NZ00Z3

I have done many E36 and Z3 control arm bushings at home. Removal Take hammer and metal chisel and bend the metal rim of the bushing in towards the center. Do this in 4 places around the perimeter. This reduces the amount of metal rim in contact with the lollie pop. Open the vice to support the lollie pop and hammer the old bushing out. Hit on the deformed side. It pops out with a couple of blows. Installation Line up the two alignment nubs, one on the lollie pop and the other on the bushing. Use a vice to start and press in the new bushing. Little by little while you move the lollie pop around in 45 degree turns. This ensures that the bushing is going in straight. Press it in until the new bushing is flush with the far face of the lollie pop. Open the vice and insert a spacer that will support the lollie pop but not touch the bushing. Do the final few pressing turns to push the bushing through the lolie pop so that it is proud by 3 to 5 mm (even on both faces of the lollie pop). I use an old wheel bearing tapped race as my spacer.

BMW has done it to other models too. The standard Z3 has a 2.7 turn to turn ratio, one of the fastest for a BMW. The Z3M has a standard E36 rack, which is slower. Why? The interweb/forum logic is that the Standard Z3 is for normal road speeds. Whereas the Z3M is likely to be track/performance driven and the fast rack at high speeds becomes dangerous. Don't know if that's BMW's thinking or not.

I use Ados F38 High Temperature contact adhesive because it can withstand 176 degrees C for Z3 leather dash repairs. How hot will it be under the bonnet? Look at the your selected glue spec sheet to see its temp rating.

I'm as good as gold. Well and truly recovered, no ongoing meds, happy family, good life and lots of BMW's to play with. There is always a good life at the end of the crap. Family is key. You just have to weather the storm with the best support you can find.

I have an AA 3662 battery in my 3.0L Z3. It is a standard DIN66 battery.

Very Pleased to see that you are getting some good professional help. Its really important. I didn't get it many years ago when I needed it. Crashed and burnt resulting in 6 weeks of Hospital/care being heavily medicated. Remember to document everything. Don't rely on your memory. Its all important if things get legal. Document: - The message that was communicated - How it was communicated, snaky conversation, emotionless email etc - How it made you feel

Hi James I'm the guy that posted the comment. You have a very nice Z3. No too many manual 2.8 or 3.0L Z3's about in N.Z. I only know of 1 Manual 3.0L Z3 somewhere in Auckland. I have done 3 cruise control installs on Z3's. As you car has the M52TUB28 engine, it is the same install as doing a M54 powered Z3. It takes about 20 to 30 mins to do. Plug and play, just need two parts. See this guide. https://zroadster.org/articles/bmw-z3-m54-cruise-control-retrofit.25/ Don't get hung up about the "Fly by Wire Throttle" comment when you discover that you have an accelerator cable. Your car has the first version of the BMW fly by wire throttle (MDK) that was a halfway step to a fully fly by wire system that is used on the M54 engines. The M54 cruise control system works on your car. I fitted it to my M52TUB20 powered Z3 and have fitted it to a Facelift Z3 with a M52TUB28 engine. No DME coding needed. The only thing to check, is that you have a clutch switch fitted. You should have one, but check while the covers are off. If there is no clutch switch, then you have to fit one. The wiring will be there for it. There are 2 types of switch. Early Z3's had a 2 wire switch and the later Z3's had a 3 wire hall effect switch. Use www.RealOEM.com to get the part number for your particular car. The ZRoadster.org forum is one of the better Z3 forums. Lots of good information in the resources section and Z3 & Z3 M Roadster & Coupé Knowledgebase. Very friendly and helpful people. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any Z3 questions. Regards Murray

Hi Jessica You will need to be a bit more specific in your description. There are a few different half shafts that come with the same size trailing arms. Don't want you buying parts that don't fit. Your car is a 1998 wide body Z3 roadster. The wide body came as either a 2.8L or 3.2 Z3m. I'm guessing that your car is the 2.8L. I'm making assumptions already. Suggest that you go to www.RealOEM.com and put the last 7 digits of your VIN number into the search tool. This will let you browse for part numbers specific to your car. In the "rear axle" section, you can find the part number for the trailing arm you need as well as the half shaft. You may need to know if your car is fitted with the "S209A, Differential lock 25%" option, as there may be two different part numbers for the half shaft. If you need this information, do a VIN Decode. Its a paid service now. Once you have the part numbers for the trailing arm and half shaft, you can go shopping, confident that the parts you buy will fit the car. Regards Murray

Hi Joe I'm in Timaru with a couple of Z3's. Have replaced 3 Z3 rear windows, but have not yet had to do a complete soft top replacement. Not a job that I'm looking forward to. The soft top you have purchased will fit. I've seen others on the interweb purchase that top and fit it. Many do it themselves, but it is really a two person job. Everyone hates the Butyl tape. Do you have a complete sealing frame? The long plastic bow stapled to the bottom rear of the soft top and bolted to the body with a large amount of Butyl tape (black, sticky, rubbery, silly putty, gum). The sealing frame often breaks on removal as people get impatient with the Butyl tape. The sealing frame is currently on BMW backorder and there are none available to buy through normal channels. If it is broken, don't despair. If it is in 2 or 3 pieces, people have managed to get it plastic welded back together and reuse it. If it is in lots of pieces, then it has been replaced by a strip of rubber/neoprene 1/8" Thick x 4" Wide x 10' Feet. Sorry for the imperial measurements, data comes from a UK site. This is the best DIY guide for replacing the soft top https://webspace.ringling.edu/~dplassma/str/str.html?fbclid=IwAR3RO8yw14SEMUfpC457TEXhd886jneRdAY_LkE4naEfFFrSLNtdWF4G-CY The only tip I can give you on removing Butyl tape is to try kerosene. I used kerosene to easily remove bitumen off paper lead power cables years ago. Maybe the guy who took the top off has already cleaned the Butyl tape mess up? Finding a business that has done a soft top replacement will be difficult. It will have been done. Many garages/service centers will not have a clue on the job and will have a hard time pricing it. If you find one that has done the job before, they will either not want to do the job again or know how to charge having experienced the mess of Butyl tape and the time required to clean it up. Some people have said that the time taken to clean the Butyl tape up was equal to the time to do everything else. Get on the phone and use the yellow pages or google searches to find suitable businesses. If you get totally stuck, send me a PM with your phone number. We may be able to work together and fit the top. Remember, that I'm just another amature mechanic that owns a couple of Z3's and does all of the maintenance work on them.

I've had lots to do with Z3's. Had a 1.9 M44 auto a while back. Was very nicely balanced for a twisty road car. Short on performance. Had to get the engine above 3,500 rpm before anything happened. Always check the plastic Y connector on the back of the block. If it looks like it is leaking (dried antifreeze) walk away from it. The connector has been the death of many M44 engines as it's unseen and when it breaks it overheats the engine. I now have a 2.L straight 6 with a manual transmission as a daily driver. Its OK at 150 HP and a lot of fun with the manual transmission. Heavier in the front than the M44B19, so a bit slower around the corners in the twisties. My other Z3 is a M54B30 3.0L auto transmission car. 231 HP in a light body makes it one beast of a car when you put your foot down. It comes down to what you want the car for. If you are into a bit of performance driving, then the 1.9 with a supercharger is the best balance. Other wise buy the biggest 6 cylinder Z3 that you can find/afford. The 2.2 is good. The 2.8 or 3.0L are better. Then if you have the money and can find one, the 3.2 Z3M is an exciting car. Finding a manual transmission Z3 in the larger engine sizes is difficult. Always take the boot carpet out on any Z3 you are looking to buy. It the spot welds holding the cross car subframe are pulling or have broken (rust circles around them), then run away for the car. This happens more with the higher horse power manual cars than the auto cars, but always look.

BMW Z8 in James Bond, The World is not enough, 1999. Poor car (really just a model) gets cut in half.

I still have a couple of years to wait until my target BMW becomes old enough for the 20 year rule, so, will likely miss out on that avenue. It will however be a special interest car as there currently isn't any of them in New Zealand at the moment. Just waiting for the exchange rates to become favorable.

Arh, spring compressors. I tried them once. Now I take the struts to Goodyear, they have a hydraulic tool in a cage that does both struts in less than 15 minutes. Costs me $50 and I get to keep my fingers and face just the way I like them.

Yes it was a great Christchurch BMW club run down to Ashburton on Saturday.

Fit front wheels to back and back wheels to front and see if it changes. If it does then its something to do with the wheels.

Yes it works. It does not give the full spec for "individual" model BMW's. But its free and good otherwise.

I buy a lot of my BMW parts from MillAnd in Dunedin. You can get BMW, OE or aftermarket parts and the prices and delivery are OK. I like supporting the local guys

The clunk is common on Z3's and has been pin pointed to be the crush tube on the pinion. Properly the same issue on the Z4 diff. Here is a link on the Z3 diff. https://zroadster.org/threads/refreshed-rear-suspension-update.41075/#post-622137

That sounds expensive. Is a secondhand transmission cheaper?

Just installed Bluebus in my Jap import E46 with CD prep wiring. Plugged in easily. Head unit found it OK. Had issues paring with it and getting sound until I updated the osi on my iPad and iPhone, then it worked great. Very pleased with the device.

Arh, more modifications to get through compliance.

Its the M52TUB28 engine. Has camber plates in place of the strut mounts. Don't know what the silver square items on the front of both strut towers are. Over priced for what it is with the 2.8 L engine and auto box.

I have been using the Foxwell NT530 scanner with BMW software for a while now. Its OK, does most things that INPA does and reads all modules in the car. It talks both OBD2 and ADS. ADS is needed for the older BMW's like the E30 and E36. It also allows you to load two manufacturer's software at the same time, so you can load the Merceded software and be able to read all modules in your car. https://www.foxwelltool.com/wholesale/nt520-pro-scanner-with-bmw-software-installed.html

Was under the bonnet of the 2.0 L Mora Z3 today and noticed that the center caps on top of the struts was pocking above the steelwork. Had a look at the 3.0 L Z3 and it is really different. I replaced the strut mounts on the 2.0 L Mora Z3 in May 2016 with Meyle parts. The car has now done 32,800 km on the strut mounts. They look to me to be failing. What do you think? The photos with the black steelwork are the 2.0 L Mora Z3 and the red steel work is the 3.0 L Z3 for comparison. The 3.0 L Z3 has only done 64,300 km in its 20 year life, so should look brand new.

If you are a serious buyer, I have a file on this car's sales history since October 2016. It was previously owned by a member on this forum. PM me if you want the file.