New weekend Toy

N

Newowner1

Member
Hi all,

I have just bought a new to me 2003 2.5 e85 as bit of weekend toy. I have recently been lucky enough to be given a company car, which meant selling my own personal bmw f30 m sport. However the company car is a bit boring, and I needed something to help scratch my itch.

The car I have bought is generally ok, but needs a bit of TLC. It shines up well from a good wash, but I can see it has few oil leaks. Mostly from the rocker cover, which is dripping oil on to the exhaust manifold and I get some smoke when stationary. The other appears to be from the oil sump gasket, but doesn't look to severe. I have decided to replace the rocker cover gasket, do have ordered the kit and aim to do this next weekend. I dont have any real mechanical experience, but the car was cheap enough that I thought it warrants me having a go at some DIY maintence as I have always wanted the opportunity to have a go at these kind of things.

Anyway, wish me luck and aby advice is welcomed

Thanks
 

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Hi, that looks a nice car.
If you have no 'hands on' experience then this is probably an easy job to start with.
Best idea, in the nicest possible way, is to treat yourself like a complete novice.
Read everything twice, then look over the job and make sure you fully understand every step before you start.
Even on a simple job, take photos as you go, so you can put everything back in the right place.
Give yourself double the time it would normally take.
As it is not your daily car, you can stop at any point and finish later; helpful if you need advice before you continue.
Obviously a rocker gasket won't disable a car completely but I knew a guy who thought he'd tackle a suspension job on his weekend toy, knowing he could use his daily if he had to stop. It was only when he'd sheared a bolt on the strut mounting that he realised his daily was trapped at the back of the drive :headbang:
Have fun. Hope it all goes well.
 
I plan to check everything twice before I get into it. I like the tip about not trapping my main car in. Lucky the z4 is in my garage, so out of the way.

Any one have thoughts about using a trickle charger. ? I hooked one up yesterday directly to battery as the car was reversed into the garage and the power source was closest to the boot. I've read some where not to attach directly on to both terminals when the battery is still connected to the car, however I couldn't fit a suitable grounding point in the boot. We had bad thunderstorm here the other day, so I suspect it set the alarm off in the car and slightly drained the battery. Quick charge on the trickle charger and all was good again. I would inagine it probably needs a new battery, but seeing as it's barely going to get used I think it could benefit from a trickle charger anyway
 
Is that 17" wheels?

Things to do....

Interior pics
Error codes checked and a list of what needs looked at.
18" Wheels and tyres and sell the 17" wheels.
Spacers
Brake Discs and Pads
Braided brake hoses
Bushes
Alignment
Aux / Bluetooth
Gaptech

Full detail.
 
Just cut this from a previous rocker cover gasket post that I made -

Post by Lance » Fri Mar 22, 2019 4:33 pm

OP, it's a straight forward job changing the gasket, lots of good advice above :thumbsup:

I have to advise the same caution as some have mentioned, the old gaskets, especially the circular gaskets, become very brittle and can shatter as you remove, take care here! I spent longer trying to retrieve a stray bit of gasket shrapnel than I did changing the whole gasket!

Basic tools and about 60-90 mins is plenty.

There is a good you tube video on this job, by user zed4me

My new gasket was £30 ish from ECP, personally I wouldn't bother cleaning under the cover.
 
Thanks for advice guys. Just watched the video on you tube. Looks straight forward enough.

Wheels will potentially get changed, depending on how we get on.

Going to concentrate on the maintence to start with and then when feeling a bit happier, might start spending on the cosmetics
 
Newowner1 said:
Any one have thoughts about using a trickle charger. ? I hooked one up yesterday directly to battery as the car was reversed into the garage and the power source was closest to the boot. I've read some where not to attach directly on to both terminals when the battery is still connected to the car, however I couldn't fit a suitable grounding point in the boot.
Click to expand...

I’ve read on here that it didn’t matter - and that’s what I’ve done, connected my Ctek direct to the battery using the ‘comfort connectors’.
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=68684
 
Hi and welcome OP. :thumbsup:

I hope you get your rocker cover gasket sorted!
 
+1 on Lance's advice about the cam cover gaskets shattering. Make sure you pick ALL the bits out of the cylinder head if (when) any bits fly off and hide in the nooks and crannies. I'd recommend stuffing towel into the cylinder head to catch bits and stop them finding hidey holes. It is essentially a nice easy job though :)
 
wonkydonkey said:
+1 on Lance's advice about the cam cover gaskets shattering. Make sure you pick ALL the bits out of the cylinder head if (when) any bits fly off and hide in the nooks and crannies. I'd recommend stuffing towel into the cylinder head to catch bits and stop them finding hidey holes. It is essentially a nice easy job though :)
Click to expand...

I am also a +1 on this can't stress this point enough!! I had a mild panic when doing mine as it fell pretty deep and sat precariously on an edge to go out of reach. Needed hands of a surgeon and long tweezers to retrieve.

Bunch of towels is a great idea :thumbsup:

Oh and welcome OP :)
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Been out for its first Sunday morning blast. Really enjoyed it and so impressed for a 16 year old car. No knocks, bangs or rattles when driving along. Engine really smooth. Considering its fine 150k miles. Will be even happier once I've tackled the rocker cover as I can smell the oil burning when stationary. Overall really pleased.
 

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Newowner1 said:
Overall really pleased.
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You can tell from your first photo! :lol:

And your car looks great. :thumbsup: It certainly doesn't look like a 150K mile car!
 
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