My midlife crisis purchase; E86 BMW Z4 Coupe

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MightyBadger said:

These coupes are so perfect looking to my eyes, lovely.

Thanks, I particularly like the rear end. I think they’ve aged well too.

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I ticked off a couple more little jobs today.

First up was a replacement filler cap cord with an eBay special (very exciting)



The plastic trim around the gearstick never fitted properly because of a broken clip, so I bought a repalon eBay which was a horrible grey colour so that was painted gloss black and fitted today.

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christhreadgill said:

Looks fantastic with the bike on top! Glad to see you're getting on with some of the little niggles on it, too. Always enjoy the "smaller" tasks on a new purchase, to bring it back up to standard after all the years gone by.

Thanks. It did look kind of cool with bikes on the roof…here’s another from yesterday.



I did get a few strange looks with the bikes on the car though.

I’m looking forward to getting stuck into some of the bigger jobs this weekend.

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InitialDave said:

I did the same on my E89, though it looks like the rubber is already cracking a bit on it.

Still, it's hardly mission critical, and cheap enough if I need to replace it again.

It’s one of those silly things that just annoys me when I fill up. For a coupe of quid they get replaced. BMW wanted to sell me the whole filler cap.

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cerb4.5lee said:

Even my suction cup rear view mirror on the Caterham falls off occasionally, so I'd be a nervous wreck I reckon with a bike on my roof in fairness!

It is a bit nerve racking at first but the rack is solid once it’s one. Each cup has a little pump to expel the air. It has an indicator to let you know when it’s secure.

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axel1990chp said:

Going to give the headlights a bit of a sand and clean?

Something I always notice on older cars! Can always tell when they're looked after if they're spick and span!

Lovely motor, been looking at these for a few months for the missus, so that I can drive it around too! Seems they're gaining a bit of new found love these days, and rightly so!

Yeah, it’s on the list of jobs to get through. It should smarten the front end up a tad.

They do seem like they were forgotten about a bit.

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My AUTODOC delivery finally arrived today



Moog front wishbones
Moog tie rod assemblies
Febi covers for tie rods
Moog front and rear drop links
ATE rear discs
ATE ceramic pads front and rear

Plus I have the genuine BMW RTAB carriers and bolts and have taken delivery of Powerflex heritage RTAB.

Looks like a busy weekend coming up.

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Tom4398cc said:

Great to see the reappearance of the safety footwear

Sliders cover more of my foot than flip flops, so it’s technically it’s a step in the right direction!

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Gad-Westy said:

I wonder if anyone has ever bought a used BMW where this is intact. I mean they must exist but I've certainly never seen nor heard of one!

It is intact in the E91 (although it’s looking a bit worse for wear).

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Gad-Westy said:

Interesting.... Out of curiosity, do you use the 'black', 'silver' or 'white' stuff? I'm mainly interested in this for my toys which are British racing green and bright red.

Both the Fusso and Kiwami I have are for dark paint although neither wax is actually dark. Go figure.

I remember when I had white cars, I used to Purple Haze because it was purple and it made it easy to see what had actually been waxed.

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Mr Tidy said:

Anyway back on topic it's good to see Z4 Coupes seem to be getting some love again. I bought my first in 2014 when they almost seemed to just go under the radar, which may be why it was a bit of a bargain!

I’ve always really liked them to be fair, I’ve just not been in a position to have a two seater previously.

They’re quite a unique proposition; two seats, manual, RWD and a six cylinder engine even more so with them never being replaced like the roadsters.

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I’ve had a good and bad week with the bad being entirely my fault.

Let’s get the bad out of the way first….

I had to go to the office on Tuesday which if I brave the traffic, means parking in a multi-storey. On the way home, I had a momentary lapse of concentration coming down one of the ramps and thought that I’d caught my rear wheel on the big kerb. I was cross with myself all the way home.

Got home and checked the wheel….nothing. Instead, I saw this…



st. I was even more cross with myself however after a clay bar, some very fine wet and dry and touch up paint it looks much better. Luckily it’s very low, so quite hard to see.



There’s a local smart repair chap who I’ve used a few times before, so I’ll give him a call for a quote.

The better news is that I’ve dropped the 261’s off for painting this week and I managed to squeeze a couple of tyres into the boot of the Z4.



My BlueMusic adapter arrived yesterday. Having left the CD changer wires easy to get at in the boot, installing the adapter was dead easy. I plugged the connector that I removed for my aux socket back in too so I now have a fully functioning phone and can stream music via Bluetooth. It’s almost modern.

My spacers arrived this afternoon so I thought I’d fit them quickly.

Rear wheel before.



15mm spacer fitted.



Front wheels as they were.



With a 12mm spacer fitted.



The 261’s will 100% need spacers or they’ll look even more lost in the arches than the 108’s.

I also managed a bit coding too; it I’ve coded in three indicator flashes for a single tap and DRL’s. Unfortunately I was t able to add a digital speedo or code the car to automatically unlock when turning it off, I still have to press the button which is annoying.

Hoping to start tackling the suspension tomorrow night after work. I’m going to start with the rear end.

Edited by Court_S on Thursday 18th April 18:01

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Jonfylane said:

Jonfylane said:

For media connectivity try a Pure DAB Bluetooth module, worked great in my Z4C . DAB, Bluetooth streaming and hands free phone. Simple to fit utilising the aux connection on rear of HU. Also I had these wheels on mine, no idea what they were as already on the car when I bought it.
Regarding a "busy front end" , I chased this issue for al ong time..renewed all the suspension components, and I mean all of it ! Had it aligned by a guy who really knew what he was doing. Every step of the refresh made an improvement but I never truly dialed out the nervousness of the front end. TBH I learned to live with it and drove around it, there are hundreds of posts on the Z4 forums about it, you can adjust the weight of feel on the EPAS by altering the alignment on the collar on the base of the steering column.

Thanks.

The connectivity is sorted now; calls are via the factory Bluetooth and streaming via the adapter hidden in the boot (needs to be hidden better but that’s a job for another day).

I’m pretty sure a fair amount of the wandering front end is the wishbones because it’s fine on some roads but really bad on others. If I can get a decent improvement from where it is now, I’ll be pretty happy.

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helix402 said:

Mr Tidy said:

I don't think they do - after all the E85s went on sale in 2003!

It may be an option on E89s though.

Spot on. E85 tech is E46 based, E89-E9x.

To be honest, it’s so long ago that I had my E46, I assumed that I’d have been able to add it.

There are only two modules that I can code with Carly anyway. The more annoying one is the car not unlocking when you turn it off.

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flight147z said:

I did this twice(?) in the 6 years I had mine. Hard to avoid as it's so low (mine was lowered a little further too).

Wasn't a bad fix either time, couple of hours work and something like £200

Glad I’m not the only one! This has Eibach’s fitted so is a bit lower than standard. The visibility in certain situations is comically bad (e.g. some local T junctions and cresting bumps / hills). The C pillar makes reversing interesting too. Definitely a practical daily driver!

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RS Grant said:

Just caught up with the whole thread, lovely car and some nice touches Sam.

I've always liked this era of Z4 but I'm not sure there'd be enough room to accommodate my ample frame, so have never taken it further than scanning the classifieds... which I'm away to do again shortly.

Thanks. It’s getting there….hopefully I can finish the detail next week and for the new wheels.

They’re not the biggest inside that’s for sure and the seats are quite tight around the arse / hip area. It makes my wife’s E91 feel like a barge; even the seats feel soft and squishy.

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Sticks. said:

It's in the hidden menus iirc rather than via coding, at least on the E85. I suspect you'd have to access it every time.

Sod that.

I’ll just live without it.

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Graeme_Bangor said:

Great looking car, I could never get the twitching dialled out my EPAS however much I adjusted it. Ended up ripping it out and doing a hydraulic conversion.

Thanks.

That’s a slightly nuclear option! I’m hoping I can improve with some new parts and a decent alignment. I have been a bit surprised about the stories of how twitchy the front end is or can be because I got on fine with the EPAS in my 130i and my wife’s old 125i cab.

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flight147z said:

C pillar is horrendous when you are pulling out onto a main road at a 45 degree angle (turning right and joining traffic coming from over your left shoulder). Can't see a thing!

Oh yes, that C pillar causes me all sorts of issues.

In other news, my wheels are ready for collection - hopefully I’ll be able to shoot over tomorrow to pick them up. I don’t think I’ll be starting the suspension tonight because it’s now absolutely stting it down with rain. Joy.

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sprouting said:

How did you get on with the noise compliant? If I remember correctly, some busybody complained about you washing cars?

Edited by sprouting on Friday 19th April 20:07

Nothing after the letter from the council. I did speak to the guy who largely had no issue given the times that I do stuff (e.g. after 9am).