NO LONGER NEEDED My 2003 3.0i intro…

[Steven40181001]

Hi all,

I’m looking for an M54 2.5 or (ideally) 3.0 convertible Zed, money is ready to go and have upto £4,500 available.

Only real ‘must have’ is a manual box. Would like heated seats, no satnav/display on the dash, no steering wheel buttons. Simple spec that I can just drive and enjoy with my young daughter alongside me.

Really after a clean example which has been shown some love over its life and upto 120,000’ish miles.

If you have yours for sale or are thinking of selling, please drop me a message.

Cheers,
Steven

 

[Steven40181001]

Firstly, thanks to those of you who got in touch recommending cars for sale and ones which may have been of interest to me. Much appreciated.

I’m happy to report I’ve now found a car, I collected it on the weekend

It’s a 2003 e85, 3.0i. 94,000 miles. Has a couple of bits done to it, mostly wear and tear items but otherwise it’s mod-free. No sat-nav, no steering wheel buttons, just a nice and clean example with a focus on the driving, ideal!

Safe to say my 6 year old daughter loves it just as much as I do! We had the roof down on the way home from picking it up and seeing the smile on her face was 1000% worth it!! The sound of the straight 6 whine is something I’ve really bloody missed since I sold my last ‘06 Z some 10 years ago. It really is fantastic and with the Vanos system, even better!

There are a couple of things I’ll be doing to it to make it my own, such as:
Eibach pro springs
Cup holder install
Stubby aerial
Weighted M gear knob
DISA valve upgrade kit from X8R
Interior light bulbs upgrade/replacements
Braided brake lines
Spacers, 12mm front & 15mm rear
Possible 2x wheel refurb, although all 4 are in really great condition already, just 2 had minor kurb marks
And finally, roof motor reposition to the boot along with regular drainage clearing.

Anything anyone else recommends, please let me know!

I plan on keeping the car long term, so things will be done gradually and I’ll be involving my daughter as much as possible with along the way.

Here’s a couple of pictures I took at the weekend:

Cheers everyone!

 

[Mr Tidy]

Congratulations on acquiring a clean Z4, with Bi-Xenons as an added bonus!

Some good plans on your list too. The ZHP gear knob is a big improvement. Part Number is for the 6 speed is 25.11.7.896.886 and I think they are about £70 from BMW. Cotswold BMW or Sopers on Lincoln offer a discount to forum members, although now and again Vertu do 20% or 25% on their Ebay listings. If you see one much cheaper it probably isn't genuine so won't be weighted.

It's worth removing the Clutch Delay Valve too if it hasn't been done already. It really improves the 1st to 2nd gearchange.

If you aren't going to move the roof motor yourself Ross at RBM Hampshire in Hook has been doing them for years. Search for rbmhampshire.co.uk

 

[Steven40181001]

Thanks, yeah the lights are a bonus as well as the premium audio which I don’t realise it had until I got home and moved the seats forward

I had a storm werks gear knob on my last Z which made a huge difference but found it got bloody hot in the summer and freezing cold this time of year. Gonna try the ZHP knob this time around I think. The wife has ordered it from BMW as an x-mas present, along with a couple of other pieces

Not sure if the CDV has been done, might check into that one. Is it easy enough to do yourself, do you know?

I did try and do the roof motor myself this afternoon. After removing the parcel shelf and having a good fiddle about for an hour or so, I admitted defeat couldn’t feel or find the lip on the casing to even get the top half off! Any idea how much RBM charge? They’re based only around 30 minutes from me.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Premium Audio is also good to have.

I got Ross to remove the CDV from mine when it was having a brake fluid change as part of a service, but I believe you just need to disconnect the flexi pipe, remove the CDV then re-connect the pipe without it. There are quite a few videos on youtube!

I seem to recall a figure of £200ish for roof motor relocation, but that was probably 4 or 5 years ago. Just call RBM on 01256 856606 as they've done loads of them. If it makes life easier Ross does run a couple of older Minis as loan cars, although you might need to wait a bit longer for a booking if you want one.

 

[Steven40181001]

Ah nice, might check that out and have a go myself then!

Thanks, I’ve dropped RBM a message to find out prices etc

 

[Steven40181001]

FYI, RBM quoted £299 inc VAT for roof motor repositioning & £116.60 inc VAT for clutch valve delete

 

[Mr Tidy]

I thought I might have been out of touch, but by all accounts the roof motor job does call for some contortionism!

 

[Steven40181001]

Indeed! Being double jointed would certainly help as well I reckon!

Pleased to say I’ve booked in with RBM for the following to be done:
Roof motor repositioning
Oil service
Clutch delay valve delete
Gearbox oil service
Full car health check

Just ordered the X8R kit for the DISA valve as well.

Got this weekend planned for wheel removal, painting brake callipers, fitting spacers and clearing the drain holes.

 

[enuff_zed]

I thought I might have been out of touch, but by all accounts the roof motor job does call for some contortionism!

Dead easy if you do it the sensible way by lifting that side of the roof. Can have the motor in your hands in 15 minutes.

 

[Joez4]

Dead easy if you do it the sensible way by lifting that side of the roof. Can have the motor in your hands in 15 minutes.

I concur, there's a video on YouTube showing this approach, save yourself £300, and as for the clutch delay valve removal that price is extortionate, it takes 20 mins to DIY it and most of that time is jacking up the car

 

[CliveN]

Nice to have met Steve you albeit briefly in Milton under Wychwood yesterday.

 

[Steven40181001]

Nice to have met Steve you albeit briefly in Milton under Wychwood yesterday.

Hi Clive,
Yeah, great to meet you yesterday as well. Sure we’ll cross paths again at another meet in the coming year

 

[Steven40181001]

I concur, there's a video on YouTube showing this approach, save yourself £300, and as for the clutch delay valve removal that price is extortionate, it takes 20 mins to DIY it and most of that time is jacking up

Thanks Joe, I may well have a go at a couple of things myself. The car is in at RBM for me to build a relationship with a garage and for them to inspect it and let me know what’s needs doing sooner rather than later. I’ll do some research into lifting one side of the roof for motor access and CDV delete, see if it’s something I fancy tackling myself, also be good to save some money towards water pump, thermostat & expansion tank replacements!

 

[Zedebee]

Dead easy if you do it the sensible way by lifting that side of the roof. Can have the motor in your hands in 15 minutes.

I’m genuinely interested Martin, as I’ve never done it. How long would it actually take you to relocate the roof motor, from car landing on your drive to car being sent away again, job done? It’s always seemed to me like an absolute PITA of a job.

 

[Zedebee]

I’d definitely recommend RBM from prior experience, if you want a garage doing work for you, but that price for a CDV delete seems like a lot. If you look under the car where it is, you’ll be able to see what a trivial job it is. I hope he’ll be changing the hydraulic fluid and bleeding the system for that price.

 

[Steven40181001]

I’d definitely recommend RBM from prior experience, if you want a garage doing work for you, but that price for a CDV delete seems like a lot. If you look under the car where it is, you’ll be able to see what a trivial job it is. I hope he’ll be changing the hydraulic fluid and bleeding the system for that price.

Good question and one I’ll be asking about the hydraulic fluid.
Has anyone used RBM or another garage for Vanos seal replacement? If so, what’s an idea on cost?

 

[enuff_zed]

I’m genuinely interested Martin, as I’ve never done it. How long would it actually take you to relocate the roof motor, from car landing on your drive to car being sent away again, job done? It’s always seemed to me like an absolute PITA of a job.

Firstly, I should thank @Number5 for showing me this method. To lift the left side of the roof and get the motor out and removed from the casing takes me about 15 minutes.
A simple relocation I would say another hour, mostly because I’m quite pedantic with hose routing and making it all tidy, then securing it behind an extra piece of boot carpet.
In some cases the hoses want to kink, so I remove the motor, pass the hoses into the boot, get them all flat and unstressed, then reattach the motor. (This is the major drawback of the ‘yank it through in 45 minutes’ approach, and I’ve had to rectify a couple with kinked pipes)
Jobs that require the motor reviving, bypass plunger unseizing, pump replacing, pipes replacing etc., obviously take longer.
I usually would only plan one a day and over-estimate the time it will take, so there’s no rush and I can get it right.
Compared to Alan, I’m still in ‘newbie’ territory, having only just completed my 60th!
Pretty sure both he and @bigwinn are way ahead of me.

 

[Joez4]

Thanks Joe, I may well have a go at a couple of things myself. The car is in at RBM for me to build a relationship with a garage and for them to inspect it and let me know what’s needs doing sooner rather than later. I’ll do some research into lifting one side of the roof for motor access and CDV delete, see if it’s something I fancy tackling myself, also be good to save some money towards water pump, thermostat & expansion tank replacements!

Makes perfect sense to have a reputable garage give the car a once over,

Thermostat and expansion tank are very straightforward jobs to tackle yourself, waterpump is abit more involved, requires lifting the engine on one side to remove it, if you decide to do that job yourself it makes sense to also remove the vanos for seal replacement,

Lots of threads on here detailing how to do all of these jobs with basic tools and a good trolley jack and axle stands, I started off never done any work on a car and thanks to the help of others on here have tackled most the issues these cars suffer with

 

[Zedebee]

Compared to Alan, I’m still in ‘newbie’ territory, having only just completed my 60th!

Wow that’s a lot of roof motor replacements. Seriously that’s good info. In that context £299 doesn’t seem bad value for a fixed price from a decent garage.