So I got a Z in a part ex deal a year ago.......

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Well good evening ladies and gents. New here and alittle green around the gills about all things Z to be honest but am learning fast thanks to this place which I find compulsive reading each day now. Ok so alittle about the title,.... Last year I was unlucky enough to have a full size stag deer run across the motorway straight into my Audi which was written off in the process, the deer was also a write off ! Not a nice experience but the search for a new daily car meant I got to drive my weekend toy( mx5 ) around for a while. I couldn't afford what I wanted which was a new Audi unless I sold the MX5 sold I decided to do exactly that, and as it happens I friend wanted it for his good lady and asked me to take his daughters 03 plate Z4 in part ex. A deal was struck my new Audi was bought and I still retained a weekend toy. Now even though the Z was filthy inside and out and seemed to be basic to me it drove well and it all seemed to be there although a few things needed attention. So I set to work.
Well after a week or so working in the evenings all seemed well with the Z and considering all the other weekend toys I've owned , 911, Boxster S , SLK AMG , s2000' MX5 this little Z being the oldest ( apart from the 911) this car is a great little car, it's not the fastest or the most comfortable ( SLK for these) or the best handling ( Boxster S) but it does everything really well it's the best all round car I've had for a sports car. I took it around Europe last summer for 5000 miles and it didn't miss a beat and now I'm totally smitten the her.

Ok so a friend of mine was smitten with my car too and decided to set about buying one which is how I ended up on here, and I think a purchase may happen tomorrow from this very forum . However it has astounded me the crap that is out there. I'm sure there are many great cars here that far out class my Z but out in the big wide world of the general public there is certainly a lot of rubbish .

When I did finally did get to look here the car my friend is looking at tomorrow stood out as by far the best one we'd looked at by some margin ( I checked it out last week for her ) , but in that meeting with the seller I learnt a few things myself, so from last week I now have a gap tech roof module fitted and cruise get added next week when the stalk arrives :D

Now a few questions if I may ........

I find I have am amp in the boot ........how do I know if this works ? I mean it may well be but how do I check as I never had a Z without to know the difference ?, I have speakers behind the seats instead of storage bins but I'm not sure they work or do the only work for the DSP modes ?

I seem to have a small area of sage on the head lining .....on initial investigation through the side when the roof is half open I can see a small plastic lip that come off the stitching line in the head lining that is screwed in to a bar on the outer headlining/or bar in the frame, and I can see a few screws that are not attached to this plastic lip anymore, but I can't see how to get the lining down to reattach the fixing and cure the sage ? ...... Can anyone help with details

I also see various threads here about multi function steering wheel conversions, does anyone have one they want to sell me or can I just fit the buttons as a kit ( yes I need the wiring mod as my car is May 03) ?

The car also has a parrot Ck3100 kit fitted. , but the car that I looked at last week for my friend has a Denison kit kitted that streams from his phone, I assume Bluetooth , and plays music , sat nav instructions etc and has a usb charge socket / stick dock........ I'd like one of these fitted myself but which denision unit or should I get something else . I know I will probably loose the cd changer as an option but my parrot kit doesn't Bluetooth when the changer is selected as a play mode anyway so no real loss there ?

And finally ..........thanks very much for such an wealth of knowledge and experience, and what appears to be community spirit....... My faith is restored in the human race !

Bryan
 
Hi Bryan - interesting story and good to hear your comparison with other sports cars. :thumbsup:

Can't help with the roof but multi function steering wheels do come up for sale from time to time on the forum (and ebay - usually flagged up on here).

Looking forward to hearing more about your work on the Zed. :thumbsup:

Welcome to the Forum :thumbsup:

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
Hi and welcome. Interesting story.

Re the amp, as far as I know if the amp wasn't working you would have no sound. The big speakers behind the seats are subs so playing something with some base should test them out.

Regarding the roof, there is a repair kit available to sort the issue that you describe (if I've read it right)

Now for this

:worthless:

:D
 
Srhutch......how did I know that was coming !.........here you go

on my drive at home , 03 plate, 82k on the clock, its a 2.5

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Done so far.......
Engine serviced and disa value cleaned and inspected
Cup holders fitted.......mine work fine by the way, its just the way you use them in my experience
Wiper motor self park sorted........easy fix
Gap tach module fitted .....last week
All car park dinks removed .....13 by my local magician with his bars and fairy dust !
Driver seat bolster recoloured.........did that myself too and pretty good it looks
Brake calipers and disc hubs painted black
Glove box fixed
Centre cubby light switch tab replaced
Ash tray and handbrake centre console repainted due to heavy scratching
Heated rear window fixed { broken wire }
Tram lining sorted.......Tyres are directional and previous owner or Tyre fitter had them on the wrong way { yes they are all run flats}

With the 16 inchers and run flats the ride is very smooth and on my European trip last year the car returned just short of 40 MPG average over 5000 miles. As stated above I'm very smitten with the old gal, and I recently gave her a mop and polish with some very impressive American products from Malco. I used the rejuvenator polish and the imperial wax and she gets washed down with the ulta violet shampoo each week to help maintain the shine, all these products seem very impressive, the rejuvenator used on an electric mop wipes off of everything very easily ,which is a real bonus and all the products are infused with a fruity scent too. ........I'm sure that must be one of my five a day ! .....anyway for me these products seem better than G3 and the autoglym stuff I've used for years, just wondered if anyone else had used them ?
 
Nice story & good to see you getting involved & bringing the Z back to life . :thumbsup:
Will the bottletop 16s be staying ? :oops: any other plan's for it ?
 
Welcome, Dietcokeman, congrats on the car (albeit delayed congrats) and glad to see you've started the modding....

Regarding the steering wheels, you could upgrade, but will need the controls and the trims - and for the cost of those (trims alone are usually in excess of £100), you may just want to purchase a MFSW instead. As you pointed out, for both options you'll need the loom. You may also want to check your split-ring as I have seen some that do not have the sockets (my split ring went some time back and I had to procure a replacement (well, someone donated one to me :)) from on here; investigations showed a number of possible replacements, and some without the connecting pins for the MFSW controls...)
 
Welcome :thumbsup:

I still like to see silver Z's, my last one was silver. It's the only car that can pull silver off IMO.
 
Sp33dy1 said:
Welcome dietcokeman, your car is an identical twin with my very own Z4. Where in the country are you?

I'm just in the Herts/Beds boarder just outside Letchworth Garden City. Or as th swmbo would say......he's on another planet !
 
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