zroadster.net

MOT passed today with no advisories so all set for another year

Great news, my MoT falls due oct so I will do just before I lay it up.

Hope you enjoy the summer



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I now have the Z3 parked in a secure underground car park where I work.

It means it keeps clean and I can swap cars whenever I like and drive the Z3 more this year

The downside is that I don't have access to a power point to connect a trickle charger and on Friday when I came to drive the car home the battery had died (I think its on its last legs anyway). It was no problem as I had another car to drive but frustrating

So I've spent the weekend doing some research into car batteries.

I was looking for something I could leave connected up for as long as I liked with no fear of it dying. Unfortunately no such battery exists as ultimately the constant drain from the alarm, radio, etc... will flatten any battery. However, endurance batteries do exist which basically cram more lead into the battery and hence they can hold their charge for longer. The downsides being cost and weight (up to twice the weight of the standard battery).

Other factors to consider are form factor (ie would fit the Z3 battery box, the OEM Z3 battery is a BCI Group 48 size, other sizes will fit though) and SAE connection posts with the +ve and -ve the correct way around (so no need to extend wires).

I narrowed the possibilites down to 3 batteries in preferred order all of which have long reserve capacities (how long they can maintain a sufficient charge to start a car after constant drain) and more than sufficient cranking power (how easily they start an engine especially in cold weather, not really an issue for me as its a summer car)

1) Odyssey PC1500RT
2) Braille B7548 Endurance Race
3) Bosche S6008

The Odyssey is generally regarded as the best of its type but I could not source a UK distributor who could do the RT version (with +ve/-ve posts on the correct sides). This is the most expensive (c£250)

The Braille is fitted to many Ferraris as upgrades (standard to some of the newer models) and is proven to work with cars that can be stood for a long time between uses and require a high cranking power. Mid priced (c£200)

The Bosche is the cheapest (c£135) and probably the sensible choice.

So I ignored the sensible choice and went for the Braille

I also decided to be ultra safe and buy a backup battery as I did not want to have the worry of taking the Z for a long run and being stranded. For this I chose a proven solution used in track prepped cars. These are not bothered about reserve capacities but light weight but I still needed something which I could just leave in the boot and not have to worry if it had been charged recently.

So I went for an Odyssey PC680. This is a high end motorbike battery but is proven to work in race prepped cars. It stays fully charged for years (when no drain ie not connected) and is small and lightweight. Its no good as a permanent solution as its reserve capacity is low so it would go flat easily under constant drain but is ideal as a backup power source in an emergency. I really needed the PC680T version (with SAE mounting posts) but ended up sourceing the PC680 without posts and sourcing those seperately.

So I should not need to worry about the Z not starting over the summer . I may also fit a battery cut off so that if I know I won't be using the Z for a month or so I can easily disconnect the battery (my car park is very secure and I have a CCTV camera pointing at it so I'm not bothered if the alarm is on as I fit a thatcham approved steering lock and can lock the doors manually

I'll post up pics next week when everything is installed but here are some stats on the batteries:


Braille Auto B7548 - Braille Endurance Race Series Battery



Features
•Highest cranking power and longest run time in their class
•Patented sealed valve regulated technology delivers no spill, no corrosion and no maintenance power
•Longer battery life and green manufacturing help to preserve the environment
•Backed by a 5-year warranty

Description
For performance power that delivers the audio, racing and street muscle that you’re looking for, Braille Endurance Batteries are a great choice. These high-quality batteries are designed to be direct-fit replacements for your existing OE part. This means that you can get the increased power and run time without a complicated installation. Plus, Braille Endurance Batteries have the highest cranking power and longest run times in their class.

Your new Braille Endurance Battery features the patented sealed valve regulated technology, which means no spills, no corrosion and no maintenance to worry about. And the longer battery life and use of recycled materials means that your new volts are easier on the environment. Even better, you know that your new battery is up to the challenge. Braille Endurance Batteries have taken several performance race cars across the finish line in first place. And, they’re backed by a durable 5-year warranty.

PERFORMANCE
Voltage: 12 volts
Full Charge Voltage: 13.8 volts
Short Circuit Current: 3800 - Estimated
Cranking Amps 30 sec @ 80F: 1560
Cranking Amps 30 sec @ 32F: 1285
Cold Cranking Amps 30 sec @ 0F: 945
Reserve Capacity: 120 min
Capacity (C/20 rate): 75 amp hr
Life Cycle @ 10% DOD: Up to 3000-3500 cycles
PLEASE NOTE: ALL RATINGS ARE TESTED AND CONFIRMED PRIOR TO SHIPMENT USING A MIDTONICS 400XL BATTERY TESTER

PHYSICAL SPECS
Unique Features: Durable Virgin Poly Casing, Horizontal & Vertical Mounting
BCI Group: Group 48
Length: 10.9''
Width: 6.8''
Height: 7.5''
Minimum Weight (lbs): 45 lbs
Post Type: SAE Automotive Posts


Odyssey PC680T



680 cranking amps for 5 seconds
595 cranking amps for 10 seconds
525 cranking amps for 20 seconds
17 amp hours
Short circuit current over 1800A
25 minute reserve capacity with 25amp load
Female brass terminal w/M6 SS bolt
Length 7 1/16"
Width 3"
Height 6 9/16"
Weighs less than 15 lbs

Odyssey design:
2 year full warranty
Rugged Drycell sealed design
Military grade
Vibration resistant
60% more starting power
Deep discharge reserve power
2 year storage life
8-12 year design life
Can be mounted flat or upright

£450 for 2 batts?

Not quite c£300 for the two (the PC680 is c£90 + £10 for the SAE posts)

Not for everyone and as I said but meets my particular needs (I can't be bothered removing the battery to put on charge all the time).

The Bosche would be the sensible choice. A "normal" high end Z3m battery (the Bosche S5) is c£80 so the S6 with its much longer reserve capacity is a worthwhile premium for those using the Z3 as a second car. If you have access to a trickle charger though the S5 would be fine.

I just treated mine to the Bosch S5, £72 from memory as the previous one had died over the winter. Bolted it in and it started first time I'll need to invest in the Ctek for winter.

AC Schnitzer Design Elements III for the Type III race alloys.

I feel like I've bought a new set of wheels

something I have been trying to source for a long time........

I have the AC Schnitzer Type III Race Alloys which have an open spoke design. They can be fitted with optional "design element" fillets that effectively fill in the spokes and give the wheel a different appearance.

These are pretty rare especially new and retailed at about £40+VAT per wheel back in 2009.

Well eBay came up trumps again with a brand new set from Germany for 4 wheels for the grand total of £85 including shipping and bank charges. I love genuine 50% discounts especially from a luxury name that does not nromally discount much at all.

Stock picture of the Type III Race wheels with the fillets fitted:






I opened the sealed factory boxes (made of AC Schnitzer by Ronal) to check contents:










Interestingly the part number (36139 9110) is listed in the 1999 Schnitzer catalogue as being correct for the 18 inch wheel but their 2009 catalogue lists part number 36139 9120. But the original packaging clearly states that these are for the 17 and 18 inch alloys.




According to my google translator "Einteilig" means 1 piece and "mehrteilig" mean Multipart which I presume means that these fit the 17 inch non race wheel (which is one piece) and 18 inch race wheel (which is a 2 piece split rim).

So anyone looking to source a set of these, it is worth noting that the 17 inch will fit the 18 inch wheel (albeit I have not physically tested these on the wheel).

I will be leaving the Type III Race wheels on this year but may fit the type III's next year and try these out

Fitting instructions can be downloaded below:

Fitting Instructions Design Elements III

good buy....really changes the wheel

Still suffering from the incurable disease Schnitzeritus I see John.

Yep

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the first ever ZFest. This was organised to take place at Silverstone during their classic car racing weekend and was to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Z3. As part of the weekends festivities the ZFest participants were invited to drive a lap around the full Silverstone GP Circuit.

I had tickets for the Friday and Saturday of this 3 day event (my daughters christening on the Sunday prevented me from attending all 3 days). I set off early on the Friday to make sure I could get into the infield display area before 9.30am (3 hours drive for me). I met up with Swamper and we made the trip together in the two Z3m's.

The Friday was a fantastic experience as I had never been to the Silverstone Classic car racing event before and despite some heavy rain during the day I was able to really take in the atmosphere of the event. There where relatively few Z's on the Friday but we had been allocated a section of the old circuit for the 3 days so we were on tarmac in the wet conditions which was a bonus.

The main day was to be the Saturday and I stayed over at Harwood House on the Friday evening where c35 zeds were parked up when I arrived that evening.

The Saturday did not disappoint from dawn till dusk and was in many ways the perfect zed day ........

- a Gloriously sunny day (the first for about 2 months after the wettest couple of months on record)
- convoy of c35 zeds from the hotel over to Silverstone
- display of over 300 zeds and catch up with old and new faces from the various forums
- parade lap around Silverstone GP circuit
- watch some classic car racing and mooch around the plentiful other car clubs
- fantastic fast road run back via the A50 from the M1 to M6 in the company of an Alpina B5 giving it some beans and roof down all the way
- Burnt Forehead

Some pics of the glorious Saturday:

Getting ready to leave Horwood House Hotel in convoy




Parked up on display




Waiting to get on track




On track (pictures courtesy of Z3cade who was in front of me)






Parked up on the GP Circuit start grid (wow)




300+ zeds as far as you can see




and back on display close to the track where I could watch some old F1 cars roar past




There were x8 S54 Z3m roadsters there in total and I finally got to meet one of the other 3 imola's belonging to Alfie




x3 S54 parked together with a Hamann S50 (if only we could have got all 8 together for a picture )




What an awesome couple of days. Hopefully Zfest will become an annual event, fingers crossed

Great day! nice to finally meet you face to face, the car looked great in the flesh

Nice pictures John especially the one of mine

Nice to finaly meet you Jon.

And RED's sister was looking superb!

One day we'll get some photos done...

A.

Was great meeting you jon.. just a shame you had to look at my rear end all the way round the track

Love your M.. Imola is one of my fav colours for the zed

Great pic of yours, hope you don't mind

Nice one thanks.

Was great putting a few faces to names. For some reason I thought Badman Gee was you !

ps I knew it was you holding me up around the track

Been a while since I've bought some wheels for my car

So when I got the chance of some iconic Z3m wheels I jumped at the chance.......... Hamann PG2's in Z3m fitment

Specs:

Front 18x8.5 ET38
Rear 18x10 ET19

The fronts should be fine, the rears will need a 10mm or so spacer

Being shipped from Germany so will hopefully get them by the end of the week

Some sale pics.....

nice

Notes for future reference re wheel spacers on a Z3m:

(Front ----- Rear)

Standard OEM wheels
7.5 ET41 ----- 9.0 ET8

Breyton Magic Race (with 12mm rear spacer)
8.5 ET38 ----- 9.5 ET19
-10mm inner / +16mm outer ----- -5mm inner / +7mm outer

AC Schnitzer Type III Race (with 7mm front and 10mm rear spacer as supplied by factory)
8.5 ET36 ----- 9.5 ET11.5
-8mm inner / +18mm outer ----- -9mm inner / +3mm outer

AC Schnitzer Type II Race (no spacers)
8.5 ET38 ----- 9.5 ET9
-10mm inner / +16mm outer ----- -7mm inner / +5mm outer

Hamann PG2 (no spacers)
8.5ET38 ----- 10.0 ET19
-10mm inner / +16mm outer ----- -24mm inner / +2mm outer

Ideally I want from stock OEM wheels:
Front: outer +18mm
Rear: outer +7mm

Therefore the PG2's need a 2mm front and 5mm rear spacers

Off to ebay I go

Well now my collection of Z3 accessories has widened to Hamann I'm on a roll.

Something I've been on the lookout for over 3 years and never seen advertised before came up for sale and I could not resist, Hamann Side Splitters

These are originals and in perfect condition:







So I now have the Hamann Front Bumper (including fog light kit), PG2 wheels (in correct offsets) and Side Splitters.

I can't see me fitting the bumper (at least in the next few years) but my plan is to get the AC Schnitzer front splitters and the Hamann side Splitters painted up in Imola. Given advances in bonding products since these where first made I won't be screwing them into the bodywork as originally designed but effectively sticking them on so they are easily removal if needed.

I think a combination of Schnitzer front and Hamann Side splitters would look cool as well as giving extra downforce when needed but will have to get them on the car to make sure.

I won't get round to these this year but a job to do when I eventually get my garage sorted out

I've always thought these were a bit lairy but they may settle the balance paired with AC flippers!

How much of this stuff will you be fitting Jon? your garage must be huge!

Have to say I'm not keen of the side splitters at all, never thought they really suited the Z3, I think some of the Hamman accessories were a bit lairy on the Zed i.e. the spoilers although likeing the alloys. Jon if you fitted the splitters without bolting them how would you fit them? When I had the 1 Series I fitted some carbon splitters and used Automotive 3M tape, it was supposed to be for the job in hand, I cleaned all surfaces meticulously and at first the splitters bonded rock solid but after a few washes they simply fell off When I fitted the carbon spoiler I used BMWs Betalink 1K adhesive which set rock solid so no way of removing afterwards. I would say those splitters are too large for using adhesive tape, bolting would be safer and easier to remove if damaged,

Tim.

I'm not 100% about the looks myself but would like to try on the car.

There was a full Hamann Z3 at Silverstone and I must admit it looked a lot better in the flesh than I thought it would in particular these splitters.

I'm not sure what the adhesive tape is called I have in mind. We use it in construction for bonding painted metal to painted metal surfaces, its weatherproof but can be removed with a special chemical solution if needed.

John you need to buy another Z3 so you can then have both ACS and Hamann varients then you wouldn't have the dilema of what to fit. As daft as it sounds I think if you have the money it would certainly fulfil your desire to have both types but then you would have the problem of having to choose which to drive.

Hi Jontt. I have seen splitters on a z3 with oem wheels and they looked out of place, but with the hamman wheels to match they will look great. Cant wait to see the finished product..

aceman wrote:John you need to buy another Z3 so you can then have both ACS and Hamann varients then you wouldn't have the dilema of what to fit. As daft as it sounds I think if you have the money it would certainly fulfil your desire to have both types but then you would have the problem of having to choose which to drive.

Lol ive been tempted by a couple of Z3m coupes which i would not rule out ever. The problem is i much prefer the looks and fun of the roadies and have set my sights on a 911 if i go the coupe route

I often come to this thread just to look at the car and remind myself just how jaw droppingly beautiful zeds can be. My goodness me i love this car.

One of the nicest wheels I've seen on a Z3m is the Rondell 0021. Its a simple but classic style, retains the deeeeep dish with a bigger concave.

Most where 17inch which actually exaggerates the dish but they where also available in 18 inch. They are rare however as Rondell (ROD) stopped making them some years ago.

The other "problem" is that they never officially sold a set for Z3m's ie the correct offsets for front and rears so you have to source a set of 3 series (for the fronts) and 5 series (for the rears) to get one set for a Z3m.

However it now appears that they are being produced again by a company in Turkey (which I'm led to believe produce a lot of branded wheels) and I've managed to source brand new rears from German eBay and brand new fronts from a Z3mcoupe forum member in Turkey

The rears arrived today (18x10 ET18):



and the fronts are on the way .................

So currently on 5.5 sets of wheels (but all classic Z3m wheels )

A set of 18's fitted to a Z3m Coupe

I suspect the side splits will bolt on using the existing self tapper bolts which are present all along the underside ?? I'm looking forward to seeing them fitted though...

Southernboy wrote:I suspect the side splits will bolt on using the existing self tapper bolts which are present all along the underside ?? I'm looking forward to seeing them fitted though...

Maybe, it will be next year before I'll find out though

I'm saving up all these jobs for when I have a garage and drive again

Those Rondels look very "Ferrari"....

Fronts arrived yesturday

I now have a full brand new set of some very rare classic Z3m wheels to add to my collection:

Front 18x8 ET40
Rears 18x10 ET18

Fronts:




Rears:




Front and Rears:

Jonttt wrote:I took delivery this morning of a "Z3 Individual" watch.

Part number 80 26 0 008 928 blua

I have never seen one before so I snapped up the chance to buy this on eBay.

It is absolutely mint, never worn, in fact I don't think its been out of the box so well chuffed.

Great addition to my Z3 collection

I have the Imola red one. I acquired it around 12 -13 years ago and it remains unused and unworn in the original black box. Might stick it on Ebay!

Those wheels have to be the best looking BMW wheels I've seen!! Really does give the impression of wheel size!! Truly sub-zero!!

Andyboy wrote: I have the Imola red one. I acquired it around 12 -13 years ago and it remains unused and unworn in the original black box. Might stick it on Ebay!

Andy, thanks for such an easy transaction

I now have an original mint & complete BMW Z3 Individual Imola watch to go with my Estoril one

Another tidy acquisition jonttt. When is your z3 museum scheduled for opening?

myredzed wrote:Another tidy acquisition jonttt. When is your z3 museum scheduled for opening?

I have plans, double garage/workshop with office/museum above would be nice

I'm just off to mid Wales for a long weekend of golf in the zed Was due to go to Portugal but when we saw the forecast decided to stay in the UK and make it a driving weekend as well

Jonttt wrote:

Andyboy wrote: I have the Imola red one. I acquired it around 12 -13 years ago and it remains unused and unworn in the original black box. Might stick it on Ebay!

Andy, thanks for such an easy transaction

I now have an original mint & complete BMW Z3 Individual Imola watch to go with my Estoril one

You're very welcome Jon, just glad someone has it who'll gain some pleasure from it!

AC Schnitzer strut brace on eBay, might fit your z?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AC-SCHNITZER- ... 4ac0e3e455


Item number 321063740501

(sorry, might not have pasted in the link properly, still haven't got the hang of the iPad!)

My zed has a new stablemate

Not every day you fulfill a childhood dream so well chuffed

Spec is one of the last air cooled engines Porsche ever made, 1997 911 (993 model) C4S with 64k on the clock and mint

I'll get some better pics up when I pick the car up next week.....



The zed is getting taxed and serviced over the next week so just need the snow to go

ps the Hamann Hardtop fund had taken a bashing

Wow beautiful.. Love that shape porker

Lovely choice! Congrats on the purchase

Jonttt wrote:
ps the Hamann Hardtop fund had taken a bashing

So, the opportunity is there for someone else to get that first forum hamaan hardtop!

love it Jon...iv seen you itching to get one

now get them Rondell's fitted to the M .....im desperate to see them on

That will teach Autovogue to get back to you a bit quicker next time! Nice choice.

You now have the perfect pair, congrats

Happy motoring John! That's a magic car.

Looks nice, classic shape

Lovely car John, the rear looks sooo long. Congrats on the purchase

Nice car John,

Enjoy it.