Bertie Jaffa's //M

[bertiejaffa]

Ok so I though it was about time I started my journal page about my //M so people can see what I have done with it. (Apologises for anyone who has already seen this on .net)

The car is certainly individual in how it looks and has a very unique history:

She's an Estoril Blue BMW Z3M Roadster (S52) and was in the first batch of Z3M's to come over to the UK - she was built in November 1997 and registered on 8th Jan 1998 to BMW GB for use by one of the BMW directors. The car was also used as press car which saw her loaned to Top Gear in January 1998 for an episode which aired on the BBC in March 1998 and saw Tiff Needall road test it against a TVR - the video was available on You Tube for sometime but it has recently been pulled by the BBC for copyright.

I have had her since 2014 when I bought it from a former forum member who had been planning to restore her to factory specifications and had therefore got a garage full of original bits including front and rear bumpers, carpets and other rare parts. As he was relocating to South America he was willing to throw all the parts as well so we agreed a sale and I took her home and the week after made another trip to get all the bits. Having got all the original bits home I have decided that I actually like the way it looks at the moment so the parts have all gone up into the loft for safe keeping incase I ever decide to change it or (less likely) decide to sell...

After taking initial ownership I decided to take it for a nice blast over the pennines and through the peak district to see what all the fuss was about. Coming from a 2.0l the difference was understandably impressive but the lack of use prior to my spirited drive resulted in a trip to the garage for a replacement rocker gasket and 2 new brake hoses.

Apart from a drive to Norfolk to pick up a hardtop and a recently retrimmed steering wheel that were being sold by a forum member I haven't really had time to do any of the mods I have planned for her until now, however in April 2015 she needed a new clutch and a brake overhaul so she got a little bit of TLC...

Work done at the time:

Full Inspection 2 Service
Full brake calliper, carrier & Spring refurb (shotblasted, primed, painted) - Refurb Kits from BIGGRED
New Clutch
Refurbished gearbox pins (including oils etc)
New Oil Sensor
Front bumper removed, repaired, resprayed and replaced
Rear bumper removed, repaired, resprayed and replaced
Front passenger wing removed, repaired, resprayed and replaced
Rear drivers wing removed, repaired, resprayed and replaced
Passenger door key gouge removed, repaired and resprayed
BMW Aero rear spoiler cut to fit the boot lid badge (ala DAZ3 style), primed, sprayed and fitted
All 4 alloys refurbed and resprayed
Full Body Polish and Valet

 

[bertiejaffa]

Ok, so 12 months on from the paint and new clutch I have installed cruise control and I am finally getting round to starting to make the car "mine". There are a number of changes I want to do, most of which are internal for now, so after spending the last couple of years slowly collecting bits and ideas it was time to start.

Currently you can see that the carpet is a funny colour and the rest of the interior is looking a bit tired - the heater bulbs don't work and the centre console around the switches is broken. There are some horrendous footwell lights that I can't even begin to start to describe; the rear part of the console has some tatty scuffs and nicks in the leather, the door cards are loose and rattle and the dash, door cards, arm rests, seats and rear console are all a different shades of either Estoril Blue or Leguna Seca that don't really match...

Another issue I have always had with the car is the sound system, I don't mind the modification that has been made to the door cards to hold more speakers, but the additional speakers are all sub woofers which makes the sound incredibly low with hardly any mid range sound available. Also an aftermarket amp has been fitted to the boot which is designed to help boost the volume when the top is down - however, whilst not really ugly or in the way, it is pointless as it continuously overheats and switches off all the music whenever you turn the volume up which is exactly the reason it is there!! Finally, when the new ICE was fitted they chopped and changed all the wiring behind the console and routed new wires under the carpet so with the car stripped I will be able to tidy this up. .



You can also see that the existing head unit is cracked and its operation is temperamental at best.. You can also see the broken facia








Removing the mats shows the reason for the funny colours - at some point a previous owner became that obsessed with the M stripes that they cut some office carpet of different colours and glued it to the original carpet...



.....with the drivers seat out you can see it has been glued to the front half of the carpet (Obviously this is why the previous owner had already sourced a full replacement).

Unfortunately there was no hidden treasure or coins under the seats but worryingly there was this kitchen knife :?:



The office carpet can be pulled off but the glue has completely ruined any chance of saving the original carpet:


So there is only one thing to do....


Which then quickly leads to this...


Ok, so with everything out it is now time to start putting everything back in... here is the front carpet ready to go in..


The clock has been restarted and is currently being monitored to ensure it keeps time - however with the dial removed it was time to do a little bit of detailing with an idea shamelessly stolen from Southernboy....


....and with the tops off the dials it is now time to fit my new bezels which I bought 18 months ago - they raise the glass further and give a deeper more retro, 60's style look to the dials in my opinion... Here they are compared to the spare set of dials I have so you can see the difference in depth.


....so another change I am making is again a shameless steal from another forum member - black brushed aluminum wrap... This gives an indication of how the centre facia will look...


And here with the heater rings refitted and 2 of the gauges offered up. The repainted needles really make a difference to the finish.



The clock will go in after I am sure it is working again - in the meantime I now need to wrap the bottom part of the facia but before I can do that I need to resolve the broken part and fit a new lighter bezel that I have ordered from ebay...

From this....


To this... I used a glue gun to reseat the broken part and filled the cracks with leather filler. I then ran a long length of glue across the back with a piece of thin plastic which should ensure it doesn't break again in the future... The replacement bezel has also turned up and is waiting to go in after this part has been wrapped, I have also sanded down all the areas where the original facia had started to blister.

 

[z3cade]

Hats off to you! Liking the attention to detail

 

[Shelly]

What a great looking Z
Well done to you

 

[Grumps]

Fair play to you Lee. You obviously have the knowhow to do these things and the car looks great mate. Well done to you.

 

[bertiejaffa]

Fair play to you Lee. You obviously have the knowhow to do these things and the car looks great mate. Well done to you.

Thanks pal... to be honest my knowledge is not great but thankfully there are a number of people on these forums whose knowledge is

 

[5harp3y]

wow what a thread!

not sure on the bodykit etc (but thats my preference)

loving the gauges!

 

[bertiejaffa]

wow what a thread!

not sure on the bodykit etc (but thats my preference)

loving the gauges!

Thanks Sharpey - I know the kit isn't to everyone's taste, it is like marmite, people either love it or hate it. The biggest issue with it is the clearance. The front is lower than the standard M kit so I have to watch it on speed humps and bumpy country lanes - in fact it did catch on one humpback bridge on the recent Derbyshire meet.

The gauges were really cheap off ebay and fit really well, just need a bit of help with the glue gun.

 

[bertiejaffa]

Ok so the door cards have now come off as well which gives me the chance to refresh them a bit and sort out all the rattles. It also gives me the chance to check out the speaker wiring and see what is actually in there. These are the door cards as they currently look.. not too bad from a distance...



Removing the door cards has revealed that the waterproof membrane has been removed from both doors so this will need to be addressed when I put it all back together.

Removing the cards also allows me to check out the aftermarket speakers and it quickly became obvious why everything was rattling. The box in the top corner is the crossover and it is loose inside the door and the tweeter had fallen out completely and was stuck to the back of the mid range speaker which you can see next to the tweeter. The 2 speakers at the bottom are sub woofers which are inline with another aftermarket sub woofer which has been installed in the foot well. This means I have 6 subwoofers, 2 mid range and 2 tweeters - might explain some the low range sound issues I am facing !!



My plan is to find a solution for fixing the components properly and I will also install some 5" aftermarket 2 way speakers behind the seats to try and even out the sound (I had some fitted to my 2.0l and they worked well).

For the doorcards themselves I have stripped them down and will scuffmaster all the black parts and the speaker grills. I am also going to continue the black alli wrap theme as below..



The leather isn't too bad but I have decided to re-trim them anyway with some new leather to pad them up a bit and refresh them.. here is the new leather going on top of the existing leather...



Its an easy modification and looks very new - if your door cards are tired I recommend it.



As mentioned earlier I also have an issue that none of the interior trim matches, it all seems to be different shades of blue so with the door cards re-trimmed I have taken delivery of some Estoril Blue dye from scuff master and will start matching up all the leather parts and dashboard. However, as my centre facia is now black I need to do something to the rest of the interior so that the facia will be a visible contrast so rather than just re-dye and re-fit I have decided to make the car even more individual than before. Some people will remember the work I did on my old 2.0l zed which included retro fitting an //M dash and extended leather so I have taken my old 2.0l dash and hockey sticks out of the loft and quickly created this...



The good thing about having all these old pieces is that my existing //M dash can go into the loft with my bumpers etc ensuring that I will always be able to put the car back to OEM. In the meantime I have dismantled my old parts, stripped the vinyl off and started to retrofit the extended leather in the same way as I did on my old Z3.

First of all I started with the hockey sticks as they are small and easy(ish)....



The leather I had bought is as close to the original colour as I could find so once I had finished re-trimming with new stitched leather it was time to start the dying process - here are the hockey sticks close to completion along side 2 door card arm rests purchased from Southernboy and one of my newly re-trimmed door cards.



With those parts well underway I started on the dash itself beginning with the speedo dome. I have been very specific with the leather and stitching that I ordered - here it is going on, starting with the stitching to ensure it is aligned properly.



And here it is nearly finished - just needs a little bit of fine tuning with the heat gun and scuff master. Just like the previous owner I too like the M colours but hopefully my taste is a little more subtle



Next it is onto the 2 side pieces, these are far and away the hardest parts to do and take the longest time. Having done this on my 2.0 zed I was aware of the hardest areas but that didn't make it any easier this time round and there are some parts that I have had to revisit a few times....

This is the passenger side console going on - again, start with the stitching



...and now the drivers side - this piece is definitely the hardest because of the fog light and headlight height switches....



and little bit further on...



and then the secret tricks.. A heat gun is vital to help stretch and work the leather and you can use leather filler to cover up the deepest creases and cuts which appear and are required to make the leather fit.



...after a while its ready to start with the dye.. Here is the passenger side after 3 coats...

 

[Grumps]

I love the kit Lee against those wheels. Looks great. But like Sharpy says, each to there own.

 

[miller1098]

Where do you get those lovely golden balls

 

[bertiejaffa]

Where do you get those lovely golden balls

ha ha... always keep a supply - all the birds round here love to nibble on my golden balls

 

[Althulas]

Hi Lee love the leather work. Is the leather from eBay? I have a few items in my watch list for covering the back plastics and just wondering if it is from the same seller if the pattern of the leather fit the plastics well. http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-STITC...ITS-BMW-Z3-1995-2004-/351711813174?nav=SEARCH

 

[andyglym]

I must say that's a most impressive read and job you've done there, a clear eye for detail and the patience of a Saint.

Good skills!

 

[Mint]

Just read the whole thread Lee, brilliant work, I don't think I would have the patience to attempt this sort of stuff, so as Andy says .

 

[GazHyde]

Likewise just had a good read through, top work! Good to know you aren't just a pretty face...

 

[bertiejaffa]

Hi Lee love the leather work. Is the leather from eBay? I have a few items in my watch list for covering the back plastics and just wondering if it is from the same seller if the pattern of the leather fit the plastics well. http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-STITC...ITS-BMW-Z3-1995-2004-/351711813174?nav=SEARCH

Hi @Althulas - thanks for the comments..

Yes they are from the same supplier - I exchanged lots of emails / messages with them first to get the grain, stitching a colours I wanted - they sent through a few sample pieces of leather in the first place for me to choose. Because I was going for stuff totally custom from what they normally make (M stitching, colours etc) it was good to have the messages first. My advise is to ask for them to add an extra inch on the trim ends. they seem to cut them to a pattern and the tolerances are tight (I have fed this back to them myself) - I also got a discount for bulk buying.

If you need any advise then just ask me (or Southernboy who I get my advise off). I must admit though having done 2 dashboards now I am done... It would need a personal request from Angelina for me to even consider putting myself through it again

 

[bertiejaffa]

Likewise just had a good read through, top work! Good to know you aren't just a pretty face...

ha ha... thanks sweetheart xx

 

[DavidM]

Great work and car and alloys!!!

 

[Althulas]

The dash does look good though but don't blame you for wanting to tackle that peice again. I saw they did covers for the A pillars and steering colum shrouds but I think these would not clip back in if wrapped round due to making the pieces bigger, what do you think.