First a short intro of the project car. It's a 1999 BMW Z3 M Coupe with a Euro S50 engine making 321hp. 2,178 cars were manufactured between 1998 and 2000. Manufacture date is March 1998, which means it turns 15 years this month. I've had it for 13 of those 15 years and have taken care of it to the best of my ability, but with advanced age more and more problems surface. The point of this thread is to identify the issues at hand and document how I'm dealing with them.



My last DIY project involving replacing the rubber bushings in the seats with plastic bushing to stop the common problem of chair rocking is documented here - https://teamspeed.com/forums/m/68184...bly-seats.html

I did some work on the car at the dealer a couple of years ago which involved re-upholstering the roof lining, changing the door handles, engine mounts, replacing many of the engine hoses, retouching the wheels, etc. so the car is in pretty good shape. During a recent service appointment, certain things were brought to my attention by 0-60 Motorsports so we decided to start a thread to document the project. 0-60 has the pictures of the damage, but I'll list the to-do list and we'll address them 1 by 1.

1. Replace worn out brake lines - I have steel braided brake lines on order.
2. Replace clutch line - I have a steel braided clutch line order which will also delete the clutch delay valve (CDV). Also ordered a new clutch slave cylinder.
3. Cylinder head gasket need replacing - on order
4. Fuel pump leaking - on order along with a new sender unit and fuel filter.
5. Bilstein shocks are shot, leaking - in the process of deciding whether I should stick to Bilstein and order a new set (which are inexpensive) or take the leap and go with KW V3s for a proper setup and aggressive stance.
6. Ordered a new accelerator cable, hoping to achieve smoother acceleration with the new wire.

Recently replaced the AC Schnitzer pedals with these beautiful pedals from BMWpedals.com (thanks to Clubber for the tip)


Also replaced the OEM aluminated gear knob with a smaller weighted knob, very cool.


And also replaced the engine mounts with the vibra-technic mounts. I feel more vibration at idle, but the gear shifts are smoother and the car feels more "held-together".


More to come once I get the pics from 0-60 and receive all the parts! any feedback or suggestions are welcome

 

Sending over pics in a few

 

Go for KW V3's have them on my SLK55 AMG. Good luck with the Hatchback M its a beauty.

 

Here is the latest update from a post Ejaz posted on another forum

@MC321 is an old friend of mine and we have always spoken about me having a look at his Z3M Coupe.
I absolutely love the car so wanted to give it a once going over as its 15 years old and some things might
need attention. I was absolutely thrilled when I got a call from him saying that he was going to be
bringing his gorgeous Z3M Coupe over for me to have a look at and install the Vibra Technics Mounts.
Turns out a lot of service items needed attention and replacement.

I'll let the picture descriptions do the talking and @MC321 will chime in later with more comments on
his RESTO Project......

Here she is coming in and straight on to the lift.....


GRUPPE M Intake...


SEXY ///M Power Valve cover....


Leaky Bilstein Front Shocks....




Time for an Oil Change with some Fresh TWS....







Pics showing removal process of OEM Engine Mounts. They'll be replaced with Vibra technics Street
Mounts....







OEM Engine Mounts Vs VT’s Street Mounts.....


VT Mounts Installed........Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.... Well not really, a lot of parts had to be removed
in order to access the OEM mounts and replace them with the VT mounts.....






Random pics showing the re-installation of all the parts after the VT mounts install....
















Diff/Final Drive Oil Change.....


Old Diff/Final Drive Oil Was very black....




Fresh Diff/Final Drive Oil Going in. Man this diff was hungry, Took almost 3 complete bottles.....




All Done And Cleaned Up.....


Damaged Rear OEM Brake Hoses which have degraded over the years. They will be replaced with
Stainless Braided Brake Hoses all around for long life and excellent pedal feel.....




Under Carriage Covers All Cleaned Up.....


Discovered a Sneaky Leak While I was under the car..... It is coming from the back of the Valve Cover and
also a little leak from the pressure valve on the side of the block. New Valve Cover Gasket and Pressure
Relief Valve have been ordered....




Clutch Line is old and starting to Leak. This will also be replaced by Stainless Braided Clutch Line
including CPV Delete.


When I was moving the car around inside the garage I could smell fuel in the cabin. Turns out Fuel
Pumps leaking. We ordered a new OEM Fuel Pump assembly etc. Also, we will be waiting on @MC321 to
tell me if he wants KW V3s or new Bilstein Shocks. Just waiting on all the parts to arrive now and once

they do I'll be updating the thread.......

 

By far one of my favorite ///M models of all time! Love the thread and can't wait to see more. And watch out... 0-60 Motorsports might try to have you supercharge that thing LOL j/k

 

LOL nah bro. This one is an NA jewel and I'm an NA guy. I will get him an EVOLVE tune though.

 

Been doing some research and I found a solution for the crappy OEM boot strut. Those with M Coupes know the the boot struts are very weak, and the lid will always slam shut. SGS Engineering make custom struts for cars including the M Coupe, and the general feedback is they're better (and cheaper) than OEM. Gas Struts, Gas Springs, Tailgate Gas Struts, Boot Struts - Buy in UK

Placed an order

 

Great thread. Looks like everything is taken care of with the best of help. All the right moves on a fantastic car.

A couple tips, if I may,

I would recommend also changing trans and brake fluids if you haven't already. OEM for trans and Castrol SRF for brake ! Everything will work much smoother with these. Also, you should replace all plastic bushing in gear lever area which must have hardened like a stone in 5 years.

For susp, I would strongly recommend KW V3, If I had mine shut or broken I would definitely opt for these. They are great for both street and proper track duty. In its softest setting, it is even softer than OEM shocks.

Please let me know if I can be of any help. I am pretty familiar with these cars now. Best of luck with the resto !

 

Thanks Clubber! After changing the clutch and brake lines I'll make sure both are flushed and replaced.. Will look into ordering new bushings..

I'm leaning heavily on the V3s now, might pull the trigger

 

I'd hope to God the brake fluid would be changed after swapping lines.