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Oops, I did it again


coldel

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So, the market was ripe for Coupe Z4 sales, I made a few quid on the one I sold a couple of months back. Happy days.

 

But I have been left driving my other halves Qashqai around, not so happy days.

 

I was looking around, I thought about a face lift SLK 350 R171, but soooo hard to get one. The odd supercharged MX5 popped up on ebay. I held off. Anyway, I missed the humm of that glorious N52 so much, I thought, why not get another one, this time be able to hear it properly. 

 

After a few long round trips to see cars that the owners blatantly lied about the quality of (its got wear and tear, then turn up to see three or four panels with crash damage on) I went and looked at one I wouldnt usually look at. I am very much a 'pay a premium for a low mile' kinda guy but went against the grain and looked at a 114k mile example, and well it beat the other low milers hands down for quality and also maintenance. So, I said 'old out yer 'and and got the deal done and now its sat outside the house...

 

IMG_6237.jpg.fb629eded8df9c1352eea83494df889d.jpg

 

An 06 three litre SI roadster. And shes a beaut. The perfect spec for me with M sports pack, electric everything but not including the ageing plastic pop up sat nav in the dash which I think ages the interior terribly. MV2 BMW wheels recently refurbed, MPS4 all round, all the main jobs done including a Pierburg water pump, bushes done all round etc. A very tight and nice drive. Was a nice surprise also to find it had the upgraded HiFi with bass speakers behind the seats. 

 

A few jobs to be done:

 

Roof needs a proper clean, stains etc. 

Headlights are dulled, Turtle Wax clean and seal kit on order

Bluetooth installation, I ordered the same kit as the last car which is plug n play behind the head unit

Seats as you can imagine need a refresh, kit ordered

Valvetronic motor gasket is leaking, had to do the same job on my last Z4 takes an hour, easy job

Oil cap gasket needs replacing

 

In all though very small jobs, all doable outside the house by even this cack handed guy. I gave it a quick wash today, but could feel it needs a proper all over clay and full polish etc. 

 

But otherwise, very happy to be back in a Z4. Stunning cars, very underrated, with that N52 which is an engineering masterpiece. 

 

Edited by coldel
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I'm a fan of the Turtle Wax headlight restoration kit.

Love the little square sanding pads in particular.

If it's the same one I always buy, I'd recommend maybe a clear vinyl wrap instead of the TW top coat sealer as the sealer only ever lasted me one summer.

Screenshot_20230702_214838_Chrome.jpg

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On 02/07/2023 at 21:50, HEADPHONES said:

I'm a fan of the Turtle Wax headlight restoration kit.

Love the little square sanding pads in particular.

If it's the same one I always buy, I'd recommend maybe a clear vinyl wrap instead of the TW top coat sealer as the sealer only ever lasted me one summer.

Screenshot_20230702_214838_Chrome.jpg

 

Yep thats it, kind of. I ordered it from Amazon, £9. It came with a bit less stuff but yes those pads are great!

I have other headlight sealant wipes which I will use to top up what I have. 

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A few jobs done now cosmetically.

 

A degrime of the engine bay never goes amiss, Chemical Guys Degreaser

 

Before

IMG_6239(1).jpg.b87160354e9fa5eb13eebe6d131f65ff.jpg

 

After

IMG_6240(1).jpg.f872ea59c637ef9865334e72dc1c05b7.jpg

 

I also got my convertible top cleaner from Meguiars, actually worked quite well for a Halfords brand. I annoyingly forgot to take a pre photo, anyway from the suds you can see the brown yuck coming away from the hood. Very pleased with the outcome.

 

IMG_6298.jpg.fe4f6a481ecfee1478b8e49750103a99.jpg

 

IMG_6300.jpg.077bdc32481f3f6f3dae394c6ea50258.jpg

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9 hours ago, Payco said:

Col. did it restore the colour too ?. Need to do the wife’s MX5 ..


…a subjective guess but yes it looked darker, that could be because of all the dust and dirt it lifted. For £15 it’s worth a go and very easy to use. 

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Few subtle improvements

 

Wheel badges both the centre caps and the little M badge fixed

 

Before 

IMG_6322.jpg.999e3213334495723271a26b3d27d8f2.jpg

 

After

IMG_6333(1).jpg.d04cd8347e0e8b34e75ae05acac00575.jpg

 

Replaced the chrome grills with black ones

IMG_6334(1).jpg.e065055ce34cd63260ef8b4056e7cdc9.jpg

 

There were definitely some issues with the battery. When I locked it on the fob and set the alarm the hazards would randomly come on and also sometimes the car would beep. Anyway, a top quality Yuasa battery got delivered today and replaced the ageing (as it happens Jaguar branded!) battery and all problems have gone away, hurrah!

 

Before

IMG_6336.jpg.e03cd5135ae1891a2993537e9690a862.jpg

 

After

IMG_6339.jpg.8ea0450cb345da4a28328d6fb528cf7e.jpg

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...and the alarm beeping problem came back 🤯

 

A quick question posted on the FB page and someone suggested unplugging the bonnet alarm switch (you can see it in the photos above where the engine bay struts meet at the back of the bay, anyway pulled it and bingo seems to have resolved the problem.

 

OEM BMW replacement switch £34 🤑

Edited by coldel
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A few more little jobs done

 

 Bluetooth unit installed. it’sa plug and play that sits behind the head unit, so keeps the OEM look whilst still being able to stream music. Is a bit of a faff to remove the vents and head unit but being a veteran at this as I did it on the previous Z managed to knock this job off in about 30 mins 

 

7724FBA0-3989-4867-9BBB-96287D200D44.jpeg.2552eee1b8ea2e1b2758aa0e722923d6.jpegIMG_6350.jpeg.c8d398cf0219fee789a4b884319e6bdc.jpeg

 

The bolster was looking every bit it’s 114k miles so some Furniture Clinic All in One Paint ordered and applied

 

 Before

IMG_6353.jpeg.8bbee3a4d098bd58aded7edf19f88992.jpeg

 

After

IMG_6357.jpeg.1949a3b6ebc60c4d11cd0ef03ac831e0.jpeg

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Manual BMWs do need the tinkering though it's all worth it in the end. I've always preferred a German auto or a Japanese manual. Germans are terrible with sloshy manuals and the Japanese do sloshy auto's 😆 look forward to a few more updates

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I do like the manual box on the Z4, its definitely a smoother tighter shift than the 350z was. 

 

I got a few more bits arrive this week so when the weather sorts itself out will get those done...oil cap and valvetronic motor gaskets. Also a new bonnet badge but need to get some rubber grommits to hold it on. Also bought some metallic black plastidip, the wiper arms are in a sorry state so going to take them off and spray them.

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More stuff done! 
 

Wipers looked very worn…

IMG_6537.jpeg.99cffdcc5bd12af9ee96ac8af54e69d8.jpeg

 

Decided to buy some premium sapphire black plastidip. Then needed to pull the arms off…no budging…so had to buy this little chap

 

IMG_6632.jpeg.2795014b3c90fa5247867fdd1d81e711.jpeg

 

Popped the arms off with a bit of an alarming bang when they popped but did the job!

 

A quick tidy up, sprayed, and some AG tr gel on the scuttle and everything put back together 

 

IMG_6628.jpeg.b882be3c2c2e049402a4f5810cbc87b0.jpeg

 

The steering wheel when new has a soft touch covering to the plastics which over the years wears and looks generally a bit crap. So out came some panel wipe and some energetic rubbing later (Ooo err) and all tidied up

 

IMG_6624.jpeg.96f2534ccb643e323720bbdd92b94371.jpeg
 

IMG_6625.jpeg.a2eca8e468e16248e063434ba74e4315.jpeg

 

Engine bay generally is in good nick for 100k+ miles no leaks from valve cover gasket but the oil cap gasket was a bit worse for wear. Anyway cleaned up and looking better with a replacement.

 

IMG_6512.jpeg.86ae3ce0149bac369be1798406e24e19.jpeg

 

IMG_6513.jpeg.0f88f9813894669210206e7647501573.jpeg

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Tidy work. There's a nack to getting tough wiper arms off. Cap off, nut off and push down on your palm at the joint/hinge which aligns the tapered splines and she'll come right off. Method worked on my 31yr old Nissan Sunny arms, what had never been off 👍

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