New Z4 owner and board member!

[Rossi1001]

Hello! This forum has already been an absolute goldmine of really useful information so I'm hoping to get into it a bit more and get to know some of you in the future!

I've just this month bought a 2003 Z4 2.5 Auto in "titan-silber". It's got 92,000 miles and had a lot of owners (I'm the 11th! Now I know you're probably thinking why the auto, but my daily is a Honda HRV manual and as it's mostly going to be used for nice weekend days out, rather than burning round a track, I deliberately went for an automatic.

Good points;

• No warning lights (touch wood!) other than a battery one the first couple of days (but it hadn't been in regular use and that's now stopped)

• It's got a working roof (again touch wood!)

• Almost a years MOT with only one advisory

• Had a major service inc plugs and a lot of brakes work just 700 miles ago

• The previous owner fixed an Airbag warning light at a cost of £686 (ouch!)

• Someone has previously fitted a (now rather old) Bluetooth device to the CD changer

Bad points:

• The parking sensors and spare remote key are dead

• The electric mirrors don't really move much

• The ashtray is stuck open (this annoys me immensely!)

• Aside from the previous year with the last owner, there is no older service history

• The handbrake doesn't seem to hold it

• Seller warned me the alarm can randomly go off and that's happened once so far.

I've bought some new badges for it already, along with a cruise control stalk, but I'm going to hold off spending much more until it's had a good once over from a trusted independent mechanic I've used for years next Tuesday. The stalk was only £120 from my local BMW main dealer (Fairfield Southend) which I actually thought was quite reasonable for a new genuine part. There were plenty of used ones online at that price or in some cases considerably more.

Assuming it's all good long term I'd like to upgrade the stereo / get some sort of modern screen in there (the existing sound quality is dreadful!), fix the parking sensors and maybe retrofit heated seats at some point. Other than that I just plan to enjoy it!

Any tips (especially on the alarm) would be most welcome.

 

[MikeyH]

Hi and welcome to the forum, nice looking car. Have fun

 

[paddy wright]

Car looks well, I’d suggest a new battery or trickle charger to keep this one topped up. Low batteries can cause lots of issues including the alarm going off randomly.

 

[enuff_zed]

Welcome aboard.
My wife also has a 2.5i auto and loves it.
You may be able to fix the ashtray issue. Carefully lever out the whole assembly and you may find the mechanism behind is jammed or disconnected.
Failing that, pretty sure I have one in the garage.
Regarding the roof: if it is working ok, then now is the time to move it into the boot to keep it warm and dry.
Bit of a trek up here for you I know, but happy to help if you'd like it done.
For the random alarm, try disconnecting the bonnet switch, centre of the rear bulkhead, as this is the usual culprit.
It can also be caused by seatbelts not retracting properly and then moving back later.

 

[buzyg]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have a few niggles to sort, then lots of smiles to enjoy.

Spare key probably just needs resetting to Match the ECU. Https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=135768
Alarm can be frustrating. Under bonnet sensor/ weak battery / cabin sensor ! Mine turned out to be the filler cap sensor.
Good luck sorting.

 

[olive]

Hello and welcome

your car seems to be in good condition

 

[olive]

Hello and welcome

your car seems to be in good condition

 

[Mr Tidy]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Fitting cruise should be straight-forward as early cars are pre-wired for all the options.

So far as your dead key is concerned they only charge when you use them, so opening the car with the working one then using the "dead" one may bring it back to life. Failing that try putting it next to an Oral B toothbrush charger - other brands are available. It has been known to work unless the battery is completely shot.

Handbrakes on BMWs are usually pretty hopeless. Sadly it will probably need dismantling as it operates on shoes inside the rear discs.

Good luck getting it sorted so you can enjoy it at it's best.

 

[Rossi1001]

Thank you for all the tips and replies here. Unfortunately I've had a few niggles including several new faults sadly.

Had an intermittent non starting issue. After much head scratching (and a new battery I didn't need), Green Flag man was about to recover it on his truck and it suddenly turned over in neutral (it's an Auto). Turned the key all the way and it fired up. The gearbox was not selecting Park properly. Had a gearbox service done and the oil was like marmite / treacle and thankfully this has cured that problem.

My local independent fixed the parking sensors. It was just unplugged, though two days later they stopped again. He wants another £100 to take the bumper off again so I'm going to look myself this time.

Alarm still goes off randomly and there is no pattern to the sensors that are triggering it, so that's still a mystery.

It's now leaking oil quite badly from the valve cover and oil filter housing gaskets. There are amazing videos for fixing these on YouTube but I'm not confident enough to have a go myself.

Needed drivers side shock absorber doing. It was an advisory on the July 2022 MOT (just prior to my purchase of it) but my mechanic said it should have been a fail as it was completely gone. This makes me worried now that the MOT was a bit iffy....

And finally the passenger window regulator cable snapped. Attempted a cable repair on this today myself and have given up for now after much swearing!

Also my mechanic advised the underneath / suspension is very rusty, to the point where he wondered if the car had been flooded? I'm going to get it on a ramp and see for myself shortly and see how bad it is. No mention of rust on any recent MOTs though.

Not having much luck so far. I do hope I'll feel better about it once the window is fixed and the oil leaks dealt with (oil smells from the heater are not pleasant!)