JOURNAL: 1998 BMW Z3 2.8 Roadster [UPDATED: 6th May 2011]

[pangster]

I bought my BMW Z3 about 2 years ago (February 2009) and thought it would be a good idea to start a Journal so I could keep track of it's progress.

I was originally looking for a Black or Silver Z3 - but when I saw this Montreal Blue it ticked all of the boxes and I knew I had to have it. It's original owner was a doctor who specced it reasonably well in addition he also picked a nice black/beige leather combo interior (as opposed to the complete beige leather) that seemed to be more prevalent in the vast majority of Montreal Blue Z3's - which was one of the first things I noticed about the car! It's other 2 owners seemed to have cared for it equally as well and the paperwork confirmed full service history and that it had been covered by a BMW Extended Warranty up until 2006.

ORIGINAL PICTURES (February 2009) FROM FOR SALE ADVERT:






CAR DETAILS:
Type code CJ32
Type Z3 (EUR)
E series E36 (7)
Series 3
Type ROADSTER
Steering RIGHT
Doors 2
Engine M52
Displacement 2.80
Power 142 KW / 193 BHP
Drive HECK
Transmission MANUAL
Colour MONTREALBLAU METALLIC (297)
Upholstery LEDER OREGON/BEIGE E36 SANDBEIGE E3 (Q2SN)
Prod.date 1998-01-15

FACTORY FITTED OPTIONS:
HEATED WINDSCREEN WASHER NOZZLES Door mirror / driver's lock, heated
SOFTTOP BLACK Softtop, black
SOFTTOP OPERATION, ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC Softtop, electromech. semiautom.
FLOOR MATS, VELOUR Floor mats, velours
WARNING TRIANGLE Warning triangle and first aid kit
SMOKERS PACKAGE Smoker package
AIR CONDITIONING Air conditioning
ON-BOARD COMPUTER On-board computer
RADIO BMW BUSINESS CD RDS Radio BMW Business CD RD
HIFI LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM HARMAN KARDON Hi-Fi System Harman Kardon
M LEATHER STEERING WHEEL M sports steering wheel
ENGLAND VERSION NATIONAL VERSION GREAT BRITAIN
MAIN BATTERY SWITCH Battery master switch
EUROPE/DEALER DIRECTORY Retailer Directory Europe
ENGLISH/OWNERS HANDBOOK/SERVICE BOOKLET Operating instructions, English
SHIPPING PROTECTION PACKAGE Transport protection package Standard equipment
LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL (25%) Differential lock 25%
AUTOMATIC STABILITY CONTROL+TRACTION Automatic stability control (ASC+T)
LT/ALY WHL/ Z STAR BMW LA wheel Z Star
CHROME LINE INTERIOR Chrome Line Interior
HARDTOP PREPARATION Hardtop-preparation
WINDOW LIFTS, ELECTRIC AT FRONT Window lifts, electric, front
HEADLIGHT BEAM-THROW CONTR. F LOW BEAM Headlight aim control
FOGLIGHTS Fog lights
LANGUAGE VERSION ENGLISH Language version English
BMW OEM FACTORY WIND DEFLECTOR (non-roll hoop version)

I've made the following changes over the last 2 years:

SUSPENSION:
E-Tech front strut brace
FK Silverline Coilover Plus suspension
Camber adjustable top mounts (front)
E36 Camber adjustment bolts (front)
BMW OEM M3 strut reinforcement plates (front)
BMW OEM shock mount gaskets (front and rear)
Meyle Heavy Duty top mounts (rear)
Meyle Heavy Duty control arms
BMW OEM shock reinforcement plates (rear)
Powerflex polybush kit (complete kit)
New sway bar/drop links

WHEELS AND TYRES:
18" Staggered Beyern Multi (FRONT 18x8.5 and REAR 18x9.5)
Falken FK-452's all round (FRONT 225/40/18 and REAR 255/35/18)

ICE:
Alpine CDE-9880R with full speed iPod control
Factory upgraded Harman Kardon system (amp, speakers and subwoofer)
Clifford G5 650 MKII alarm with dual proximity sensor
BMW OEM Sport Antenna

PERFORMANCE:
ITG Pro Filter drop in replacement filter
SuperSprint stainless steel back box
EBC Yellow Stuff brake pads all round (fitted 19/04/2011)
Brembo HC brake discs all round (fitted 19/04/2011)
Goodridge braided stainless steel brake lines (fitted 19/04/2011)
Earls Performance stainless steel clutch line (fitted 19/04/2011)

EXTERIOR:
Clear front indicator lens conversion with chrome bulbs
Clear side indicators with chrome bulbs
Clear/red rear light units with chrome bulbs
BMW hardtop (cosmos black)
Z3 M side gills
Z3 M side mirrors (* yet to be fitted *)

INTERIOR:
Storm Motorwerks V1 stainless short and weighted gear knob
Storm Motorwerks handbrake cover
Storm Motorwerks lighter blank
Custom EL Lockwood dials (beige) with LED conversion and red needles
BMW OEM Roll hoops
Custom retrimmed and repadded M steering wheel (black leather top and bottom, black perforated leather sides and beige stitching)
Custom beige leather gear gaiter (* yet to be fitted *)
Custom beige leather handbrake gaiter (* yet to be fitted *)
Windblox Lexan Wind Deflector (fitted 21/04/2011)
Doug Whalen black anodised hood release handle (fitted 06/05/2011)


RECENT PICTURES:









RECENT PICTURES (in it's winter guise with Cosmos Black hardtop):









RECENT PICTURES (with Z3M gills fitted):








INTERIOR PICTURES:












Thanks for looking!!

[NeRo]

Looking good Paul

What are those wheels - I've not seen that type before?

[pangster]

Looking good Paul

What are those wheels - I've not seen that type before?

Thanks Neil!

They're staggered 18" Beyern Multi (18x8.5 front and 18x9.5 rears) - they're specifically made for BMW's so are hubcentric (no need for spigot rings etc).. had to wait 12 weeks on them coming from the States!.. worth the wait IMHO

Link to Beyern Wheels site: http://www.beyernwheels.com/

PS cleaning them is a bit of a PITA though! talk about high maintenance!

[pangster]

Eventually got round to installing the dials in the car - here's a sneak peek just now - I'll take some better pictures when it's dark tonight. Overall pretty happy with how they've turned out, not bad for a first attempt! - I'll get round to doing a write up over the weekend if I get a chance - some quick pics just now:

[pangster]

starting to get dark outside so I'll get some proper pics up soon!

[pangster]

it was dark here (almost! at 11.30 p.m.!) so I went out and took some more pictures to try and give a better idea of what they look like at night (they actually match the stock lighting pretty well... I think so anyway! ):

[pangster]

One of the things I was looking for on my Z3 when I bought it was for it to come with roll hoops - unfortunately the car I bought didn't have this option, but as it ticked every other box - I decided it was too good to pass on and came to the decision that I would just retrofit roll hoops at a later date. This was obviously before I had checked with BMW (who, at the time wanted c£1k) just for the parts!! and before I knew that there was various configurations for the roll hoop fitting (i.e. HK subwoofer, storage box etc).

So to cut a long story short - I had been keeping an eye out for a good/complete set on eBay/forums and breakers over the last year or so - unfortunately most of the ones that came up weren't suitable for one reason or another (wrong colour, wrong configuration etc). However, the good news is that a complete set in the right configuration and colour came up for a cracking price with Quarry Motors!! - I had the day off work on Friday and this is the result:











It's a bit of a pig of a job to do as you basically need to strip down the whole rear of the car and can be quite fiddly at times.. it took around 5 hours all in.. but the results were worth it! (I think so anyway! LOL!!)

[NeRo]

Somewhere to hang the wind-breaker now

Good work Paul

[pangster]

treated myself to a new swanky 27" iMac and have been messing about with iMovies:

[pangster]

took a couple of quick pics when I stopped off at B&Q to buy some decorating supplies: