The Finnish shed. '06 Z4 Coupe

[Micke]

Lately I’ve been driving the shed without any issues. Had some maintenance prts in the trunk and today was the day to take care of most of them. Went to a place with a lift and with the help of a mate managed to do the following:
- Diff oil replacement (Motul gear 300)
- Gearbox oil replacement (Motule gear 300)
- Gearbox moun replaced (Corteco)
- Front arb bushed (Powerflex)
- Front wishbone rear bushes (Powerflex)

The last of the lot made a big change in how the steering feels. I know the old bushes have seen better days (still the original ones) but did not expext such a big improvement.
Here’s couple of pics


Retarded owner


Still some items left on the to-do list, hopefully will be sorted sometime soon. In couple of weeks will attend a trackday. Probably will do few laps and just talk crap with mates

 

[Micke]

Not much happening here. Have been ticking off my list mainly maintenance items. Last weekend gave it a clean and also managed to brighten up the engine bay a bit. On Monday local MOT passed without any problems.
Have to enjoy of the time that is left befor it goes to winter storage mid September.

 

[1536Z4]

winter storage mid September.

How long is winter storage for where you are ?

 

[Micke]

Fingers crossed mid April there will be no snow around southern Finland. Until now we have had some exceptionally nice weather, summer is still going strong

 

[1536Z4]

summer is still going strong

Lucky you You are not much different from us as in the UK as we are normally looking at March to early April . Quite surprising as I thought you would be later .

 

[Micke]

Went to something called Sports Car Breakfast in a town called Tuusula. During the summer and once a month all sorts of sports cars gather there in the morning, starting from mr2’s and ending on Ferraris.
There were quite many Z4’s but my shed was the only coupe around 8)

 

[Micke]

After 4 months of ownership, it was time to take the shed to storage before the winter comes. Iw went to a farm where I have stored cars for the last 5 years. If everything goes well, I should have it back in April.

Since May this year, I did end up doing few things to it. Some where minor improvements, other just pending maintenance and repairs (in no specific order)
- [x] Replace key fob battery and program key
- [x] Updated GPS maps
- [x] Tailgate strut replacement
- [x] MOT
- [x] Clean enginebay
- [x] Coding
- [x] Undercarriage clean
- [x] Remove reg plate surround front
- [x] Parking brake adjustment
- [x] Brake hoses front, rear and brakefluid flush
- [x] Aircon service
- [x] Front lower wishbone bushes (Powerflex)
- [x] Gearbox mounts replacement
- [x] Differential oil change
- [x] Gearbox oil change
- [x] ARB bushes front (Powerflex)
- [x] Clutch stop mod
- [x] Front endlinks
- [x] DEFA engine block heater removal
- [x] CDV delete
- [x] New reg plates
- [x] Paint wiperarms
- [x] GPS antenna replacement
- [x] Cup holder replacement (both)
- [x] Oil filter housing & oil cooler gasket replacement
- [x] Engine oil change
- [x] Sparkplug replacement
- [x] Air filter replacement
- [x] Cabin filter replacement
- [x] Glovebox repair
- [x] Mudflap removal (front and rear)
- [x] New floormats (OEM)

The list is longer than expected. Few items still pending, will create a list of things to do for next year.

 

[1536Z4]

A long list of achievements in a short space of time

 

[Micke]

[ref]1536Z4[/ref], cheers mate. The only thing I did not do was to replace the valvecover gasket. But I’ll add that to the to-do list for next year.

When I dropped the car off, I took the steering wheel with me to address the broken trim. Let’s see if I can fix it before spending 300€’s for a new set. Might also get the steering wheel refurbed, will see.

 

[Micke]

I have now refinished the steering wheel trim as ot was looking rather sorry for itself and one of the platics was broken. After a lot of glueing, fillinf, sanding and painting here is the end result. Not oerfect but much better than ot looked before. Silly of me, don’t have any before pictures…


I was thought about retrimming the steering wheel but after a good clean it looks decent, so will put that money towards needed maintenance.

 

[1536Z4]

I have now refinished the steering wheel trim

Looks good to me

 

[Micke]

[ref]1536Z4[/ref], cheers mate. Looking forward to installing the wheel back.

Not much happening otherwise as the zed has veen in storage. But I’ve been doing a list of things and some upgrades to do during next year.
Maintenance wise there are some items that go under the category of preventative maintenance:
- waterpump and thermostat
- couple of coolant hoses
- ignition coils
- aux belt tensioner
- valve cover gasket (leaking)
For not maintenance stuff, here are some things to do:
- replace exhaust with stock one (Remus now)
- replace some interior trims (question about those at the end)
- pdr some miniot dings
- polish headlights
- replace bmw badges front and back
And many other things, if motivation is high enough

As I have been reading some topics, it came to my mind that the zed from time to time does start rather slowly. I installed a new battery with no improvement. But apparently it can be caused by a deteriorated geoumd strap or starter. As the ground strap is easier and cheaper to replace, I bought a replacement for 5€ (not OEM), will replace it during the spring.


As for the interior trims, has anyone got experience with these aftermarket trims for the doors?

 

[Micke]

When giving the car a good scrub couple of months ago, I noticed some fine tuning done to the wheelarch. Someone took to their heart the add lightness motto ad replaced 2 of the fasteners with a simple screw. After spending 11€’s, I got a replacement part that will put in the stash and in the spring that will be 1 less thing on my to-do list

 

[Micke]

Today I picked upsonething that I thought I’d not own nor find a set around here. But by pure luck found a set, includes the mounting kit for both sides. And got a set of stock kidneys as a bonus. A set of brand new aero skirts


Tbh, could not be happier It’s not something you find everyday and for a fair price.

 

[1536Z4]

It’s not something you find everyday and for a fair price.

brand new

 

[Mr Tidy]

Wow - unused aero sills were an extremely lucky find!

You should probably buy a lottery ticket too!

 

[Micke]

Finally decided which wheels to get to replace the LM reps. For a long time I’ve been almost sure that I’d get a set of 19” style 230 (twists), which look good on a lowered coupe. Looked at couple of sets but they’d require a refurb which would make them very expensive.
Finally decided to get the wheels that made me fell in love with a coupe, 19” CSL reps. These are made by Avus in Italy and are 9,5 et37 in the rear and 8,5 et35 in the front. I know the csl’s are very commong in the UK but here there are around 20 coupe’s in the whole country so it won’t be seeing another one with same wheels anytime soon.


Will be buying some 255/30 and 225/35 tyres, have not decided on the make yet.

Besides that have ordered some smaller bits and bobs to get rid of some age marks in the interior.

 

[Micke]

Not much going on here. Coupe is still in storage until April most probably. Been gathering some parts to have something to do when the car is back home. I hope that the motivation will also still be there

Will be ordering some tyres for the new wheels. Decided to get a set on Conti sport 7’s in 225/35 and 255/30. Should be a good allround rubber.

 

[Micke]

After a 6 months long break, the shed is back at home. Weather has been nice during the last week so decided that it was time.
Packed the new wheels with me to install them as they have been gathering dust at home. Also reinstalled the steering wheel with the repainted plastics, looks so much nicer now.
Here’s a quick pic of how it look now

 

[Micke]

And as always, the list of things to do is quite long:
- replace valve cover gasket
- clean vanos valves and replace gaskets
- clean vanos check valves
- replace aux belt tensioner
- replace water pump and thermostat and some coolant hoses
- replace rear arb bushings
- replace rear arb links
- replace exhaust with stock one
And some other bits and bobs.

During the winter I have gathered some parts to do the jobs above


But to start easily, I installed a Nokia 6230i in the dedicated craddle as it came with one from factory. Totally unnecessary but a nice touch.
Also the gas cap gasket had some cracks and was missing the strap so took care od that, nice and easy repair.