My 2006 Z4 Coupe
- Thread starter STC_Zed
- Start date
Mr Tidy said:There is a short pipe from the headlamp washer pump that has a T piece to split the flow to two pipes that go the washers. I removed the short pipe from the T Piece and wound a bolt into the end.
Mine came with the D/S branch of the T capped off with a bolt at the end of the pipe. Not entirely sure why no-one before me bothered to cap off the N/S, given the N/S jet was physically broken and leaking, with predictable results in terms of water leaking out and leaving the screen wash tank empty. Capping it off truly is as easy a job as it is possible to imagine, made easier by the first bolt I pulled out of my random bolt box being the perfect size.
My fault finding fun and games continue….
I think I may have found another minor vacuum leak; one of the throttle body bolts that I undid was a bit loose, so that’s been nipped up. The idle seems better although there is a slight flutter. The real test will be a cold start tomorrow.
I’m still chasing the cause of blowing fuse. I’ve tried unplugging the CCV power connections one and a time and all at the same time but with no luck. I also tried unplugging the pre-cat O2 sensors but with no luck. The fuse still blows as soon as the car is started.
I can’t help thinking that it’s looking more and more like a wiring fault somewhere.
I think I may have found another minor vacuum leak; one of the throttle body bolts that I undid was a bit loose, so that’s been nipped up. The idle seems better although there is a slight flutter. The real test will be a cold start tomorrow.
I’m still chasing the cause of blowing fuse. I’ve tried unplugging the CCV power connections one and a time and all at the same time but with no luck. I also tried unplugging the pre-cat O2 sensors but with no luck. The fuse still blows as soon as the car is started.
I can’t help thinking that it’s looking more and more like a wiring fault somewhere.
I decided to take a break from mechanical fault finding and do some cosmetic jobs and to deal with my dead headlight washers which gave up the ghost and emptied the contents of my washer bottle over the drive last week.
First up, it was time to sort the manky brace behind the grilles.
I attempted to get at the bolts via the holes in the bumper with the grilles removed but the bolts were solid and in danger of rounding off. So off came the front bumper which is dead easy on these.
With better access, the bolts were easy to get out with my dagga dagga gun because I was able to keep plenty of pressure on the bolts to stop them rounding. I bought new bolts from BMW but had to buy a pack of 10. Old and new braces together.
With the bumper off, I cleaned the areas that are hard to get to or out view, because why not?
I looked at the cost of new headlight washers and nearly fell off my chair. Even used ones were mentally expensive on eBay and there was no guarantee that they weren’t shagged. I’ve left the old jets in place but have removed the hose that sits in the front bumper and swapper the washer bottle for one from a car with no washers.
I bought a used one from eBay for £15. It was full of algae and stuck to high heaven but a serious dose of Milton solved it.
I also removed the side reflectors and painted them. Mine were in bad condition and full of algae and looked rubbish. Again, replacements are expensive for what they are so I had a crack at painting them. The colour match is fine (it cost me £15). They need polishing at some point, which I’ll do this week. I think it’ll help them blend in a bit.
First up, it was time to sort the manky brace behind the grilles.
I attempted to get at the bolts via the holes in the bumper with the grilles removed but the bolts were solid and in danger of rounding off. So off came the front bumper which is dead easy on these.
With better access, the bolts were easy to get out with my dagga dagga gun because I was able to keep plenty of pressure on the bolts to stop them rounding. I bought new bolts from BMW but had to buy a pack of 10. Old and new braces together.
With the bumper off, I cleaned the areas that are hard to get to or out view, because why not?
I looked at the cost of new headlight washers and nearly fell off my chair. Even used ones were mentally expensive on eBay and there was no guarantee that they weren’t shagged. I’ve left the old jets in place but have removed the hose that sits in the front bumper and swapper the washer bottle for one from a car with no washers.
I bought a used one from eBay for £15. It was full of algae and stuck to high heaven but a serious dose of Milton solved it.
I also removed the side reflectors and painted them. Mine were in bad condition and full of algae and looked rubbish. Again, replacements are expensive for what they are so I had a crack at painting them. The colour match is fine (it cost me £15). They need polishing at some point, which I’ll do this week. I think it’ll help them blend in a bit.
Mr Tidy said:
One day I might own a less rough around the edges Z4C... but in the meantime (and should I be admitting this?) I can confidently say that the bumper on a Z4 is fine with all the top bolts in place, a couple of bolts out of 8 on the underside, and a few wheel arch liner clips.
One day I would love to combine my limited design skills, with a plastic weld kit and come up with a new, simpler clip for the corners of the bumpers... someone else on the forum did something similar.
I would like to take one of my headlight units out, and therefore need the bumper off. Aware of the price, and if I get round to it, will be gentle. I suspect thats possibly why I have never been able to remove it.Mr Tidy said:
I think I just need to be a bit more firmer.......STC_Zed said:
Another catch up post (or two).
Gavin struggled to work out was was causing the fuse to blow in the engine bay fuse box, I had to admit defeat and take the car to a specialist, who in all fairness had a bit of a hard time tracking it down too. It turns out that it was the heated angle connector at the front of the mani that had died, causing the fuse to blow. It’s the part circled below.
The good news was that it wasn’t some that I had replaced, the bad news is that getting a replacement was relatively tough. BMW do t have them in stock and there is no date for delivery into Germany let alone the UK. Aftermarket options are quite limited too outside of crap from Ali Express or Amazon. In the end I’ve ordered a Viaco part from Autodoc which will be fitted in due course.
After that little debacle, I eventually got around to removing the seats to give the interior a deep clean.
With the seats removed, it didn’t look too bad on first glance for an 18 year old car.
What came out of the carpets with a wet vac said otherwise…
Whilst the seats were out, I gave them a goof clean. It looks like they’ve had a cheap / poor attempt at refurbishing them in the past. The plastics in the cabin were covered on spots of overspray (now removed with surgical spirit and lots of elbow grease) but the colour was patchy in places and there appears to be some bad filling of creases etc. It did what I could recolouring them and they do look better.
My steering wheel trim was really bothering me where the soft finish has been worn away so I had I removed it all and from the buttons. I also discovered that one of the trims was broken under the airbag which unfortunately got worse when I removed it. Whilst trying a DIY plastic repair, I painted the rest of the trims in gloss black.
Gavin struggled to work out was was causing the fuse to blow in the engine bay fuse box, I had to admit defeat and take the car to a specialist, who in all fairness had a bit of a hard time tracking it down too. It turns out that it was the heated angle connector at the front of the mani that had died, causing the fuse to blow. It’s the part circled below.
The good news was that it wasn’t some that I had replaced, the bad news is that getting a replacement was relatively tough. BMW do t have them in stock and there is no date for delivery into Germany let alone the UK. Aftermarket options are quite limited too outside of crap from Ali Express or Amazon. In the end I’ve ordered a Viaco part from Autodoc which will be fitted in due course.
After that little debacle, I eventually got around to removing the seats to give the interior a deep clean.
With the seats removed, it didn’t look too bad on first glance for an 18 year old car.
What came out of the carpets with a wet vac said otherwise…
Whilst the seats were out, I gave them a goof clean. It looks like they’ve had a cheap / poor attempt at refurbishing them in the past. The plastics in the cabin were covered on spots of overspray (now removed with surgical spirit and lots of elbow grease) but the colour was patchy in places and there appears to be some bad filling of creases etc. It did what I could recolouring them and they do look better.
My steering wheel trim was really bothering me where the soft finish has been worn away so I had I removed it all and from the buttons. I also discovered that one of the trims was broken under the airbag which unfortunately got worse when I removed it. Whilst trying a DIY plastic repair, I painted the rest of the trims in gloss black.
Gothenburg
STC_Zed said:
Good work! The interior looks really nice and clean!
The heater part is for CCV, right? The one that was issued for a recall in the US some years ago?
(Apparently they can catch fire out of nowhere. But only on US cars of course.
It was not recalled for the rest of the world even though the part is exactly the same.)Assuming that the recall has something to do with shortage of available parts?
fredej said:STC_Zed said:
Good work! The interior looks really nice and clean!
The heater part is for CCV, right? The one that was issued for a recall in the US some years ago?
(Apparently they can catch fire out of nowhere. But only on US cars of course.
Assuming that the recall has something to do with shortage of available parts?
Yeah, it’s part of the CCV system. I’d been focusing all of my efforts on the CCV and hoses at the rear because that’s what I’d changed and totally forgot about this piece. They catch fire in the UK too; chap on PH had it happen to his 3 series. Something to keep an eye on my wife’s 330i.
Following my previous update, I decided that the very shiny steering wheel was annoying me….a lot. I’d tried cleaning it with various products but getting rid of the shine was proving difficult. It had a few deeper marks, so I decided sod it and ordered a retrimmed wheel from Royal. I’ve been a sucker for an alcantara wheel for a while but after having my wife’s wheel retrimmed on nappa leather, I did the same for me Z4 and added perforated grips and pale yellow stitching to match the leather.
New wheel as it arrived.
The broken plastic trim was still causing issues and when I stripped all of the finish, there were various cracks etc.
Despite the issues with the right hand side trim, the wheel was fitted.
New wheel as it arrived.
The broken plastic trim was still causing issues and when I stripped all of the finish, there were various cracks etc.
Despite the issues with the right hand side trim, the wheel was fitted.
Unfortunately I had no luck repairing the broken bit of trim, so very reluctantly I sucked up the extortionate cost (£225 with discount) and ordered a new set from BMW. As much as paying for it sucked, the wheel looks amazing.
To celebrate the car got a quick wash to celebrate.
The wheel combined with the other touches like the wrapped trim, new gear knob etc have massively improved the interior. I need to replace the handbrake grip and the gaiter / armrest, which will get done in due course.
Other planned stuff is to replace the handbrake shoes / springs. I know BMW handbrakes are generally a bit s**t, but the one on my Z4 takes the biscuit. The parts have arrived, I just need to find the time / get off my bum and replace them.
To celebrate the car got a quick wash to celebrate.
The wheel combined with the other touches like the wrapped trim, new gear knob etc have massively improved the interior. I need to replace the handbrake grip and the gaiter / armrest, which will get done in due course.
Other planned stuff is to replace the handbrake shoes / springs. I know BMW handbrakes are generally a bit s**t, but the one on my Z4 takes the biscuit. The parts have arrived, I just need to find the time / get off my bum and replace them.
And in the very latest instalment of using an old Z4 as a daily, I was travelling at maybe 55mph today along a B road and the engine management light made an appearance.
My initial thought was that it was electrical again, but fuse four in the engine bay is fine. Out came the trusty code reader…
Best case is it needs an Italian tube up after that it looks like the O2 sensors might need doing (joy). After that there seems to be all sorts of random things suggested to fix the issue.
My initial thought was that it was electrical again, but fuse four in the engine bay is fine. Out came the trusty code reader…
Best case is it needs an Italian tube up after that it looks like the O2 sensors might need doing (joy). After that there seems to be all sorts of random things suggested to fix the issue.
New steering wheel looks great. Did you send your wheel to them or do they supply the wheel with the retrim?