Calum's Z4 35i - new Chinese rear lights...!

Owdgit · Post by **Owdgit** » Thu Oct 19, 2023 7:51 pm

Door handle screw covers are available on eBay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203165877386

MarshMA10 · Post by **MarshMA10** » Mon Oct 23, 2023 9:00 am

Hi all - anyone got a recommendation for a specific e89 car cover?

I store mine outdoors and after a bit of weekend reading I can see that water ingress is an issue for these cars lights - boot area.

Thanks!

B21 · Post by **B21** » Tue Oct 24, 2023 11:52 am

MarshMA10 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2023 9:00 am Hi all - anyone got a recommendation for a specific e89 car cover?

I store mine outdoors and after a bit of weekend reading I can see that water ingress is an issue for these cars lights - boot area.

Thanks!

I used these guys

https://www.specialisedcovers.com/storm ... -car-cover

Not the cheapest but I live 600 ft up a Scottish hillside..

Really good quality and very good even in 80 mph winds (with the optional underbody straps)

No flapping no marking..not was good as a well built garage but a lot better than leaving it to the elements.

Breathable so I didn't see any mildew type issues.

Other cover is the BMW lightweight version…single layer good for keeping the dust off..

MarshMA10 · Post by **MarshMA10** » Tue Oct 24, 2023 7:26 pm

Out for another spin today—definitely bonding with the e89 now. The power is great, the suspension when driven around town is perfect…..but in anger in the twisties it’s totally pants, haha. She will need some work before her first Scotland trip. I found it drives much more happily in Sport or Sport+ than in normal. The traction control is quite intrusive in normal. I also learned I have the roof module thing—I can operate it whilst going 10/20mph. Which I don’t think I’ll ever really do but still.

Stiffer ARBs?

Really don’t want to ruin the manners but do want to sort out the suspension dive / squat / roll in corners.

B21 · Post by **B21** » Tue Oct 24, 2023 7:45 pm

Handling will take several parts if your fussy..ARBs are only part of the problem..wonder where the insurance damage was?

MarshMA10 · Post by **MarshMA10** » Thu Nov 02, 2023 1:36 pm

This week, I found the previous owner, who owned the car when it was crashed - a brilliant stroke of luck / some leg work

Apart from learning all about the accident I also learned the car has an upgraded 'stepped intercooler', which I don't know anything about, but sounds like good news...

The crash was a low-speed in town with a Fiat 500, but it wrote the car off because the bonnet and the fender bent, and a light cracked, as well as some light damage to the radiator. Still, not half so bad as it could've been. Insurance paid out £14k! It's a relief to know that the car was driven home from the accident, so the damage was at least fairly modest. I took a big risk buying a car that didn't have any 'proof' of what happened, so had to go on my gut and what little I could determine on viewing the car, so I feel genuinely pleased with discovering the real extents. But I bet the photo will make some of you wince

This information was painfully absent from the car's history, so I'm really pleased to have found more than 70 of the assessor's photographs to add to the papertrail / folder for the car. At least the next buyer will now know with much more detail and certainty what happened and how it was fixed. Amused to do the DVLA check and find the Fiat was also repaired and is still MOT'd today too.

In other news I am definitely bonding with the car a lot now that I'm over about 500 miles. Complaints about suspension setup aside, I really love the e89 already. Someone asked me if they could buy the car already

and I entertained them (a white lie) in order to benefit from their BMW diagnostics tool, one of those £1000 garage OBDII connection ones - and pleased to find nothing concerning there.

Contemplating uprated ARBs still, but the to-do list is already long and I would rather work on the water ingress into the lights and boot (alarming) first.

N4LLY · Post by **N4LLY** » Thu Nov 02, 2023 1:57 pm

Most excellent photo, worthy of our monthly comp' that first one.

Am sure i recognise that plate number. A member on here ?

MarshMA10 · Post by **MarshMA10** » Thu Nov 02, 2023 2:02 pm

He's had more than one Z4 so it's quite likely. Lovely chap and was kind enough to give me lots of details!

MarshMA10 · Post by **MarshMA10** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 3:15 pm

Lots of good stuff on the Z4 last week or two.

Extremely grateful to AnubisZed for retrofitting cruise control to my car on the long drive north from London to Edinburgh for Xmas. Took him no time at all, and improved my waft northwards no end!! Huge thanks and a fully recommended option for anyone else curious!

Boot was full of girlfriend’s clothes mostly—but also a few bits for fitting. Did 6x ignition coils, and new salmon relays and spark plugs… but.

Spark plugs—could not remove these for love nor money. None of the sockets could quite grip them. It feels like there’s a slight difference in angle between the cylinder walls and the fuel rail cover bit. Even with all manner of wobble bits and so on, couldn’t get even one of them out. Any tips??

Salmon relays—disappointed that AutoDoc supplied the wrong part. They are very similar but slightly different spec per prong (and not salmon coloured!) so I had to refit the old ones. Roof still works. Annoying, though. Will complain to them.

Then got her on the pit and had a good inspection underneath. Always a tense moment—but better to see what’s what. The straight pipes are hilarious—definitely a home made job—but they sound superb so I love them anyway. Some undertrays were quite badly cracked so I’ve drilled and zip tied them together more nicely.

The rear ARB left drop link has been knocking so was keen to see it—it has sort of “slid” off the ARB. It’s a bizarre fitting, seemingly with nothing to retain the drop link on the ARB! What a weird design. I clamped it together and got it swivelled back onto the ARB more like the right side, which hasn’t slid off. Weird. I’d like to upgrade the rear ARB one day so a bodge will do for now. Near the rear ARB are some very bizarre little “wheels” which I have never seen on any car before. What on earth are they?

There is also some evidence of leaking, it seems. Not ideal. More to discover here I think.

B21 · Post by **B21** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 4:09 pm

Interesting cut n shut on the exhaust cans..

The spark plugs need a 12 point..I use one of these babies..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PLAYOCCAR-Sock ... =8-17&th=1

A lot of the pics came out black on my screen?

MarshMA10 · Post by **MarshMA10** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 4:18 pm

Thanks. Ordered one. Will try it this weekend.

Seems a lot of the images are uploading as black Boxes. Oh well. Maybe iCloud images are problematic or something.

Dave 2 dogs · Post by **Dave 2 dogs** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 6:32 pm

Welcome to the club
Lovely car
Will you keep it standard ? Or are there any mods on the horizon?

Dave 2 dogs · Post by **Dave 2 dogs** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 6:40 pm

That’s Stuartt’s old car …. This car is the one he kindly took me out for a test ride in … I had a Merlot e85 3.0 at the time and wasn’t sure if I wanted to upgrade to the e89 … 20 minutes later I was sold and started the hunt… had her almost 6 years now….

Dave 2 dogs · Post by **Dave 2 dogs** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 6:42 pm

N4LLY wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 1:57 pm Most excellent photo, worthy of our monthly comp' that first one.

Am sure i recognise that plate number. A member on here ?

Stuartt’s old car

Nictrix · Post by **Nictrix** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 10:45 pm

Dave 2 dogs wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2023 6:42 pm
N4LLY wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 1:57 pm Most excellent photo, worthy of our monthly comp' that first one.

Am sure i recognise that plate number. A member on here ?
Stuartt’s old car

Looking at the pipes it looked like Mr Wilks old car which might be the same one.

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Calum's Z4 35i - new Chinese rear lights...!

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