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....)

[Senor_Taylor]

Welcome to the life! Convertibles are fun for at least 2 months of the year! I'd get some rust conversion/sealant on those spots where water was ASAP.

[.RJ]

A little jealous of your convertibru life

[Jake]

I love the Z3. Wrap that wood trim in some faux-CF to make it match the red/black seats a bit more.

If you need/want new head unit, I have one that's more modern (Sony, I think?) with USB input. Might have a BMW E36 wiring harness adapter stuck to it, too. You can have it.

[Sijray21]

These are the smallest "subs" I've ever seen. These are the ones that need replacing as I think the other woofers are OK.

And of course the Germans would have hex bolts with a flathead slot on the outside and two torx bolts on the inside...

Also cracked the brittle plastic cover, too... Oh well.

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I love the Z3. Wrap that wood trim in some faux-CF to make it match the red/black seats a bit more.

If you need/want new head unit, I have one that's more modern (Sony, I think?) with USB input. Might have a BMW E36 wiring harness adapter stuck to it, too. You can have it.

i think i'll definitely look at wrapping the wood as it stands out a bit and not in a good way IMO. There's none anywhere except the center console.

If you have a head unit i'll gladly pick it up. I'll hit you up on GroupMe or PM me those digits and i'll text you; you're in arlington, right?

[WRXtranceformed]

That is an awesome gift dude and great way to keep it in the family! Man all that water in there would make me nervous as hell though, with all of the electronics in cars nowadays. Hopefully that gets sorted!

[Sijray21]

That is an awesome gift dude and great way to keep it in the family!  Man all that water in there would make me nervous as hell though, with all of the electronics in cars nowadays.  Hopefully that gets sorted!

I'm surprised the water isn't a bigger issue, but luckily it's a pretty old car without too many electronics (5 years away from vintage plates) so i'm not too worried about keeping it in tip-top shape. I'd like to get rid of all codes, but if it means i need to do something ridiculous like changing out the wiring harness or removing the dash... it won't happen. I don't think it's quite there yet. The majority of the wires are actually running right under the passenger seat, so testing all the seat operations should be fun... Right now i can see at least one harness connector that needs to be replaced and luckily there is a lot of info online (granted it's all from 5-10+ years ago). This car will mainly just be a fun spare car.

My goal is to keep the water out and make it drive, look, and sound nice.

I've been looking at wheel/tire/spacer setups and suspension set-ups at the moment.

[Scott]

- TSC & ABS light on

Subscribed for resolution of this.

[.RJ]

Jayray, get some of the electrical contact cleaner stuff and clean out the connectors under there. Worst case you have to de-pin the connector and clean/replace a pin but unlikely.

[ScottyB]

whoa buddy didn't know momma Ray still had that thing. looks like a pretty cool project. i think aside from the subframe stuff that chassis is pretty stout, so you better get some pimpy wheels/suspension on there.

[Sijray21]

Right now after I fix some of the codes as best I can I'm looking at konis/h&r sport springs. I'm drooling over some of the modded z3s...

Right now the subframe is fine, but I'll be keeping a close eye on it. If I decide to track it later I'll be bringing it MachV for the rear subframe reinforcement.

Not sure which route to go. Staggered ccw style w/lips or some lighter/racer (ie: k1 style or something similar). I may look for a staggered bmw set of some kind like the m-parallels.

[GTBrandon]

I dig all three designs but not sure what your end goal is, track or just fun weekends?

Also curious what’s going on with all those lights, my guess would be wheel sensors from the water. How is rust based on the flooding?

[Sijray21]

My Carly device just came in over the weekend, so I'll run the codes after I button up the interior. I did find that the driver's side was wet under the carpet, despite the carpet being dry. I dried that out, but found that the side impact crash sensor was heavily corroded. Out of sheer peace-of-mind I ordered a replacement for that (thanks eBay - $25 vs $150+ new) and it should be in by next week. I'll also treat some of the rust spots, but the rust isn't bad.



Once that comes in I'll install that, re-pin the passenger seat harness or redo the broken connection, put the seats back in and then run the codes to see what else it's complaining about.

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I dig all three designs but not sure what your end goal is, track or just fun weekends?

Fun weekends and maybe commuting, but that's about it. I'd love to take this on the track, but I don't want to put the kind of money into it for it to be track-reliable. Plus, no hitch, no truck, and no trailer.


Now I need to think of license plates... I'll be registering it this week or next.

[Sijray21]

Small update:

- Installed some new kick panel speakers.
- Got an emissions inspection for registration (failed with p1421 and P1423 codes). I'll need to find out the issue with the secondary air pump. I'm guessing it's a failed check valve which allowed condensation into the pump, but I'll breakdown the hoses and see if it's just a leak somewhere).
- reinstalled the passenger seat and buttoned up the interior.
- discovered a small leak (like miniscule) in the coolant reservoir tank....


The passenger seat motor wasn't working and I feared that the expensive motor ($370ish) was fried. Loose wiring due to water corrosion was resolved by a new pigtail harness and it happened to be the seat control wiring. I had an initial moment of defeat when I plugged everything back up, hit the switch on the seat.... and nothing... Then I remembered that I disconnected the battery. Reconnected the battery and hit it again to it moving; success! #smallvictories


I don't have much time right now since I'm on kid duty all weekend with my wife working, but these nap time sessions are helpful. I'll break down the SAP tonight.

Next up:
- diagnose SAP issue, clear CEL, and get it reinspected
- install subs when they come in
- run the Carly to diagnose the srs, acs, and abs lights
- replace the coolant tank reservoir (maybe they have a better quality aftermarket one?

[Goodspeed]

Came across this Z3 at Katie's C&C on Saturday.  You should repaint yours this color ASAP 

[ScottyB]

wow, i don't think i've EVER seen a non-M roadster in that color. super noice.

lookin good Jay, you're a braver man than i to attempt all this electronics stuff. that headlight refinish came out nice too. such a satisfying job to clear those off.

[Sijray21]

Came across this Z3 at Katie's C&C on Saturday.  You should repaint yours this color ASAP 

Funny you mention that. My mom's first z3 ('97 4cyl) was that color (Red w/Black Top). I'm always a fan of red cars. Not a huge fan of silver, but i won't complain for what i paid for it, haha.

That one even has the seat belt guides on the seat intact! That's rare... and a PITA to fix...

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lookin good Jay, you're a braver man than i to attempt all this electronics stuff.  that headlight refinish came out nice too.  such a satisfying job to clear those off.

It's really simple, honestly. If you can change an outlet in a house then you can do some of this stuff. Just disconnect the power supply so you don't kill yourself and it's just copper and plastic. The vacuum issue for the SAP is annoying though. I don't have any vacuum testers and i don't want to throw parts at the thing, so it may go to the shop. Apparently to get to some of the other parts i'll need to take off the throttle body, so i may try that tonight. I'm also just itching to get it registered and feeling lazy, so I'll get a shop quote, too.

I've cleared all the SRS codes except the passenger seat side impact ones. i haven't replaced that sensor yet, but it looks like i'll be taking that seat out again to replace that one later. sensor ordered.

So far for the Secondary Air Pump Issue:

- Secondary Air Pump is working (switch/relay for that must be fine)
- the Check Valve (one that bolts to the head) doesn't seem to be the issue since the tube going to the pump is clean

Thinking right now:
- an issue with the electronic valve (part 5)
- maybe a fuse for the electronic valve (i'll check this first)
- a faulty non-return valve (part 6)
- a leak/bad connection with any of the vacuum tubes/connectors in-between the Check valve and the Intake Manifold





The ABS issue may take a while though. apparently no diagnostic tool will tell me the exact problem, so testing with a multimeter may have to be the way to go...

[ScottyB]

if you can yank Part 6 off, just blowing through it should make it clear if its ripped or still acting appropriately as a 1-way valve

[Sijray21]

I hate people so much... Hit and run outside a 7-11 that I was in for 2 minutes...


New mirror/mount and door needed. Luckily they're not too expensive and glad it wasn't the gti.

[.RJ]

ouch, that sucks.