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Montego Blue E86 is Long Gone - Z4MC 2025 Summer Prep
- Thread starter lucasxdiniz
- Start date
N4LLY said:
Selfies on Androids don't tend to be mirrored back.
[youtube]Nv8MF4cGFxE[/youtube]
Today I met the current owner, Michal. Great guy and definitely keen to keep the car to a great standard. Replaced the water pump for him and had a look over the car. Then we had a little drive and got to take a couple of shots of my old and new car together.
I haven't been doing much work on the car as I'm waiting until I get all the parts I've been ordering to do many things in one go. But looking at the pile of parts on my desk that have already arrived, I decided to change the cabin filter ASAP because the service history shows it's been a long time since its been replace and the car was mostly in London for that entire time.
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Great thread, enjoyed catching up on it 
Hello again,
It's been a while since I properly posted on here. I've only been posting wanted this or that lately. But basically a mini update to say I'm going to be re-cycling this thread instead of creating a new one.
My life has changed a lot since the Montego Blue E86 went to a different owner. I unfortunately had to put Rusty down in April; I thought I would be ready but I was not... It was somewhat unexpected as, up until the day before, he had been completely normal. So my guard was down and it was such a blow that even now almost 3 months later, there's still a weird 'knot' feeling in my chest/stomach - no idea how to even describe it. I spent the following weeks just keeping my mind busy with DIYs around the house, but very quickly noticed it wasn't doing it for me. My usual escape from 'reality' is to go on a drive and enjoy the feel of the car around corners, but every time I took the 650i out, I just came back feeling frustrated.
The 650i is an amazing car. However, the combination of being incredibly fast, hefty in weight, automatic, and having the steering ratio of a ship, made it an unideal option for the type of enjoyment I was craving. So even though the soundtrack was glorious, instead of my little getaways hoons clearing my mind, it would just add another frustration to it. So I started looking at cars that I could essentially just buy for however much I sold the 6 series. Cheap Lotus 7 style kit cars seemed like a realistic option. But then I kept thinking/dreaming of some of the best moments of my life - driving the 3.0si in some Welsh roads last year - the car was almost telepathic then and the roads absolutely superb. This memory basically drove me to put the 6er up for sale on the forum as well to see if anyone was selling a high miler E86 that I could buy at the low end of the scale and make it into a project. Then I decided that screw being too sensible, and contacted the guy who currently owns my old 3.0si as he has had it for sale on Facebook for months... long story short, he's not really selling it.
Whilst the current owner of my old 3.0si was being indecisive, someone sent me a rather attractive offer on eBay against the 6er. A gent asked if I was interested in a trade with a Z4M Coupe... I couldn't resist and said 'yes, tell me more', when he said how much he wanted for his car, I absolutely threw all my house plans out of the window and thought 'f*ck it, I made my house perfectly nice and livable, the rest can wait' and arranged to see the car. The car is known to the forum as it was sold here last October I think - I remember seeing the ad. Rather attractive price for a Black Z4M, with CSL style airbox, rod bearings and some other goodies. I ended up walking away from that car... it was definitely worth what the owner wanted for it, but being at the top end of my budget, I would be able to buy the car and not have much left to sort out many little things that would annoy me and my 'OCD'. In hindsight, I should have researched more about the Z4M prior to viewing it, as the diff noises put me off more than anything else and I have now read how common certain noises are and how rectifiable they are with additives.
This very car is now up for auction on Shooting Brake.
But the seed was planted, I knew what I truly wanted. I went to see the black Z4MC as it was a bargain, but it is as bad as a spec as it gets for one of those (in my opinion). So I ended up buying the M version of my old 3.0si - basically my dream spec. I've had it for a few weeks now, but the last time I drove it was the day after I bought it. I parked it and sorted out a lot of little things on it while waiting for RBM to have a slot for rod bearings, which is tomorrow! Here's a little teaser of how she looks:
I really lucked out with the spec:
It's been a while since I properly posted on here. I've only been posting wanted this or that lately. But basically a mini update to say I'm going to be re-cycling this thread instead of creating a new one.
My life has changed a lot since the Montego Blue E86 went to a different owner. I unfortunately had to put Rusty down in April; I thought I would be ready but I was not... It was somewhat unexpected as, up until the day before, he had been completely normal. So my guard was down and it was such a blow that even now almost 3 months later, there's still a weird 'knot' feeling in my chest/stomach - no idea how to even describe it. I spent the following weeks just keeping my mind busy with DIYs around the house, but very quickly noticed it wasn't doing it for me. My usual escape from 'reality' is to go on a drive and enjoy the feel of the car around corners, but every time I took the 650i out, I just came back feeling frustrated.
The 650i is an amazing car. However, the combination of being incredibly fast, hefty in weight, automatic, and having the steering ratio of a ship, made it an unideal option for the type of enjoyment I was craving. So even though the soundtrack was glorious, instead of my little getaways hoons clearing my mind, it would just add another frustration to it. So I started looking at cars that I could essentially just buy for however much I sold the 6 series. Cheap Lotus 7 style kit cars seemed like a realistic option. But then I kept thinking/dreaming of some of the best moments of my life - driving the 3.0si in some Welsh roads last year - the car was almost telepathic then and the roads absolutely superb. This memory basically drove me to put the 6er up for sale on the forum as well to see if anyone was selling a high miler E86 that I could buy at the low end of the scale and make it into a project. Then I decided that screw being too sensible, and contacted the guy who currently owns my old 3.0si as he has had it for sale on Facebook for months... long story short, he's not really selling it.
Whilst the current owner of my old 3.0si was being indecisive, someone sent me a rather attractive offer on eBay against the 6er. A gent asked if I was interested in a trade with a Z4M Coupe... I couldn't resist and said 'yes, tell me more', when he said how much he wanted for his car, I absolutely threw all my house plans out of the window and thought 'f*ck it, I made my house perfectly nice and livable, the rest can wait' and arranged to see the car. The car is known to the forum as it was sold here last October I think - I remember seeing the ad. Rather attractive price for a Black Z4M, with CSL style airbox, rod bearings and some other goodies. I ended up walking away from that car... it was definitely worth what the owner wanted for it, but being at the top end of my budget, I would be able to buy the car and not have much left to sort out many little things that would annoy me and my 'OCD'. In hindsight, I should have researched more about the Z4M prior to viewing it, as the diff noises put me off more than anything else and I have now read how common certain noises are and how rectifiable they are with additives.
This very car is now up for auction on Shooting Brake.
But the seed was planted, I knew what I truly wanted. I went to see the black Z4MC as it was a bargain, but it is as bad as a spec as it gets for one of those (in my opinion). So I ended up buying the M version of my old 3.0si - basically my dream spec. I've had it for a few weeks now, but the last time I drove it was the day after I bought it. I parked it and sorted out a lot of little things on it while waiting for RBM to have a slot for rod bearings, which is tomorrow! Here's a little teaser of how she looks:
I really lucked out with the spec:
- Interlagos Blue
- Individual Champagne Walknappa Interior
- Carbon Trim
- DSP Hi-Fi + Handsfree
- Folding Mirrors
- Privacy Glass
inkey$ said:Exactly the same spec of my first MC. Beautiful, lucasxdiniz. Rusty would be very proud, I'm sure
Enjoy every single moment and look forward to seeing your progress.
Thank you. Enjoyed it so far and I'm very impressed of how good it is out of the box (such a contrast to a stock 3.0si).
N4LLY said:(Is it parked in the kitchen ?)
Before I bought my house, it had had various tenants over the years, one of whom decided to convert 3/4 of the garage into an office. The dividing wall was taken down, but the rest I left untouched as it was done nicely. Eventually I'll bring the other 1/4 of the garage to the same standards so it all looks nice.
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Sorry to hear about Rusty, we lost our family dog last year and it’s horrible, they really are a man’s best friend.
The car looks great, looking forward to the updates on this one.
Nice spec on it as well, the DSP audio is outstanding you’ll enjoy that when you aren’t enjoying the epic S54 sound track.
The car looks great, looking forward to the updates on this one.
Nice spec on it as well, the DSP audio is outstanding you’ll enjoy that when you aren’t enjoying the epic S54 sound track.
So sorry to hear about Rusty. 
I hope if nothing else your MC will keep your thoughts occupied while you inevitably fettle. Love that colour combination and your garage interior!
Looking forward to reading about your exploits and hopefully I'll see your new P & J sometime soon.
I hope if nothing else your MC will keep your thoughts occupied while you inevitably fettle. Love that colour combination and your garage interior!
Looking forward to reading about your exploits and hopefully I'll see your new P & J sometime soon.
Thank you all for the kind messages about Rusty. 
Not yet; It's not quite up to my standards at the moment. I've given the interior a good clean, and started phase 1 of making the seats acceptable to me (deep clean and touch up of the bolsters). I've also started refurbing the steering wheel trim and ordered new mats and ZHP (not a cheap bill from BMW as the champagne leatherette lined mats are close to £100 nowadays).
However, after making the 3.0si interior immaculate, a full seat refurb is inevitable. Since this car is in much better condition than the 3.0si when I first got it, it can wait until I finish enjoying the car this summer.
Barty said:Congrats on the new purchase, and what a dream spec car! Any pics of the interior? Walknappa champagne really is something else
Not yet; It's not quite up to my standards at the moment. I've given the interior a good clean, and started phase 1 of making the seats acceptable to me (deep clean and touch up of the bolsters). I've also started refurbing the steering wheel trim and ordered new mats and ZHP (not a cheap bill from BMW as the champagne leatherette lined mats are close to £100 nowadays).
However, after making the 3.0si interior immaculate, a full seat refurb is inevitable. Since this car is in much better condition than the 3.0si when I first got it, it can wait until I finish enjoying the car this summer.
I thought I would wait until I did all the little jobs to make the Z4M feel like my car. I'm finally done with 'stage 1' - bringing the car to a reasonable standard (given my budget anyway...). In hindsight, I should have made shorter updates as I did things.
I bought this car privately. The ad had been on Autotrader for a long time and when I actually decided to go for an M, I realised it was still there and the price dropped significantly. I was surprised it hadn't gone and wondered if it looked like a dog in person but because it was my ideal spec, I arranged to see it.
I was a bit nervous about wasting my time as I had to get a day off, book trains etc. But as soon as I saw the car, I was mind boggled. The car looked stunning; basically new PS4s and brakes, recently refurbed wheels, and desirable optional extras that the ad did not mention. Basically, the guy made a low effort ad - low resolution photos (apparently a bug on AutoTrader if you upload directly from a mobile), not knowing details about the spec and how desirable some of the items are like the hi-fi, and he also kept telling the few people who called (judging by what he told me) that the car hadn't been serviced in forever. However, as I went through the history, I realised it had only been 3k miles since it had been serviced (he drove 800 miles in 2yrs of ownership - car mostly sat in storage) and this just hadn't been stamped in the book. At that point I knew I would be buying it, and after driving the car and feeling how solid and fresh it felt for the mileage, I paid the asking and loved the drive home even though I only dared reach 8k a few times as I was nervous about the rod bearings. First pic of the car, filling up for the trip:
The only bad points about the car I could see was the wear on the driver's seat, but as this thread would prove, that would not put me off in the slightest. The front end had a respray, and against certain lights, one can see the clear has a sort of waviness to it around the bonnet creases. I don't know how to explain it, but I'm sure it isn't body filler as you can see the inside of the panel and it's perfectly straight. Front end respray in most Zs of this age is a must anyway, so I would have got it done regardless, so no loss there!
I bought this car privately. The ad had been on Autotrader for a long time and when I actually decided to go for an M, I realised it was still there and the price dropped significantly. I was surprised it hadn't gone and wondered if it looked like a dog in person but because it was my ideal spec, I arranged to see it.
I was a bit nervous about wasting my time as I had to get a day off, book trains etc. But as soon as I saw the car, I was mind boggled. The car looked stunning; basically new PS4s and brakes, recently refurbed wheels, and desirable optional extras that the ad did not mention. Basically, the guy made a low effort ad - low resolution photos (apparently a bug on AutoTrader if you upload directly from a mobile), not knowing details about the spec and how desirable some of the items are like the hi-fi, and he also kept telling the few people who called (judging by what he told me) that the car hadn't been serviced in forever. However, as I went through the history, I realised it had only been 3k miles since it had been serviced (he drove 800 miles in 2yrs of ownership - car mostly sat in storage) and this just hadn't been stamped in the book. At that point I knew I would be buying it, and after driving the car and feeling how solid and fresh it felt for the mileage, I paid the asking and loved the drive home even though I only dared reach 8k a few times as I was nervous about the rod bearings. First pic of the car, filling up for the trip:
The only bad points about the car I could see was the wear on the driver's seat, but as this thread would prove, that would not put me off in the slightest. The front end had a respray, and against certain lights, one can see the clear has a sort of waviness to it around the bonnet creases. I don't know how to explain it, but I'm sure it isn't body filler as you can see the inside of the panel and it's perfectly straight. Front end respray in most Zs of this age is a must anyway, so I would have got it done regardless, so no loss there!
Day #2 of ownership. After a quick drive in the morning in which I got to test the limits of the car a bit and made sure I really loved it, I parked it up and got to cleaning as you do. The only acceptable filth is your own I guess...
To start, I took all wheels off and cleaned the wheel wells and anything accessible. Good opportunity to check the suspension and the state of everything. I also painted the calipers. My intention is to put nice mono-block calipers in this car at some point, so no point in stripping calipers down and doing a perfectionist's job.
This photos show the cured paint a few weeks later. When you first apply it, it basically looks like a toddler put it on. A few hours after application, it becomes touch dry and has a much smoother finish.
Wheels got a nice detail as well - why do tyre places never remove old double sided tape properly? I hate removing those!!!
Won't bore people with more cleaning photos but I did end up polishing the car to remove some car wash swirls and to revitalise the mirrors
I am still not sold on having badges. The rear badge was removed as soon as I got to polishing the car - gotta be done for symmetry and to some extent because boot ///M badges are so diluted these days. But I am trying very hard to like the side badges, the O/S one is faded, so had a quick fix for it. I am developing new UV badge sticker sets for the Z4M since no one else is doing them anymore (more to come on this), so will try that before scrapping them.
Plenty of interior tidy up jobs, but quite bored of talking about those. All I can say is that this is just a 'stage 1' repair, I will properly refurb the seats with a full re-dye at some point.
To start, I took all wheels off and cleaned the wheel wells and anything accessible. Good opportunity to check the suspension and the state of everything. I also painted the calipers. My intention is to put nice mono-block calipers in this car at some point, so no point in stripping calipers down and doing a perfectionist's job.
This photos show the cured paint a few weeks later. When you first apply it, it basically looks like a toddler put it on. A few hours after application, it becomes touch dry and has a much smoother finish.
Wheels got a nice detail as well - why do tyre places never remove old double sided tape properly? I hate removing those!!!
Won't bore people with more cleaning photos but I did end up polishing the car to remove some car wash swirls and to revitalise the mirrors
I am still not sold on having badges. The rear badge was removed as soon as I got to polishing the car - gotta be done for symmetry and to some extent because boot ///M badges are so diluted these days. But I am trying very hard to like the side badges, the O/S one is faded, so had a quick fix for it. I am developing new UV badge sticker sets for the Z4M since no one else is doing them anymore (more to come on this), so will try that before scrapping them.
Plenty of interior tidy up jobs, but quite bored of talking about those. All I can say is that this is just a 'stage 1' repair, I will properly refurb the seats with a full re-dye at some point.
Engine bay went through a minor clean and the most eye-sore thing tackled - the SAS pump bracket. I also had a quick go at polishing the VANOS. Should not have done that, it made every thing else around it look old and corroded - will need to come up with a solution for it eventually (eg polish everything).
Now to what really matters, rod bearings. As soon as I arranged to see the car, I made a preliminary booking with RBM as I know it takes a while to fit such jobs in and I knew I would be too neurotic to enjoy the car otherwise.
The rod bearings looked bad to say the least. Definitely not the worst I've seen posted around here - seen worse at half the mileage. But I was told it was the worst ones they had seen in a little while. So now the car has new ACL Race bearings and engine mounts.
Now to what really matters, rod bearings. As soon as I arranged to see the car, I made a preliminary booking with RBM as I know it takes a while to fit such jobs in and I knew I would be too neurotic to enjoy the car otherwise.
The rod bearings looked bad to say the least. Definitely not the worst I've seen posted around here - seen worse at half the mileage. But I was told it was the worst ones they had seen in a little while. So now the car has new ACL Race bearings and engine mounts.
With the main concern of S54s out of my mind, I managed to have a very fun drive home from RBM. Which happens to be a long way these days since I moved to Northamptonshire. But once I got back, I didn't wait around and started the inspection II process. I had spent weeks reading and ordering different parts, so I had it all here waiting for me. Oil had just been changed by RBM with 10w60 Castrol Supercar (which would have been my choice anyway), but here's the rest:
Happy to share my thoughts about the fluids I used should anyone wonder. Very happy with the drive line fluids I chose. Gaskets and spark plugs were OEM.
Checking the valve clearances and shimming them was quite fun. A bit annoying that they are only available in 40µm increments, so couldn't get all to nominal, unfortunately. I measured all shims and then ordered what I thought was best - check summary sheet for details if interested.
While there I had a good ol' look at the Vanos oil pump hub and timing guides, going as far as looking at the details with a borescope. All in good condition, so I will enjoy the car for this summer before doing some preventative maintenance on the VANOS and guides.
Pressure bled all brake and clutch lines. All felt perfect before, so no change there, just getting it ready for Wales.
Happy to share my thoughts about the fluids I used should anyone wonder. Very happy with the drive line fluids I chose. Gaskets and spark plugs were OEM.
Checking the valve clearances and shimming them was quite fun. A bit annoying that they are only available in 40µm increments, so couldn't get all to nominal, unfortunately. I measured all shims and then ordered what I thought was best - check summary sheet for details if interested.
While there I had a good ol' look at the Vanos oil pump hub and timing guides, going as far as looking at the details with a borescope. All in good condition, so I will enjoy the car for this summer before doing some preventative maintenance on the VANOS and guides.
Pressure bled all brake and clutch lines. All felt perfect before, so no change there, just getting it ready for Wales.