99 z3 2.8l roadster

[JPolen01]

Damn man you have the worst car luck. Sorry to see that.

File police report and they can check the cameras? I know they have them all over the place at 711s.

[ScottyB]

if there was anyone on earth that needed a forcefield projected around their cars at all times, its you. really sorry Jayray, but hey i'd be willing to bet silver is the most popular Z color by far. should be easy to grab a door off another.

[Sijray21]

I may call the nail salon place since I saw that their camera was facing the lot, but that may not even happen. I was surprised to not see an exterior camera for the 7-11, but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle. Just hoping karma will bite that person right where they don't want it to... It's not worth filing a police report based on my prior experience; just a waste of time for law enforcement.

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I do get to learn how to reassemble the door now. I'll redo the gaskets around the door handle and replace the window guides if they look worn since that's appears to be a common issue.

[WRXtranceformed]

We just can't have nice things can we?

Bummer bro, that's beyond annoying. Sounds like you're taking it in stride though!

[Sijray21]

update:

I was too lazy to keep diagnosing the SAP issue since I need to get it emissions tested before I can fully register it, so i took it to a shop. Needed a new vacuum line in the back (under the cowl on the backside of the head) and a new control valve on the exhaust manifold. I also had the shop replace the last original valve stem on the driver's front wheel to hopefully avoid another blow out. There was quite a bit of corrosion that they had to sand down, but I may just get four new tires since they're fairly cheap i did notice that they have some deep cracking from dry rotting...

While the car was there the tech just decided to help out my dent situation, free of charge (he has a hard on for pre-facelift wide body z3s) and got about 80% of the dent out. He referred me to his professional 'dent guy' for a discount to get it back to normal. I'll check with him later as i'd love to get it back to normal for minimal cost and without having to replace the door shell.

On the way to a baseball game last night I had another situation; I got zero throttle at one point... I coasted into a gas station (lucky place to be) as I was thinking the worst with a snapped throttle cable. I discovered that the rubber grommet connecting the cable to the throttle lever was missing and the hook was loose (lucky). A zip-tie from the shop tech there and I was back in business... At this moment I now have a side mirror being held on with duck tape and a throttle cable being fastened with a zip tie...

Today I replaced the side mirror assembly with the eBay one that came in the mail. The Z is certainly keeping me on my toes...

Next up:
- Get emissions test completed and register
- replace passenger side impact sensor and clear srs light
- revitalize window rear window guides (bought the middle and fronts for both sides, but the rears are expensive, so I'll try revitalizing them first)
- check 'dent guy' and his prices


Planning for a full suspension refresh as well (probably taking out of commission for a while, so I may do this in the fall):
- new front lower control arms (with ball joints)
- new tie rods
- new front sway bar bushings
- new control arm bushings
- drop rear sub frame and replace all bushings including camber adjustable rear trailing arm bushings)
- new brake rotors
- new brake pads
- brake fluid flush
- h&r springs
- koni yellow shocks
- new upper strut mounts (front and rear)
- flip the front top hats for increased camber and caster
- Apex arc8 matte bronze wheels (18x9 et30 fronts and 18x9.5 et35 w/15mm spacers in the rear) with 225/40 & 255/35 tires

Fronts (no spacers):


Rears (et35 with 15mm spacers):



Free dent repair with replacement side mirror:

[Senor_Taylor]

Another great example of how no free BMW Is free.

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[Sijray21]

Since the tires on the car were 8 years old, I was paranoid that the valve stems would blow, and that the new set was so cheap ($78/tire) I just decided to get new tires and have the valve stems replaced for piece of mind. Tire rack discount for mounting and balancing at less than $70.

Now sitting on General G-Max RS SL (General's first UHP Summer tire released this March, so minimal reviews) and feeling pretty good so far. I'll wear them in a bit, before I give them too much praise though.

Also got the emissions test done and registered for a couple years.

[Ryan T]

Looks awesome man! I know it’s not a honda, but, how has this not been stolen from you yet?

[ScottyB]

good call on the tires...that's a lot of hot/cold cycles, i don't blame you. that's an awesome price too...i think General is a subsidiary of Continental (?) so they're probably great tires.

Looks awesome man! I know it’s not a honda, but, how has this not been stolen from you yet?

dude...cold

[Sijray21]

small update:

just replaced the passenger side impact sensor (likely destroyed with the standing water). Cleared the code with Carly and got it safety inspected this afternoon. I've never really been concerned about a safety inspection before; that was new.

I've been enjoying driving it around on nice days and i bought a cover for the car (BMW fitment), so i can leave it in the driveway while i can work on and store one of the other cars in the garage. It's a great feeling to drive this car and have zero desire to look at my phone or even turn the radio on sometimes.

[ScottyB]

that's awesome buddy...you're going to have a blast with that come sept/oct when you can just soak up the weather. get that thing out to the mountains!

[Sijray21]

a small update:

i noticed a bit of wobble at higher speeds that seemed like the rotors were warped. i just got some basic pads (akebono) and brembo blanks for all four corners and installed those last weekend. i've never worked on a car that has wired pad wear sensors before and almost cut off the sensor cable because there was so much brake dust/crap caked in that area that i thought it was part of the pad itself. a little test ride to bed in the pads (not really much to do with these basic pads) had a much better feel, but the fluid definitely needs to be changed; i'll do that soon. i was actually able to find ate amber (which i thought was discontinued). i also wanted to test the brakes since the abs/asc light is on and the abs did not kick in (locked up the driver's front). just some info for diagnosing that issue for later.

a while back the plastic hood release mechanism broke, so i took that part and ordered the part i needed. i also ordered a metal lever instead of the plastic one for a better feel ($30).

i knew of a power steering leak that i was checking out when i did the brakes and i noticed a slight coolant leak (yay for old bmws). It seems to be the heater line going from the head to the interior core under the manifold... There was a really tiny leak in the expansion tank that i fixed with epoxy, but i doubt that'll last. if i need to take off the manifold to fix that heater line hose i'll likely replace a few other things including that expansion tank. i also talked with Boobies and he has the fan/water pump wrench set; one less tool i need to buy.

next up on the list aside from the coolant and power steering leaks is the front suspension. i'm going to order the full front refresh kit (LCAs, tie rods, bushings, etc.) soon and do that in the coming months after it comes in. i may as well get the konis and h&r springs as well, so that'll be on the order.

[.RJ]

in for suspension overhaul

[Senor_Taylor]

Yeah, do the coolant reservoir sooner rather than later. The heating and cooling will cause what seems like a small leak at cool temps to turn into dumping all of your coolant in a minute at temp.

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[ScottyB]

ATE gold is good stuff but also take a look at the Valvoline synthetic DOT 3/4 (if the Z takes that grade) which has almost the same boiling point but its super cheap and easy to find

[Sijray21]

Update

Had the leaking heater lines done at the shop as I didn't feel like removing the IM. While there they put in the new coolant reservoir, two broken vacuum lines destroyed in the process of removing the Intake Manifold, new power steering reservoir and lines (cracked and leaking), two new front brake lines, and had the brake fluid flushed. After paying for that I'm going to try and tackle most things that need to get done.

I'm on solo-dad duty this weekend, but during nap time I was able to install the rear shocks, shock mounts, and springs; seemed easy enough. The kybs I removed did not rebound... While I was there I removed the spare tire holder since the spare doesn't hold air anyway. I thought about getting the spare fixed to keep it as oem as possible, but that seems dumb. I have a fix-a-flat kit and a compressor in the trunk in case I flat. I'm left with two holes in the trunk from removing the holder. I'm likely going to cut off the parts of the holder that seal them and throw away the rest of the spare tire holder.

Happy some progress is being made. I'm waiting on the front strut reinforcement plates before I begin the front suspension work. Meanwhile, the oil filter housing gasket is leaking, so I'll change that next.

[Senor_Taylor]

Ew, E30 suspension. Gross.

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[Sijray21]

Another nap time update. Changed the oil filter housing gasket and while I was there the oil temp sensor, oil pressure sensor, vanos feed line, and bolts/washers. The existing gasket was likely the original and was brittle as hell. Now I'll be looking for any other oil leaks; hopefully none from the pan, but we'll see...

The Vanos Feed line caused me a little frustration because it seemed to be symmetrical. It wasn't and it took me a couple tries to get it oriented correctly to get the line to fit properly. I had to take pictures of the bolts of the oil filter housing since they were 3 different sizes for 6 bolts. Overall the work wasn't too bad. If i needed to do it again it should go by a lot quicker. I was surprised how easy the alternator was to get in and out. The cooling duct for the alternator was filled with leaves and twigs, so i'm not sure if that was ever removed before.

Also found the cooling duct for the alternator clogged with leaves and other debris.

[.RJ]

valve cover gasket leaking?

[Sijray21]

valve cover gasket leaking?

Doesn't seem to, but that'll get changed later as I need to rebuild the vanos at some point. It's showing signs of surging when cold starting.

I don't see a leak at the moment, so hopefully the oil filter housing was it. I'm going to clean up down there after I put the suspension in.