Strike's Z3M

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Strikem
Joined: Sun 07 Apr, 2013 19:46
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  M roadster S50

Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Picked up the car last week. Amazing trip back down from Edinburgh, taking in Lake District and some lovely roads.

Just some pics for now, and ill keep it updated with my modifications etc.

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swamper
Joined: Thu 13 May, 2010 17:14
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Location: Mossley

Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by swamper »

love it,,,, 8-)
the badness makes me do it...!

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Z3cade
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Z3cade »

Looks a lovely face lift M Roady 8-)

Best colour too hey swamps :wink:
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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Thanks guys. First need to get engine and transmission checked out. Make sure all is ok mechanically. Doing this tomo. Had a recent service, but just want to check any grumbles etc.

Already have replacement M badge vinyl on way for exterior badges.

Need to push out the rear wheels, around 20mm, and they could do with a refurb.

Need to change the gear knob and gaiter for something else. Not sure what yet. Then I have a whole list of stuff I want to do. :-) oh and black grills, not sure if to just spray (plasti-dip) or buy black ones!?!?
Z3cade
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Z3cade »

Go for some 20mm hub centric spacers.. There available on eBay and come with longer bolts :wink:
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swamper
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by swamper »

Z3cade wrote:Looks a lovely face lift M Roady 8-)

Best colour too hey swamps :wink:
to right.. :wink:

hood looks new?
the badness makes me do it...!

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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Yeah I think it was a new roof, as it leaks!!! Haha

Seems the seal half way around the drivers window is slightly leaking, and dripping into the tray area on the seats. Ill work it out, probably lift the window slightly, or re-trim the rubber or something like that. It's undercover anyway!! Not a major concern just now.

Oooooo wheels spacers sound good? Anything specific I need to look for on ebay? Just z3 fitment, hub centric, and the bolts??
swamper
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by swamper »

cant help with the spacers as it ACS wheels on it...someone will be along thats used them :wink:
the badness makes me do it...!

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Captain
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Captain »

Car looks in great condition, nice buy :)
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chrisp_1
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by chrisp_1 »

Nice one mate,... makes me want to replace mine now :head:
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Southernboy
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Southernboy »

Wheel spacers come in various types. First off, you need the ones which bolt onto the hubs, and have 5 extra holes for the wheel bolts. This type of spacer is the best. The bolts that hold the spacer to the hub have a reduced head height so they will be below the depth of the spacer once fitted to the hub, and consequently don't interfere with the wheel fitment. The wheel then bolts onto the spacer. Second best are the "hubcentric" spacers. These have a center circular ridge which the hole in the center of the wheel rim fits around. You will need the reciprocal longer bolts for these, as the bolts pass through the wheel rim and the spacer before screwing into the hub. Third are spacers with no center ridge, ie plain discs of metal...these are seriously to be avoided. The thickness of the spacers is your choice, and what will allow the wheel to still house inside the wheel arches without touching when the car goes over bumps etc. :wink:
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('_')Z3
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by ('_')Z3 »

Southernboy wrote:Wheel spacers come in various types. First off, you need the ones which bolt onto the hubs, and have 5 extra holes for the wheel bolts. This type of spacer is the best. The bolts that hold the spacer to the hub have a reduced head height so they will be below the depth of the spacer once fitted to the hub, and consequently don't interfere with the wheel fitment. The wheel then bolts onto the spacer. Second best are the "hubcentric" spacers. These have a center circular ridge which the hole in the center of the wheel rim fits around. You will need the reciprocal longer bolts for these, as the bolts pass through the wheel rim and the spacer before screwing into the hub. Third are spacers with no center ridge, ie plain discs of metal...these are seriously to be avoided. The thickness of the spacers is your choice, and what will allow the wheel to still house inside the wheel arches without touching when the car goes over bumps etc. :wink:

Just to confuse the proceedings a bit more :( The bore of the Z is 72.5mm and genuine AC Schnitzer alloys have a bore of 82mm (as these alloys are not specifically made for just the Z!!) so chances are you will have a spigot ring fitted which makes up the difference. This will need to be fitted as well as the wheel spacers. Rossiters (AC Schnitzer UK dealer) do sell specific wheel spacers that fit and have different sized bore holes on either side of the spacer but i think they're only 7mm thick as they do not recommend any thicker :( They are £50 a corner but do come with the bolts.
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Southernboy
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Southernboy »

....and to add to the confusion...the "spigots" are plastic rings to fit inside the wheel rims center hole...and if by now you're up to your gills in this...sell the wheels to me for £50, and I'll have the hassles... :D
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Strikem
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  M roadster S50

Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Had a productive day, quick touch up refurb of the alloys, and a clean inside and out. Calipers cleaned and de-rusted etc, then coated with very high temp paint. Wasn't sure of colour so went for what I already had. BMW silver that the modern versions have out of the factory. (Not Ms though, mainly m sports)

I think it's a good look, I was thinking black though!! Will see. I might do the M badge bit with a black to contrast with the silver. Again will see how it gets on!!

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Southernboy
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Southernboy »

Neat...very neat, and quite subtle too.. :wink:
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Z3cade
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Z3cade »

Looks great :wink:
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Badman gee
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Badman gee »

They are the only wheels I like apart from the m originals!

Great!
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hornel Z3M
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by hornel Z3M »

what a great looking M. Well done for sourcing one as good as that. Worth the trip to edinburgh. By the way i did my calipers blue which i think suited the colour of the car, which is the same as yours. :wink:
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Captain
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Captain »

Looking good, lot of weights on the front wheel :shock:

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Badman gee
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Badman gee »

hornel Z3M wrote:what a great looking M. Well done for sourcing one as good as that. Worth the trip to edinburgh. By the way i did my calipers blue which i think suited the colour of the car, which is the same as yours. :wink:
I though your calipers were daffodil yellow Paul :lol:
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hornel Z3M
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by hornel Z3M »

WoW Thats a good idea. . :P
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Badman gee
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Badman gee »

hornel Z3M wrote:WoW Thats a good idea. . :P
Yellow looks cracking with blue,
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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Cheers

Yeah loads of weights on them. If and when they get properly refurbed, will make sure there balanced properly.

Has anyone every used or installed these?

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I used to hate them, however when I saw some fitted to a car, wow fricking amazing. Plus they don't fade like the paint does on calipers. I have heard people saying though could cause over heating. But I can't imagine it would be that bad. I don't rag my cars, especially the brakes.

There are literally loads of different types and colours out there. And for around £10-20 it's almost cheaper than painting. Ok a bit of a faff to install, lots of cutting by the looks of it. However could be a good look?! Like youmsaidnin yellow, nice!! Like the BMW performance stuff.
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c_w
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by c_w »

I suppose they would fool most people but I can't see gluing them on will work if you get them properly warmed up.
Del
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Del »

If I had the high performance M model I would be nervous about either the cover breaking (or becoming loose) and somehow inhibiting the proper working of the calliper or the cover itself causing extra dirt and debris to accumulate causing similar problems.

As for painting callipers – any colour of choice – no problem – go for it.
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Badman gee
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Badman gee »

paint em yellow
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Pierrick
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Pierrick »

Wow! Looks great!!!
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Jonttt
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Jonttt »

Hi and welcome, lovely looking car.

Firstly before I forget I have to comment on the brake covers. I have seen them on one car and just thought they were a joke. Are you trying to fool people into thinking you have bigger calipers than you have? If so why, the ///M brakes are fantastic and not many "upgrade" them unless you are into serious track work. I have just never seen the point of "faking it".

Re the wheels this is a classic case of web forums that I love. Any two people will have 3 opinions and none of them will be correct based on the known facts.

Firstly the facts from the evidence are that the rears are the incorrect offset for the ///M. That is all that is known as a fact at this stage.

next the assumptions that can be reasonably made but will need CHECKING first ;-)

- they are probably 3 series or 5 series rears. My guess is 5 series given the apparent deeper dish and therefore lower offset then the fronts which are presumably 3 series. This means they probably do need 20mm spacers but that needs to be checked.

- If they are 5 series rears they MAY have the correct bore and not need spigots to reduce. How anyone can tell from the picture is beyond me as they come in 2 different bore sizes so far as I know.

- 20mm spacers for ACS wheels should not be the "bolt on" type as suggested above. The ACS spacers are hub centric but are not standard as they have additional flanges on them. I forget if standard spacers can be used (as I'm getting old and forget things) but Rossitors will be happy to confirm for you. Second hand ACS spacers can be purchased from fleebay pretty regularly (especially if you search German ebay directly). Standard bolts / locking bolts for the Z3/E36 can be used with ACS spacers.

- the above all assumes they are genuine ACS and not copies

Sorry if this seems a bit abrupt but I wanted to save you some potentially unnecessary expense based on some guesswork (lets be generous) based advice above. Welcome to the wonderful world of the internet forum :D (ps this is the best one I've ever used :rtm: )
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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Haha thanks for that Jon,

However I was just ahead of you. Checked them all out today whilst they were off. Yes you are correct they seem to be the rears of 5 series. They will need 20 or 25mm spacers from my calculations.
I have also looked into the bores and found that they are the same, so no need for ACS special stepped spacers. :-) However I do need advice on weather to go for bolt on spacers (saves me buying new locking nuts) or the spacers which come with new longer bolts. Both to me seem to put stresses on the car which are not normal. However everyone seems to do it!!!! So may as well follow, baaaaaaaaah (sheep voice) hehehe

Glad your on the ball though!!! :D

Thanks
Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Oh and the brake covers where just to compensate for the fading of the painted calipers. Nothing more really. I wasn't implying I was going to install them, just that they would look good if done properly, and would last longer than my painted ones. (I know this from experience, the paint after a year needs touching up, even after hours of good prep work when painted first time round)
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Jonttt
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Jonttt »

I would go for hubcentric spacers as ASC intended / supply. I'm not a fan of the bolt on type which I thought were only really intended for wider spacers ie when longer bolts are not practical so they are a compromise.

All "quality" spacers <30mm seem to be hub centric which I think speaks for itself ;-)

The wheels will look great when spaced closer to the arch so well worth doing :D

If you can fit none ACS spacers on the ACS wheels (why can't I remember doh!) then try TPI. I think they are premium brand quality at half the price. There is a pic early on in my journal of them being fitted to my car when I had the Breytons.

I think others have used them since as well and liked them.
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g8jka
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by g8jka »

Lovely looking car there and them wheels look fantastic even more so when you get some spacers on them 8-)

Don't go with the caliper covers, you have done a very nice job on them with the silver paint and look a lot better now behind them wheels.

One thing I noticed is that the piece of plastic trim around the hazard warning switch has been changed for a chrome one, have you got a close up pic of this and what's the fitment like? I have broken the plastic piece on mine and wondered whether the chrome one will be better as the plastic piece is over a tenner from the dealers with the chrome one being not much more.
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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Oh I had wondered if that was oringal as it was loose. God there was/is alot of extra chrome on this interior!!

It's ok, but a slightly different type of chrome from the dial surrounds, and at the moment doesn't want to stay in place. I guess super glue would do it, as this is what all the other chrome surrounds were stuck on with. Grrrrrrr!!

Ill take a closer picture of it tomorrow for you.
Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Took the grills out today to have a look at replacing with black ones, or spaying them gloss back.

Also refurbished my M badges with the kit that someone sent me the link for. Wow look amazing.

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Badge pictures to follow
Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Newly refurbished M badges.

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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

So have been playing with my grills today. The thing I really liked about my 1&3 series was the recessed grill on the modern BMWs and in gloss black.

So when I eventually got them out, I thought I'd see how they wold look with out the chrome surrounds. Here's some pics:

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Just playing around with it, I think it looks good but will probably take more effort than its worth to fix them.
Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

And here's a view of how black grills would look. (this is just an illusion, the way the sun was hitting it, made it look like black grills. There isn't even any grills in there) :-)

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Gazza
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Gazza »

///M grilles have the chrome edge to the fins, I would suggest you buy new Black grilles rather than paint the ///M grilles.

BTW the ACS wheels really change the appearance of the car, I like it............a lot 8-)
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G2JRP
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by G2JRP »

I think it was an upgrade in 1999 to have the edges in silver. Mine does not.


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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Few more bits today, ACS doorpins, to replace the M power ones, keep inline with the other ACS stuff. Also I purchased a mile-o-meter badge however was very large so adapted it into a cigarette lighter blank. :-)

ACS gear knob on its way to finish it all off.

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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Wheel spacers fitted today, much better.

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Z3cade
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Z3cade »

Looks spot on with those spacers :wink:
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Brian H
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Brian H »

The spacers make all the difference - Spot on :thumb:
Bi11
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Bi11 »

Agree, much better now
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Captain
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Captain »

Looks great with spacers

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martyb
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by martyb »

Looks soo nice! Id love an m maybe in a few years. Im gonna try get out some caliper paint in the near future do mines silver also. Did you paint them whilst on the disc or did you take the caliper off?
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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

So the key to calliper painting is the preparation work. I have perfected this over the years.

So it's important to get a good cleaner, specialist brake cleaner off the Internet in a can would be best. Then using this and a wire brush, really get to work on the calipers whilst there one the disc/ car still. Really get all the rust off so its down to a very clean metal look. Then clear any excess dust etc away with a cloth.

Then all I do is use a very high temperature spray paint, spray the paint into the can lid/cap, and apply the paint with a thin brush. You will find the paint is very viscous and applies very well and also dries quickly. Around 3/4 coats will be good.

That's about it really, though I am a designer by trade and have a very steady hand, so caution to those with the shakes. :colourful:
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Jonttt
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Jonttt »

Strikem wrote: Image
That's a lovely looking car 8-)
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Strikem
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Strikem »

Gloss grilles finished and fitted today

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Del
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Re: Strike's Z3M

Post by Del »

Looking good - I bet the Porsche? owner next door is getting scared :D
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