After a bit more than a year and 5,000 great kilometers, it’s finally time to start a progress thread. In my welcome post I already mentioned a few things that have been taken care of (radiator, new wheels, an exhaust hanger, throttle cable grommet).
This winter I also cleaned the rear underside of the car. For its 172,000 km it still looks pretty decent. Except for the tank straps ( which are still solid) and the sills (those will be replaced with new BMW parts (€€€)). I’ll also treat the inner sills and protect them against rust, hopefully good for another 25 years. I hope they're not as bad as some of those I've seen on this forum...
This is the worst corner, the rest all looks OK. It's more preventitive on the other side.
This side look really clean.
The rear anti‑roll bar was completely rusted, with some deep pits in it, so that will also be replaced with an OEM BMW part. The link to the anti‑roll bar had already slipped off, so those will obviously be renewed as well. It won’t be the original 14 mm bar anymore, but the 17 mm one from a 3.0 Coupé. I found the 19 mm H&R a bit too extreme.
Other than that, there isn’t too much rust and it’s mostly superficial. I’m not entirely sure about the beam bushes, I can’t really judge whether they’re at the end of their life. If anyone could help me with that, I’d appreciate it. I also can’t tell while driving, since this is the only Z3 I’ve ever driven, and the rear shocks are also at the end of their life.
I’ll update this thread over the next few weeks with the work on the sills and anti-roll bar.
Kind regards
Gauthier
This winter I also cleaned the rear underside of the car. For its 172,000 km it still looks pretty decent. Except for the tank straps ( which are still solid) and the sills (those will be replaced with new BMW parts (€€€)). I’ll also treat the inner sills and protect them against rust, hopefully good for another 25 years. I hope they're not as bad as some of those I've seen on this forum...
This is the worst corner, the rest all looks OK. It's more preventitive on the other side.
This side look really clean.
The rear anti‑roll bar was completely rusted, with some deep pits in it, so that will also be replaced with an OEM BMW part. The link to the anti‑roll bar had already slipped off, so those will obviously be renewed as well. It won’t be the original 14 mm bar anymore, but the 17 mm one from a 3.0 Coupé. I found the 19 mm H&R a bit too extreme.
Other than that, there isn’t too much rust and it’s mostly superficial. I’m not entirely sure about the beam bushes, I can’t really judge whether they’re at the end of their life. If anyone could help me with that, I’d appreciate it. I also can’t tell while driving, since this is the only Z3 I’ve ever driven, and the rear shocks are also at the end of their life.
I’ll update this thread over the next few weeks with the work on the sills and anti-roll bar.
Kind regards
Gauthier