Full 2006 Z4M Refurb & Some Questions Please
- Thread starter jontZ4M
- Start date
GT Spec said:I'd have gone with the Timesert rethread kit personally. You may struggle to tighten down the torque to yield bolts with helicoil threads. Hope it all goes well
I have used timeserts before, and have an M12 kit in my toolbox, it would have been my preference too. Unfortunately the availability is bad, and prices are totally crazy. The Torque Test Channel did a test of various inserts, and Helicoil style inserts actually outperformed Timesert, so I am hopeful.
Pray for me that the tap doesn't break
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZItuPnU7lU
ed80 said:GT Spec said:I'd have gone with the Timesert rethread kit personally. You may struggle to tighten down the torque to yield bolts with helicoil threads. Hope it all goes well
I have used timeserts before, and have an M12 kit in my toolbox, it would have been my preference too. Unfortunately the availability is bad, and prices are totally crazy. The Torque Test Channel did a test of various inserts, and Helicoil style inserts actually outperformed Timesert, so I am hopeful.
Pray for me that the tap doesn't break
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZItuPnU7lU
Interesting review and totally unexpected results. Let us know how you get on.
Right, holes drilled out and threads tapped. I tried one fastener and it behaved weirdly again, it didn't torque once again. I am going to try with new bolts that are slightly shorter, in case the thread isn't tapped deep enough or something else is going on (I marked the tap and it should be more than deep enough). Put in new inserts on each side and used threadlocker on them this time. I will try the bolts again in a couple of hours.
If I can get them to at least 60nm then I will be happy for now.
I think I will have to book in at a professional who can make a proper repair. I don't think it has to be a specialist, just someone competent. Recommendations in Bristol area (I know about Redish) gratefully received.
If I can get them to at least 60nm then I will be happy for now.
I think I will have to book in at a professional who can make a proper repair. I don't think it has to be a specialist, just someone competent. Recommendations in Bristol area (I know about Redish) gratefully received.
Hey guys - refurb complete after 3.5 months (1 day per week).
The refurb went brilliantly with no major problems.
Massive thanks to all forum members that offered advice (I'm new to BMWs), especially Ed80 who spotted an error with the realOEM part numbers which saved me from wrecking threads.
Final pic:
Build thread: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.637453398797294&type=3
The refurb went brilliantly with no major problems.
Massive thanks to all forum members that offered advice (I'm new to BMWs), especially Ed80 who spotted an error with the realOEM part numbers which saved me from wrecking threads.
Final pic:
Build thread: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.637453398797294&type=3
ed80 said:
I got them from a forum member for £300. They work fine BUT they are not loud enough for me. It's not a daily car so I want some volume. Not really sure of solution.
john-e89 said:…..but rusty screws back in the rear bumper…? Tut tut….:evil: :wink:
Ah, you spotted my shame! I did buy a bunch of black screws from Ebay that claimed to be "genuine BMW" replacements, but they don't fit so had to put rust buckets back in. Will find solution at some point.
Bmwz4ruby said:
Strange you say that, I plan to offer this as a service, not BMW-specific, all cars. I'll put a post out in the forum soon.
jontZ4M said:
The screws from this kit work really well; the captive sheet metal 'nuts' not so much, but if you make them tighter with some pliers, they're ok.
edit: great job, by the way! Love to see it
Shame that some bolts look rusty still, would suggest looking into zinc plating the bolts if you don't want to put your life savings into brand new OE bolts from BMW, but for anything =>10.9, ensure they heat treat to avoid hydrogen embrittlement. Most places have a minimum order (£50-60) and you'd get all the bolts in your car within that.
lucasxdiniz said:
Thanks Lucas
Yeh that kit looks perfect.
I'm still umming and erring whether to get bolts plated or not.
The cost isn't really a problem, but I'm worried that if I were working on multiple cars in future then:
a) potential time delays to deal with.
b) there's a very real chance that some bolts will get either mixed up or lost. I'll be dealing with various type of cars, so keeping track of bolts that look the same but have different tensile strengths etc could be a potentially dangerous. I could see mix ups happening. I'm just not sure it's worth risking a mix up to make them look nice. However, it's very early days at moment and I am subject to having my mind changed.
Hi guys
After every refurb I take the car for an inspection and test by a master mechanic of 40 years who can pick up any problems that I've missed. He also does the wheel alignment.
For this car he picked up the following:
1) spongy brake pedal.
2) slight front brake judder at 80mph on hard braking.
3) noisey rear axle.
If we deal with each:
1) I also noticed this post-refurb. I replaced the original steel lines with my own hand-made copper nickel lines. I'm surprised that there is still air in the line. I did the full procedure as directed by the OBD2 ABS pump bleed program, including the pedal stamps. I guess it wasn't enough to get rid of all the air. I've got my next refurb on the ramp now so to solve this I'll probably just send the car to Bentons BMW in Ely to re-bleed from scratch and hopefully they can do a better bleed than me. It's not dangerous, I can emergency brake, it's just spongy in feel.
2) I haven't actually noticed this pre-refurb BUT TBH I have barely driven the car since buying in late 2022. I stupidly bought it just before my son was born in a panic moment. Being a 2 seater I've never really been able to use it. We talked about whether I could have done anything wrong in the re-build that could cause brake judder, but he said it's almost certainly just normal brake disc warp that happens to some cars over time. I believe the solution for this will be new front discs. Does anyone have a rough cost for two new discs please?
3) This is a weird and un-expected one. We talked about anything that I could have done wrong during re-assembly that could cause a rear axle sound. For example, I fitted new rear wheel bearings. But we've come to the conclusion that it doesn't really sound like a typical mechanical "wrrrrr" of a faulty bearing or a diff. Instead it sounds like an exposed surface rubbing, is probably best description. I'm pretty sure it's not a brake dust shield rubbing as I've check clearances thoroughly. I've got another car up on my only ramp so we think the solution here is to just run the car and see if the sound disappears, in which case it will have just been something re-bedding in, possibly the brake pads to disc, or maybe I've fitted the handbrake pads/shoes slightly out and they are binding slightly on the inside of the drum? FYI - I didn't replace any brake discs or pads during the refurb as they were all good.
All in all it's not too bad. There are ALWAYS snags after a full reburb that need sorting.
You guys are more experienced with Z4s than me, does anything leap out to you here?
Thanks!
After every refurb I take the car for an inspection and test by a master mechanic of 40 years who can pick up any problems that I've missed. He also does the wheel alignment.
For this car he picked up the following:
1) spongy brake pedal.
2) slight front brake judder at 80mph on hard braking.
3) noisey rear axle.
If we deal with each:
1) I also noticed this post-refurb. I replaced the original steel lines with my own hand-made copper nickel lines. I'm surprised that there is still air in the line. I did the full procedure as directed by the OBD2 ABS pump bleed program, including the pedal stamps. I guess it wasn't enough to get rid of all the air. I've got my next refurb on the ramp now so to solve this I'll probably just send the car to Bentons BMW in Ely to re-bleed from scratch and hopefully they can do a better bleed than me. It's not dangerous, I can emergency brake, it's just spongy in feel.
2) I haven't actually noticed this pre-refurb BUT TBH I have barely driven the car since buying in late 2022. I stupidly bought it just before my son was born in a panic moment. Being a 2 seater I've never really been able to use it. We talked about whether I could have done anything wrong in the re-build that could cause brake judder, but he said it's almost certainly just normal brake disc warp that happens to some cars over time. I believe the solution for this will be new front discs. Does anyone have a rough cost for two new discs please?
3) This is a weird and un-expected one. We talked about anything that I could have done wrong during re-assembly that could cause a rear axle sound. For example, I fitted new rear wheel bearings. But we've come to the conclusion that it doesn't really sound like a typical mechanical "wrrrrr" of a faulty bearing or a diff. Instead it sounds like an exposed surface rubbing, is probably best description. I'm pretty sure it's not a brake dust shield rubbing as I've check clearances thoroughly. I've got another car up on my only ramp so we think the solution here is to just run the car and see if the sound disappears, in which case it will have just been something re-bedding in, possibly the brake pads to disc, or maybe I've fitted the handbrake pads/shoes slightly out and they are binding slightly on the inside of the drum? FYI - I didn't replace any brake discs or pads during the refurb as they were all good.
All in all it's not too bad. There are ALWAYS snags after a full reburb that need sorting.
You guys are more experienced with Z4s than me, does anything leap out to you here?
Thanks!
ATE (OEM) front brake discs are £262 per side at Car Parts 4 Less with their current discount code: https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/brake-discs
That is a pretty decent price. Only buy ATE or BMW discs for the M.
I had a noise coming from the rear brakes on mine too, it wasn't the backing plate, but a tiny bit of debris caught under the brake hat that was catching on the handbrake shoes. It was a very loud and annoying noise for such a small piece of debris! You should be able to tell it's that rather than diff noise because:
1: It will obviously be louder on one side than the other (diff noise is central)
2: It will be external, and get louder with windows down
3: The noise won't change when accelerating vs coasting (diff noise does, I have subsequently discovered)
Removing the disc and recleaning everything fixed it.
That is a pretty decent price. Only buy ATE or BMW discs for the M.
I had a noise coming from the rear brakes on mine too, it wasn't the backing plate, but a tiny bit of debris caught under the brake hat that was catching on the handbrake shoes. It was a very loud and annoying noise for such a small piece of debris! You should be able to tell it's that rather than diff noise because:
1: It will obviously be louder on one side than the other (diff noise is central)
2: It will be external, and get louder with windows down
3: The noise won't change when accelerating vs coasting (diff noise does, I have subsequently discovered)
Removing the disc and recleaning everything fixed it.