What was the 1st thing or things you did to your Z?

[JINGLE]

OK so ive had my Z since last Friday and there's a few things i already want to do, just wondered what other people did 1st when they got there Z??

already done:
replaced headlights (might do high beams in future) - £20 for pair of Philips Extreme 100% Brighter Bulbs

need to do:
replace/repair front inner wheel arch trim (passenger side has small worn section, drivers side needs replacement as large piece missing) - about £40 for drivers side wheel arch trim from breakers
sort condensation in headlight (passenger side rear headlight casing wasn't secured properly from previous owner so has condensation) - £0 as ive replaced bulbs now so know exactly how/what to do
drivers side wing mirror seems to take ages to heat up in the mornings compared to passengers - £10 for heated mirror glass

want to do:
change to stubby aerial - £5-£15 depending on which type, feel free to suggest any which are proven to be good???
change headunit - £?? all depends on what headunit and or speaker upgrades i want

wish list for the future:
ali centre panel has very slight marks on it so if its cheap enough/easy enough i might replace (or Carbon wrap!!) £???
Z4M rear bumper and quad exhaust - £???
Z4M wheels (224)rather than my 18" 108s - £???


on top of all this i need to research on the detailing forum and invest in some leather treatment, roof treatment and some wheel and bodywork stuff

is there anything ive missed that you have done yourself or can suggest?

thanks, Jamie

 

[maxman]

The best mod is to change the tyres from run flat to non run flat,improves the car out of all recognition .Next mod on my list would be to fit an M m/f steering wheel.
Move to Wales for some decent driving roads :lol: :lol:

 

[Machine monkey]

Wow where do i start....

First thing i did was fix the wipers
then gear knob and handbrake
strut brace
19" e90 m3 wheels
made a front bumper painted the kidneys
built a tee off quad
fitted a rear aero diffuser
half way through building a spoiler
fitted a lsd
new brakes
all new bushes and track rod ends
coil overs
replaced the e90 rep wheels for genuine e46 wheel
refurbished the e46 wheel
will be refurbishing and changing the colour of the e46 wheel over Christmas
Fixed a throttle body twice
had some wiring fixed when a family of mice decided to make my car home.
Built a proper quad system
I will be respraying the whole car over Christmas too.
I am sure there are other things!!
Its a slippery slop!!

 

[TDJ]

Stubby in the first week, ZHP gearknob in the second, full paint correction a little later, still on the lookout for some wheels and NRFs.

 

[Wyldie85]

I cleaned the things from top to bottom. The supposdely 'spotless' car was not clean and therefore had a proper de-gunk. I treated the roof and then changed to a stubby aerial.

I also changed the number plate bulbs to white LED ones...

Fitted illuminated ///M gear knob.

That's about as far as my modding has gone lol.

 

[JINGLE]

thanks for your suggestions guys,

max man, non run flats is defo on my list but will have to wait a little as buying the car has taken up most of my cash for the time being lol

machine monkey, i wish i had the ability to do half those things haha!

TDJ, yea im going to order a stubby later, just need to have a little look and see which 1 gets the best reviews..... any suggestions?

Wyldie85, yea i need to give it a good clean and treat the roof/leather etc. do you have a link to the number plate LEDs? do they make much of a difference?

 

[TDJ]

I bought the Mangowalk one after a bit of searching around on here. Got it on eBay from the US for about a tenner all in I think. Looks much better.

Was pretty sceptical about how much difference the gearknob would make but everywhere you look on here someone's saying it transforms the gear changes - turns out it's true. Looks better too - more OEM than the OEM.

 

[Paulwirral]

Deleted the bloody awful noise generator mod , completely , with a cut down domestos bottle top no less :lol:

 

[Stratts]

I've had my car two weeks. The following are the "first set" of things I have done:

Replace wiper blades for a set of aero blades - 100% improvement (£6)
Fix dodgy wiper "parking" issue (£0)
Clean and protect roof using Autoglym kit(£20)
Upgrade DISA with i6 kit - nothing wrong with it but for peace of mind (£65)
Replace split lower intake boot I found while doing the DISA (£24)
Clean and treat leather seats with some existing kit I had (£0)
Upgrade radio to post-facelift mp3 one (£50)
Replace aerial with stubby (£7)

I don't have any other immediate plans before Xmas unless the car makes me do it. On every car I have bought in the past ten years I have done things like wipers as a matter of course. I would have done the headlight bulbs but the PO replaced them a few months ago so not needed.

 

[domsz4]

put petrol in it,

swear alot trying to make the sat nag shut up.

speed

 

[Disca]

Take it to hindhead tunnel... because tunnel.

Oh.. and get a stubby because everyone raves on about them

 

[Adamski]

In my old roady it was sound generator, then CDV, then all hell broke loose with de gingering and interior swaps :lol:

 

[Captainken]

Try The Furniture Clinic for your Leather refurb
They will do it or you can F
DIY it's pretty easy with excellent redults

 

[Yorkie Z]

Fitted an LSD :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

[sasker]

Had my E85 3.0i for about 5 weeks.

First thing I did was a full service and had all fluids changed by my mechanic who i've used for the past 20+ years. Fuly cleaned the car inside and out and reconditioned all the leather seats

I have now put the correct tyres on as some stupid fool had put 255 tyres on front. Got correct one's on now and decided to buy 4 brand new tyres too.

Had the CDV removed and clutch feels what I class as normal now.

Fully cleaned and reconditioned the roof with a superb kit from ebay, superb value for money and can't recommend it enough

Had it remapped as I do with all my cars and although it's a small gain in power it definetly smoothes out any little flat spots over the rev range. Small gain for not a lot of money as I had spare cash for getting the car cheaper than my budget. Mine is up on standard power anyway and going tomorrow to get the remap but back on and back on the dyno for another run at my mates garage to see the difference.

Replaced the third brake light.

Replaced the wipers with some Bosch AeroTwin ones, which are much better.

Fitted stubby aerial

Treat her to V-Power Nitro+ instead of the supermarket crap that had been used in it. Now all she get's is the Nitro+ and car felt noticably better now it's on it's 5th tank of it.

Just needs a good polish and wax now but haven't had the weather or time to do it with working so far but hoping to get a coat of polish on it before the winter. Bought my Mer polish and wax ready for the job.

Very happy now and just can't wait for the spring to get the roof down and enjoy it in the sunshine

 

[JINGLE]

thanks guys, noticed a couple of new things like replacing the 3rd break light which i fancy aswell, also the gear knob maybe if it makes that much of a difference and the wipers work fine atm but soon as theres any hint of them not performing ill replace with the mentioned aero 1`s

 

[sasker]

thanks guys, noticed a couple of new things like replacing the 3rd break light which i fancy aswell, also the gear knob maybe if it makes that much of a difference and the wipers work fine atm but soon as theres any hint of them not performing ill replace with the mentioned aero 1`s

My third brake light was cracked but if yours is ok I'd leave it as they are not cheap to replace.

If you do replace it make sure you only tighten the 3 screws finger tight then maybe 1 turn with a spanner as if they are over tightened this can cause the light to crack again.

Aero wipers are a good investment over the standard ones

 

[DPG]

Stubby and SoundGen mod.

 

[JINGLE]

thanks guys, noticed a couple of new things like replacing the 3rd break light which i fancy aswell, also the gear knob maybe if it makes that much of a difference and the wipers work fine atm but soon as theres any hint of them not performing ill replace with the mentioned aero 1`s

My third brake light was cracked but if yours is ok I'd leave it as they are not cheap to replace.

If you do replace it make sure you only tighten the 3 screws finger tight then maybe 1 turn with a spanner as if they are over tightened this can cause the light to crack again.

Aero wipers are a good investment over the standard ones

just looked online and there about £60 for a clear replacement...... not worth it so will only consider if mine breaks, thanks for the heads up

 

[Roundozo]

1. Removing one piece of foam (nearest the bulkhead) for a cheap sound upgrade

2. A good wash n wax

3. Raising the beam of my lights so I can actually see where I’m going.

4. Find out why both my horns aren’t working (I’ve already had several occasions where they’ve been needed)

5. Investigate why one headlight washer wasn’t working (it’s got a leak so will need replacing)

Still to come –

1. ditch the run flats when they’re worn
2. Aux input
3. Drop links & wishbones (Meyle HD)
4. Other Bushes
5. Springs (Eibach for now but I will one day put it on coilovers when finances are rosey again)
6. HID light upgrade
7. Wheels – really want some tiger claws like NeilP

To be honest this list can go on and on and on and on. I’ll have to stop somewhere.