DB8-R's (Not a Honda) BMW Z3

[DB8-TypeR]

Ok so every single car Ive ever bought has ended up being sight unseen, and so far its worked out ok (all the ones ive looked at before purchasing have been lemons that Ive walked away from)

Imported my first car and second car from Japan, first time seeing them was picking them up from compliance. Next car was my old Honda Shuttle that was a $1400 trademe purchase that a friend picked up in ChCh and drove 15 hours home for me, then a trademe $1 reserve CR-V that I sold 2 weeks later for profit, then a Manual CR-V that was in Auckland, then a trademe $1 reserve Caldina for my wife, then imported a Vitz to replace the Caldina, then to replace the second CR-V a newer CR-V that was also a trademe $1 Reserve deal... typically the first my wife knows of them is after the auction is closed...... 

So not one to break with tradition, on Sunday I was at work and got a trademe notification on my phone that an Auction on my watchlist was due to close. For a 1997 BMW Z3, and most importantly it was cheap. There wasnt a plan to actually buy it but with 2mins to go there was no further bids so I put one on it, half hearted bidding war that raised the price $80 and Id won. Fuck.

So I dutilly made sure there was no money owing on it and transferred the money, an hour later had confirmation it had been received so txt my wife to see if she wanted to go for a drive to Rotorua because Id bought something I shouldnt have, her first guess was a car and when she found out what it was was more excited about the purchase than I was. Finished work at 2pm, picked up the car at 3:30 and was pleasantly surprised it was in better condition than I was preparing myself for. Drove it straight home (wife with her AA memebership card following) with the roof down and froze my ass off, home at 5 got one pic and then it was dark.

 

 

[DB8-TypeR]

So that was Sunday, since then Ive seen it in the daylight for about 10mins due to starting work early and finishing late.

Unexcitingly its just a 1900cc M44 Engine with a 4 speed auto, has red leather seats, some 18" wheels which look like BBS LM but dont have the BBS logo on them and a Japanese "ARQRAY" stainless exhaust system.

Known issues so far is that I cant get the boot open, its electrically actuated and a common issue is the wiring loom snaps where the boot hinges, also the thermostat appears stuck open as it sits at 1/4 of the temp gauge while driving but rises to just on 1/2 while stationary.

 

Background of the purchase is that Ive been sort of looking for a cheap project for a while (because the house, small boat, Integra and 3 small bikes/scooters just wasnt enough) and missed out on a 2003 Mini Cooper S last year because I chickened out plus it was manual which the wife isnt that happy driving. Kinda liked the idea of a Triumph Spitfire but without the old brittish car problems and classic car prices. So had saved a trademe search for cheapest Mercedes SLK and BMW Z3 and occasionally kept an eye on them with no real intention of buying but had researched each and found both to be fairly reliable but typical older Euro car issues. Then came my moment of weakness.

Plans were to hoon it for a couple months and then sell in Summer when everyone thinks a convertible is a good idea, but now my Wife quite likes it. So plans have changed to fix its so far minor niggles and keep for a year or so

 

Let the mid life crisis/hairdresser comments commence

[fuel]

I briefly had one of these that I traded (though it was the 2.8) and it had a ridiculous dumb p-plate something like ISONME (eyes on me) I dunno I only had it for all of 5 mins it feels like, but definitely enjoyed the drive from Auckland down to Hamilton in it. 

I think those base model 1.9's have solid disc brakes up front? I found that to be wacky. 

[DB8-TypeR]

I would have liked a more powerful version but couldnt justify the extra cost for what really is a fairly pointless toy, but it is still quite nice to drive. 

I will have to have a look at the brakes, id kinda believe it as its hardly the fastest thing on the road and doesnt really encourage you to drive quickly. Just a wind on the bald patch cruiser. 

Compared with my similarly aged Integra it has way less rattles but feels very "heavy" on the road

[Doug Hill]

Should be vented front and solid rear, only the SOHC E36s ran solid fronts. They're becoming quite a decent looking car for the money, and they're not as diabolical in terms of reliability as people say. 

[fuel]

100% saw a Z3 in a Melbourne pick a part with solid fronts, I even snapped a pic cause I thought it was odd

 

it was DOHC 4cyl 

[Doug Hill]

Today I learned. 

[DB8-TypeR]

Can confirm it does have solid front discs, good thing its not very heavy and not very fast

[Positive Ape]

nice buy!

I saw one of these the other day and my first thought was how tiny it was. They'd be a similar size to an MX5 wouldn't they? Any luggage space for trips?

[DB8-TypeR]

I think they are slightly bigger than a MX5? Or maybe thats compared to a NB rather than the earlier NA ones. Certainly small though, I lost it in the work carpark the other day as it was parked between a AU Falcon Wagon and a Ford Everest.

As for storage, not much in the cabin, has a parcel tray when the roof is up and a little storage compartment between the roll bars but thats it. Havnt managed to open the boot yet, that was the plan for yesterday but ended up getting called out so ran out of time after id given it a wash.

 

Cleans up pretty good (apart from the bonnet which has been painted by a blind man)

 

[DB8-TypeR]

Finally had a full day off work so decided to try get into the boot

The hole in the middle isnt supposed to be there, so someone has had this problem before..... Stripped all the wiring loom out and found some dodgy cores

 

Taped all those up and tested it and it works, but the rest of the central locking doesnt. So when you lock the car the boot stays unlocked unless you manually lock it. So still some digging to do. Its pretty straight forward as the BMW Electrical Troubleshooting Manual is easily available online and has full wiring diagrams and component location pictures.

Boot is fairly small but big enough for a weekend away

Also swapped out the big long aerial for the little stumpy one in the above pic, I think its the OEM one off the CRV. 

Also pulled the headunit out to see why the radio wasnt getting any reception and found it was because nobody had plugged the aerial in... 

[DB8-TypeR]

Havnt done anything exciting, did an Aliexpress order of a couple new blank keys, a central locking actuator and some door handle gaskets.

Have since decided that the reason the central locking isnt working is that one or both of the door switches are faulty as the interior light is always on if you have it on "door open" mode.

 

Anyway, swapped the door handle gaskets today, exciting I know but they looked shit

Just need to pop a cover on the door jam and poke around with a screw driver and you end up with this:

Bits of yuck on gasket get cleaned away then pop this on:

Not a perfect fit (because $2 off Aliexpress) but good enough

[DB8-TypeR]

Finally had time to do some stuff on this after 3 months of 60 hour weeks. 

Being a BMW it leaked oil, typical E36 leak where the paper gasket for the oil filter housing and the o ring for the pressure relief valve get old and hard. About $1 worth of parts and 2 hours of swearing at German engineers for requiring 7 different sized tools to do a simple job. 

 

new on the left, old on the right with its flat o rings (bought a complete new relief valve because why not)

[DB8-TypeR]

Got sidetracked getting the Integra a WOF and driving that recently but today decided to give fixing the leather on the drivers seat a crack.

Initially it looked like this, I think mostly due to the seatbelt buckle always hanging there and getting squished when you get in

Bought a leather repair kit off ebay for $50, which provides some filler paste which makes it look like this

And then some dye which was pre made in BMW Taninrot and then some tints to fine tune it. This is it after 1 coat, it looks worse in the camera lighting but a pretty good match. Will give it another coat and maybe tint the dye a little lighter to give a better match

Waaaaaay better now though 

[DB8-TypeR]

Largely due to being lazy haven't actually done anything further with this other than occasionally use it. Be nice it it was manual but quite good for a average shitbox