What have you done to your car today?

[oldgitdave]

Gave her a thorough clean & a quick wax. Took her for a blast around the local country roads, handling much improved after replacing both control arms & lollipops last week . Tucked her away in the garage just before the rain came .

 

[Hagar]

Tickover was terrible and sounded like an asthmatic donkey !!!! So today I’ve changed the air intake hose which was split and the servo vacuum pipe as it was crushed. Cured the breathing problem but still sounds awful on tickover so back to the drawing board and plan what to do next

 

[Spaniarduk]

Today (and yesterday) I got under Zeddie my Z4M and I replaced the differential oil (1.25L until it dribbled out), gearbox oil (1.9L) and removed rhe CDV! If I cant feel any improvements in changing between 1st and 2nd gear I'll sell the damn thing!!



Getting the 8mm hex, ½" socket to fit, along with the torque wrench, between the gearbox and the transmission tunnel was a swine!! I had to trim about 10mm off it.
Off for a test drive now. Wish me luck!

 

[Spaniarduk]

Ok. Reporting back to base after a short drive. Small but noticeable improvements. I can only describe the improvement as 'it feels more normal'. It feels lighter, 'simpler', more direct action with 'less meddling'. The clutch pedal is marginally lighter and I don't feel that faint lag in clutch engagement when i release the pedal. Also the gear selection is marginally lighter and direct thanks to fresh oil. Let's face it a BMW manual gearbox will always have an agricultural feel to it and in this case still remains, but improved.
Overall I'm happy with having done the job, if only because if I hadn't I would always have had the nagging feeling of why I never did it.
If you're thinking about removing your CDV do it. In some cases the improvement might be more dramatic. I noticed my CDV was not the rubber-type restricter, but a metal one. Like a washer with a pin hole. Perhaps that's why this one is a little less restrictive than in other cases? Go figure...

 

[ben g]

Gave her a thorough clean & a quick wax. Took her for a blast around the local country roads, handling much improved after replacing both control arms & lollipops last week . Tucked her away in the garage just before the rain came .
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8) beautiful. Red and grey go so well together

Are replacing control arms (I assume those are the wishbones?) a necessity on these cars?

I've had my lolly pops replaced with poly items, but never had the wishbones replaced. I'm thinking this would be worthwhile, as everything else suspension related has been changed except those.

 

[sure2drive]

Fitted brackets and wind deflector. First proper job I've done on the Z, quite fiddly and took longer than I thought, pleased with the fit though and will update the thread about this job with pics and dimensions etc, but no today....too many aches and pains!

 

[MACK]

Gave her a thorough clean & a quick wax. Took her for a blast around the local country roads, handling much improved after replacing both control arms & lollipops last week . Tucked her away in the garage just before the rain came .
20190506_123744.jpg
20190506_125149.jpg
20190506_125201.jpg
20190506_125210.jpg
PhotoPictureResizer_190506_135018564_crop_3624x2572.jpg

8) beautiful. Red and grey go so well together

Are replacing control arms (I assume those are the wishbones?) a necessity on these cars?

I've had my lolly pops replaced with poly items, but never had the wishbones replaced. I'm thinking this would be worthwhile, as everything else suspension related has been changed except those.

Ben they only really need changing if there's play in the ball joints. You having any specific issues? If you do replace get some meyle HD ones. Good quality and have the added benefit of the ball joints being individually changeable unlike the factory jobbies. So much cheaper if thry were to go again in the future

 

[oldgitdave]

Gave her a thorough clean & a quick wax. Took her for a blast around the local country roads, handling much improved after replacing both control arms & lollipops last week . Tucked her away in the garage just before the rain came .
20190506_123744.jpg
20190506_125149.jpg
20190506_125201.jpg
20190506_125210.jpg
PhotoPictureResizer_190506_135018564_crop_3624x2572.jpg

8) beautiful. Red and grey go so well together

Are replacing control arms (I assume those are the wishbones?) a necessity on these cars?

I've had my lolly pops replaced with poly items, but never had the wishbones replaced. I'm thinking this would be worthwhile, as everything else suspension related has been changed except those.

Ben they only really need changing if there's play in the ball joints. You having any specific issues? If you do replace get some meyle HD ones. Good quality and have the added benefit of the ball joints being individually changeable unlike the factory jobbies. So much cheaper if thry were to go again in the future

Thanks Mack, you beat me to it . She failed the MOT on the inner ball joint. My local indy bought ones that included the lollipops which was probably a good thing. She definitely feels tighter when pushing along .

And thanks Ben, I really love her & she runs beautifully for her age, even my mechanic commented on it .

 

[ben g]

Gave her a thorough clean & a quick wax. Took her for a blast around the local country roads, handling much improved after replacing both control arms & lollipops last week . Tucked her away in the garage just before the rain came .
20190506_123744.jpg
20190506_125149.jpg
20190506_125201.jpg
20190506_125210.jpg
PhotoPictureResizer_190506_135018564_crop_3624x2572.jpg

8) beautiful. Red and grey go so well together

Are replacing control arms (I assume those are the wishbones?) a necessity on these cars?

I've had my lolly pops replaced with poly items, but never had the wishbones replaced. I'm thinking this would be worthwhile, as everything else suspension related has been changed except those.

Ben they only really need changing if there's play in the ball joints. You having any specific issues? If you do replace get some meyle HD ones. Good quality and have the added benefit of the ball joints being individually changeable unlike the factory jobbies. So much cheaper if thry were to go again in the future

I was just thinking of a preventative maintenance change, to be honest. No specific issues, bar some vague and vibrating steering at motorway speeds. I have new tyres ready to go on, so will see if the vibration goes away once fitted and balanced

 

[ErrErrminator]

Having gone for a spirited 40 mile sunset drive yesterday, today I had the job of removing several hundred dead insects from the front end of my Zed. How dare they throw themselves at my sparkly clean car! :roll:

 

[kis]

Whilst everything was open, transformer style, I took a quick photo as Instagram loves this sort of thing :lol:

IMG_20190505_185735_277.jpg

Any close ups of the strut? That looks tasty 8)

 

[sure2drive]

Having gone for a spirited 40 mile sunset drive yesterday, today I had the job of removing several hundred dead insects from the front end of my Zed. How dare they throw themselves at my sparkly clean car! :roll:

At least you weren't driving so slowly that they crashed into the back of you

 

[ErrErrminator]

Having gone for a spirited 40 mile sunset drive yesterday, today I had the job of removing several hundred dead insects from the front end of my Zed. How dare they throw themselves at my sparkly clean car! :roll:

At least you weren't driving so slowly that they crashed into the back of you

:lol: Not much chance of that. My route consisted of some of Exmoor’s finest roads, which at the time were deserted. It would have been rude not to enjoy the opportunity fully!

 

[ben g]

Whilst everything was open, transformer style, I took a quick photo as Instagram loves this sort of thing :lol:

IMG_20190505_185735_277.jpg

Any close ups of the strut? That looks tasty 8)

I'm unsure who makes it, but it had a cosmo racing sticker on when I bought it. It's incredibly light for the chunkiness of it. Really nice bit of metal 8)

I was thinking about selling it and returning to the standard braces, but I'm unsure as it looks great under the bonnet

 

[scarlet-jester]

I'm unsure who makes it, but it had a cosmo racing sticker on when I bought it. It's incredibly light for the chunkiness of it. Really nice bit of metal 8)

I was thinking about selling it and returning to the standard braces, but I'm unsure as it looks great under the bonnet

Hey Ben. Unrelated, but what is that air intake/ filter set up you have visible in the photo?

 

[tomrdy]

Hey Ben. Unrelated, but what is that air intake/ filter set up you have visible in the photo?

I think its the Gruppe-M rep made by Simota for the E46.

 

[ben g]

Hey Ben. Unrelated, but what is that air intake/ filter set up you have visible in the photo?

I think its the Gruppe-M rep made by Simota for the E46.

Thats the one

It was a lovely bit of kit, but for some reason I had some flats pots on acceleration after it had been fitted a while. I assume it was due to what I think was an oiled filter inside, causing dodgy MAF readings, though I can't be sure that was the actual cause.

I've gone back to them oem setup now. It's far more boring to look at :lol:

 

[Z4Sparky]

Took it for it's first MOT under my ownership....fingers crossed!

 

[Anonymous]

New rear brake lines fitted.
Nice to know it's done, fingers crossed the next MOT will be advisory free.

 

[Z4Sparky]

Took it for it's first MOT under my ownership....fingers crossed!

Passed with no advisories!