Hi guys
Just thought I'd say hello
Been looking for a nice 2.8 for some time now and today I finally picked mine up. Not really the day for it, it's been hammering down all day. All seemed fine until I got home and had a good snoop under the boot carpet...
You guessed it, two popped boot welds. So did some reading on here, read a lot of horror stories. Felt sick! Took it straight to an indy in Bristol who I've used with my old E36, they said it doesn't look serious, just a case of drilling and mig welding the failed spots, providing there's no damage underneath. Unfortunately they didn't have time to get it on the ramp so I took it back to the dealer and got them to get it up on the ramp and check for damage.
They seemed almost annoyed that I hadn't trusted their initial assurance that the car was structurally sound, but they raised the car and had a good look, everything around the diff mount looks solid. They concluded there's no cause for concern. I hope they're not just fobbing me off. Should I be worried? If it's a non urgent cheap fix I'll feel so much better (as I'm now broke)! May take up the indy's offer of checking it underneath tomorrow...
Due to the bad start and the rain, I'm missing the comforts of my E36 323 already. Very paranoid that I've landed a lemon. Other than the boot, the car has done 73,000 which for a '98 is low, and has a full service history, all BMW apart from the last one, so some comfort in that. It looks immaculate! Didn't leak a drop in driving rain. Seems to drive alright, tramlines a lot more that the 3-series and a bit of rattle but I guess it's the nature of the beast?
Also, it's only got one key (annoying), I'm assuming I have no choice but to pay BMW prices for another...
Regards
Luke
New 2.8, bad start to zeds
Hi Luke and welcome.
By the sounds of it you've already found my post about the boot welds on my 99 2.8. Mine was checked by the local BMW dealer and eventually BMW paid for the welds to be repaired and a couple of additional welds were added. I took it back after a year and they checked it and everything is OK. Hopefully yours will be as straightforward a repair as mine was.
By the sounds of it you've already found my post about the boot welds on my 99 2.8. Mine was checked by the local BMW dealer and eventually BMW paid for the welds to be repaired and a couple of additional welds were added. I took it back after a year and they checked it and everything is OK. Hopefully yours will be as straightforward a repair as mine was.
Hers: Z4 2.0i Sp --------------------- His: Z3 2.8
Hi Luke,
Welcome to the forum and congrats on the Zed,
From your post your Zed sounds to be in overall good nick and certainly not a lemon. Failed boot spot welds can be common but a relatively easy fix for an indie to do at a reasonable cost. The main worry is if the diff bracket has failed and the absolute worst tearing of boot floor seams, however its certainly not common to all Zeds. I would check the diff bracket and boot floor generally but sounds like you have a couple of the boot spot welds which have popped. Hopefully a simple job to do.
To be honest buying a Zed again I would rather see popped welds and get them sorted properly than relying on the original factory welds which can be pretty poor
Tim.
Welcome to the forum and congrats on the Zed,
From your post your Zed sounds to be in overall good nick and certainly not a lemon. Failed boot spot welds can be common but a relatively easy fix for an indie to do at a reasonable cost. The main worry is if the diff bracket has failed and the absolute worst tearing of boot floor seams, however its certainly not common to all Zeds. I would check the diff bracket and boot floor generally but sounds like you have a couple of the boot spot welds which have popped. Hopefully a simple job to do.
To be honest buying a Zed again I would rather see popped welds and get them sorted properly than relying on the original factory welds which can be pretty poor
Tim.
2001 Z3 1.9 Roadster Sport - 2012 Z4 sDrive 2.0 M Sport
If you paid full price for the car, why can't you insist that the dealer you bought it from get it fixed for free? Surely this must be the first course of action?
Your problem doesn't sound serious yet, but it will be if you don't get it fixed and drive round leaving 11s everywhere. The popped welds are now a weak spot that means extra stress under hard acceleration will be transferred elsewhere, possibly causing much bigger troubles.
Good luck...!
A.
Your problem doesn't sound serious yet, but it will be if you don't get it fixed and drive round leaving 11s everywhere. The popped welds are now a weak spot that means extra stress under hard acceleration will be transferred elsewhere, possibly causing much bigger troubles.
Good luck...!
A.
Hi all
Thanks for the responses. Feel a bit calmer about the situation now, I did take it back to the dealer yesterday and challenged them on it. They insisted it was no big deal. I insisted they get the car up on the ramp to make sure all is well underneath. They did so, and said it was all fine, had a good look - to my untrained eyes it looked fine too, the cross-member(?) didn't appear to be coming away from the boot floor at all, and the differential bracket was solid too. No tears, not movement. They seem like a half decent well established specialist dealer (www.parvaprestigecars.co.uk) who deal a lot of BMWs and high end sports cars so I'm inclined to trust them. Unfortunately their 6 month warranty doesn't cover body work issues.
I'm going to try and get the indy I use in bristol to have a look underneath also, a second non-biased opinion would be good. The indy said if it's just a case of drilling the spots and re-welding, it'd be a cheap quick job. I saw one member on here paid £80 for the same thing.
I don't intend on ragging the knackers off this car, being 13 years old I want to treat it with a bit of respect so I'm not too worried. I'm thinking, there must be lots of Z3s out there with popped boot welds that solider on. Owners who are forum members and aware of the problem are probably a minority.
Thanks for the responses. Feel a bit calmer about the situation now, I did take it back to the dealer yesterday and challenged them on it. They insisted it was no big deal. I insisted they get the car up on the ramp to make sure all is well underneath. They did so, and said it was all fine, had a good look - to my untrained eyes it looked fine too, the cross-member(?) didn't appear to be coming away from the boot floor at all, and the differential bracket was solid too. No tears, not movement. They seem like a half decent well established specialist dealer (www.parvaprestigecars.co.uk) who deal a lot of BMWs and high end sports cars so I'm inclined to trust them. Unfortunately their 6 month warranty doesn't cover body work issues.
I'm going to try and get the indy I use in bristol to have a look underneath also, a second non-biased opinion would be good. The indy said if it's just a case of drilling the spots and re-welding, it'd be a cheap quick job. I saw one member on here paid £80 for the same thing.
I don't intend on ragging the knackers off this car, being 13 years old I want to treat it with a bit of respect so I'm not too worried. I'm thinking, there must be lots of Z3s out there with popped boot welds that solider on. Owners who are forum members and aware of the problem are probably a minority.
Although the repair is not covered by the warranty I would have thought that the dealer would have to repair under his obligation under the sale of goods act as this was not disclosed at the time of sale.
The warranty company would not payout if the damage was prior to the sale.
It might be worth another chat with the delaer.
The warranty company would not payout if the damage was prior to the sale.
It might be worth another chat with the delaer.
I went to the indy again, they had a good look under the car. A welder who works with them also had a good look and thinks it's all fairly solid. The mech at the indy said to just keep an eye on it. It just needs drilling and re-welding. 20-30min (£40ish) job if I'm not fussy about a professional repaint in the boot (which I'm not, I think a future buyer would see evidence of reinforced welds as a bonus). As long as it's sealed against corrosion. He said it can probably wait until next service, just keep an eye on it in the mean time.
In all it seems to be a nice car (I'll post pics when the weather is better), just a few niggly problems to sort.
Thanks again for all the replies and advice
In all it seems to be a nice car (I'll post pics when the weather is better), just a few niggly problems to sort.
Thanks again for all the replies and advice
Well, I've had the car for 5 days now and so far problems that have cropped up apart from boot welds:
-passenger door pull came off in somebody's hand, turns out it was just botch glued onto the door card
-power roof has stopped working, it goes back half way then gives up
-the bottom of the rear window has been sealed with some sort of sealant, which, granted, I spotted when I picked up the car (wasn't there when I viewed it days before). I accepted it on day of purchase but the repair has turned out to be poor, it is leaking a lot.
This is the final straw really, if it was one problem, I'd accept it but I wonder what is to come next. In honesty I want the 323i SE I traded in for it back. I paid £3500 for the Z3 on top of the £1000 trade in for the old car. So for £4500, this car should be a good example (the guide price is a lot less).
I am at the point where I want to get the old one back, and return this one. Do I have a leg to stand on?
Very very fed up, this car is not what I expected it to be.
-passenger door pull came off in somebody's hand, turns out it was just botch glued onto the door card
-power roof has stopped working, it goes back half way then gives up
-the bottom of the rear window has been sealed with some sort of sealant, which, granted, I spotted when I picked up the car (wasn't there when I viewed it days before). I accepted it on day of purchase but the repair has turned out to be poor, it is leaking a lot.
This is the final straw really, if it was one problem, I'd accept it but I wonder what is to come next. In honesty I want the 323i SE I traded in for it back. I paid £3500 for the Z3 on top of the £1000 trade in for the old car. So for £4500, this car should be a good example (the guide price is a lot less).
I am at the point where I want to get the old one back, and return this one. Do I have a leg to stand on?
Very very fed up, this car is not what I expected it to be.
Sorry to hear of your problems. You must get these things sorted ASAP.
Dealers have a duty to sell you goods fit for purpose. Power Hoods should work and door handles should not break off particularly after such a short period of ownership. Spot weld issues may not be familiar to dealers particularly if not BMW based.
Is there no warranty?
Would be a good idea to find a good Indy and get there opinion.
If lawyers scare you (£££££!!) go on-line and check out your consumer rights.
I have a '98 Zed and have had four remarkably trouble free years (tempted fate there!). Tyres, brakes and exhaust replaced/upgraded but that's it. 105,000 miles and counting on many more.
TLC and good servicing important.
Does you Zed have a good service record?
I don't expect a car that's coming up to 13 years old to be trouble free but neither would I expect to sell my car with the faults you have described unless at a discount.
Bon Chance Mon Brav
Dealers have a duty to sell you goods fit for purpose. Power Hoods should work and door handles should not break off particularly after such a short period of ownership. Spot weld issues may not be familiar to dealers particularly if not BMW based.
Is there no warranty?
Would be a good idea to find a good Indy and get there opinion.
If lawyers scare you (£££££!!) go on-line and check out your consumer rights.
I have a '98 Zed and have had four remarkably trouble free years (tempted fate there!). Tyres, brakes and exhaust replaced/upgraded but that's it. 105,000 miles and counting on many more.
TLC and good servicing important.
Does you Zed have a good service record?
I don't expect a car that's coming up to 13 years old to be trouble free but neither would I expect to sell my car with the faults you have described unless at a discount.
Bon Chance Mon Brav
Hi guys
I tried to get the old car back and a refund but the dealer wasn't having any of it. The dealer is going to rectify the problems and I'm going to fit a new rear window also. I guess it's only fair to give the dealer a chance to sort out all of these "teething problems" as he put it.
It's annoying, I told him the roof wouldn't go back properly. When I get there and he has a go, it works no problem! Argh! Such is life.
I'm warming to the car now, its fun to drive, and with music on, I can't hear all the rattles!
Another problem I have encountered is the driver side window was initially struggling to go down, now won't go down at all unless I open the door. It seems there is too much friction between the window and the door deal. Is there a way of adjusting the pressure the window exerts on the door seal, or is this a fault with the motor (i.e. too weak) do you think?
I tried to get the old car back and a refund but the dealer wasn't having any of it. The dealer is going to rectify the problems and I'm going to fit a new rear window also. I guess it's only fair to give the dealer a chance to sort out all of these "teething problems" as he put it.
It's annoying, I told him the roof wouldn't go back properly. When I get there and he has a go, it works no problem! Argh! Such is life.
I'm warming to the car now, its fun to drive, and with music on, I can't hear all the rattles!
Another problem I have encountered is the driver side window was initially struggling to go down, now won't go down at all unless I open the door. It seems there is too much friction between the window and the door deal. Is there a way of adjusting the pressure the window exerts on the door seal, or is this a fault with the motor (i.e. too weak) do you think?
Dont give up on the old girl yet , its all the fun of a classic sports car!problins wrote:Another problem I have encountered is the driver side window was initially struggling to go down, now won't go down at all unless I open the door. It seems there is too much friction between the window and the door deal. Is there a way of adjusting the pressure the window exerts on the door seal, or is this a fault with the motor (i.e. too weak) do you think?
Try some silicone lube spray on the door seal , mine was the same when i got it , now glides like new.
The roof is likely to be the microswitch located in the passenger side of the roof just above the window if not maybe the wiring to it. They go very intermittant and can cause the roof to be hit and miss. New microswitch should sort it out and only a couple of quid to sort if you do it yourself but the garage should be able to sort that very easily. I did mine with a Maplins microswitch which only cost me a couple of quid so don't let them fob you off it's an expensive fix.
Aceman
Arctic Silver '98 Z3M
Previously;
Bright RED '99 Z3 2.8
Rocking seats ? You need seat bushes click HERE
Arctic Silver '98 Z3M
Previously;
Bright RED '99 Z3 2.8
Rocking seats ? You need seat bushes click HERE
Follow my guide here. Lubing the channels will help for a while but for a longer term fix you need to replace the sliders as mentioned at the end of the guide.problins wrote: Another problem I have encountered is the driver side window was initially struggling to go down, now won't go down at all unless I open the door. It seems there is too much friction between the window and the door deal. Is there a way of adjusting the pressure the window exerts on the door seal, or is this a fault with the motor (i.e. too weak) do you think?
The majority of zed 'teething' problems are covered somewhere on here, you just need to know where to look
Current...1998 ///M Coupe
Previously...1997 Z3 2.8
Previously...1997 Z3 2.8
