Behold...the shed-4

[nfo]

Still plugging away dragging this car slowly out of shed-dom. The Volvo I bought last June has consumed all (and some) of my spannering time until recently, but now the Z4 is getting some TLC again. I did another track day at Combe last November in the rain, it wasn't great for various reasons (lots of vibration under braking mostly).

• Had the MV1s refurbed as one was losing air fast.

• Roof motor started playing up, removed, cleaned up and relocated into boot.

• Pulled the steering column and motor, regreased with Honda polyurea EPS grease, re-adjusted the eccentric ring in the correct direction with reference to the BMW TIS - much better.

• Replaced water pump, belts, tensioners etc.

• Swapped headlights for a better used set I picked up ages and ages ago.

• Changed gearbox oil for Redline MTL. Proof of the pudding will be winter cold starts, it's been pretty crunchy when cold.

• The usual oil, filter, brake service stuff.

• Alignment checked and adjusted again.

Planning on pulling the inlet manifold and replacing the OFH gasket, PCV system and intake gaskets next. I've got some body panels to swap too.

I'm pretty certain this car has had a front-end crunch at some point in its history - spotted some overspray today, various plastics broken, horrendous paint finish on the front wings. Might explain some of the trouble the alignment guy had getting it set up evenly.

[Thrustyjust]

Enjoyed reading your thread. One thing to add is to find some decent brake pads and bin the yellow stuff ones. They nearly killed me in my Elise when I left a motorway and just didnt work. Find some Ferrodo DS pads or hotter Mintex pads. Not as pretty but if you want to stop and you do regular track days EBC's arent great in the motorsport arenas. Just a voice of experience.

[paddy wright]

Great to see this car getting the live it deserves!

[Chippie]

Great to see a bit of TLC being lavished on a Zed, and glad to see your having plenty of fun with it.

[bearded_ed]

I have to say this thread only has me mildly concerned considering I'm getting mine from Wilsons in Epsom for £3500!

3.0i 2004 manual in Sterling Grey (I think).

Curious to see what I have to do with mine!

[nfo]

Enjoyed reading your thread. One thing to add is to find some decent brake pads and bin the yellow stuff ones. They nearly killed me in my Elise when I left a motorway and just didnt work. Find some Ferrodo DS pads or hotter Mintex pads. Not as pretty but if you want to stop and you do regular track days EBC's arent great in the motorsport arenas. Just a voice of experience.

Interesting... I've been having a bit of a nightmare with DS2500s, did a trackday today at Combe and had horrendous grumbling from them.

I *think* the root of the issue is that the previous set of YS pads wore the discs unevenly from centre to edge, and when I fitted new pads they weren't making good contact. By the time of figured this out and swapped the discs for new Brembos, the new DS pads had taken the shape of the old discs, at least partially.

All of this means I've got loads of pedal travel which is due to caliper movement, once that has been taken out and the pads are pressed against the discs the pedal is rock solid. They absolutely definitely don't need bleeding, I've done that for.good measure anyway and it made no odds. Pedal.feel with the old YS pads was fine, they were just too thin to make it through a track day.

The new discs don't seem to have been worn so.im going to try a set of normal pads next in the hope of confirming the root cause. Nightmare - didn't stop me enjoying the track day and the brakes held up fine, but the brake pedal feel and travel was something to cope with rather than enjoy.

[nfo]

I should add, I expended a fair amount of super unleaded trying to get the pads bedded in beforehand - I definitely got them plenty hot and didn't let them sit with pressure so I don't think it's the usual pad transfer issue. The instructions said to make 25-30 'half race pressure' applications for 4 seconds at a time then 'return to pits and inspect'.

[Thrustyjust]

I would take the pads out and check them, then with a sheet of sand paper or a belt sander is good, flatten them down to being level and then refit. I would also look at a higher temp brake fluid and maybe a duct from the front aiming cool air to the brakes. Zeds are a big old lump and the brakes do seem to get pretty hot, even on normal road driving.

[nfo]

Another year has passed and the Z4 has mostly been neglected in favour of the spiralling Volvo project (it's got lovely shiny bits underneath it now).

But...time to give the BM some TLC. It's got fresh control arms and drop links up front, which has made a noticeable improvement at motorway speeds. There was quite a bit of movement in the outer ball joints. Probably not surprising at almost 130k and 16 years.

Lockdown lack of use had it throwing up a bunch of warning lights which have been remedied with a new ABS sensor. Cable-Shack OBD cable and software continues to pay for itself.

More to come soon, mostly on the suspension front. Might rival the Volvo for shininess of the bits you never see

[nfo]

Meyle HD arms. Seem like good quality parts.

[nfo]

This car does enjoy playing warning light bingo. And yes, I've found the test mode and put them all on before

[Number5]

An interesting read and some loyal dedication going on there.
Well done and fair play to you.
Keep it up.

[nfo]

An interesting read and some loyal dedication going on there.
Well done and fair play to you.
Keep it up.

Your approach of owning lots of them is probably the right way, but I enjoy the gradual improvement process

[Number5]

Your approach of owning lots of them is probably the right way, but I enjoy the gradual improvement process

I've not got the mechanical expertise you have (other than roofs) so I just find moving them on is the best way to avoid depreciation. Either that or i try and buy wisely with cars that may appreciate

[nfo]

So it turns out that 16 years and 128k is enough for the factory dampers to be completely ruined

Bilstein B12 kit and 4x new rear ball-joints fitted this weekend. The difference is night and day! Given the state of the old dampers, I reckon a fresh set of the cheapest eBay specials would still have delivered a big improvement

I also found a cracked rear spring and concluded that the front top mounts are not in good shape, so the struts will be coming out again soon. I've got the whole thing down to a fine art now...