Euro Z3 - Build Thread...

[yalden]

Performance/Engine Cosmetics - Part 5a
ACStremely Exhausted - 14/04/2009



It was only 3 months ago that I replaced the tired looking OEM chrome exhaust trims for the identically shaped gloss black versions. Although I'm fond of the look, they don't stand out, they're pretty 'normal' and they don't give me an excuse to break out my various metal polishes.

Whilst doing the rounds on eBay I made a good spot; newly listed AC Schnitzer exhaust trims, albeit that they are intended for an E36 M3 (part number 1812 36 10) and replicate the look of the original ACS CLS E36.

I'm confident they'll fit fine, so I clicked the 'buy it now' and got them delivered to my door cheaper than the aforementioned OEM replacements cost me.

They arrived today and I was even more pleased to see that the previous owner had kept the original ACS box and accompanying leaflets etc.

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Never the less, the trims were stained and grubby. 1 hour of tedious labour, a small portion of Brasso, Autosol and Meguiars NXT metal polish later and hey-presto... good as new.

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Before:- ................. After:-


Before & After:- .... Before & After:-


Both Finished:-


AC Schnitzer Laser Etched Detailing:-


I have always loved this style of ACS exhaust (ever since seeing an E36 CLS) and regardless of how they look on my car I had to buy them... if only to clean up and pass on. Never the less, I went out in the rain today to remove the existing trims and slide these into place for a few quick and dirty shots; at first I thought 'oh no' but the more I look at them, the more I'm warming to them!

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They're back off and in the box now, I'll have a better play on the weekend 8-)

[yalden]

Performance/Engine Cosmetics - Part 5b
ACStremely Clean - 19/04/2009



Well I spent a little bit of time fitting the trims properly today.

I'd say it was a 'fairly' straight forward job, but being that their made for either an E36 M3 Evo or genuine ACS backbox it wasn't entirely straight forward! Firstly, the grub screws supplied weren't long enough to make contact with my smaller exhaust pipes; this was overcome by using M6 20mm bolts (ideally I'd have used 15mm, but I couldn't find these anywhere local). In addition to this I had to apply a small insert between my existing pipe and the ACS trim to act as a spacer so that it would clamp tight without sitting at an odd angle.

Here are the results, this time on a clean car...

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[yalden]

Performance/Engine Cosmetics - Part 6
Golden Calipers - 19/04/2009



Something I've been meaning to do for such a long time is clean and pain the calipers and hubs; such an simple and cheap job that only demands a couple hours should've really been done last year... still, better late than never.

I chose gold for the calipers, which in time will compliment the gold plated split rim bolts I've got waiting to fit when I refurb the wheels. Meanwhile, the hubs have been painted black.

Click to enlarge

[yalden]

Maintenance
MOT - 28/05/2009



I had my car booked in for MOT, thankfully it passed straight through! Advisory sheet indicated the following:-

- Rear tyres low - Old wheels back on
- Small chip outside of drivers view in windscreen - Needs filling

[yalden]

Exterior - Part 16a
Bits and Pieces - 21/06/2009



Well, two days into my 9-day R&R holiday I decided to get my hands dirty and strip a few bits off the car; the car is now in the hands of my local bodyshop!

Whilst having the BMW Aerodynamics rear spoiler, sideskirts and Z3M mirrors fitted I thought it'd only make sense to fit new rubber seals for the boot lock, aerial and door handles. I'm also having the doors, wings, rear quarters and bootlid repainted... just to freshen it up and aleviate the numerous stone chips, and a few carpark dents.

(Click to enlarge)

The 3rd brake light must've been out before... whoever refitted it decided to cake it with clear silicone (surely not a BMW job?). This was by far the most frustrating thing to remove, let's just hope it's work it!



Kidney's are out... surrounds are being scotched ready for paint!



Sideskirts and petrol flap off... note the stone chipped rear quarters and dents in door (one by handle, one central)



The worst of my car park dents; they will not be missed!



Quick tape-on trial fit of the new spoiler 8-)

[yalden]

Exterior - Part 16b
Clean fresh - 28/06/2009



Having just got my car back from the bodyshop I thought it'd only be fair to share a few photos; of course this could only be done after a thorough afternoon of detailing!

As aforementioned, the work undertaken includes:-

Respray rear quarter panels
Respray doors
Respray front wings
Respray bootlid
Paint and fit BMW Aerodynamic rear spoiler
Paint BMW Aerodynamic sideskirts
Paint Z3M wing mirrors
Paint kidney grill surrounds
Paint and fit doorhandles
Flush and paint petrol flap

The detail consisted of:-

2 bucket method with grit guards
Meguiars NXT shampoo
Meguiars Quick Detailer with Claybar
Autoglym Ultra Deep Shine polish (x2)
Meguiars NXT wax (x2)

The photos:-

Click to enlarge







A few shots showing the closer details:-

[yalden]

Exterior - Part 17a
More AerOEM+ - 14/07/2009



Last week, whilst parked out on the street, some delightful individual decided to scuff my front bumper and damage my marker light in the process. Thankfully the bumper is long overdue a repaint anyway, however the light was an annoyance, albeit only £15 for a replacement it was a cost I'd rather not have to put up with!

Damaged/Replaced:-

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I contacted an online 'genuine BMW parts distributor' and explained the situation, I asked if they'd be willing to supply a replacement marker light free of charge should I spend over £170; needless to say they agreed, the perfect excuse to purchase the BMW Aerodynamics rear bumper I've been pining for. :lol:

Earlier today I got the call telling me a great big box had been delivered, I immediately visioned my new wheel build, and began thinking 'what if', although deep down I knew that'd have to wait at least another week yet.

The boring photos:-

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You'll notice that the Aerodynamic rear bumper flares out along it's lower edge, this line neatly follows that of the recently fitted sideskirts; and should also set off the exhaust a little better.

Aerodynamic/Standard comparison shots:-

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[yalden]

Exterior - Part 18a
Dishing it out - 14/07/2009



I wasn't expecting to see these boxes waiting for me when I got home from work today, but I'm sure as hell glad they were! :twisted:

Click to enlarge



Up front I've gone for genuine OZ Racing 9J x 18" ET 32 2-piece tubes (dated July 1997 - no wonder they hold a premium). These provide a 2.0" dish, just 0.5" over stock.





Out back I've gone for a genuine OZ Racing 10.5J x 18" 3-piece set-up, comprising inner barrels (dated May 1995) and 3.0" lips, 1.5" over stock; producing a final offset of ET 26.





Final measurement... 11.5" 8-)



The final item in the box was my new set of genuine OZ Racing nuts, I thought better to replace the originals during the rebuild just to be safe.



I couldn't help but play around with the set up, if only to take a few more photos; bare in mind the centres of my wheels bolt from the front, so the bolts won't sit up against the dish as per the below photos, instead they'll sit within the recess of the centre.





Time to hire out the custom 10-spline OZ Racing sockets and get wrenching :twisted:

[yalden]

Exterior - Part 18b
Tools, Stickers and Trials - 07/08/2009



After looking into the simplistics of splitting my wheels I came to realise that the bolts used by Oz Racing to secure the wheels are custom 10-spline, as opposed to regular 12-spline.

A little digging soon unveiled that two custom sockets (8mm/10mm) would set me back £100, thankfully a fellow member on www.wheel-whores.com had already forked out for such tools and was now loaning them out for a small fee... ideal! Needless to say, they were on the door mat within a couple days.

Click to enlarge



On the same day as the sockets arrived, I also received my original OZ Racing lip decals from Germany, to be located opposite the tyre valves on the outer edge of the dish - the lips would've had these fitted prior to polishing through the clearcoat.



Whilst splitting the rims, I thought it'd only be right to have a quick trial fit on the rear... Got Camber?







The centres are being shipped to www.thewheelspecialist.co.uk next week for the final touch, a refurb in their exclusive Hi-Power Silver coating. I'm hoping to have them all back next weekend... fingers crossed!

[yalden]

Exterior - Part 17b
More AerOEM+ - 12/08/2009



I left work early today to ensure I got chance to collect my rear bumper from the bodyshop before they lock their doors.

The plan was to wait till the weekend before fitting, just to ensure I didn't run out of daylight. As is often the case, things didn't go as planned... I began trying to remove the original bumper around 7pm. Considering I had no idea how it came off, and tried removing all the boot trim to locate the rear bumper shock mounts I later realised that it had to be removed from behind (i.e. underneath the car).

Anyhow, two hours later and the light has gone, but the bumper is on... fitment is 90% of the way there, two of the mounting points along the upper edge are different to the original bumper and with no new fixings I'm a little stuck. Likewise, the lower mounting to the arch liner doesn't align, it looks like I need a longer fixing bolt with a spring retainer - something I can knock up on the weekend.

The darkness has hindered the photos, but here are a few tasters...

Original/Aerodynamic comparison:-

Click to enlarge



Quick and dirty fitted shots:-

[yalden]

Exterior - Part 18c
Centre of the Schnitz - 28/08/2009



Albeit that the centres of my wheels weren't in awful condition, they were showing some light marks/scratches/chips and general discolouring. Originally I was going to get my bodyshop to respray them, but I had concerns over the durability of the finish and the overall coverage within each split rim bolt-recess.

I did a little bit of digging, which was later reinforced by a few recommendations and decided to send the centres via courier to the Leeds based shop of The Wheel Specialists.

I opted for the Hi-Power silver powdercoated finish; and have no regrets!

Click to enlarge





They were also asked to smooth the centre caps however I'm not 100% satisfied with the overall finish (there appears to be a slight imprint of bubblewrap texture embedded into the paint - assuming they wrapped them before the paint had fullly cured). Rather than send them back I'll probably just get my local shop to repaint them.

[yalden]

Exterior - Part 18d
It's Schnitzer Time - 28/08/2009



I purchased my AC Schnitzer Type 1's 60 weeks ago to the day, although they came second hand and were probably built circa '97, around 12 years ago. It's fair to say, they hadn't aged particularly well - but tonight they underwent a well deserved facelift.

I got the relevant parts together and began by using a mixture of saturated aliphatic and alicyclic C7 to C12 hydrocarbons with a maximum content of 25% of C7 to C12 alkyl aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. white spirit) to ensure a clean/degreased surface for the sealant to take to).

Click to enlarge



A narrow bead of sealant was laid around the perimeter of the barrel, once complete, the wheel sections were laid into place and secured by quarterly bolts.



Once secure, the remaining bolts were inserted, dabbed with a single component thixotropic chemical called dimethacrylate ester (e.g. Loctite 243 / Threadlock) and torqued to 22.7 ft/lbs.



A final bead of sealant was applied to the outer edge, where the lip and barrel meet. Although my efforts might not have been as 'neat' as some, I'm confident there'll be no air-leaks on my watch.



The fronts remain 2-piece, so none of the sticky stuff necessary. Ideal - a quick and easy bolt on affair (with the aforementioned threadlock/torque settings).



And hey-presto...



Just valves, centre caps and tyres to go...

[yalden]

Exterior - Part 18e
OZ Racing - 29/08/2009



Something I wasn't happy doing whilst building the wheels was fitting the OZ Racing sticker; I had no reference material so was worried I'd place them incorrectly.

I've tried to ensure that the wheels are built as originally intended, the minor detail is to ensure that the valve is located central between two spokes, with the OZ Racing sticker directly opposite. Needless to say, this is now done.

Click to enlarge

[yalden]

Performance/ Engine Cosmetics - Part 3
Magpie - 05/12/2009



Being over a year since I last purchased any engine-'tart', I decided to take the plunge and relieve a fellow forum member (Adonis @ BMW Owner) of the Mirage Stainless Steel covers which he'd removed from his previous E36:

Mirage Stainless oil filler cap cover
Mirage Stainless power steering reservoir cover
Mirage Stainless power steering reservoir cap cover
Mirage Stainless oil puralator cover
Mirage Stainless oil puralator cap cover
Mirage Stainless fuse box lid cover

Later in the month I got sucked in again; I spotted a rare Strong Strut Competition Light Alloy 'Black Textured' front strut brace with the Strong Strut small-accessory installation kit.

These braces are only available from the US (albeit through a UK distributer such as CA-A) and for that reason they demand a premium. I managed to save a bit of cash by purchasing second hand but ultimately these braces carry the title of the best brace for any model of Z3 and for that reason they're never going to be cheap.

Click to enlarge



At the same time as fitting the strut brace, it made sense to also fit the Jamex coilover set up I'd managed to get at a bargain price from a fellow Z3 member. The set up offered the one thing I wanted, adjustable front ride height - as the front sat just too high in comparison to the rear!

Click to enlarge

[yalden]

Exterior - Part 18f
Custom ACS Centre Caps - 27/02/2010



Being that I had chosen to fit gold plated split rim bolts during my wheel build, I decided it'd be a great touch to have a set of customised centre caps with gold detailing.

Initially I was going to run the original caps and carefully detail the ACS logo with a fine brush; then I realised the better solution would be to cut a vinyl logo and flush the caps. After a playing around with a couple ideas, I decided to go a step further - I had the caps flushed/smoothed and sprayed ready to apply a graphic. I then started working on Photoshop to design something a little different, I wanted to incorporate the AC Schnitzer leaf rosette as seen on the ACS Mini's or any Anniversary press material.

After finalised a custom logo, I visited my local sticker store (Mr Sticker, Saltash) and discussed the options. Due to the fine detail within the logo, they decided to use a gold leaf ribbon and print the design to a clear transparancy, this was then applied to the wheel and a second layer of transparancy added again to protect the print.

Click to enlarge