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Welcome to the forum Vic. Your so lucky to have a Z3 as your first car! Mine was a 10 year old panel van and I was 18 when I bought it.Originally Posted by Vicxm9
I'm not sure what style of wheels you currently have but think the BMW style #68 is a great look for a reasonable price. They are staggered so you can put wider tires on the rear. Also, they fit as is but IMO look better with spacers. I have 20mm spacers on a 245/40/19 tire.
Here's a photo,
Driveway Shot 3a 1080 X 720 June 2022.jpg
My sage advice, take it easy with this car. You don't need to drive aggressively to have a lot of fun in an open top roadster.
Last edited by Hoyt Clagwell; 09-26-2022 at 11:39 PM.
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Greetings from Michigan!
I’m new to the forum and just picked up my 96 1.9l Z3 two weeks ago from a classic car dealer.
After years of gawking online I finally decided to take the plunge last week. I found this 96 with just over 36,000 miles, in what seems to be in excellent condition.
Over the winter, I’d like to make a few comfort and maintenance updates to ensure that the car is reliable and ready to cruise next summer while on vacation.
The water pump and alternator are on my list. Both are working fine currently, but are original to the car, I’d like to take care of them so they don’t leave me stranded while far away from home.
The suspension is all original except for the sway bar and bushings. The car feels good to me, but I’m no expert. Is it worth replacing shocks and struts with so few miles on the car? Anything else I should do while I'm in there?
The only other pressing issue to be is the radio. My vehicle has the (not so) HiFi C43 system with pre-wiring for a CD changer according to a VIN check. I’d like to keep the original head unit for a OEM look. But I’d like to add Bluetooth functionality for streaming. I’m wondering if I can get by with an amp upgrade and simply replacing the existing speakers with new ones and adding a bluetooth module to the C43 radio.
Attached are some pictures from the dealer before I picked her up.
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http://wedophones.com/Manuals/BMW/19...g%20Manual.pdf
here’s a link to the electrical manual for your year. The amp and speakers are fairly easy to replace. I did the same on my 99 2.3. I cut the plug off the harness in the trunk but if I had to do over I would have salvaged the mating plug from the factory amp to make a “plug & play” arrangement to provide a whip to a aftermarket amp so it could be put back to stock. There really isn’t any reason though to ever consider taking it back to stock since the stock amp sucks so much. There are BT options available that can connect to the CD input on the head unit. The head unit signal (line level) is pretty clean Vs the dirty amp signal so you probably could solder rca connectors on the speaker channel wires. Your biggest worry on the cooling system is a plastic Y on the back of the head. That’s a bit of a project to replace from what I’ve read here but a full system replacement is past due if it hasn’t been addressed. Welcome to the forum. There’s lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here.
Last edited by z3forlife; 09-11-2022 at 12:54 PM.
Member
Greetings from Chicago-
I'm new to the forum and recently inherited my fathers 00 Z3M Roadster. He loved the car and wanted me to drive it, mod it and think about him all the time. it's Titanium Silver w/ dark maroon two tone napa leather interior.
The car has been kept in a heated garage and only has 29K original miles. I'm really excited to play with his car. I've been a muscle car, v8 enthusiast most of my life and i'm ready to tinker with the 3.2L. We always joked that he should have waited a few more months and ordered it in the fall of 2000 instead of June 2000 and gotten the S54, but this guy rips pretty well for what it is. I will no doubt get this roadster in the 350-400hp range. I'm looking forward to learning about these motors. I threw some new wheels and rubber on and updated the headlights/capsules w/HID's for a more modern look. Obviously I will keep all the original parts.
Many of you have some awesome bmw's as I see.
thanks for reading-- Here are a couple pics.
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Member
To get that much HP, you will have to go forced induction.
Member
Welcome to the forum. My suggestion regarding shocks and struts is to first replace the old front control arm bushings and rear subframe + trailing arm bushings and see how you like the ride from there. Depending on the balance between sportiness and ride comfort that you would like to achieve I would suggest either ZM style rubber fcabs or polyurethane. The ZM style rubber is a nice upgrade that will significantly tighten up the front end and reduce tramlining with no noticeable increase in NVH. I put them on my car and they were a tremendous improvement over the old OE Z3 style rubber although I'm seriously thinking of going for something even stiffer in the future. I like a pretty tightly sprung car.
It's pretty unanimous around here to install hard polyurethane RSFBs if for no other reason but to help prevent the dreaded trunk floor failure. They will also give you a much more planted feel in the rear. For the RTABs, most install new OE style rubber.
After installing new suspension bushings, including poly sway bar bushings and end links, my car was transformed from a mushy, swaying, tramlining boat to a very sporty ride with plenty of comfort enough for my liking. I thought I needed heavier sway bars but after the stiffer bushings were installed, I have no desire to swap them as the sway was greatly reduced by the stiffer FCABs.
Once you refresh all of the suspension bushings you can then have a much better idea if you need new or stiffer shocks. If you do the shocks first with your old rubber bushings still installed you won't get the benefits that you are hoping for. Keep in mind that suspension set up is a very personal choice depending on what you are going for.
BTW, have you inspected the trunk floor for any signs of popped welds?
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That is the route I am leaning toward. Researching different systems to weights pros and cons of each.
Member
Can you link the headlights you went with. Those look great.
Member
Yes.
Member
Hi everyone, i am Luca, from italy
I've been always been a bmw fan, in the family we have them since 2000, first a 1999 e46 coupe, then a 2002 e46 cabrio (still owning)
personally, i've had a 1998 e36 ti compact in 2004, it didn't last long, then i had a r50 mini from 2008 until 2019 (gave to my ex), until finally 2 months ago i picked up a 1999 bmw z3 coupè in hellrot.
Hope to make new friends here.
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Welcome Luca. It's a great forum to share knowledge and experience.
Member
Hi,
I'm Cliff. Lifelong car enthusiast. I own a 2001 Z3 3.0 in Hellrot II red with about 51k miles. I also own a 2016 328d wagon in glacier silver metallic with about 61k miles. Love them both for very different reasons. My wagon is completely stock and my Z3 is almost completely stock. I replaced the sun visors with ones from an older Z3 when they didn't have the mirrors on both sides with no covers. I replaced the US spec high beam module with a Canadian one so that I would have DRLs. What a pain to access but worth it. I've had the wagon for years but the Z3 is a recent acquisition. I have the stock head unit but am considering the Blaupunkt Bremen bluetooth unit as a nice looking replacement. I am getting the Z3 a ceramic pro coating in a few weeks which should help with UV resistance. I don't have a garage and the car is still very bright due to always having been garage kept. Love these cars!
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Member
Just picked up a '98 M roadster 2 weeks ago. 25K mile's silver/black. Drives nice, been doing lots of small stuff and some other things. Replaced door handle gaskets, replaced seat rail bushings, and the drivers side seatbelt guide (removed seat cover). Had my paintless dent guy take out a bunch of acorn dents. Will change trans and diff fluid and possibly new rear shocks car feels a bit spongy.
But in the few hundred miles I've driven it it's bringing a smile back with an old school sports car feel. Has crap tires, but lots of tread. Will ditch them when I get the rims refinished. Anyone have a suggestion for rim refinishing in the Long Island area or Vero Beach FL area.
I bought my wife a '99 Z3 for her bday in 2003, but it was auto, 2.3 convertible. Always liked the M's. Glad I pulled the trigger.
I read a whole bunch about the diff carrier crack/spot welding issues. Can't figure out if it's worth just doing a prevent on it up front.
Look forward to learning from guys with hands on expierience on these cars. I have always maintained my fun cars. I've had a few and still have 3 including the M.
Dave
Member
Welcome Dave. There are bound to be a few different opinions on whether to proactively install the Randy Forbes trunk floor reinforcement. Here's mine, if you can afford it, have it done and have the piece of mind that comes with that. If like me, you are on a budget, at least install poly sub frame bushings. These will go a long way in preventing the problem from occurring in the first place. (assuming that you have no popped welds or cracks in the diff bracket etc. at present)
Member
My M Roadster has about 84K miles so more than yours. When I bought it, it appeared that the welds and diff bracket looked good, so I decided to just do the subframe(poly) and trailing arm brackets, and watch for any weld issues. When the garage pulled the subframe and was able to look closer, the trunk floor was starting to separate and there was a small crack on the diff bracket. Couldn't see these until subrame was out. The garage told me that it still looked OK to drive but I would save money on the RF installation because the subframe was already out. So I bit the bullet and had them do it. Once that was done, I installed new struts and shocks(B6 Billstein) and now the car handles much better with a firm but compliant ride. Very satisfied with the results. So let them pull the SF and do a close inspection. With your mileage, perhaps the poly SF bushings will prevent the problem from happening.
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Thanks guys. I probably will pull it apart when I get it down to FL. Restored a car and have done my own work for the last 40 years. Got the work on stuff myself bug from a friend's Dad who helped me with my mini bike when I was a 12 YO kid.
Reading several different opinions on root cause and if Randy's fix is the right/correct answer. I'm not saying it's not.
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Silly question. How do I post pictures? Don't see a button or attachment link.
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I believe you have to make a certain amount of posts before you can post photos.
Member
Okay, that's what I was thinking.
Member
Yep, I’m brand new here. Name is Mark, I’m 74 and live in Madison, Wisconsin. Just got a pretty gray 2000 Z3 a week ago. I’ve always admired BMWs but had never owned one. Our Z3 has 65k miles, 2.8 engine, no accidents and never driven in winter. We’re the third owner. I’m a long-time vintage Corvette enthusiast, having owned a numbers-matching Nassau blue ‘66 coupe for 46 years. I’m enjoying learning about BMWs.
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Hi, Stuart here from NJ. Barring disaster, I will be picking up a bone-stock super clean '98 M Roadster on Saturday morning. ~42,000 miles in Arctic Silver over Imola Red & Black.
Been reading about the sub-frame issue. I was able to get the car up on a ramp and look closely over the underside and in the trunk (it all looked good to me). Will be doing some more reading and asking a bunch of questions on that I am sure.
Member
Welcome Stuart, sounds like you have found a nice one. We have a lot of good info here in the forum. There's a search box up on the top right corner that will give you access to many solutions.
Member
Thanks. I'm actually trading a 2013 M3 for the M Roadster (I know, I know...) and am getting about $10k back on the deal, but having done some (too much?) reading I'm now second guessing myself about all the stuff that could go wrong, blow up etc.
Stuart - “He who is without oil shall cast out the first rod...” - Detonations 5:72
Vehicle History: '84 Vauxhall Astra | '90 Ford Escort | '75 Triumph Spitfire | '90 Daihatsu Sportrak | '92 Daihatsu Foutrak | '95 Camaro Z28 | '03 Honda S2000 | '09 Hyundai Genesis Coupe | '13 BMW M3 | '98 M Roadster
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I think you will be fine. If it hasn't been done, refresh the cooling system, rubber hoses and vacuum lines. You can buy the Randy Forbes subframe reinforcement kit and not have to worry about that giving you problems. Remember that all rubber parts, bushings included are 20 some years old and need replacement.
Member
Hi everyone. Jun here from Phoenix, Arizona. I fell in love with the Z3 after watching a James Bond movie in my teen years and vowed I would get that car as soon as I could afford it. Well, in 2012 I was finally able to afford it and got myself a very nice 2000 roadster, 2.5L in black. It had 40k miles on it when I picket it up. 10 years later, I am doing better financially but this is still my dream car and has 60K miles on it. I am starting to work on it myself due to a couple of bad experiences with local dealers and shops that left a bad taste in my mouth. They just don't seem to care for a car or a client that won't generate meaningful cash. To each his own. Anyway, I am having so much fun working on it and with this come several questions to ask to more experienced owners.
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