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2.5 E85 £300

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Chobbo
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by Chobbo » Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:47 pm

Good evening all. Newbie here having just purchased my first Z4! I’ve purchased a 2003 53 plate 2.5 with 104k miles on for £300! But there’s a story to tell. So sit tight!
My Father passed away in feb 2020. Prior to his death he had always been a petrol head, and longed for a “classic” sports car like he had in his youth. (Triumph Spitfires, MG’s) When he was admitted to hospital, he was passing his days by trawling classic marts looking for something that caught his eye. With the idea of selling his mobility scooter and buying something he and my mum could cruise around with the wind in their grey hair!
I told him “dad don’t bother with those old dated classics. Get yourself something modern with creature comforts and reliability! Why not get a MX5 or a Z4” he was taken with this idea of a Z4.
I told him of a Z4 near my house that had been parked up for several months and not turned a wheel, with covid just hitting my dad said “I bet the owners lost his job, poor guy. See if he wants to part with it. It’ll be a good project when I get out!” Later that day I placed a note under the wiper blade with my details and waited for some contact. Nothing!!
Whilst out walking a few weeks later I saw a guy looking at he car and tentatively asked “do you know who owns the car?” “Yes I do!” Result. I set about telling him about my dad.
He said that he had driven the car through a flood and it wasn’t running right and that he had just parked it up. Hoping to get the engine looked at when he had the time! And he wasn’t interested in selling.
Later that week my father passed away.
And I all but forgot about the car. Until this week when the guy contacted me if I was still interested.
I agreed to have a look and see if the car would start and to scan for fault codes. Low and behold being sat for 2 years, a freshly charged battery and the car started first turn of the key!!! The car is in desperate need of some TLC and the guy knew it. We settled on £300!!
I even drive the car the 1/4 mile to my house! Thinking what’s the worst that can happen. All be it very slowly!! Let the rebuild begin. And hopefully do my old man proud!!
He’ll be up there looking down wetting his pants seeing what I’ve got to do to get it up and road worthy!
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Last edited by Chobbo on Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2003 Z4 2.5i Titan-silber £300 “The money pit”
2015 330 GT MSport Xdrive
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Ole gits rule
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by Ole gits rule » Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:51 pm

hello and welcome to the forum, cheap car and if you spend £1500 getting it in top shape then that is a bargain and will make your old man proud :thumbsup:
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Mr Tidy
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by Mr Tidy » Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:16 am

Welcome to the forum, with what has to be the cheapest Z4 ever!

Good luck getting it to how your dad would have wanted without too much pain or expense. :thumbsup:
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enuff_zed
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by enuff_zed » Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:33 am

Welcome. A bittersweet story, but at least you have all the motivation you'll ever need to get it sorted.
My wife has a 53-plate 2.5i and I am quickly learning a lot about how to keep it running, so if I can help out in any way I will.
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by inkey$ » Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:40 am

Wonderful story, Chobbo. I'm sure your dad would be very proud - especially at the price! Whats not to like? A risk free project that will be a keeper for sure.
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jabber
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by jabber » Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:30 pm

Hi and welcome I’m sure your dad would have enjoyed it with you :thumbsup:
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ph001
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Post by ph001 » Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:57 pm

What a great story. There is an awful lot of expertise on the M54 spread throughout this forum so I am sure you will find it a very valuable resource. :thumbsup:
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brillomaster
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by brillomaster » Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:02 pm

bargain!

I'd be quite interested to know what is actually wrong with it! i'd start with a basic service, check all the fluids are fresh. then if it runs, what error messages come up on the dash. and if it runs alright, get it booked in for an MOT and see what it fails on!

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2.5 E85 £300

Post by bmbardo » Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:59 pm

Welcome, this would be a good story to follow, keep us updated.
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by groovy_hippy » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:05 pm

Brilliant, you must keep us all posted. Such a great story! As others have said - LOAD of expertise around here - just ask and someone will answer :thumbsup:
Current ... 2007 Z4 Coupe 3.0si Sport | Manual | Alpine White | Black leather | Piano black dash
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Calps
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by Calps » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:20 pm

Excellent, what an interesting project to follow. Very best of luck with it, your father would be proud I'm sure!
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enuff_zed
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by enuff_zed » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:41 pm

I have been thinking about this project quite a bit this morning. It certainly is an interesting one, and even if the car never gets back to A1 perfect condition, every mile it covers will bring back memories of your dad. That can't be a bad thing.
I have already said I'm more than happy to help with my limited accrued knowledge.
In addition, though I have little in the way of spares, I do have a pair of front callipers I took off at the weekend.
They need an overhaul as judging by the corrosion on the pistons they are the originals with 100k+ on them. And they are bright yellow, courtesy of wifey's attraction to smoothrite and a desire to have a contrast to the grey paintwork.
I could get the deposit back on them from ECP, but instead of that, if you discover you need new callipers then I am happy to send them your way for just the cost of postage. You could overhaul them and do a straight swap. Just a thought...................
HQ of 'Norfolk Zed Rescue'.
Always happy to help if I can.

If the forum helped you, why not help the forum back. Thats the Z4 way! :thumbsup:
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Chobbo
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by Chobbo » Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:23 am

Thankyou all for your kind words. I’m a little teary here!
I’m hoping to do my dad proud and honour him. I know I’ve got a mountain to climb but as some of you have mentioned. This ones going to be a keeper!
So where are we at?
This so far.
The engine seems to run fine on tickover and all the fault codes have cleared!
I’m going to carry out a full engine service.
I’ve just arrived out a compression test on the engine before changing the plugs. Some of the readings were down and the difference between the highest and lowest cylinders was over 20%! So not ideal! I’m hoping to try again once the engines had an oil change and fresh coolant. I’m in hope that the difference might be some carbon build up as the 3 highest cylinders was above 175psi.(lowest being 139) so not sure if it’s been completely hydro locked with water damage! Either way I’ll worry about the engine once the cars had an mot.
To get her moving I’ve just purchased new disc/pads/shoes for the rear as the brakes were locked on solid, plus they look terrible! I’m hoping the fronts might clean up, but ready to replace if needed.
The power steering doesn’t work, I’ve already removed the EPS motor, and hopefully sourced a second hand unit for £100.
The drivers window regulator has a snapped cable. Again second hand regulator sourced for £50.
There appears to be a substantial amount of oil on the under tray. I’ll investigate when she’s jacked up for the oil drop.
The roof doesn’t work. I’m hoping this is related to the window regulator.
No sport function with the button maybe steering related
No central locking, and only 1 key! The previous owner said he has it somewhere!!
The battery had been sat on the car 2 years so not to good, so a new Varta battery has been fitted today (this helped loads with the compression testing!)
The wheels are going to want renovating and 2 new rear tyres!!
Drivers door outer skin damaged, driver front wing damage (Been told it’s repairable by a body shop mate)
I/S headlight loose, (again been told it’s repairable) and both headlights need renovating due to looking like a bathroom window!!
So all in all not much to do really!! :lol:
And all this before I get underneath!!!
2003 Z4 2.5i Titan-silber £300 “The money pit”
2015 330 GT MSport Xdrive
2021 L200 Animal.

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2.5 E85 £300

Post by Haggisman » Tue Feb 23, 2021 8:34 am

What you are doing is much more than restoring a car, albeit one that will be lots of fun for sure. Great to have a project that has an attachment that will drive you to completion and a reminder of what could have been had your dad lived on. I am sure he will in the Z and remind you of him every time you think of it and drive it, lots of adventures ahead. He’d want you to have fun.
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ph001
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2.5 E85 £300

Post by ph001 » Tue Feb 23, 2021 11:03 am

Typically if the engine has hydrolocked it results in big and very noticeable damage (big ends, crank, pistons etc). I would very much doubt it would run smoothly or quietly if you had that kind of damage so fingers crossed. You might just have some surface corrosion in the bores or valve seats which should clean up after a few hundred miles so I re-run the compression test again then before worrying too much :thumbsup:
2007 E85 Z4 3.0Si manual :driving:
19" CSL's | Eibach Springs | Aeroskirts | Z4M front bumper | Clear brake light | ZHP | RCH+| Stubby

2004 E46 M3 coupe manual - gone but not forgotten.

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