefully they be here by the end of the week.

Then it was MOT time. Result...Fail. but its not too bad. abs Light was one major (already knew about that). Other major was the handbrake wasn't quite up to scratch. A quick adjustment should sort that out as it was at 13% but needs to be 16%.

Other advisories were:

- Sticking door handle (knew about that)
- ball joints on wish bone had a slight bit of play in them.
- drivers side front brake is binding a little.

I want the weather to warm up before I tackle the door cable and the wish bones but ideally would like to check the front brake soon.

When I've looked on realoem there's no wishbone entry to give me a part number. Have these been discontinued? Need to dig into this a little more.

Scratch the last bit about the wishbone, I see it comes as a complete unit.

Oh and also, the brakes around the abs sensor look fairly corroded so I don't think the car has been garaged as much as the previous owner thought it had so getting the abs bolt out is going to be interesting? Any history of these snapping? Suppose I'll find out soon enough

[enuff_zed]

getting the abs bolt out is going to be interesting? Any history of these snapping?

Oh yes! Wee beggars.
Soak it with plusgas for a while beforehand and make sure you have exactly the right size allen key socket to fit it. Otherwise it will round off the inside of the head. You may need to clean corrosion out of the hole first then tap the allen key socket fully home.

[Andrew J]

getting the abs bolt out is going to be interesting? Any history of these snapping?

Oh yes! Wee beggars.
Soak it with plusgas for a while beforehand and make sure you have exactly the right size allen key socket to fit it. Otherwise it will round off the inside of the head. You may need to clean corrosion out of the hole first then tap the allen key socket fully home.

I'll go out tonight with the plus gas. Hopefully the sensor is arriving Friday so can get it back MOT'd for the weekend.

When I adjusted the handbrake on my 320d before I ended up turning the adjuster the wrong way so it took forever to get it back to the correct way. Any chance you know off the top of your head which way (up or down) I should be turning the adjuster for each wheel?

Edit: I'm thinking of expanding the shoes out until the wheel stops then back off a few clicks. I was thinking down for the drivers side and up for the passenger side to get the handbrake to lock?

[enuff_zed]

getting the abs bolt out is going to be interesting? Any history of these snapping?

Oh yes! Wee beggars.
Soak it with plusgas for a while beforehand and make sure you have exactly the right size allen key socket to fit it. Otherwise it will round off the inside of the head. You may need to clean corrosion out of the hole first then tap the allen key socket fully home.

I'll go out tonight with the plus gas. Hopefully the sensor is arriving Friday so can get it back MOT'd for the weekend.

When I adjusted the handbrake on my 320d before I ended up turning the adjuster the wrong way so it took forever to get it back to the correct way. Any chance you know off the top of your head which way (up or down) I should be turning the adjuster for each wheel?

Honestly can't remember, but I take the disc off and adjust them a bit at a time until it sits fairly tight on there. Never got on with peering through that hole. I do remember that the adjustment is a normal thread so you want to turn the knurled nut down the thread as though you're tightening it onto the housing. This pushes the threaded end further out.

[Andrew J]

Oh yes! Wee beggars.
Soak it with plusgas for a while beforehand and make sure you have exactly the right size allen key socket to fit it. Otherwise it will round off the inside of the head. You may need to clean corrosion out of the hole first then tap the allen key socket fully home.

I'll go out tonight with the plus gas. Hopefully the sensor is arriving Friday so can get it back MOT'd for the weekend.

When I adjusted the handbrake on my 320d before I ended up turning the adjuster the wrong way so it took forever to get it back to the correct way. Any chance you know off the top of your head which way (up or down) I should be turning the adjuster for each wheel?

Honestly can't remember, but I take the disc off and adjust them a bit at a time until it sits fairly tight on there. Never got on with peering through that hole. I do remember that the adjustment is a normal thread so you want to turn the knurled nut down the thread as though you're tightening it onto the housing. This pushes the threaded end further out.

No worries ill try down and passenger's and see how I go. Any hints on how to et the green spring compressed under handbrake? Currently struggling with it on the drive

[enuff_zed]

I'll go out tonight with the plus gas. Hopefully the sensor is arriving Friday so can get it back MOT'd for the weekend.

When I adjusted the handbrake on my 320d before I ended up turning the adjuster the wrong way so it took forever to get it back to the correct way. Any chance you know off the top of your head which way (up or down) I should be turning the adjuster for each wheel?

Honestly can't remember, but I take the disc off and adjust them a bit at a time until it sits fairly tight on there. Never got on with peering through that hole. I do remember that the adjustment is a normal thread so you want to turn the knurled nut down the thread as though you're tightening it onto the housing. This pushes the threaded end further out.

No worries ill try down and passenger's and see how I go. Any hints on how to et the green spring compressed under handbrake? Currently struggling with it on the drive

In my experience, you just have to keep struggling.
However (and I'm sure this will upset the purists) doing it my way of trial fitting the discs etc, I just leave the handbrake off and don't bother with that spring anymore.
Works well for me and even got a comment on yesterday's MOT that the handbrake was 'surprisingly good for one of these'.

[enuff_zed]

If you do end up doing it that way then bear in mind you have to get the disc over the edge of the shoe and properly into position before it will turn. Halfway on it will feel like it's seized, but when fully seated you should be able to turn it by hand and hear a very light rubbing. Only do a click or two at a time.

[Andrew J]

Thanks for the quick response enuff_zed. I struggled on and pushed the hook with another screwdriver at the same time to persuade it to onto the spring cap. Dis the handbrake through the wheel nuts and also removed the abs sensor. Just need halfords to eliver the goods by Friday and I can get it back on the road.

[Andrew J]

MOT Passed .

ABS sensor came out pretty easily after a load of plus gas. I was expecting it to be a bit tougher. Handbrake was spot-on after the adjustment.

However my MOT tester did spot another defect on the retest:

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Whatever's hit it has impeccable aim, it's right on the rain sensor!

I've done a little research and it seems the bmw glass seal protector is the one to use as the oem aftermarket ones don't seem to fit.

What I don't know is a decent windscreen repair place. Autoglass did my 320d coupe and it was okay. Seal around the window wasn't great but the screen is sealed and its not leaked. Any experience/ advice welcome as I've always just gone through the recommended insurers company as it was cheapest option but I want to do the right thing by the Z.