My 7th Z Thread

[True-Blue]

So I picked up my 7th Z4 on Thursday, a relatively low mileage E85 3.0Si MSport manual in Sapphire Black with Red leather and piano black trim… one of 11 in this combination according to ‘the spreadsheet’.

It’s nicely specified, and comes complete with a Scorpion Cat-back stainless steel exhaust and BC racing BR coilover kit. The Scorpion will be staying, sounds superb… not 100% sure on the Coilovers yet. I’m tempted to revert to Sachs/Bilstein Shocks and Eibach Pro springs and sell the BC’s but we’ll see.

The previous 3 owners where all on the forum, which I see as a positive and I may actually end up keeping this one for a while. I’ve regretted some of my previous Z4 sales, and I’ve instantly taken to this one.

It’s not perfect, it is a 15 year old car after all, but I’ll be getting the minor bodywork blemishes sorted as I’d like to get it back to mint.

Paintwork looks like it’s been corrected before, but probably a few years ago now… so’ll be correcting it again and I’ll probably ceramic coat it to make it easier to clean.

The 108’s are in great condition, but they’ll probably go in favour of 107’s or 224’s depending on what comes up. Never been a big fan of 108’s

I’ll get some of my own pictures up soon.

Weirdly my partner, who detests black with red leather normally, really likes it ….and disappeared off in it for a couple of hours today

My kids love it and are calling it ‘The Batmobile’!

 

[Weston Matt]

Nice looking Z there. I was looking at BC’s on mine but I’m developing a Cayman itch I’m trying not to scratch

 

[Mr Tidy]

That looks like a great example you have bought True-Black. :lol:

And if your OH and kids all like it there's no reason not to keep it!

Agree with you about the 108s - they seem to need an expensive refurb fairly often. I sold the clean set on my previous Coupe before they started to deteriorate.

 

[Barty]

Nicely specced Z4, love a red interior. Looking forward to the updates, enjoy!

 

[Number5]

Congrats Martin.
Looks a belter

 

[True-Blue]

Nice looking Z there. I was looking at BC’s on mine but I’m developing a Cayman itch I’m trying not to scratch

To be honest, I think I can soften up the ride as they are adjustable and it’s actually pretty good anyway. It’s more that it’s is in really nice shape and I think I’d prefer it to be a bit less ‘Modified’.

Having let two previous 3.0Si roadsters go, I think this one might be a keeper so I’d prefer it closer to original specification I think…. We’ll see

 

[True-Blue]

That looks like a great example you have bought True-Black. :lol:

And if your OH and kids all like it there's no reason not to keep it!

Agree with you about the 108s - they seem to need an expensive refurb fairly often. I sold the clean set on my previous Coupe before they started to deteriorate.

The 108’s are relatively heavy, prone to corrosion and I much prefer 107’s or 224’s.. they’ll almost definitely go

 

[True-Blue]

Nicely specced Z4, love a red interior. Looking forward to the updates, enjoy!

Thank you, it’s going to be slow progress over time. I tend to paint correct over a week or so, doing a bit at a time. I find it therapeutic doing it that way rather than hard work

 

[True-Blue]

Congrats Martin.
Looks a belter

Thanks Alan,

It’s a lovely old thing, my favourite Z so far… it might stick around, don’t want anymore sellers remorse

 

[Barty]

Nicely specced Z4, love a red interior. Looking forward to the updates, enjoy!

Thank you, it’s going to be slow progress over time. I tend to paint correct over a week or so, doing a bit at a time. I find it therapeutic doing it that way rather than hard work

It’s a great way to approach such a task! I’d love to be able to do it that way, but customers often expect their car back over the weekend, so we’ll take it in late Thursday afternoon, work until 23:00, then get back to it Friday and Saturday both from 07:00 to about 00:00. Sunday is to do a final check and hand the car back. With the two of us, we can cram over 80 man-hours of work in less than 3 days. So I really do envy your approach :lol:

As for the Z, maybe I’ll try it your way :wink:

 

[True-Blue]

Nicely specced Z4, love a red interior. Looking forward to the updates, enjoy!

Thank you, it’s going to be slow progress over time. I tend to paint correct over a week or so, doing a bit at a time. I find it therapeutic doing it that way rather than hard work

It’s a great way to approach such a task! I’d love to be able to do it that way, but customers often expect their car back over the weekend, so we’ll take it in late Thursday afternoon, work until 23:00, then get back to it Friday and Saturday both from 07:00 to about 00:00. Sunday is to do a final check and hand the car back. With the two of us, we can cram over 80 man-hours of work in less than 3 days. So I really do envy your approach :lol:

As for the Z, maybe I’ll try it your way :wink:

All my friends ask me to do their cars, and I nearly always say no.

I did a single stage correction on one of my best friends Volvo XC60’s in a weekend so he could sell it, but he’s done loads for me.

I really couldn’t do it for a living, would take all the enjoyment out of it for me

 

[Barty]

The fun for us has shifted away from the work in itself and more towards the stories behind the cars we do and the enjoyment of the owners we get to share in. Totally understand your view on this. Sorry for the thread-highjack by the way! :?

Any specific plans to really make it your own, after having put it right of course? Besides the change of wheels :wink:

 

[True-Blue]

The fun for us has shifted away from the work in itself and more towards the stories behind the cars we do and the enjoyment of the owners we get to share in. Totally understand your view on this. Sorry for the thread-highjack by the way! :?

Any specific plans to really make it your own, after having put it right of course? Besides the change of wheels :wink:

No worries re hijack, I’m not precious about the thread

I think anything I do will be subtle, thinking about an M3 strut brace but mainly for the looks. There’s been a fair bit of work on replacing bushes etc already, and within the last 10k miles, so hopefully not too much to do there.

I might upgrade the speakers, but behind the stock grills.
I might replace the water pump as a precaution, it’s on 59.5k and it seems they can fail from this mileage onwards.
I’m probably going to deactivate the headlight washers, especially as it’s black! it’s not going to get driven that much at night and I keep my toy cars very clean anyway.

To be honest it’s mostly going to be TLC and keeping it mainly standard

 

[Mr Tidy]

Some good plans there.

Water pump is one of those do you/don't you things. Mine died on my 1st Coupe at 60K but my 2nd was still on the original at 91K!

As for the headlight washers it isn't just the streaks on the wings that are annoying. It turned out my current car had one leaking when I bought it. Got that sorted, then found a clip on the cover had broken so after I replaced that Fuse 40 came out. :lol:

 

[True-Blue]

Just been out for a drive, it surprising what difference the interior colour scheme makes to the feel of a car…. Really feel like a nice place to be despite the old design, the favourite combination of my previous E85’s & E86.

Liking the stubby BMW gear knob too.

Don’t think the CDV’s been done on this car yet either.

My first photo, not cleaned the car at all yet, so all the Piano black will be smudge free when I’m done

 

[Barty]

Red and black is such a classic and timeless combination; you can't go wrong. Cockpit looks absolutely lovely. Leather appears to be a little shiny perhaps, but no doubt that's on the detailing list :wink:

Some nice and subtle changes planned, looking forward to seeing the M3 brace. It's definitely something worth doing for the looks alone, a bit of engine bay-decoration never hurt anyone.

 

[True-Blue]

Yes, leather in very good condition just picked up some oils over the years. Some of it is still nicely mat, and I’ll be giving my best efforts to get it all cleaned back to a lovely mat finish

 

[True-Blue]

Well, I’ve been really busy since I picked this car up a week ago,

Jobs for this weekend are;

to assess the suspension, I need to take the car out on some roads I know well and decide whether to keep the current set up and try and tweak it a bit, or move to B12 or B4’s and Eibach Springs. I had the B12 kit on another E85 and it is a good compromise between handling and ride quality IMHO.

I know many on here swear by B4’s and Eibach Pro’s so that another option.

I’m going to give the car a proper once over to see if there’s anything I’ve missed, but I think it’s a good un’

I’m going to have a look at cleaning the engine bay and the interior, neither are bad at all, both could be better 8)

Oh, and the search continues for 107’s or 224’s….. but I might be leaning slightly towards genuine 18’’ 405m’s in a square set up :?

 

[True-Blue]

I’ve made a start…… stage 1 of seat cleaning complete, didn’t have a lot of time but wanted to feel I’d done something this weekend :roll:

They need more work on the cleaning front, not happy with them yet (was just a quick job) before conditioning with a non-glossy conditioner, and I’ve not touched the door cards yet.

Winding back the clock on 15 years of dirt, grime and no doubt leather polish

Before, everything looked at bit shiny like this;



After;

 

[Barty]

Lovely result, looks good! Nice matte finish and a massive transformation from their shiny state