Now that the coupe is officially 'saved', MOT'd and roadworthy I thought it was worthwhile documenting the journey this one served up to me.
I love saving Z4's, and I love a challenge, but this one very nearly went to the scrapyard in the sky multiple times. I'm really glad I didn't submit to my inner rage as it drives superbly and as a late car, I though it would be wrong to admit defeat- an easy cop out option.
The car came to me with lots of electrical issues- I mean: a lot of issues.
Foremost were key things not working- wipers, windows, HVAC, lights. Virtually every warning light however did work and illuminated with joy- 4 yellows, steering, airbag, all the fun ones. The car would also not stop running when the key was removed.
To counter that, the car was in fairly good order. Its a scottish registered car but its as clean as a whistle on top and underneath. Honestly that's what saved it I think. Not a spot of rust.
The previous owner shared that the issues started after driving through torrential rain and puddles. The car threw a load of lights then stopped running. After giving it to 3 auto electricians (more of them later) the owner gave up and got rid.
I found appalling water ingress. The yaw sensor was so bad it had rusted... and I needed to get into the electrical issues which I suspected as loom based.
The root causes I believe stem from:
- components failing due to water getting in the car
- installation of higher rated fuses causing loom overheating
- poor repair of loom overheating
How the car didn't go up in smoke is still a surprise to me. Pictured is some of the 'auto electrical' repairs:
Decision one was to get the loom out to see if it was repair or replace- when the loom was out it was clear it wasn't something that could have been repaired SAFELY with the knowledge that there was no more issues lurking. The burn ran from the HVAC plugs, via the headlight leveller wires all down the drivers side of the loom to the front of the car.
Stripping the loom out was actually good fun. Once the interior was out its was painting by numbers. Everything (apart from the HVAC loom) was labelled and photographed. As a point of record I think this will be so useful in future if anyone else is having loom issues.
That's the first time I've taken the dash and crash bar out before so that's a learn.
Getting the loom out was only really difficult around the heater box in the car- but once detached from the fuse box that was easier, and around the trunking above the steering column and pedal box. Neither needed to come out but both were loosened to ease removal.
The weight of a car loom is much more than you expect!
Problem 2- find a loom.
There was one person breaking a coupe with similar spec in the UK. I had to wait for him to take that out of the car and I am forever grateful for him for doing that. I needed a manual loom (auto is different) and needed as many original fitted extras to be on the loom (my car has bluetooth).
New loom procured:
Refitting was slow but enjoyable. I laid the two looms out side by side and compared them. Install was 100% aided by the previous labelling.
Things that went awry- I needed to address the donor car loom which was halogen lights and mine xenon. That was overcome with the help of the forum and the addition of levellers was also sorted- I've learned that having the old loom and cutting every connector off before binning it means you can rewire things like LCM connections etc.
I fouled up the HVAC loom by being in a rush for my tea and not labelling up properly. So that cost time and effort- idiot.
The best feeling ever was getting everything back in place, test fitted and the car fired up. Yes there were other small snags, some self inflicted (brake light issue) and some not.
Regardless its been a really engaging project. Its taken 51 hours to do including time to do the usual stuff like servicing it and getting it ready for its MOT.
I really appreciate the forum and its help in the project. From the opinions, the views and the knowledge its got a lot of forum invested in it. Thank you everyone who helped.
But just look at it- a 64k mile (albeit category marked) manual 09 plate coupe in nachtblau...
My payback to the forum is if anyone needs any loom/electrical help please get in touch- I think I've seen it all!
Stuart
I love saving Z4's, and I love a challenge, but this one very nearly went to the scrapyard in the sky multiple times. I'm really glad I didn't submit to my inner rage as it drives superbly and as a late car, I though it would be wrong to admit defeat- an easy cop out option.
The car came to me with lots of electrical issues- I mean: a lot of issues.
Foremost were key things not working- wipers, windows, HVAC, lights. Virtually every warning light however did work and illuminated with joy- 4 yellows, steering, airbag, all the fun ones. The car would also not stop running when the key was removed.
To counter that, the car was in fairly good order. Its a scottish registered car but its as clean as a whistle on top and underneath. Honestly that's what saved it I think. Not a spot of rust.
The previous owner shared that the issues started after driving through torrential rain and puddles. The car threw a load of lights then stopped running. After giving it to 3 auto electricians (more of them later) the owner gave up and got rid.
I found appalling water ingress. The yaw sensor was so bad it had rusted... and I needed to get into the electrical issues which I suspected as loom based.
The root causes I believe stem from:
- components failing due to water getting in the car
- installation of higher rated fuses causing loom overheating
- poor repair of loom overheating
How the car didn't go up in smoke is still a surprise to me. Pictured is some of the 'auto electrical' repairs:
Decision one was to get the loom out to see if it was repair or replace- when the loom was out it was clear it wasn't something that could have been repaired SAFELY with the knowledge that there was no more issues lurking. The burn ran from the HVAC plugs, via the headlight leveller wires all down the drivers side of the loom to the front of the car.
Stripping the loom out was actually good fun. Once the interior was out its was painting by numbers. Everything (apart from the HVAC loom) was labelled and photographed. As a point of record I think this will be so useful in future if anyone else is having loom issues.
That's the first time I've taken the dash and crash bar out before so that's a learn.
Getting the loom out was only really difficult around the heater box in the car- but once detached from the fuse box that was easier, and around the trunking above the steering column and pedal box. Neither needed to come out but both were loosened to ease removal.
The weight of a car loom is much more than you expect!
Problem 2- find a loom.
There was one person breaking a coupe with similar spec in the UK. I had to wait for him to take that out of the car and I am forever grateful for him for doing that. I needed a manual loom (auto is different) and needed as many original fitted extras to be on the loom (my car has bluetooth).
New loom procured:
Refitting was slow but enjoyable. I laid the two looms out side by side and compared them. Install was 100% aided by the previous labelling.
Things that went awry- I needed to address the donor car loom which was halogen lights and mine xenon. That was overcome with the help of the forum and the addition of levellers was also sorted- I've learned that having the old loom and cutting every connector off before binning it means you can rewire things like LCM connections etc.
I fouled up the HVAC loom by being in a rush for my tea and not labelling up properly. So that cost time and effort- idiot.
The best feeling ever was getting everything back in place, test fitted and the car fired up. Yes there were other small snags, some self inflicted (brake light issue) and some not.
Regardless its been a really engaging project. Its taken 51 hours to do including time to do the usual stuff like servicing it and getting it ready for its MOT.
I really appreciate the forum and its help in the project. From the opinions, the views and the knowledge its got a lot of forum invested in it. Thank you everyone who helped.
But just look at it- a 64k mile (albeit category marked) manual 09 plate coupe in nachtblau...
My payback to the forum is if anyone needs any loom/electrical help please get in touch- I think I've seen it all!
Stuart
Devon
Chester
