Proud new owner! Have some questions

[Nisaja]

The 3.5mm socket gives really poor audio...best audio is through the usb, then Bluetooth..the 3.5mm is the worst , adjusting the level may help.

Water on the window switch gear can disable the unit as described, with luck after a day or two in a dry atmosphere it should work again, don’t ask how I know.

Your data figures are here https://www.automobile-catalog.com/auta_perf1.php

Thank you so much! I adjusted the level. The problem is not the volume. It's the bass. For some reason FM sounds way better with a lot more low end bass. Audio from the 3.5mm jack sounds flat.

That's great! The drivers side panel doesn't work at all. Not even the mirror controls. I'm really worried because this was a perfect car with nothing to do, and now I screwed it up what's the worst that could happen?

Thanks for the link! Great info, but I needed the min and Max entry speeds for each gear set by the computer.

https://imgur.com/gallery/Kb5tIOc

This is what I'm talking about. The maximum speed I can enter into a gear, coming from a higher gear.

It’s not that simple..the ZF8HP is ‘smart’ and ‘adaptive’ so it’s shift permitted speeds up and down are governed by many variables

Rate of acceleration or de-acceleration, turn rate, brakes on or off, previous driving behaviour and mode set..

So if you want to play set it to manual mode and sports+ mode then use the paddles to blip up and down and see what she does...generally she will let you shift down unless the shift places it above the lower gear red line..

You're absolutely right. I just remembered when I was driving the other day, when I shifted to 1st coming from second, the dash kept flashing "M1" but didn't actually shift to 1st because the speed was too high, but as soon as the speed dropped, it shifted into 1st without me having to press the pedal again. Basically if the speed drops to it's required speed within something like 3 seconds, it'll downshift. That's really cool. It kind of solves my problem. I don't really NEED to know the max downshift speeds for each gear anymore. I really like the gearbox. It's fast in sport mode when shifting manually, and seamless when in normal mode. The previous owner deleted the muffler, so it pops and crackles. Not too bad for a 4 cylinder.

 

[Anonymous]

You should get it re-mapped or a tuning box eg JB4 done, it’s transformational , the 8 speed ZF box is perfectly mated to a re-map :driving: :driving: :driving:

 

[Nisaja]

Guys the window switches work! Yay! Tried them today and everything works. Phew. I couldn't even sleep properly because of this.

This is the only working car I have at the moment. My "daily" is at the shop almost everyday. . I was so happy when I bought this car because for the first time, this car actually works. When this whole thing happened I was devastated thinking I screwed this up too.

This car is turning out to be a great little roadster. I bought this because my daily was going in for paint and I needed a car, and I thought why not a Z4.

It's way more comfortable and refined than I expected. I'm loving the hardtop. It's basically a coupe when the top is up. It's civilized on the freeway with decent wind and road noise. A great cruiser.

At first when I got in, I was a little sad about the light steering. My daily's (E38) steering is much heavier. But then I found out that activating sports mode makes the steering heavier. That's really neat! As I've mentioned before, this is my first new-ish BMW. Actually, all the cars I've had are around 15+ years old. So this is all new to me. It's crazy how far these cars have come.

 

[Nisaja]

You should get it re-mapped or a tuning box eg JB4 done, it’s transformation, the 8 speed ZF box is perfectly mated to a re-map :driving: :driving: :driving:

I was just reading up on it. The only thing that worries me is the excess stress caused by increasing the boost. I'm too paranoid. To give you an idea, I have an FD RX7 that I'm keeping stock just because of all the horror stories. And those cars barely stay stock :rofl:

 

[Anonymous]

You should get it re-mapped or a tuning box eg JB4 done, it’s transformation, the 8 speed ZF box is perfectly mated to a re-map :driving: :driving: :driving:

I was just reading up on it. The only thing that worries me is the excess stress caused by increasing the boost. I'm too paranoid. To give you an idea, I have an FD RX7 that I'm keeping stock just because of all the horror stories. And those cars barely stay stock :rofl:

Well the 28i has identical internals just a different map in its DME..so that’s 240 ish bhp versus 185...many US/UK cars run 265-285 with no apparent issues..

Nothing wrong with being paranoid...just means they will get you

 

[Nisaja]

You should get it re-mapped or a tuning box eg JB4 done, it’s transformation, the 8 speed ZF box is perfectly mated to a re-map :driving: :driving: :driving:

I was just reading up on it. The only thing that worries me is the excess stress caused by increasing the boost. I'm too paranoid. To give you an idea, I have an FD RX7 that I'm keeping stock just because of all the horror stories. And those cars barely stay stock :rofl:

Well the 28i has identical internals just a different map in its DME..so that’s 240 ish bhp versus 185...many US/UK cars run 265-285 with no apparent issues..

Nothing wrong with being paranoid...just means they will get you

I was trying to find more info on this. From what I've read on here, the 28i has bigger fuel injectors and larger turbos? These were posts from 2012 though, so they were probably false. I couldn't find any recent posts about the differences.

what's running 265-285? 20i or the 28i?

 

[Anonymous]

I was just reading up on it. The only thing that worries me is the excess stress caused by increasing the boost. I'm too paranoid. To give you an idea, I have an FD RX7 that I'm keeping stock just because of all the horror stories. And those cars barely stay stock :rofl:

Well the 28i has identical internals just a different map in its DME..so that’s 240 ish bhp versus 185...many US/UK cars run 265-285 with no apparent issues..

Nothing wrong with being paranoid...just means they will get you

I was trying to find more info on this. From what I've read on here, the 28i has bigger fuel injectors and larger turbos? These were posts from 2012 though, so they were probably false. I couldn't find any recent posts about the differences.

what's running 265-285? 20i or the 28i?

Incorrect in the E89 in all N20 variants all main parts are functionally identical...

See

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=123191

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=124513

For copious detail and commentary from many

 

[Roddy]

Read the whole thread before being too flippant with a new guy.

Guys the window switches work! Yay! Tried them today and everything works. Phew. I couldn't even sleep properly because of this.

Ignition key works, who knew

 

[Roddy]

Thanks a lot. Sadly I live in Asia. I'm planning to wrap the roof in black so I'm starting to think the black grills will suit the car. Will def post some pics!

I'm in Asia too This isn't my car, but I do have Alpine white and the black roof idea is appealing 8)
I haven't tried wrapping, but the roof is a small enough area to try I reckon. Add the black grills....

 

[Nisaja]

Well the 28i has identical internals just a different map in its DME..so that’s 240 ish bhp versus 185...many US/UK cars run 265-285 with no apparent issues..

Nothing wrong with being paranoid...just means they will get you

I was trying to find more info on this. From what I've read on here, the 28i has bigger fuel injectors and larger turbos? These were posts from 2012 though, so they were probably false. I couldn't find any recent posts about the differences.

what's running 265-285? 20i or the 28i?

Incorrect in the E89 in all N20 variants all main parts are functionally identical...

See

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=123191

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=124513

For copious detail and commentary from many

Great! Thanks so much! Appreciate it.

 

[Nisaja]

Thanks a lot. Sadly I live in Asia. I'm planning to wrap the roof in black so I'm starting to think the black grills will suit the car. Will def post some pics!

I'm in Asia too This isn't my car, but I do have Alpine white and the black roof idea is appealing 8)
I haven't tried wrapping, but the roof is a small enough area to try I reckon. Add the black grills....
IMG_1313.jpg

yep that's the plan. Looks sick. I'll be posting pics as soon as it's done.

 

[Nisaja]

Guys today I took the car for a drive. But on my way home, the switch that controls all 4 windows started acting out, and of course, it got stuck with all 4 windows DOWN. I can bring them up by pulling on the switch, but as Soon as I let go, the windows go down. Really annoying. What now?

 

[YDB]

I can't help with the windows but I changed the globes for the angel eyes, easy to do and plenty of info on this forum, but you will find that whilst the light is a nice modern white, the rings around the inner light are much brighter than the outside ring. One globe does both rings per side. So its not an even look but I still think the white light is better than the older and dated looking yellow.

 

[enuff_zed]

Read the whole thread before being too flippant with a new guy.

Guys the window switches work! Yay! Tried them today and everything works. Phew. I couldn't even sleep properly because of this.

Ignition key works, who knew

Guys today I took the car for a drive. But on my way home, the switch that controls all 4 windows started acting out, and of course, it got stuck with all 4 windows DOWN. I can bring them up by pulling on the switch, but as Soon as I let go, the windows go down. Really annoying. What now?

Problem not fixed.
Who knew

 

[Roddy]

Read the whole thread before being too flippant with a new guy.

Guys the window switches work! Yay! Tried them today and everything works. Phew. I couldn't even sleep properly because of this.

Ignition key works, who knew

Guys today I took the car for a drive. But on my way home, the switch that controls all 4 windows started acting out, and of course, it got stuck with all 4 windows DOWN. I can bring them up by pulling on the switch, but as Soon as I let go, the windows go down. Really annoying. What now?

Problem not fixed.
Who knew

You win :rofl:
My wife wonders why I'm reluctant to sell my Z3

 

[enuff_zed]

You win :rofl:
My wife wonders why I'm reluctant to sell my Z3

Cos you'd miss all the forum banter?? :roll:

 

[Nisaja]

Sorry for the late reply guys!

The window switches work again! I left the door open and let the window controls bake under the hot sun. That seemed to have fixed it.

I went to a local auto parts store and tried installing some off the shelf H8 LED bulbs for the halos. They were too long. Guess I'll need BMW specific LEDs.

I installed some LED interior bulbs. They turned out to be dimmer than the stock bulbs!?!

There's a whistling sound when reversing. It's not a typical straight cut gear whine like on other cars. It's more like a police siren noise. The pitch increases with speed. I googled it up and it seems normal. Just want to confirm.

Got a TPMS warning out of the blue. Checked the tire pressure and reset it. Didn't show up again.

Got a PDC warning washing the car with a power washer. Went away after a few hours lol.

Apart from that, the car is great. I was thinking of getting a remap. Been reading a lot about the 28i tune for this car. There's a local tuner claiming 275hp for this car. I'm tempted but I'm worried about the longevity of the engine.

I wrapped the roof in black yesterday. Will def post some proper pics today, but here's one I took for Instagram.

 

[clarker63]

Looks great! Posh garage you have there...

 

[Nisaja]

As promised, some proper pics!

Car has been great. Not given me any trouble. The window switches still work. Knock on wood!

Just recently found out that it's got it's cats gutted and it's mufflers removed. It only has the stock resonators. Is it ok to run catless?

 

[Nisaja]

Looks great! Posh garage you have there...

lol this was at the local mall