99 z3 2.8l roadster

[Sijray21]

Some of you may already know via the groupme chat, but i wanted to start a project thread for this thing. This is probably a dumb idea, but it's not costing me much (yet).

Posted more pics on Instagram as well tag name is Lolas_Z



My mom's been in love with the z3 model ever since she saw it in '96. She bought a used red '97 z3 in 1998 that she loved. It didn't have roll bars which was actually something i even knew was kind of dumb in 1999 after reading about deaths when the cars flipped (one even in DC around that time frame). I convinced her to buy a used '99 z3 with roll bars in the summer of 2000 and she ended up with this one. She has lived in the same townhouse without a garage since 1987 (where i grew up). I think she views this as her fun sporty car and has always been proud of it; she saw it almost as a trophy especially being a single mom raising a kid in the 80s/90s. It was her DD until 2010 when she bought a new Focus for practicality/reliability reasons. I even took my date to HS homecoming and HS prom using this car.


A few weeks ago during the monsoon season my mom was planning on coming out to visit her granddaughter and to drive her z over since it was a nice day after the rain. Well, there was quite a bit of standing water in the passenger side foot well and under the seat. Then she noticed some smoke coming from the passenger side and decided it would be best if she parked it and took her Focus. She told me about it and i was concerned so i rode home with her that night and drove the z back to dry out in my garage. I almost hoped it would catch on fire on the way back and i would call an uber home so she wouldn't have to deal with fixing it and selling it. I made it back and started the drying process. What complicated things was that the passenger seat was in the lowest, furthest back position, so i initially couldn't get to the mounting bolts to remove it. Since the initial plan was to sell the car i just did what i could to make it look nice and either sell it cheap to carmax or disclose everything to the new buyer as i didn't want to sink a lot of time/money into a car that was going to be sold cheaply.

After some discussions with my mom about the value and what to do she made me the offer. She still wanted to see her 'baby' so she offered me the car for free on the condition i keep it. She even offered to pay for some repairs, but i don't think i'll take her up on that. So i will soon own a 2-seater convertible (still need to do the whole title/registration thing). As for the GTI and future car situation it's up in the air right now. I'm still planning on selling it next year and getting something nicer, but now i'm considering options to other vehicle types since i have this fun car (for now); i think it'll be a cool little project.

Some nice things:
2.8L I6 M52TU with 5spd & LSD
Sport Seats
Power Top

List of Repairs and Modifications (as of 11/10/2019):
- Repaired Foggy Headlight Housings
- Replaced Fog light bulbs to match
- Replaced Headlight bulbs (one blew, bought matching pair)
- Dried out Interior from prior flooding
- Replaced front and middle window guides on convertible top
- Replaced Driver's Side SRS sensor
- Replaced Passenger's Side SRS sensor
- Changed Oil/Oil Filter @ 128395 miles
- Changed Air Filter
- Replaced Blown Subwoofers
- Replaced Blown Kick Panel Woofers
- Repaired wiring harness for passenger seat motor
- Replaced Secondary Air Pump Vacuum Line and Check Valve (SHOP)
- Replaced two heater core lines (SHOP)
- Replaced Power Steering Resevoir and lines to Pump (SHOP)
- Replaced Front and Rear Brake Rotors and Pads (brembo blanks / Akebono pads)
- replaced front brake lines (SHOP)
- Flushed Brake Fluid with ATE Gold (SHOP)
- Replaced All Tires with General G-Max RS Summer Tires (valve stems included)
- Replaced Passenger Side Mirror Assembly (hit and run incident)
- Replaced OEM Volume Knob
- Replaced broken hood pull mechanism in the footwell (not the cable)
- Replaced plastic Hood Pull handle with Aluminum one
- Replaced Oil Filter Housing Gasket
- Replaced Rear Shock Mounts and added reinforcement plates
- Replaced Rear shocks with Koni Sports
- Replaced Rear springs with H&R Sports
- Replaced Front Lower Control Arms (Meyle HD)
- Replaced Front Sway Bar End Links (Meyle HD)
- Replaced Front Tie Rods (Meyle)
- Replaced Front LCA Bushings (Meyle)
- replaced driver's buckle/pretensioner and reinforced wiring (wires cut under the seat and detonated the pretensioner
- Installed BavAuto Camber Plates for oem-style springs/struts and added reinforcement plates
- replaced the hood latches and hood release cable

First thing was to dry it out. Some water was even found in the trunk and battery cavity...


Headlight Restoration:


I was able to get the passenger seat out and found standing water under the carpet/foam. The Drying Saga continues... (wu tang.... wu tang....)