My 2006 Z4 Coupe

MonsterZ4 said:
STC_Zed said:
I finally managed to get my phone connected to the car thanks to a member on here, it did turn into a complete palaver though…

Once I finally managed to get the car into pairing mode, I realised that I didn’t have the PK code. Great. I ended up taking all of the boot trim out to make access to the control module that should have a sticker on it which includes the code. Very helpfully the sticker wasn’t visible with the module in place, so I ended up giving to remove the module and bracket that held it in place.

Once I had the code, my phone paired without issue but I then realised another issue - when I’d fitted the aux socket, where there should have a blank socket in the quad lock there was something plugged in that I unplugged to get the aux cable plugged in. It looks like what I left unconnected is the sound output for the phone / nav. Whoops.

So whilst the boot trim was removed, I had a look for the CD changer cabling and this is to an old thread on here, eventually found them. I’ve put the boot back together but have left the two plugs easy to get at. I’ve since ordered a BlueMusic adapter which will be here next week. That should give me the best of both worlds - factory Bluetooth for calls plus the ability to stream music.

I also ordered an alcantara gear gaiter with stitching to match the seats which arrived today.

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How did you get into pairing mode? I’m iPhone and Z4 seem totally at odds with wanting to be friends. It’s doing my head in.

The car looks awesome by the way!

Thanks. If your car has nav, these were the instructions that a member on here sent me (just make sure you have the four digit code to hand :headbang: )

First make sure phone has the latest operating system drivers.
Remove existing original (my case Nokia phone) from cradle.
Delete all existing phone memories by holding down the button in the cradle console for about 10 secs (3 beeps tells you it’s done)

Get your phone to the Bluetooth On/Off/Devices settings page and switch off Bluetooth.
With KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION, open phone compartment and press and hold the Bluetooth (man shouting!) button for 3 seconds.
Then with the button still pressed, insert key into ignition and turn key two clicks (where all the warning lights come on).
JUST AS THE SAT-NAV STARTS TO OPEN, release the Bluetooth button.
Quickly turn on Bluetooth on the phone. Timing seems to be critical and it took a couple of attempts to get the elusive pairing phone prompt.
Once at the prompt, I just entered the 4 digit Bluetooth key into my phone and it connected straight away, and after a few minutes had copied my address book of a few hundred numbers across.
 
Mr Tidy said:
STC_Zed said:
Thanks Mr Tidy - it was the colour combo that sold it to me and persuaded me to see past the niggles. The good spec is the icing on the cake.

As you know, my wife has an E91 330i with a mapped N52 and I agree about how much more urgent the Zed feels, possibly helped by sitting on the floor. Noise wise, hers has a car in intake which is quite vocal

Getting stuck in will really start next week when I tackle the front wishbones, from anti roll bar bushes, drop links all round, RTAB bushes and holders, rear discs and pads plus front pads (the ones on here are new, but I like ATE ceramic pads due the reduced dust and they were dirt cheap for this).

Cheers Sam. :thumbsup:

I didn't realise Der Mummiewagon had a remap though. I'd love to know what difference you noticed from it.

Anyway back on Z4s good luck with next weeks' plans. :thumbsup:

Iain.

The 330i was already mapped when I bought it. Instead of the 258bhp it’s supposed to be 270bhp. The chap I bought it from had also fitted a custom to built rear diff with shorter final drive which did perk it up a lot (I didn’t want to pay the extra for the diff so I stuck with the old one). It’s been a long time since I’ve driven a standard 330i so can’t really comment on the difference. The Zed feels a chunk more urgent though.
 
Do you have any advice on removing the trim to get to the phone module?

When I first got my coupe I tried but gave up as it seemed that all the trim need to come out and I was a bit nervous of doing all of that!
 
curvature said:
Do you have any advice on removing the trim to get to the phone module?

When I first got my coupe I tried but gave up as it seemed that all the trim need to come out and I was a bit nervous of doing all of that!

It’s not that hard to be fair; you’ll need a trim tool for the plastic pop rivets, a T25 bit and maybe a torch to help see some of the hidden fixings for the upper plastic trim.

When my Bluetooth adapter arrives I’ll take some photos as I go because I’ve decided that I want to stick it down to avoid any rattles. When I took the boot trim out the other day I was pretty liberal with the anti rattle tape and it’s quietened things down nicely.
 
I’ve had a mixed week with the car so far and the bad bit was all my own fault. :headbang:

I’ll get that bit out the way first. I went into the office on Tuesday and parked in the nearest multi storey car park which I’m usually super careful in because the ramps felt awkward in my 335i which had much better visibility. I had a moment where I wasn’t as careful as usual and heard a scraping as I turned left. I assumed that it was my rear wheel and I was very angry with myself all the way home.

I arrived home, checked the wheel and it was fine. I then spotted this…. :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:

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I’ll get a proper repair sorted in due course, but in the meantime I made it look much better with some effort with a clay bar, fine wet and dry and some touch up paint.

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The better news is that I’ve been working my way through a few other jobs which success.

Firstly, I plugged in the connector that I’d removed to fit my aux socket so phone calls now work properly in the car. My BlueMusic adapter arrived and was super easy to fit and my phone connected first time. The infotainment at least feels a bit more modern than it did.

I used my wife’s E91 to drop my new wheels off for paint but the new rear tyres hadn’t arrived in time. I managed to squeeze a pair of Asymmetric 6’s in the boot of the Zed.

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My spacers arrived today so I spent a few minutes chucking them on.

Rear, before.

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Rear with 15mm spacers

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Fronts, stock.

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With 12mm spacers added.

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All of my suspension parts have arrived now, so I’m hoping to start work tomorrow night and finish Saturday in time for an alignment on Monday.
 
Seen this car on Pistonheads in Readers Cars and if this is anything like your previous BMWs and their threads, the car has gone to very good home. Congrats on the purchase.
 
I didn’t get to charge into sorting the suspension out on the car this weekend due to poor weather last night and other distractions, including this one’s arrival

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I also received a text to say that my refurbed wheels were ready for collection so I headed over to pick them up because it was easy to steal my wife’s E91. This is where this update might get a bit controversial….

I’ve never liked the 108’s but I struggled to find other options so ended up with a set of 261’s which I picked up last weekend. I decided to be a bit braver than silver / pale gunmetal so opted for a satin gold. I chose a colour which looked quite pale in the paint catalog (in my head I was thinking Porsche gold rather than something bolder like Ferrari gold). Upon arrival I had a bit of an oh s**t moment because they were much closer to the latter than the former particularly under the harsh light at the painters.

Anyway, I paid and took them home to get them ready for fitting with some trepidation. First up was a quick clean before applying a coupe of coats of Alien Magic ceramic spray. At this point, they were still looking very very bright.

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It was then time to fit them.

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Seeing them against the dark blue paint a made me start to feel a bit more at ease. It’s certainly quite bold, but I think it works.

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It was then time to take a few better pictures but the colour proved quite difficult to capture accurately with a phone - it often looked really yellow. These are a few that look vaguely like it does in real life.

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Whilst the outcome is a bit different to what I initially had in mind and it wasn’t love at first sight when collecting them, I’m actually pleased with how they’ve turned out. The colour works with the dark blue and suits the unusual shape of the car, but I’m well aware that they’ll be a bit marmite.
 
It's good to see something different and the colour works well with your dark blue car. :thumbsup:
 
Mr Tidy said:
It's good to see something different and the colour works well with your dark blue car. :thumbsup:

Thanks. They’ve proved to be a bit divisive, but I’m pleased and as you say the good works with the dark blue.
 
Good to see you on here, Sam.
We move in similar ways.
130i Limited Edition to Z4 Coupe with 216 wheels.
Are we seeing you at Gaydon this weekend?
 
Meds said:
Good to see you on here, Sam.
We move in similar ways.
130i Limited Edition to Z4 Coupe with 216 wheels.
Are we seeing you at Gaydon this weekend?

Cheers mate.

Unfortunately I can’t make Gaydon this weekend due to catching up with family. Well have to get a C&M dinner sorted…
 
Since having the car, it’s always had a tendency to tramline. Sometimes it’s ok, but other times it’s quite bad. It’s better since ditching the shitty Dunlop tyres it came with.

So today, I set about replacing the front wishbones, drop links and ARB bushes. It took longer than anticipated because the nuts for the middle ball joint on the front wishbones was larger than I thought / read online. I had to make a mast minute dash to Halfords for a 22mm spanner and Sod’s Law, my local store didn’t have one in stock, so I had to go a bit further afield.

The passenger side was dead easy because access is better but it’s a pain in the bum on the drivers side because of an engine mount which restricts you to teeny turns.

I fitted the following:

  • Moog wishbones
  • Moog tie rod assemblies
  • Mood drop links
  • Powerflex ARB bushes

To my untrained eye, the existing bushes didn’t look too bad but I’m pretty sure they were original because the wishbones were BMW branded ones.

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To improve access to the middle nut on the drivers side, I dropped the whole ARB (which is a bit crusty).

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And all fitted.

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It was my first time getting up close to the underside of my car, and a few things were spotted.

  • Access flap for the oil drain plug is missing so I’ll get one ordered
  • Oil sump is weeping ever so slightly
  • Passenger side disc was missing the retaining screw and it turns out the thread is shagged and very rusty. I’ll see if running a tap through will save it, if not the front hub will get replaced at some point

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  • The fan had previously been removed and whoever fitted it missed the various groves and clips lower down so it was flapping about. This has been refitted properly now

Tomorrow I’m tacking a few rear jobs; new RTAB, bush carriers because mine are rusty as and rear drop links. I seem to have lots of front toe, so I need to adjust the tie rods if I get time.
 
Having replaced a few bits on the front end, I set about working on the rear end on Sunday. I was supposed to replace the rear drop links but I decided it was too much of a ball ache, especially with some of the bolts being so crusty. Access isn’t the best around the back end on these.

When I took the car for an alignment originally, the chap doing it was wary of adjusting the rear because the carriers for the RTAB were pretty crusty (he did show me) and the bolt heads didn’t look too clever, but they same out without too much fuss, I think one needed the socket forcing onto it.

Passenger side carrier free.

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The bush looked a bit scabby.

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The tool used for pressing out the old bush was an eBay special.

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I needed to use a breaker bar on the tool, with the arm braced against the car with some wood and supported by a jack to stop it moving too much. It did come out though.

I had planned to use Powerflex Heritage RTAB, but they didn’t seem to fit into the arms very well and I couldn’t find a way to get the carriers over them whilst keeping the, in situ so I gave up and used the normal Powerflex bushes which seemed easier to install.

Once the passenger side was buttoned up, it was time to crack in with the drivers side. The carrier this side seemed far crustier.

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The bush was also much more tired.

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It was also much more of a sod to get out, requiring a lot of force.

The car was aligned on Monday and generally feels much better to drive. It’s nowhere as planted though as speeds pick up compared to my old 335i although that was running extra front camber plus as many M3 arms that would bolt on. It was also set up by String Theory, so I think I’ll treat this to a better quality alignment.
 
chanlon1 said:
That's a neat idea for the base of the axle stand to sit in and not damage the driveway.

I made them to help get the car level when changing gearbox oil etc. my drive has a very slight slope.
 
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