zroadster.net

Mike Fishwick

Rally cars have an LSD to assist the driver in getting the back end to slide under power, and to maintain traction. These are usually set to lock more rreadily than on a road car. A lot of powerful cars use an LSD to prevent one wheel from spinning on take-off - as I remarked, for traction purposes....

Mike Fishwick

They are rather like the old ones, but coated in plastic - much better then the German & Swedish ones.

Mike Fishwick

If it is a Torsen (TORque SENsing) diff, the wheels will turn in opposite directions, just like a normal 'open' differential. These seem to have been fitted to non-M UK market Zeds from about mid-1998. On snow or mud, both wheels will spin, but that does not necessarily tell you a lot. It's nothing ...

Mike Fishwick

The new caps are all plastic too, so there should not be any problems.

Mike Fishwick

The only easy way to check for an LSD is to get an options list - mine is a 1999 model, and must have a Torsen LSD, as it is undetectable by the usual way to detect a clutch pack unit.

Mike Fishwick

Firstly - we are not clairvoyant! Please tell us what year your car is . . . Anyway I think all the UK market 2.8s had an LSD, whether a clutch pack or Torsen type the oil is still the same - Castrol SAF-XJ. If you give your car's VIN and/or registration umber to a BMW dealer they will print out the...

Mike Fishwick

I agree with CW - with Eibach rear springs my Butt Strut was about 2 inches off the road, and would easily ground on a cambered country lane. Withthe UK passion for speed humps and bumps, not to mention leaving the roads to deteriorate, lowering cars is a waste of time - the UK is not Germany, where...

Mike Fishwick

It does seem rather silly to remove a useful safety device - the airbag - for the sake of having a wooden steering wheel. Wooden anything in modern cars is an anachronism anyway. I prefer my RAID airbag steering wheel (see the article in the Z3 Knowledgebase) which may not be fashionable in BMW quar...

Mike Fishwick

If you are into fake wood, look at the optional BMW wheels, but be prepared to pay for them.

Mike Fishwick

Don't be afraid of a bit of rust - the PAS pipe is quite thick. My PAS pipe was covered in rust when I bought the car at 13,000 miles, due to the epoxy coating on it having cracked and flaked off. This was due to the absence of a bolt to secure the lug on the pipe to the steering rack, allowing the ...

Mike Fishwick

Why do you want to replace the pipe because it has begun to rust? Scrape any loose rust off, treat it with a rust remover such as Jenolite, and paint it with Finnegans Red Oxide Primer followed by a few coats of their satin black. All people can think of these days is fitting new bits, rather than d...

Mike Fishwick

Yes - but any wheel with polished alloy will corrode after even one UK winter. The only wheels worth having are painted ones.

Mike Fishwick

If you try following the rubber pipes, you will see where they go . . .

Mike Fishwick

Maybe Cromadora?

Mike Fishwick

Those who claim that all Z3s exhibit traits such as tramlining and understeer are trying to excuse faults in the name of 'character.' Perhaps they know no better. After 105,000 miles my 2.8 just goes where it's pointed and does not argue. Even with standard suspension my tramlining was cured by poly...

Mike Fishwick

About the only thing seperating an Insp 2 from an insp 1 or an Oil Service is that the air filter and sometimes the spark plugs are replaced - and always the rear discs are supposed to be removed in order to check the handbrake shoe conditon. If the handbrake works OK, this is not done - or if the h...

Mike Fishwick

No - the flywheel is a seperate assembly - try searching the internet for problems on these, particularly on VW cars, which do a lot more miles than most BMWs.

Mike Fishwick

It's up to the owner, but it seems a waste of time, as the vertical rear of the boot lid already joins the top of the boot lid in a rearward-facing lip which performs the same flow-detaching function as a spoiler. Proof? the top of the boot lid and the rear window stays clean, even in poor weather. ...

Mike Fishwick

Exhaust problems are certainly a 'maybe' answer to this problem, and something which a DIY inspection should be able to find, but it is also possible that it may be a sign of the dual-mass flywheel springs being worn out, allowing the two parts of the flywheel to move relative to each other.

Mike Fishwick

Oh dear - mine just stops quietly - maybe there is something wrong with it!

Mike Fishwick

Why don't you just get underneath the car, and see if anything is loose before frightening yourself? Most noises have simple remedies.

Mike Fishwick

I'm sure that I read somewhere that the service history of an individual car is implanted in the engine management unit ECU, so can be interrogated by any dealer.

Has anyone tried this?

Mike Fishwick

I don't get any dust accumulation problems - I just give the calipers a wipe whenever I wash the car. With ordinary BMW five-spoke wheels, I can get at the calipers easily, but if you have wheels with lots of thin spokes it must be difficult, although Smootherite seems to shed dirt quite well, and r...

Mike Fishwick

Yes - Draper used to be a good make, so at this price they may be worth trying - although I would be suspicous of the low price. At the worst, however, all you can lose is £25.

The gearbox plugs respond to an ordinary ring spanner, and those on the final drive need a 14 mm hexagon key.

Mike Fishwick

I never liked the noise anyway, but once it was fitted it was too late to revert.

Mike Fishwick

First - the Sprint Booster is for use on the later engines which with 'Drive by Wire' throttles such as the 3 litre engine - they will not fit the 1.9 or 2.8 - don't know about the 2 and 2.2 litre engines. They are not magic - all they do is to increase the throttle position signal, so the ECU thnk ...

Mike Fishwick

I used Finnigans Smootherite (brushing type) over their red oxide primer, following a good going over witha wire brush to remove any dirt etc. This was back in 2001, and they are still fine - this picture was taken last year. Don't be fooled into buying expensive 'special heat resistant' paint - it'...

Mike Fishwick

Try phoning Ocean BMW of Plymouth and ask for their current price - it was a special offer, but I don't know how long for.

Mike Fishwick

For many years Porsche used to reccommend the use of Shell Rotella in their 911 engines. Rotella is a high detergent SAE 30 oil made for diesel engines, and was only discontinued by Porsche when they began to fit camshafts and valve springs which increased the scuffing load on the followers. The oil...

Mike Fishwick

3/4" socket sets are really only for specialised jobs - the only time I have needed a 3/4" socket set was to handle the nuts on the ends of Golf GTI driveshafts. These are really tight (160 lb-ft) and to lock the shaft for this I welded an old disc to a piece of steel angle, then lowered t...

Mike Fishwick

When compared to a 1/2" drive socket set, a 3/8" drive has attachments which are of smaller diameter, and therefore easier to get into tight situations. It is also difficult to find 1/2" drive 5 mm hex keys and similar small items. Another consideration is that unless the user has a w...

Mike Fishwick

Perhaps a certain person should remember that this is a discussion forum, and as such we will all have differing opinions. If those opinions are such that they suggest an alternative course of action, then that does not constitute 'flaming,' personal insults, or anything but alternative viewpoints. ...

Mike Fishwick

I bought the Eisenmann about three years ago, and have regretted it ever since. I think I'll email Eisenmann, quote the serial number, and ask exactly which model it is - I bought it from CA Automotive, ordering the quietist 'Factory Sport' model, but between order and delivery it seesm that they ra...

Mike Fishwick

Yes - the tube spanner provided to attack the nuts which secure the spare wheel cradle will also suffice to do the spark plugs - it even has a plastic thing inside it to grip the top of the plug. I have lots and lots of other tools, but I've been collecting for about fifty years, so I should have am...

Mike Fishwick

If you yield to tempation and buy a ramair filter, exactly where is it going to get its ram air supply from? If you do not fit a cold air supply pipe, it will (depending on whether it has a 'wall' to divide it off from the engine bay) have to asthmatically breathe whatever it can find from the origi...

Mike Fishwick

I would suggest: Long reach plug spanner - I use a Halfords 3/8" drive plug socket araldited to a long extension, but the long tube spanner in the toolkit will do the job too. 36 mm socket for undoing the oil filter cover. 7 and 9 mm ring spanners for bleed nipples Pressure bleeder (Cheapo Guns...

Mike Fishwick

Why inflict more noise on everyone - including yourself? Induction kits only make more noise - not power - and as they use a K&N type oiled filter element, they coat the hot-wire airflow sensor, and tend to cause weak mixture, whic is why most responsible tuners now refuse to fit them. The stock...

Mike Fishwick

I'd prefer a car with 100k of decent runs than one with 30k of short cold runs - these are the most destructive form of treatment a car can have, in terms of internal corrosion which affects the piston rings, bearings, and timing chains. Ideally, avoid both, and find a car with 10k of long runs whic...

Mike Fishwick

Yes - so long as it was not made up of short cold runs, which do more harm than anything - except weekly starting up for ten minutes, and then shutting down, just to see if it still works! There are still a few Z3s around with incredibly low mileages, but always remember that if you do buy such a ca...

Mike Fishwick

'Regular' servicing? 'Regular' to many owners means about every year, when the SI lights tell them to have it done, and even them all they are getting is a posh oil change. More frequent (8 to 10,000 mile intervals) engine oil changes, proper hydraulic fluid changes (including the clutch) with retra...

Mike Fishwick

Many thanks to all those who noticed my absence this week - I seemd to have been singled out by someone for a form of cyber-extermination!

Anyway, there is life after (forum) death, but I can't remember what cyber heaven was like, so perhaps I went to the Other Place . . .

Mike Fishwick

BATTERY MAINTENANCE AND PROBLEMS Mike Fishwick (Published in the BMWCC Magazine) Even those who keep their cars in top condition often ignore their battery until it dies. This failure is usually regarded with surprise, and accepted as being ‘One of those things,’ but at £60 to £80 a time it is an ex...

Mike Fishwick

I think the accelerometer is under the driver's seat - if you search on the M Roadster forum you may find more details - but a new one is over a £grand.

Mike Fishwick

BMW Brake Maintenance Part 4 – The Handbrake Mike Fishwick (Originally published in the BMW Car Club magazine) The BMW handbrake employs drum brakes integral with the rear discs, which obviously have to be removed if access is required. This can be less than easy, and is the basis for the increased ...

Mike Fishwick

BMW Brake Maintenance Part 3 – Disc Replacement Mike Fishwick (Originally published in the BMW Car Club magazine) A brake disc should last – under normal use – for about 100,000 miles, but it seems to be quite a common ploy for MoT testers to ‘advise’ owners that their brake discs are warped, and th...

Mike Fishwick

BMW Brake Maintenance Part 2 – Replacing Brake Pads Mike Fishwick (Orignally published in the BMWCar Club magazine) Many owners regard the presence of a brake pad wear warning lamp as an excuse to ignore the condition of their pads, but the warning is only given when the friction material is worn to...

Mike Fishwick

BMW Brake Maintenance Part 1 – Brake Bleeding Mike Fishwick (Originally published in the BMW Car Club Magazine) Brake bleeding is one of the most cost-effective maintenance tasks you can perform, an annual operation removing most of the impurities which accumulate in the lowest parts of the system. ...

Mike Fishwick

Transmission Oils – Available from Opie Oils Gearbox with yellow sticker - BMW Lifetime oil – LL1 or 2 Fuchs Titan Sintofluid SAE 75w-80 (as per original factory fill) Amsoil MTF SAE 5-30 (SAE 75w-85 on gear oil viscosity) Capacity 1.3 litres (ZF gearbox) See below for how to fill the gearbox Final ...

Mike Fishwick

REPLACING REAR ANTI-ROLL BAR DROP LINKS ON A Z3 Mike Fishwick The rear anti-roll bar on a Z3 – or E36 an Compact 318Ti – is unusual in that the drop links, by which it is attached to the rear suspension arms, are mounted by one of their rubber bushes being pressed onto the end of the bar. These bush...

Mike Fishwick

Like the E36, the Z3 headlights cannot be adjusted for RH dipping, but - like the E36 again - it is easy to blank off the offending part of the beam. This does NOT make the dipped beams go to the right, but simply stops the LH component which casues dazzle to oncoming drivers when driving on the RH ...

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