What have you done to your car today?

[3gGT01]

I ordered the splitter I have been wanting forever last week. Just checked and it has gone up $100 and I was able to get a 10% off last week.
https://www.schmiedmann.com/en/product/1946128-new?product=FRLSTE8586EDCAR

Also order the Bilstein B6 struts/shocks this morning, the version that is specifically for the Z4 M model.

 

[caius]

Replaced all four shock absorbers and the front drop links whilst I was in there. (With a little bit of help from the eldest, apparently working on cars is more interesting than exam revision ) Bilstein B4's fitted to all four corners, with new hardware fastening them in. Mmm, shiny.

Old shocks were all original 2006 items, although it looked like the front springs have been replaced since (go figure). Naturally they were all completely blown, only one had any kind of return function and even then that was fairly lax. All four could be compressed with a single finger

Jacking the rear of the car up led to a decent puddle appearing front nearside, so I also discovered which headlight washer was leaking. Went through the foglight panel in the offside wheel arch and plugged the pipe from the reservoir. Hopefully that'll stop the washer fluid leaking out.

 

[3gGT01]

Bilstein B4's fitted to all four corners, with new hardware fastening them in. Mmm, shiny.

How do you like the B4’s? Mine are original from 2007. Didn’t get the Z new, so not sure how it rode new, but it seems like a new front/rear set would make a pretty big difference…I hope!

 

[STC_Zed]

Bilstein B4's fitted to all four corners, with new hardware fastening them in. Mmm, shiny.

How do you like the B4’s? Mine are original from 2007. Didn’t get the Z new, so not sure how it rode new, but it seems like a new front/rear set would make a pretty big difference…I hope!

The B4 dampers are generally my go to for BMW having fitted them to my wife’s old 125i and her current 330i as well as my old 335i. They’ve all been run with Eibach springs and seem to work well on UK roads. It’s a noticeably less harsh set up than the B12 which personally I find too hard at low speeds.

My Z4 came with the cake combo and it’s fine. It’s firm but not crazy.

 

[STC_Zed]

Replaced the front wings on my car today with some used one in the right colour.

I wonder if the rust is due to to water getting past the wheel liner and/or the body (paint) was ever damaged. My 06 is pretty clean back there.

My theory is that grit gets washed up between the plastic liner and the arch and as the car vibrates / flexes it damages the paint. More water / crap gets up there and gets caught between the liner and arch and the rot sets in where the paint has been damaged.

My car spent a significant part of its life on the Welsh coast in Swansea which probably hasn’t helped either.

 

[caius]

How do you like the B4’s? Mine are original from 2007.

The 2.5i was on original shocks too, and collapsed springs at 112k mileage. New (not M-Sport) springs & B4s fitted gave some height back so it stopped scraping on the floor and also took a bunch of juddering out of the chassis. Well worth the change, rides firmly but not quite as frantic as my Fiesta ST.

3.0si made hissing noises as it went over bumps in the road, but didn't have much of the juddering/shuddering happening. 134k miles on the original shocks, unsurprising. M Sport suspension, looks like stock springs rather than lowered ones. Only driven it round the bypass so far, and its firmed up the ride a bit I'd say from initial drive. The hissing noises under compression have all vanished, given they were all so blown I'm expecting it to be a bit better at speed.

 

[IF91]

Glasur

Looks excellent! I was not familiar with Glasur, so looked up the product. I see that it is a clear coat to apply in a paint booth. Looks like an excellent product!

Thanks It came up really well. I’m tempted for a single stage correction and ceramic at some point soon, though.

I didn’t realise there were multiple coatings called Glasur - The one I used is a carnauba wax from Zymöl apparently formulated for Porsche. I’ve heard German paint tends to be rock hard and chippy, so I don’t know if it helps with that somehow. But it goes on and comes off so easy, never used a carnauba based product quite like it.

Well happy with how it looks for now though

 

[Swampy1982]

As a reward for not causing me any issues after fitting new DISA valves, I fitted a new Alcantara handbrake gaiter and elbow rest.

IMG_9588.jpeg

Much better than the shiny, worn old leather one.

Where did you get these from, they look decent, think I'd like some!

 

[STC_Zed]

As a reward for not causing me any issues after fitting new DISA valves, I fitted a new Alcantara handbrake gaiter and elbow rest.

IMG_9588.jpeg

Much better than the shiny, worn old leather one.

Where did you get these from, they look decent, think I'd like some!

It was an eBay special from JF Customs.

 

[caius]

Got two new rear tyres on the 2.5i in preparation for MOT retest, only to find the airbag light is back on. Another round of investigation required for that, thought I'd solved it a few weeks ago. (Light stays on with airbag & module swapped for another one, upside of having two Zeds atm. Puzzling/irritating.)

Fitted a new bonnet badge & wheel caps to the 3.0si. Back to blue/white roundels (the wheels were black roundels previously). They're now the cleanest part of the car, should get the rest of it washed before we head to the Morgan factory tomorrow as it's disgustingly dirty.

 

[hollie040]

Got my mitts on a set of black 'M' spoke covers. They weren't in the best of condition in terms of the 'soft touch' nonsense wearing off, but then I noticed the shiny black underneath and had a brainwave; why not remove all the soft touch nonsense? Ended up spending half an hour with a bottle of IPA (not the beer) and a cloth and got about 99% of it off of the front pieces. Could probably do with a quick go-over again, but it looks so much better.

 

[1536Z4]

why not remove all the soft touch nonsense?

Yep that`s the best way . Just done that on my Satnav surround https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=151473

 

[TIMMOS29]

Finally put speakers in the car in a heath robinson way but they seem to work well with damping underneath the rings.
Also cleaned the engine bay and preped it as had nothing better to do and was quite happily listening to the NW200 on the radio.

 

[TIMMOS29]

Got my mitts on a set of black 'M' spoke covers. They weren't in the best of condition in terms of the 'soft touch' nonsense wearing off, but then I noticed the shiny black underneath and had a brainwave; why not remove all the soft touch nonsense? Ended up spending half an hour with a bottle of IPA (not the beer) and a cloth and got about 99% of it off of the front pieces. Could probably do with a quick go-over again, but it looks so much better.

I used a magic sponge and WD40

 

[caius]

Finally got an MOT on the 2.5i. Airbag light was caused by some minor corrosion between the passenger module and the body. Minor wire brushing later on the contact patches and no high resistance error. Sailed through MOT.

Fitted a head unit back in the 3.0si and then hammered it across North Wales in the early evening sun, into the sunset. Most enjoyable, and surprisingly little traffic for once.

 

[SqerrNipz]

Heated steering wheel mk3 - now with buttons!

 

[x-driver]

Details please

 

[hollie040]

Nothing quite as exciting or impressive as building a steering wheel warming system from scratch, but parts from the BMW mothership arrived. Cruise control switch which will get fitted with the special loom in a couple of weeks, strangely getting it from Sytner and was cheaper than getting a secondhand one from eBay. Whilst I was there I bought a brand new leather gearknob to replace the plastic one, and fitted that. Was expecting it to put up a fight to take the old one off but wasn't too bad.

 

[3gGT01]

Got my splitter and installed it today. Wife not too happy with the 108 mm (4 1/4”) ground clearance, but she does like it!

 

[tug]

NICE, but a good job you dont live here in blighty, the pot holes and b4astard speed ramps would rip that off in no time. :lol: