My midlife crisis purchase; E86 BMW Z4 Coupe
Discussion
Gallons Per Mile said:
Handbrakes on this type of setup are always annoying. All of my BMW's have had poor handbrakes. My Sprinter van has the same style of handbrake which needed adjusting for last year's MOT and that still works fine. The problem is appears to be the back plates corroding and causing friction so the shoes just don't grab properly. A friend just replaced the back plates on his E46 Touring and has a working handbrake now. Also, check the actuating lever the cable attaches to. This solved most of the problem on my E90.
They don’t seem the best. If this isn’t any better, I’ll have to take the discs off again and make sure that there’s nothing else up.
I think the alloys are style 193's? I like them! They look black in that picture but are a powder coated dark graphite which i really like, Also on Decent tread Michelin pilot sport 4's which seem good tyres, The cheapest and best condition Z4 i viewed hence buying, A bit leggy at 128K miles but it sounds lovely and drives perfect and i have a stack of service history and receipt's with it, It's a great car, Going to have a prod about on it tommorow as my trip yesterday was 11 hours of driving and i was shattered so i just dumped it last night on the Ex wifes big drive!
Edited by klunkT5 on Friday 24th May 14:14
klunkT5 said:
Bought this yesterday, At 61 YO it is the first BMW i have owned, 3.0 Si manual, Drove it home from Sidcup to Barnstaple, I love it!
But then I am on my 3rd E86 (at 65), although the interior looks more like the rare BMW Individual Amarone than Dream Red in your photo.
Maybe you should start your own thread for it!
Thankyou for the positive comment's! The seats are actually not this bright red in the flesh (I think it was the Sun and the angle the photo was taken) As they are more of a duller red which i prefer, I really know sod all about Z4's and BMW in general to be honest, I always liked the E36 328 coupe but with how they can rust and the fact that a decent one is now getting expensive this seemed excellent value for what i paid for it and i prefer it after driving it!
Edited by klunkT5 on Saturday 25th May 15:27
Like a lot of other people this is my favorite view angle and i agree with the O/P about the rear quarter's profile in the door mirrors! Got a few jobs to do on it like the small oil leak from the Oil filter housing/Oil cooler gaskets which the seller showed me! All brake hard lines have been done and braided flexi's by a BMW indy and the electric water pump, I might start a thread on it as a few of you have asked, Cheers for all your input. 
Edited by klunkT5 on Saturday 25th May 16:26
klunkT5 said:
Like a lot of other people this is my favorite view angle and i agree with the O/P about the rear quarter's profile in the door mirrors! Got a few jobs to do on it like the small oil leak from the Oil filter housing/Oil cooler gaskets which the seller showed me! All brake hard lines have been done and braided flexi's by a BMW indy and the electric water pump, I might start a thread on it as a few of you have asked, Cheers for all your input.
That's definitely one of the best angles. Edited by klunkT5 on Saturday 25th May 16:26
If you ever need to find out more about them z4forum.com is well worth a visit.
klunkT5 said:
Like a lot of other people this is my favorite view angle and i agree with the O/P about the rear quarter's profile in the door mirrors! Got a few jobs to do on it like the small oil leak from the Oil filter housing/Oil cooler gaskets which the seller showed me! All brake hard lines have been done and braided flexi's by a BMW indy and the electric water pump, I might start a thread on it as a few of you have asked, Cheers for all your input.
Definitely the best angle for them, particularly tue passenger side with the Z being the right way. Edited by klunkT5 on Saturday 25th May 16:26
Those leaks are pretty standard for the N52.
Mr Tidy said:
Those and the cam-cover gasket!
Ah yes Mr Tidy, I forgot about that, Mine is weeping a bit and the seller also pointed it out! I am also going to check if the 'Mickey mouse' Coolant elbow has been done and replace with an Aluminium one if not, Can someone tell me what the BMW name for the body color is? It's like a light metallic grey bordering on a darkish Silver? The V5 list's it as grey? Interesting to me that the front strut turrets and engine bay paint is a dark matt grey which is new to me, I did a car vertical check and it all came back 100% I couldn't have a prod around today as typically i woke up with a bloody left ear infection as i have run myself down a bit, The images i have posted were taken by the seller so i think i will get some more fresh one's and start a thread if anyone is interested as i am high jacking the O/P's thread! Sorry O/P! Also i will sign up to the Z4 forum as i am eager to now know info about them, Cheers!Edited by klunkT5 on Sunday 26th May 00:41
Mr Tidy said:
MOTK said:
Rear 3/4 view you say?
Great cars, nice to see some z4 love here
I wish you hadn't done that - now I can't help myself! Great cars, nice to see some z4 love here
Edited by klunkT5 on Sunday 26th May 02:59
My car came with the very sought after gloss black trim which I’m in the minority for not really liking it. It’s a daft finish for interior trim because it shows up every mark, piece of dust and fingerprint as well as reflections etc.
Mine wasn’t in great condition either. I’m guessing it’s got too hot at some point because there are some random cracks in the finish. The trim around the light controls was particularly bad. The passenger trim had vertical crack too.
There aren’t too many alternatives so I bought a set of brushed aluminium trim and decided to wrap it (silver with the champagne leather would look crack).
The Z4 isn’t the easiest car to work on when it comes to the interior trim; there are lots of bits screwed in place or with funny hard to get at fixings.
First up was to removed the passenger side air vent / cup holder which is held in place with two screws.
The end of the trim by the vent is held in place with a funny spring clip and a washer. Which needs to be squeezed together whilst digging into your fingers.
The it was time to remove the air vents which I think are a pain. You need to get at the metal clips at the top and bottom through the vents. Thanks BMW.
Head unit out next which is easy enough; two screws, the quadlock connector and the aerial connector.
There are four screws behind the head unit / air vent and then it’s brute force to get the trim off. One of the clips came out and fell where I couldn’t see it so I had to pop the glove box out which is actually really easy because it’s held in with six screws.
All recesses were cleaned etc before the wrapped trim was fitted.
And back together.
I’d done the door handles and light switch trim before.
The centre console trim is up next but I need to remove the whole centre console because it’s held in place with screws! Joy.
Mine wasn’t in great condition either. I’m guessing it’s got too hot at some point because there are some random cracks in the finish. The trim around the light controls was particularly bad. The passenger trim had vertical crack too.
There aren’t too many alternatives so I bought a set of brushed aluminium trim and decided to wrap it (silver with the champagne leather would look crack).
The Z4 isn’t the easiest car to work on when it comes to the interior trim; there are lots of bits screwed in place or with funny hard to get at fixings.
First up was to removed the passenger side air vent / cup holder which is held in place with two screws.
The end of the trim by the vent is held in place with a funny spring clip and a washer. Which needs to be squeezed together whilst digging into your fingers.
The it was time to remove the air vents which I think are a pain. You need to get at the metal clips at the top and bottom through the vents. Thanks BMW.
Head unit out next which is easy enough; two screws, the quadlock connector and the aerial connector.
There are four screws behind the head unit / air vent and then it’s brute force to get the trim off. One of the clips came out and fell where I couldn’t see it so I had to pop the glove box out which is actually really easy because it’s held in with six screws.
All recesses were cleaned etc before the wrapped trim was fitted.
And back together.
I’d done the door handles and light switch trim before.
The centre console trim is up next but I need to remove the whole centre console because it’s held in place with screws! Joy.
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