Cols E85 3.0si

[coldel]

I did a rather excited post the other day, but thought I would start a proper thread recording stuff as there are a few little jobs to do.

I got myself a 114k mile 3.0si Roadster, for the money, in great condition and the perfect spec I wanted:

Manual, M Sports options, heated electric seats, no sat nav in the dash, it has the upgraded HiFi which is significantly better than the base option. MV2 wheels completely unmarked and clad in Michelin PS4's. Roof motor relocated to the boot. New pads and discs fitted all round. Pierburg water pump done, front wishbone bushes and ARB links done, crank case breather kit, vanos solenoids, and gear and diff oil recently changed. FSH too.

Jobs I need to do:

Plenty of cleaning to be done which is my forte! Bodywork needs full decontamination, clay, polish, sealing. Just got my convertible roof cleaning kit so will be working on that this week too.
Keep getting some odd moments when arming the alarm and locking the car the hazard lights come on, presume its a battery on its way out so will be replacing that this week.
Ordered a bluetooth unit to go behind the headunit, same as the one I had on the last car, really good solution to wireless music.
Bit of oil weeping from the valvetronic gasket and oil cap gasket, both on order.
Black kidney grills ordered
15/20mm spacers ordered

Only had the car 48 hours so not much time to do any big jobs, I did a very simple snowfoam and wash

Engine bay definitely needed a decent degrime, so out came the Chemical Guys degreaser

Before

After

The headlights were a bit clouded, and yellowed, so got a turtlewax polish and seal kit, hard to see on the photos but it definitely looks better

Before

After

Also managed to get to the PH BMW HQ meeting this morning, gave the car a great run out. But looking forwards to some open top motoring.

 

[SqerrNipz]

Some good jobs done in a short time and nice to have bits like the roof motor already sorted. Some nice options on there too

 

[coldel]

Yes getting through them, I am very OCD so this stuff sits on my mind till its done!

Also wanted to give a big shout out to @Inkey$ who was my sounding board for all things Z4 during my search, top marks to him for some very sensible points of view!

 

[inkey$]

Yes getting through them, I am very OCD so this stuff sits on my mind till its done!

Also wanted to give a big shout out to @Inkey$ who was my sounding board for all things Z4 during my search, top marks to him for some very sensible points of view!

You’re very welcome. Looks like you already got properly stuck in!

 

[Barty]

Lovely car and seemingly well-cared for, congrats!

 

[coldel]

Thanks guys. Well I found time to have a go at the roof!

A good rinse, followed by some treatment with Megs Convertible Roof Cleaner. I also bought a soft touch brush to agitate and clean. I forgot to take a Before photo which is annoying so you will have to trust me it has improved! As I cleaned and it foamed up you could see brown in the suds, a lot of crap was lifted and rinsed away. Came up much better, there are still some marks but much better than it was.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Your car is looking much better already! Good luck with the rest of your plans.

 

[Xsy14]

Would put money on the battery fading causing those issues. Had EXACTLY the same thing on mine and a new one sorted it

 

[coldel]

Thanks, yes I actually ordered a Yuasa YBX5110 yesterday arrives Thursday. I am hoping that sorts out that particular issue. In any case good to have a proper new battery on the car, as a fading one as you say can cause multitudes of issues.

 

[coldel]

A few more bits done.

I noticed the badge was double layered, a new one was stuck to the top of the old one. It fell off in my hand with hardly any effort. The original was in a bad way so I put some double sided tape on the back of the newer one and stuck it down and ordered a replacement from ebay

Also tidied up the badges on the wheels buying the little M badges, much more improved:
Before the little M badge was pretty much done

Now tidied

Its the small things but this little square under the handbrake looked just a bit tired, so I bought a sample size bit of self adhesive leather and cut it to shape:

Then the big one arrived...new battery! I went with a Yuasa YBX5110. Which is a type 110. The Type 115 are the exact fitted size as they are 190mm high vs the 175mm high of this one but the over brace does very little in the way of keeping the battery still, the key is getting one 315mm long which means it fits perfectly in the side clamp. Weirdly I only just noticed the current one is an old Jag battery!

I have been locking the car manually with the key as it was randomly beeping and hazards coming on if I did it from the fob. So far so good it seems as this seems to have resolved that.

 

[coldel]

Well. Took the car for a drive in the sunshine today. Parked up, remote locked it...5 mins later...beep beep beep.

So went and located this alarm bonnet switch, very easy to unplug, remote locked it and nothing - that seems to be the issue. Must have been just chance that after changing the battery it didnt go off.

Anyway, looks like that is sorted. New switch is £30 though!

 

[coldel]

With the switch cable taped to the strut bar for the time being me and a local Z4 buddy headed over to the Black Swan for a drive out and a look around, this lovely Alpine GTA came and kept us company

Anyway, once back set about installing this little beauty, a must have I think for any E85/E86, £20 for a bluetooth connection that sits behind the headunit. As I did this on my previous Z4, spending a fair bit of time swearing at it too, I was better prepared this time and took all of 20 mins to fit

The aux on the headunit is now a nice bluetooth connection

 

[coldel]

This arrived today, so got straight out there as the sun is out and works nicely to help it dry!

Furniture Clinic black all in one seat repair. But first up out came the Megs leather cleaner and tidied up the seats a bit, then went for it with the repair dye. Happy with the outcome!

Before

After


As you can see its mainly the bolster that got the benefit of it. Also did the passenger side.

 

[paddy wright]

Looks fantastic- where did you get the b/t for the radio? My old denison isn’t liking newer phones!

 

[coldel]

It was a b/t plug and play off eBay.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364287431308

 

[coldel]

Some metallic plasti dip on order to respray the wiper arms…sapphire black to match the car

In the meantime swapped these over

 

[coldel]

Few more jobs ticked off!

Oil cap gasket changed over and engine top cleaned up, actually for an older car the engine is quite clean of grime.
Before

After


Wanted to clean up the wiper arms, they were a bit battered. So bought myself a puller and went to work, took a hell of a pull but they came off eventually with a rather scary bang! But all good, sprayed with sapphire metallic plastidip, scuttle panel cleaned up and put back in place.

Before


After

Steering wheel looked a bit tired too. So got out the trusty panel wipe and cleaned off all the bits of soft touch left on it

Before


After

 

[Barty]

Cleans up nicely! Like the idea of refurbing the wiper arms, now that you mention it mine too look a bit tired…

 

[coldel]

It really does make a difference. Especially on a black car where something that has faded sticks out so much more.

 

[coldel]

Nice little addition from zunsport...subtle but neatens the front up in my opinion.



Let me know if anyone wants something similar, they gave me a card with a code on that gets you 15% off and I can share it with others. You can also get them de-badged as I have, they just take a bit longer.