The Finnish shed. '06 Z4 Coupe

[Micke]

Small repairs are ongoing. Today replaced the interior door handle plastics with some fresh ones as the old ones did show some signs of wear, normal for almost 20 years old I guess.
Also replaced both rearview mirror glasses as the driver side had a blemish and the passenger one had been repaired previously (was not aware of this) and would have not take long to fall and break…

 

[Micke]

Ticking off the things off the list. Today took out the airbox as I could not clean it completely. It had some oil residue from when the filter housing/cooler was leaking. There was plwnty of grub also under it.
Before

After


Also decided to take off the windscreen scuttle and give it a clean under, has definitely now been done before. Here’s a quick after


On the negative side, when the windshield was replaced by the previous owner the scuttle was damaged with some of the clips torn off (3 of them) so will try to glue them back on.

 

[Micke]

Let’s keep the monolgue ongoing. Scuttle has been cleaned and treated with some Koch Chemie stuff, looks very nice now. Also managed to find few screws/clips that attach the cowl to the car (screw type). Still need to glue the other clips onto the cowl before reinstalling it…

I have also planned to reinstall the stock exhaust during the easter week

 

[1536Z4]

You`re doing a great job

 

[Micke]

Cheers [ref]1536Z4[/ref]. Looking forward to better weather so I can finally take care of bigger items on the list and finally enjoy the car. Tomorrow an Friday it should snow around here

 

[Z4Mariner]

I commiserate on your issue with snow - we are past most of the chances of snow here, but we often get a few inches into mid-April. I'll restore full insurance and start driving my Zed in another week, waiting for a bit more rain to wash away road salt

 

[Micke]

The winter months are long unfortunately. Today in the morning it was close to 0c and snowing but in the afternoon sun was shining and around 10c.

As the weather got better, I decided to reinstall the scuttle panel after repairing it. Also gave it a good clean and treated with some koch chemie stuff, look nice now. Sorry for the crappy pic.

Also gave the engine bay a quick clean with a microfiber. Also replaced the front emblem I bought several months ago.


I was not aware the my car came with the small storage under the seat for a first emergency kit. Due date was in 2015 unfortunately.


Next week the work should continue when I finally get it on a lift.

 

[Micke]

Today was the day that the shed was on the lift for the first time in 2025. One pf the big items to do was to replace the exhaust with a stock one that came with the car and remove the Remus backbox. Nothing wrong with it, just did not like how the tailpipes looked.
While in there, the rear arb came off to have the end links and bushings replaced. Also replaced the engine to chassis ground strap as it has seen better days.
To my surprise, the rear box had been a bit bodged to fit and some random exhaust hangers used, no idea from which car they came off. I’m glad that I had boight replacement ones, always try to think of the while in there items that can been easily replaced.

Here are most of the parts replaced today, except the exhaust.
And a quick pic of the stock exhaust, looks much better!


Good that a mate was helping me out, otherwise the job would have taken much longer.

 

[Micke]

Today received some more parta for the shed: 10 liters of Motul oil, INA belt tensioner and new Stabilus struts for the bonnet.
The struts I could replace in the parking garage and it took just few minutes.

Before installing them I put some grease on the joints as they’re usually dry.
And a quick after of the engine bay because why not :roll:


And as a curiosity, the struts that came on the care were also made by Stabilus

 

[Micke]

Decided to make good use of a day off work and booked a 2 hour slot on a lift to get some things done.
I tackled the annual oil change including an engine flush. I usually do it once after buying a car and keep the oil change interval rather short. Unfortunately I did not do it last year after buying the car so did it now. I have done 2500km (~1600 miles) on the current oil, not very much. While the oil was draining, I flushed the clutch fluid. The flush did make a nice change, the pedal feels better now.
A mate printed me a funnel to make the oil change easier, works like a charm


After that I had to reinstall one rear ARB link I replaced last weekend as it was knocking, that took care of it.


After that I went to buy some coolant to finally replace the waterpump, thermostat and couple of hoses. Should take care of those in the beginning of this month. After that, most of the preventative maintenance should be done and finally can get the aero sills painted, really looking forward to that.

 

[Micke]

Had the same place with a lift booked for 3 hours today to replace the waterpump and thermostat. Also had couple of coolant hoses to change at the same time.
A mate came to give me a hand with the job, sfterwards we put his track oriented Mini on the lift


Here are the old and new parts


And the lot installed


After that it was time to bleed the system and while that was ongoing, we installed a front lip (universal). Looks better than expected. And to make use of the time left, the belt tensioner was replaced. To my surprise it had a stamp from 2016, so has been replaces previously.

And here’s a pic oitside the garage. Just missing the aero skirts but those wiil have to wait until June.

 

[1536Z4]

A good job to get done

 

[Micke]

Forgot to mention that waterpump and thermostat were stamped 2006, so still the original ones. And the replacements were from Pierburg and Wahler.

I also bought a Storm gearknob from a member here and it was sent to a make in the UK. Fingers crossed I’ll get it soon.

 

[Micke]

The shed has been standing more in the parking garage than driving. Due to reasons I had to get out of home today so decided that it was time to replace the valvecover gasket. It has been leaking since I bought the car in May ’24 and almost inmediately bought the gaskets but never got to replace them, probably after watching some clips on youtube I decided that the leak was not that bad.
Anyway, armed with a set of Elring gaskets, went to a mates garage to do the job. As the car is lowered, my back will kill me tomorrow as there is no lift… The most annoying parts were the fuel injector clips as it took a while to remove them. Also had to take more witing than expected away to be able to take the cover off. To my surprise, the gasket was from 2011 so someone has been there before. The valvecover itself was full of crap and it took some time to clean it.
The job took me 3 hours 20 minutes, longer than expected but was not rushing it. Below are couple of pics.
During

Almost done

And the gaskets I took off


Now I only have some minor jobs left to do this summer and enjoy the car. Unfortunately something unexpected came up… Will write it in another post.

 

[Micke]

Continuing the previous post.

Last week we had one warm day and to my joy I was on the way with the shed. Decided to turn on the aircon, waited a while and, to my surprise, nothing happened. The air was not cold as I would have expected. Decided to have a look under the bonnet and the aircon clutch was not engaged, which was strange. I had the ac serviced last year, not that it had a problem but was unaware if it has been done earlier.
I have also checked with INPA and there is pressure in the system (~5,8bar). Used the same software to engage the clutch and nothing happens, no click noise. I have checked that the ventilator works and I could engage it with all the speeds.
Any suggestions what to check next? Have not checked the fuses/relay yet.

 

[Micke]

Not much going on. Have not really had the time to look into the aircon issue and I’ve not driven the car much.
Last week I bought some bushes for the diff as I got a good deal on them. Will be buying throughout the year all the bushes to have them replaced to have the suspension nice and crisp.


In one of the previous posts I mentioned that I have bought a Storm gearknob from a member here. I had it sent to a mate in the UK and I received today. Couple of minutes and it was on, really please with how it looks and feels.

 

[Micke]

I had bought some vanos actuator gaskets quite some time ago to replaced as preventative maintenance. Today I had time and removed both of the actuators to give them a clean and replace the gaskets. To my surprise, they were leaking a tiny bit. It did not take long, gave the actuators a good clean and it was ready. Pic of the old gaskets and some fasteners I replaced.


After that gave the car a quick clean before headimg to a trackday at Ahvenisto Circuit tomorrow in the morning.


And if everything goes well, I should have the aero skirts painted during next weel, cant wait to install them!

 

[Micke]

As mentioned in the previous post, on Sunday I went to a trackday organized by a local BMW club at the Ahvenisto Circuit in Finland. I think it’s the oldest circuit in the country and is called by many a mini nurburgring.

 

[1536Z4]

 

[Micke]

Picked up the skirts from the paintshop today. Also got a small bit of touch up paint :lol: