What did you buy your Z4 this week?

[Vanne]

Bought myself a helmet. ;-)

[3002 tii]

New wiper blades, so exciting!

[No_Dominion]

Originally Posted by 3002 tii

New wiper blades, so exciting!

It might be weird, but I actually was fairly excited when I upgraded my stock wiper blades to Bosch Icon years ago.

Stock ones were crap, so I was happy to have a set that performed better and looked more suited to the car.

[XMetal]

Had the "SoCal S54 Guru", Kevin ("kaiv" from M3forums and here) helped with installing/changing all items from post #687 - essentially an inspection 2 + Vanos upgrades + 4 coolant hoses. The car is now running sooooo well. It's super smooth and quiet - all the Vanos rattles are virtually gone!

Here are some pictures from Valve Adjustments and Installing Beisan Vanos Upgrade stuffs:






All the Beisan upgrade stuffs done and ready to go back in


New pump disk installed - all hub/disk contact slacks removed


The original disk looked pretty good, not much scoring by the hub


The upper chain guide, on the other hand didn't look so good. This is only with a bit over 44k miles on the motor!


Lastly, the obligatory picture with Kevin's recent project - 325iT to M3 conversion. More info of that project can be found here => http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=540964

[coh661]

Stromung exhaust, new OEM rotors, Akebono Pads, ECS 10 mm spacers, oil change, brake fluid flush, painted reflectors, CDV delete and best of all aero side skirts. After 3 weeks on Jack stands, I'm Looking forward to getting her back on her wheels

[Punisher3.0si]

I got a "stubby" antenna today. I'll probably swap that out tonight.

@milamookie: That's a sharp looking Z! I'm looking forward to the finished pics.

[Vanne]

Originally Posted by XMetal

Had the "SoCal S54 Guru", Kevin ("kaiv" from M3forums and here) helped with installing/changing all items from post #687 - essentially an inspection 2 + Vanos upgrades + 4 coolant hoses. The car is now running sooooo well. It's super smooth and quiet - all the Vanos rattles are virtually gone!

Here are some pictures from Valve Adjustments and Installing Beisan Vanos Upgrade stuffs:






All the Beisan upgrade stuffs done and ready to go back in


New pump disk installed - all hub/disk contact slacks removed


The original disk looked pretty good, not much scoring by the hub


The upper chain guide, on the other hand didn't look so good. This is only with a bit over 44k miles on the motor!


Lastly, the obligatory picture with Kevin's recent project - 325iT to M3 conversion. More info of that project can be found here => http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=540964

X, man thats awesome, how long did it take Kev to do the Vanos?

[XMetal]

He has done this so many times that he can probably knock it out in a few hours on the M3. He told me the Vanos unit is a bit more finicky to wiggle out due the the front cross brace of our cars that he wanted to take a bit more time on it, so I left the car with him overnight. Plus, I had him work on a bunch of other things that I didn't mind leaving it in his hands. He is very detailed and meticulous as you can see some of the pictures in his work that I don't ever want to rush him through anything. He had help me do a similar Vanos work on my M54 X5 a couple of years ago and it only took him about 2.5 to 3 hours and that was with him explaining things to me as he work on it and with me pestering him with questions

[kaybat]

Bavauto Coilpack's

[WickedNy]

Originally Posted by kaybat

Bavauto Coilpack's

I've heard some relatively not so good things about them on other forums, curious as to a first hand experience with them, let me know they hold up

[SaltyNC]

Originally Posted by kaybat

Bavauto Coilpack's

They look really good. It's a shame they get covered up, isn't it.

Salty

[AriuSen]

Originally Posted by XMetal

He has done this so many times that he can probably knock it out in a few hours on the M3. He told me the Vanos unit is a bit more finicky to wiggle out due the the front cross brace of our cars that he wanted to take a bit more time on it, so I left the car with him overnight. Plus, I had him work on a bunch of other things that I didn't mind leaving it in his hands. He is very detailed and meticulous as you can see some of the pictures in his work that I don't ever want to rush him through anything. He had help me do a similar Vanos work on my M54 X5 a couple of years ago and it only took him about 2.5 to 3 hours and that was with him explaining things to me as he work on it and with me pestering him with questions

kaiv is the best mechanic in the world. imo HAHA
I never met someone that is incredibly detailist and careful.... he literally works on people's car like it's his.
my inspection 2 was done by him too.
lot of reputable shops call for advices and instructions.

[kaybat]

Originally Posted by WickedNy

I've heard some relatively not so good things about them on other forums, curious as to a first hand experience with them, let me know they hold up

yeah, no big seat of the pants difference i can tell.

Left the cover off initially Salty, but its such a nice piece,will put it back on soon.

[Vanne]

Originally Posted by kaybat

yeah, no big seat of the pants difference i can tell.

Left the cover off initially Salty, but its such a nice piece,will put it back on soon.

Preventative or was the car running crap?

[kaybat]

was actually running fine(24k),figured i'd give them a try. Guess i have 6 oem coils as backup now.

[StickMon]

^ I replaced mine with "Amazon" (stock) coils at 93k.
I was doing a valve adjustment anyway, and I figured they had a good run.
Bought 7 so I would have a spare. Plus I kept the ones with 93k on them, so I should be coiled for life.

[No_Dominion]

Originally Posted by StickMon

^ I replaced mine with "Amazon" (stock) coils at 93k.
I was doing a valve adjustment anyway, and I figured they had a good run.
Bought 7 so I would have a spare. Plus I kept the ones with 93k on them, so I should be coiled for life.

That's a pretty good plan. When my next major inspection comes up, I'll probably do the same, along with valve adjustment.

How much does a new set of coils run?

[StickMon]

May 2013:

Items Ordered Price
7 of: Bosch 00124 Ignition Coil
Condition: New
Sold by: Amazon.com LLC
$22.86
Total before tax: $160.02

[No_Dominion]

Not a bad price at all.

[No_Dominion]

Ordered a new set of wheels. MRR GF7s in gloss black. 18x8 et35 and 18x9 et 23. Should arrive Wednesday, have an appointment for tire mounting and road force balancing on Thursday.

[DEG]

Originally Posted by No_Dominion

Ordered a new set of wheels. MRR GF7s in gloss black. 18x8 et35 and 18x9 et 23. Should arrive Wednesday, have an appointment for tire mounting and road force balancing on Thursday.

Nice! Look forward to seeing them mounted.

[bosstones]

Well, after about 9 years.....it was time. I finally swapped out the battery that came w/ the car back in '07 and picked up a new battery....went w/ the AGM 48PLT from O'Reilly.

Install didn't go as smooth as it could have, though. The head of the plastic screw that holds the plastic bracket for the cover retainer stripped immediately so I had to back it out by hand w/ a socket. Then, once everything was disconnected, the battery wouldn't slide out. It seems that, at some point, there was some trauma to the tall bolt that holds down the battery clip. I noticed that it was slightly crooked when I took the bolt out. It appears that the metal disc/receptacle raised up slightly on one end so the battery would catch on it. Slightly tilting the battery got it over and out. I'll probably replace the tray and bolt at some point.

Interestingly, the OR battery has a little color indicator for sufficient charge, insufficient charge, and replace battery. It still indicated sufficient charge, but the battery only sat at 6.3V despite having been on a battery tender for days.