Ships Log - SV02 ZZH

[RickyBobby]

So here we go again I'm back in Z3 ownership with Zed # 15. This time it's a 2002 MY 3.0i Sport in Sapphire Black with black leather interior on 74,000 miles. I was going to wait to until I'd had chance to clean the car before I introduced it but the weather's been that bad I've run out of patience - so I've decided to go down the warts and all route for this blog / progress thread.
Anyway the car was produced in April 2002 and originally supplied by John Clark BMW in Aberdeen. It comes to me via only 2 previous owners - the previous owner had aquired the car in February 2007 from John Clark as approved used following them supplying it from new in May 2002 to it's original company owner.
I'm going to break this thread in to weeks like I did with the other progress threads but this time I thought I'd start the timeline pre-purchase - hopefully you will understand why.

 

[RickyBobby]

Week -2: W/C Nov 21st
Just sat down to watch Argentina v Saudi Arabia on the 3rd day of the World Cup and as usual I'm looking at the phone to see what's happening in the world of Zed. See a Z3 3.0i Sport listed on one of the selling groups on Facebook with very low miles and previous owner claiming ownership for last 19 years. The advert suggests the seller isn't an enthusiast and doesn't stay up long because I suspect they were a little overwhelmed by the feedback from members pointing out the mistakes they had made in the listing. Fortunately it was up just long enough for me to message the seller - unfortunately I don't have the original advert just the associated photo's.

So over Facebook messenger I satisfy myself the seller is genuine and establish the car is his wives who has owned it for 15 years rather than 19, always kept it garaged and covered less than 28k miles in the last 15 years of ownership. He also confirms that it's recently had new discs and pads, brake cables and replacement front shocks. I've obviously noticed the car appears to have some non-standard after market AC Schnitzer upgrades that aren't referenced in the advert. I promptly make the excuse to myself that this could be the ideal long-term keeper and make an offer over messenger which is duly accepted. So from my initial contact a deal is made without ever speaking to the seller in just over 1 hour - the only issue I can see at this point is that the car is in Aberdeen and I'm in Sheffield.
Following a call with the seller we agree the private registration will need to be removed before I can collect but following receipt of a photo of the existing V5 and the necessary bank details I make the requested £200 deposit. The car is in Turriff and we agree that I will collect from Inverurie train station in 2 weeks time following receipt of the new V5.

 

[RickyBobby]

Week -1: W/C Nov 28th
The new V5 arrives and the seller provides a photo confirming the reg as reverted to a previous private reg that his wife had on the car with her maiden name initials - until then the expectation was that it would revert to it's original reg of SV02 ZZH.
Doesn't matter to me and the seller still has the original plates from John Clark BMW that they agree to fit ahead of me collecting. I also ask if I can have the original stereo that was removed from the car a number of years ago - not a problem and the seller even provides a photo.

Now things start to get a little strange - I first get a message that seller's phone has packed up so I need to contact him via his wife's mobile.
I then get a request for my details so the seller can transfer ownership online and order the new V5 - remember at this stage I've only paid the £200 deposit.
Still I go along with it and via the exchange we establish we both like golf & whisky - in retrospect I now ask myself who doesn't
Anyway my train ticket is booked and the plan is to travel upto Aberdeen on the 7th & collect from Inverurie on the 8th.

 

[Zephyr]

Definitely a sport edition. Too bad it doesnt come with the original wheels…

subscribed to the thread. Keep it coming please.

 

[RickyBobby]

Week 1: W/C Dec 5th
At the start of collection week I receive some photo's from the seller confirming the car is all ready for its trip to Sheffield.

Suffice to say the excitement kicks in and I start to look forward to the long train journey to Aberdeen and the subsequent drive home - this is probably the 3rd or 4th time I've travelled a significant distance by train to collect a car and I must admit I do enjoy it. Especially compared with having the car delivered by the seller or by a courier - both of which I have done before.
Anyway the trip to Aberdeen via York is completed without a hitch and I even have time to dump my bags in the Premier Inn and make it to the local Wetherspoons for tea - it's curry night on Thursday's so what's not to like.

Fed and watered it's back to the hotel and bed ahead of the 30 minute trip to Inverurie in the morning - there is a threat of snow but when is that not the case this far north?
So just before midnight I take a peak outside and there is a light dusting of snow - surely not going to be a problem though.

By the following morning the light dusting is a little more significant but I'm still confident.

Get to Aberdeen Station and watch as one service after another is cancelled - eventually speak to someone in the ticket office and they confirm there is no chance of any services north of Aberdeen until tomorrow. So I call the wife's seller who confirms they were on route to Inverurie in 2 cars before having to turn back due to lightning strikes and the road being blocked by a jack knifed lorry.

So it's back to the Premier Inn to try again tomorrow.

 

[Althulas]

Looks a cracking buy. If you ever decide that you want to change the roll hoops keep me in mindbut some nice additions there, enjoy

 

[RickyBobby]

Week 1 - Part II: W/C Dec 5th
So eat sleep and repeat done it's up again to catch the train to Inverurie - not much snow around the hotel in the morning but still plenty in Aberdeen.

And plenty on the journey to Inverurie - my train was cancelled again but fortunately I was at the station with enough time to make the earlier service.

Arrived at Inverurie for 9am and had to stand outside in the freezing cold because the ticket office was closed due to staff shortages. Anyway about 20 minutes later I heard the low growl of the M54 and S23 FMD pulled in to the car park - I was a little concerned to see the seller accompanied by what appeared to be his grandaughter but as he passed me the keys he informed me his wife was following on behind.
So that was pretty much it quick look round the car and a cursory view of all the paperwork in the boot and we shook hands and went our separate ways - him to join his granddaughter in his wife's car and me to commence the 400 mile trip back to Sheffield.
As soon as I left Inverurie I noticed the engine warning light was on and like an idiot I'd left my OBD scanner in Sheffield - still having had the M54 previously in a 3.0i pre-facelift E85 I wasn't overly concerned. The engine sounded fine and the car drove fine so onward we went in search of a petrol station.
Once I'd filled up with fuel I though I'd best check the fluid levels and tyre pressures - all good apart from the fact that the drivers side front tyre only had 20psi in it and the drivers side rear couldn't be checked because the bloody metal dust cap had rusted on. Approached a nearby HGV driver who was sitting in his cab but apart from agreeing there is always one he wasn't able to offer any support. Still it looked OK so on we went - but the further I drove the more I became concerned with that rear wheel convincing myself it was under inflated. An hour in to the journey I took rhe opportunity to stop in Laurencekirk on the way to Dundee for the cursory collection photo's.

Checked fluids again and visually inspected tyres and resolved myself to finding a solution to removing that dust cap.
Close to Dundee I found an Halfords and shortly after the purchase of adjustable mole grips the offending cap was removed - now I just needed to find another garage so I could check the air pressure. All sorted with 34psi all round and off me, the car and the accompanying engine light went - finally arriving in Sheffield just before 8pm.
Now I reckon that's the most eventful vehicle collection I've ever had and to be honest ever hope to have.

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

Some nice ACS parts on that! Congrats

 

[AleNod]

Glad you're back bud, you've been missed. Safe journey back . . .

 

[Stacey Aylmore]

Looks lovely I’ve always taken a chance & had cars transported to me if a long way away, maybe next time I’ll try the train , premier & spoons looks a great trip

 

[Mint]

Great story so far, looking forward to the rest...

 

[RickyBobby]

Week 2: W/C Dec 12th
Snow arrived in Sheffield this week so no chance of getting out in the car - to be honest I wasnt keen putting anymore miles on it until my mechanic had given it a good service anyway.

However the seller did respond to my query regarding the engine light saying it had been on a while with his mechanic putting it down to a sensor in the fuel line - that didn't really put my mind at rest so I used the OBD reader to look at the codes. Can't remember the exact code but there was a sensor reference so I cleared the codes and thought I'd wait for them to come back on.
In the meantime I thought I'd start my due diligence on the car - firstly focusing on establishing how many 3.0i Z3 Sport models were produced. Didn't really get very far with that aside from the 14.5k volume quoted on Wikipedia. Apparently the HowManyLeft numbers can't be trusted - still at 14.5k worldwide with the Sport variant being a subset of that it's never going to be a common site on UK roads. But I guess that can be said of any Z3 - you only have to look at the volumes for sale on Autotrader compared with the Z4.
Next I thought I'd look to establish if the ACS additions were genuine - from a brief foray online I was only to aware of the number of replica items available. Firstly thanks to a member on here (Nodzed) I was fairly confident from the ACS Z3 brochure that they were all genuine.

I also joined some of the AC Schnitzer groups on Facebook and posted a couple of photo's of the car which were relatively well received. It would appear the ACS V8 full front bumper is very rare and the chrome roll hoops are selling for a similar price to the hardtop.

I must admit the chrome bars had never really appealed to me before but on closer inspection they are really good quality - an added bonus is that i do think they suit a darker coloured car especially black.
The tyres on the car are Avon ZV7 225/40 front and 255/35 rear so I'd automatically assumed the wheels were staggered but turns out they are square. I removed a front and a rear to reveal the sizes 18 8.5J ET43 and tha kfully they were stamped with the Ronal and AC Schnitzer logos and none were cracked or repaired. Apparently they're the Type III open spoke design and we're relatively expensive when new. I must admit the jury is still out on the wheels but the previous owner told me they were on the car when they aquired it in 2007 as were all the other ACS items - as a result I'm loathed to change them and my issue is not just aesthetic (more on that later).

 

[Althulas]

There also a set of spoke inserts to change the look of the wheel tastefully in my own opinion. Unfortunately no longer awailable but might be some 3D printing files out there.

Spoke inserts for Type III wheels *NLA*

These spoke inserts turn twin-spoke Type III wheels into five single spokes Complete with fixings Price is for one pack of five inserts enough for

shop.ac-schnitzer.co.uk

 

[RickyBobby]

Glad you're back bud, you've been missed. Safe journey back . . .

Don't worry mate I've been beavering away in the background - to this point all these posts are retrospective. In fact between the last E89 (WG10SUX) and this Z3 I've had and sold a couple of 2.8 widebodys, a 2.2 sport and an E85

 

[RickyBobby]

Some nice ACS parts on that! Congrats

The problem is that I now feel compelled to find an ACS gear knob and handbrake handle

 

[RickyBobby]

There also a set of spoke inserts to change the look of the wheel tastefully in my own opinion.

I don't mind the open spoke design it's the size that I'm not convinced of - I've never been a fan of anything above 17" on the Z3.
I've also never really liked a multipiece design wheel with the bolts - let's see how it go's.

 

[RickyBobby]

Week 5: W/C Jan 2nd
Not much progress due to festive duties but managed to get the paperwork and keys all sorted and finally get the first wash on the car this week.
Like the spare wheel another little thing I like about this era of Z3 is the ignition key. Fortunately in addition to the original approved used paperwork and receipt from John Clark Aberdeen I also received 2 very good condition keys and all the original manuals. Unfortunately only one key worked on collection but that was easily resolved this week with the addition of a new battery.

With this being my 15th Zed I've come to realise that the initial wash is always a fairly lengthy process but often a rewarding one. No different this time despite only finding 20p under the seats and a pair of small binoculars behind the aftermarket wind deflector which had been fitted. I always use Gummi Pfledge on the cars for ongoing treatment because I love the smell but for the first wash I have lately defaulted to using the Swissvax Seal Feed - I can't remember who first put me on to it but my god its effective. In addition to treating all rubber seals I also use it on any hard plastics - it always amazes me how little you use which is just as well because its bloody expensive. I've tried to show a couple of before and after pictures so you can see how effective it is - like the Gummi Pfledge it's easily applied with just you fingers to rub it in.

The only job I didn't manage to get done was the glass but body, wheels, interior plastics and all leather got the once over and the aftermarket wind deflector was removed. Happy enough with the results but as suspected the wheels are in desperate need of a refurb and there are a few areas of surface rust which need sorting and the cills are tatty - although it's done under 75k the cars spent its entire life in Aberdeen so despite being garaged none of this came as a suprise. I keep telling myself this is the keeper but ideally before I start addressing the cosmetics I want to ensure the car is sound mechanically - to that end I'm hoping to get it in ASAP for a full inspection II.

 

[RickyBobby]

Week 6: W/C Jan 9th
When I bought the car one of the windscreen washers didn't sit correctly on the bonnet and certainly did not provide fluid to wash the window.

Turned out the retaining plastic was snapped so I ordered 2 new washer jets from Sytner (£22). On closer investigation the valves under the bonnet insulation had also been leaking - so 2 replacements were also ordered from Sytner (£11).
Now all back together and working fine and I even managed to replace a couple of the retaing screws that hold the insulation to the underside of the bonnet which were missing.

There were 2 things that suprised me during the process:
1 - how blue the underside of the bonnet is, the car is Black Sapphire
2 - how long it took me to align the washer jets

 

[Bloo Toon Davie]

So here we go again I'm back in Z3 ownership with Zed # 15. This time it's a 2002 MY 3.0i Sport in Sapphire Black with black leather interior on 74,000 miles. I was going to wait to until I'd had chance to clean the car before I introduced it but the weather's been that bad I've run out of patience - so I've decided to go down the warts and all route for this blog / progress thread.
Anyway the car was produced in April 2002 and originally supplied by John Clark BMW in Aberdeen. It comes to me via only 2 previous owners - the previous owner had aquired the car in February 2007 from John Clark as approved used following them supplying it from new in May 2002 to it's original company owner.
I'm going to break this thread in to weeks like I did with the other progress threads but this time I thought I'd start the timeline pre-purchase - hopefully you will understand why.

Nice to see a member travelling this far north to get a car,it’s normally the other way about,Hope You had a good trip home.especially at this time of year.

 

[RickyBobby]

Nice to see a member travelling this far north to get a car,it’s normally the other way about,Hope You had a good trip home.especially at this time of year.

Let's just say the weather presented me with an opportunity to spend an additional night in Aberdeen