Hi all, I recently (Aug 16) bought a 2004 3.0 manual, SE, 38k miles, Toledo blue so thought I would introduce myself. I had joined anther Z4 forum which was fine but a bit quiet until I found this one.
My daily driver is 2010 350CDI E-Class but after my friend bought himself a Caterham I decided to treat myself to a second fun car so we could have blats around Essex/Herts.
The car seems to be pretty well looked after and the previous owner was into his cars and I think a member of this forum. However, when I bought it, it was in need of major service. I'm not mechanically minded so in the last 8 weeks or so the following work has been done by OC Motorsport in Battlesbridge. (Ollie Clark is the owner who specialises in tuning, modifying fast Fords but also does servicing and maintenance on all cars, a very honest straight up guy who has been looking after our cars for last 6 years. He's also happy if you supply your own parts as long as decent quality).
Service - Oil, oil filter, cabin filter (I did that myself!), air filter, spark plugs, coolant, brake fluid, diff oil, new front pads and clean up of the cradles, new wear sensor, air con regas.
I'm not into modifying cars but have made a few little changes to original:
Had gearbox oil changed for a mix of Redline ATF 4 and Redline MTF (recommended by forums and Opie oils) which has smoothed out the gearbox.
Had the CDV removed which for me made a significant improvement to the gearbox/clutch action and would recommend it to anyone.
Installed aux lead (managed that myself, just!)
Changed the 108 staggered 18" alloys for some 17" alloys that I bought and had refurbed and powder coated (PaintitUK in Billericay) and fitted with new Dunlop Sportmaxx. I'm not a fan of split rims and the smaller wheels with very quiet tyres give a smoother ride that I like (I'm getting old!!).
A few days into ownership I had the traction light and handbrake light come on, I could get it to go off but it would come back. I checked with this forum and Ollie put his computer thing on it and diagnosed high pressure brake sensor. £92 to Ocean BMW for a sensor, a trip to Ollie's and all sorted now.
I've given the car a very good clean up, wax, polish, inside and out and checked all the drain holes as well as cleaning and reproofing the roof with Renovo.
Whilst checking the drain holes noticed the broken rear spring (learnt on here it's common) so this Saturday Ollie has another little job of fitting 2 new Suplex springs (also learnt about these on here). Hopefully that will be it for repairs for awhile.
Changing the gearbox oil, removing CDV and moving to 17" wheels have made it nicer (for me) to drive and even 'er indoors liked it when she drove me home from the pub!!.
Really enjoying the andyfanshaw restoration thread - I'm crap at most practical things but very good at writing cheques !!
My daily driver is 2010 350CDI E-Class but after my friend bought himself a Caterham I decided to treat myself to a second fun car so we could have blats around Essex/Herts.
The car seems to be pretty well looked after and the previous owner was into his cars and I think a member of this forum. However, when I bought it, it was in need of major service. I'm not mechanically minded so in the last 8 weeks or so the following work has been done by OC Motorsport in Battlesbridge. (Ollie Clark is the owner who specialises in tuning, modifying fast Fords but also does servicing and maintenance on all cars, a very honest straight up guy who has been looking after our cars for last 6 years. He's also happy if you supply your own parts as long as decent quality).
Service - Oil, oil filter, cabin filter (I did that myself!), air filter, spark plugs, coolant, brake fluid, diff oil, new front pads and clean up of the cradles, new wear sensor, air con regas.
I'm not into modifying cars but have made a few little changes to original:
Had gearbox oil changed for a mix of Redline ATF 4 and Redline MTF (recommended by forums and Opie oils) which has smoothed out the gearbox.
Had the CDV removed which for me made a significant improvement to the gearbox/clutch action and would recommend it to anyone.
Installed aux lead (managed that myself, just!)
Changed the 108 staggered 18" alloys for some 17" alloys that I bought and had refurbed and powder coated (PaintitUK in Billericay) and fitted with new Dunlop Sportmaxx. I'm not a fan of split rims and the smaller wheels with very quiet tyres give a smoother ride that I like (I'm getting old!!).
A few days into ownership I had the traction light and handbrake light come on, I could get it to go off but it would come back. I checked with this forum and Ollie put his computer thing on it and diagnosed high pressure brake sensor. £92 to Ocean BMW for a sensor, a trip to Ollie's and all sorted now.
I've given the car a very good clean up, wax, polish, inside and out and checked all the drain holes as well as cleaning and reproofing the roof with Renovo.
Whilst checking the drain holes noticed the broken rear spring (learnt on here it's common) so this Saturday Ollie has another little job of fitting 2 new Suplex springs (also learnt about these on here). Hopefully that will be it for repairs for awhile.
Changing the gearbox oil, removing CDV and moving to 17" wheels have made it nicer (for me) to drive and even 'er indoors liked it when she drove me home from the pub!!.
Really enjoying the andyfanshaw restoration thread - I'm crap at most practical things but very good at writing cheques !!
Nice looking Zed. Like your style down sizing the wheels for a better ride. 
North West Surrey
south yorkshire