E86 3.0si mini project

[minimental]

Hi guys

I thought i would start a thread on my e86 optimisation project, I have always loved the looks of these cars and just after the first lockdown i found i was finally in a position that I could "pull the trigger" on buying one, at that time this car came up i drove the 400mile round trip viewed it and a week later bought it home.

Its a 2007 3.0si sport pretty low on options but also only 58k miles

The 200miles home gave me a nice opportunity to get a feel for the car and work out what needed doing



First job was to get the front bumper painted as the lacquer was pretty bad on it. Whilst the bumper was away i did all of the front bushes and a pair of new front bottom arms as it was pretty wandery and vague



new badge too as the old one was pretty shot, arm bmw turned out to be pretty local to my parents where i was living at the time they did a fantastic job



this presented a new problem, how much cleaner the car looks with a new front bumper and no number plate, now obviously no front plate was not going to work, however it can legally be made much smaller...



from the cheap numberplate section of the dvla website,



much happier with that look, there is a fair bit more i have done to follow!

Cheers
Reuben

 

[Mr Tidy]

Welcome to the forum Reuben.

If your new front number plate mod is anything to go by this could get interesting!

And a Coupe is a great choice - although I may be a bit biased. :lol:

 

[minimental]

Thanks!

I am enjoying it so far, even if it isn't the sports car I expected, I find it has more of a mini GT feel to it (no bad thing!)

so I'm missing a few of the pictures from the next round of bits i did, these included a trip to ocean BMW in Falmouth found them to be really good value and helpful the list included:

New pair of genuine floor matts
new under tray shield and all the fixings as the old one was hanging off
cruise retrofit kit

Also found on the journey back the road noise from the rear was pretty intrusive so bought some dynamat type sound deadening to put in the back, whilst I was in there with the trim removed I installed a bluetooth add on that plugs into the cd changer socket



seemed to make it noticeably better, once all this was done I put an mot on it, straight through no advisories

the car then stayed in Cornwall for a month or so whilst I moved back up to Hampshire

on the journey back to Hampshire I found there was something niggling about the car, couldn't put my finger on what though... about half way through the journey I worked it out, the steering wheel! just found for me the thick msport wheel was just too thick, confirmed by a mate when they had a go... to ebay!



fitted up and already happy with how much better it feels, I realize this swap is the opposite of what most people do but for me the thinner wheel works so much better, that said at some point I may send it off for a re trim, i also think the silver on the wheel helps lift the dark interior on the car.



I realise now that picture was obviously from a bit after the wheel was fitted, it teases at some of the other changes and additions though!

 

[Jameszy]

Thanks!

I am enjoying it so far, even if it isn't the sports car I expected, I find it has more of a mini GT feel to it (no bad thing!)

so I'm missing a few of the pictures from the next round of bits i did, these included a trip to ocean BMW in Falmouth found them to be really good value and helpful the list included:

New pair of genuine floor matts
new under tray shield and all the fixings as the old one was hanging off
cruise retrofit kit

Also found on the journey back the road noise from the rear was pretty intrusive so bought some dynamat type sound deadening to put in the back, whilst I was in there with the trim removed I installed a bluetooth add on that plugs into the cd changer socket



seemed to make it noticeably better, once all this was done I put an mot on it, straight through no advisories

the car then stayed in Cornwall for a month or so whilst I moved back up to Hampshire

on the journey back to Hampshire I found there was something niggling about the car, couldn't put my finger on what though... about half way through the journey I worked it out, the steering wheel! just found for me the thick msport wheel was just too thick, confirmed by a mate when they had a go... to ebay!



fitted up and already happy with how much better it feels, I realize this swap is the opposite of what most people do but for me the thinner wheel works so much better, that said at some point I may send it off for a re trim, i also think the silver on the wheel helps lift the dark interior on the car.



I realise now that picture was obviously from a bit after the wheel was fitted, it teases at some of the other changes and additions though!

I’m so glad I read this thread - I have some left over sound proofing sheets and was thinking of putting some in the boot.

Did you follow a guide for removing the trim? Where did you put the deadening material (just where photographed or did you put more in than that)?

 

[minimental]

No guide for removing the trim I'm afraid, just worked methodically and logically as i could removing the piece that held the next piece in if that makes sense? quite big job pulling the trim though, i also bought some sticky back felt for putting under all of the places where the hard plastics make contact with other hard plastics, this also makes a huge difference in terms of squeaks and rattles.

from what i remember this photo was taken quite early on in the process of fitting the deadening matt i put it in all of the little pressed hollows in the bits above the fuel tank, basically covered all of the wheel wells underneath the grey deadening shown in the picture and also down the holes on the far left and right side (this is on the front of the wheel wells, access is pretty limited here) the little wooden roller is from tool station and really neatened the job up!

if you are thinking of doing the bluetooth kit that plugs into the cd changer wiring, this is definitely the time to do it!

 

[Jameszy]

No guide for removing the trim I'm afraid, just worked methodically and logically as i could removing the piece that held the next piece in if that makes sense? quite big job pulling the trim though, i also bought some sticky back felt for putting under all of the places where the hard plastics make contact with other hard plastics, this also makes a huge difference in terms of squeaks and rattles.

from what i remember this photo was taken quite early on in the process of fitting the deadening matt i put it in all of the little pressed hollows in the bits above the fuel tank, basically covered all of the wheel wells underneath the grey deadening shown in the picture and also down the holes on the far left and right side (this is on the front of the wheel wells, access is pretty limited here) the little wooden roller is from tool station and really neatened the job up!

if you are thinking of doing the bluetooth kit that plugs into the cd changer wiring, this is definitely the time to do it!

Great thank you for the reply. Did you say under the grey sound deadening? As in you removed that too, or did you just slap the sheets onto the grey material in the photo?

 

[minimental]

yeh under the foam deadening, removed that and covered as much of the wheel well as possible and put the grey stuff back on, just be careful as from memory it can tear pretty easily

 

[Jameszy]

Righto. I just finished doing the door cards and speakers, so might give it some time before attempting this!

Great job with it though, will let you know when I give it a go and report back

 

[SofTop]

nice mods
how much was the cruise retrofit kit if you don't mind me asking?

 

[minimental]

@Jameszy let me know if you get stuck, door cards are on the to do list for mine! have you noticed a big difference?

@softop thanks, thinking about it i got the stalk from ocean was about £110 iirc the loom kit came from a seller on eBay gen BMW and was about £25 again this was a few months ago so might not be 100% accurate

 

[minimental]

so next up on the hitlist was wheels, the 135's on it were in dire need of a refurb, and personally i have never liked them on a z4 think they look great on other BMWs just not the Z, cue a a few weeks looking for some styles i like in 18's, considered:

440m's (decent set proved hard to find for sensible money)
189's (found it hard to find a reasonable set)
bbs ck (missed a set cheapish on eBay, still more than i had to spend at the time)
ACS type 3 (decent set of non reps in 18" very hard to find)
csl reps (love them but wanted something a bit different)
216m (love them as a wheel but unsure how they would look on a z)
325's (looked hard at these before realising the front offset might have been a bit extreme)

ended up winning these:

picked them up, they weren't in bad condition but not the paint wasn't the best and also pretty heavy, still they will do for now! gave them a blast of pu lacquer and fitted them up



better than it was, at least i prefer it!

then a week later I had to go and visit my mate who runs a small breakers yard, generally has nothing of note in....





Typical! i think you can see where this is going!

 

[Jameszy]

@Jameszy let me know if you get stuck, door cards are on the to do list for mine! have you noticed a big difference?

@softop thanks, thinking about it i got the stalk from ocean was about £110 iirc the loom kit came from a seller on eBay gen BMW and was about £25 again this was a few months ago so might not be 100% accurate

I will almost certainly have to!

For the door cards, the speaker upgrade was more worth while than the sound deadening. I did however notice a difference in the sound of the door closing and road noise. If I were doing it again, I would consider getting the 4mm silent coat for the metal door for extra deadening. Here is the guide I used which was brilliant:

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=53812&start=15

 

[minimental]

thats a decent write up thanks! i do want to go for the additional speaker upgrade too, guess i better order up some clips and speakers!

So, I ended up all over the e46, and pulled all of the ac schnitzer stuff that would go on the Z, ended up with the weighted gear knob, pedals and wheels, fitted the gear knob instead of the planned zip, what a difference! I still can't believe what a difference a gear knob can make!



the jury is still out on the pedals though, certainly can't see the circa £300 retail they are! :?

the wheels were in a pretty bad way though, but impressively light compared to standard and certainly for a non forged wheel they are 18x8.5j all round



Couldn't resist a test fit before stripping them for refurb



definitely need some spacers and a little bit of lowering though!

found some proper 20mm schnitzer spacers for sale (different bore for the wheel compared to standard bmw)



20MM might be a little too much on the front, will likely end up turning the spacers down a bit so i can make them just right for the Z

 

[inkey$]

This is great
Following progress.

 

[Mr Tidy]

Those AC Schnitzer wheels look fantastic.

You got really lucky with timing when you went to visit your mate!

 

[minimental]

Thanks, i'm really happy with them! wish i had gone a couple of weeks earlier and i wouldn't have bought the 189's!

they are currently in for refurb, but the people doing them have had to shut for lockdown so who knows when they will be done! when they are back i need too decide on a set of tyres, not sure whether to go 245 fronts and 255 rears or 255s all around probably makes sense to sell the 189's with their almost new staggered non runflat bridgestones when the time comes? not sure yet.

I ended up going on a small road trip to the porsche experience centre with a mate last month, one of his thoughts from driving it was how unclear from a glance the speedo is with its italic font, well once something has been seen it can't be unseen and all that... cue some internet research, so it turns out the gen 1 (e83) X3 uses the same instrument cluster and doesn't have the italic dials... to eBay...



Again i am rubbish at taking pictures when i am in the middle of something, so here we have before:



And after:



Really happy with this little mod simple enough and so much clearer, tomorrows job is to fit the cluster back in the car and see how it looks in situ!

 

[AlphaEchoAlpha]

Nice work, the clock change is excellent - They're not the clearest set in the world as standard. The AC Schnitzer wheels look grand, too!

 

[minimental]

Thanks!

Fitted and tested today:

Much more legible!

 

[minimental]

dropped the remaining wheels off for refurb yesterday as the wheel specialist re opened on monday (they already had one to strip to see how bad the corrosion was)


other than some carly coding which i have done (a proper useful little tool!) that brings me just about up to date

took the car out last sunday for a bit of a run really happy with how much more legible the gauges are from just a glance, if there is enough interest i might write up a guide on how to do the gauge swap

also made a start on the paintwork, looks fine in the daylight but under artificial light it looks like it has seen a lifetime of supermarket carpark car washes, with their very best gritty sponge



after about 6 hours with the da and some sonax polishes started to get a decent finish on the bonnet and roof (never used a da before so was being super cautious, turns out BMW clear coat seems do be pretty hard!!) really starting to like this colour, in some lights it looks blue, in others very grey and in other almost bronze

leaves me with the to do list, after taking it for a pretty long drive last sunday confirmed my suspicions that the shocks have probably seen their best so they can go on there too, so far we have:

wheels, spacers and new tyres
sell the 189s probably complete with a set of nearly new non runflat bridgestone s001's (will probably list them on here in the next couple of weeks)
shocks and springs
look into renewing the rear suspension bushes, the front is all new now and it seems a shame its not as fresh as can be all around
sound deadening in the front doors and behind the seats
finish the paint correction and a decent detail

 

[davidmudley12]

dropped the remaining wheels off for refurb yesterday as the wheel specialist re opened on monday (they already had one to strip to see how bad the corrosion was)


other than some carly coding which i have done (a proper useful little tool!) that brings me just about up to date

took the car out last sunday for a bit of a run really happy with how much more legible the gauges are from just a glance, if there is enough interest i might write up a guide on how to do the gauge swap

also made a start on the paintwork, looks fine in the daylight but under artificial light it looks like it has seen a lifetime of supermarket carpark car washes, with their very best gritty sponge



after about 6 hours with the da and some sonax polishes started to get a decent finish on the bonnet and roof (never used a da before so was being super cautious, turns out BMW clear coat seems do be pretty hard!!) really starting to like this colour, in some lights it looks blue, in others very grey and in other almost bronze

leaves me with the to do list, after taking it for a pretty long drive last sunday confirmed my suspicions that the shocks have probably seen their best so they can go on there too, so far we have:

wheels, spacers and new tyres
sell the 189s probably complete with a set of nearly new non runflat bridgestone s001's (will probably list them on here in the next couple of weeks)
shocks and springs
look into renewing the rear suspension bushes, the front is all new now and it seems a shame its not as fresh as can be all around
sound deadening in the front doors and behind the seats
finish the paint correction and a decent detail

It was great to meet you today, I only joined the dots as I saw your number plate driving away! Lovey to meet you and follow your journey of development of the E86, it looked fabulous in the flesh.