College car rebuild - 1996 BMW Z3

After the kids went to bed I ran a fresh strip of butyl up front and reinstalled the last 10 screws.


Then I protected the canvas headliner with painters tape so I could get wild with the spray adhesive.


Pretty happy with the finished results. I may have to pull the front a little tighter but I'm going to wait and see. Next up I need to install the roll bar and then I'll reinstall the stereo, seats, door cards, and steering wheel if I can figure out the wiring for the new wheel...I have parts coming but need to order a sacrificial wiring harness if I can find one.

 

Roll bar is in and interior trim pieces are reinstalled. I just need to vacuum the carpets and then the seats can go back in.



I had to take the dremel to a couple interior trim pieces but it is in areas that you can't see when it's all assembled.




I want to use the heat gun to work the leather and see if I can get a better fit. It was late and I didn't feel like dealing with it.

 

Seats are back in. Waiting on a part for the M3 steering wheel swap that's scheduled for delivery this weekend. Once that gets here I'll be able to pull it out of the garage to open the doors wide enough to install the door cards.

 

It's coming together. Got it out of the garage for a drive this evening. Still waiting on parts to finish the M3 steering wheel install...looks like they won't be here until next week.

Hopefully the boots and ebrake handle will be done in the next week or two. In the meantime I'll get the stereo back in, give it a bath, and maybe start on the paint correction.

I think I've decided on ITBs instead of a supercharger but have a long list of other things to sort out before I jump into that.

 

I sure would love to be this car's next owner if you ever decide to sell it...

My heart lies with Miatas and I'll undoubtedly end up with another but the Z3 is very intriguing

 

It is a fun little car. My plan is to keep this until I die and hopefully my wife will hang on to it for our kids at that point.

 

Before the seats went back into the car I replaced the rubber seat rail bushings with some derlin bushings. The seats moved a good 1/2 or more under braking and throttle because the old bushings had turned to paste.

 

I love these cars.

What engine does this one have, 1.9L?

 

Hard Dog for the win.

Loved mine. Different style than yours, but same quality.

 

Found the rich kid in college.

Nice rebuild, looking good.

 

PRetty sweet ride even before you started overhauling..

 

Took me 6 years to finish college (state school) because I had to work full time pay for the car, food, housing, a portion of tuition, and books. Definitely didn't feel like a rich kid living off ramen and rice.

 

It's the 1.9 (that was the only motor available on the 1996 model). With just under 140hp you can drive it like you stole it and you're less likely end up in jail

 

Thanks. It's been a fun car and even though it looks good in pics, it was definitely in need of some love. I'm hoping it'll be good to go for another ≈30 years when I'm done.

 

So you're a rich kid who's following the hipster trend of appearing like a homeless, or a "trust-a-farian" (trust fund rastafarian). I often play a game driving around downtown Boulder called "hipster or homeless."

All jokes aside. I respect your hustle and cool car.

 

One of these would be my ideal project car. I keep an eye out for more content on this build. Keep it coming! Next mod: a 3 foot spoiler, and neon lights...

jk

 

Props too for keeping it. I regret selling a couple of my old cars from those days.

 

We had a few days of nice weather so I took advantage of the clean, dry roads and got the car out of the garage for some top down driving. Between the old suspension, the 12 year old tires, and the 40° temps things were interesting in the handling department. The car was super twitchy when cruising. When pushing it a bit, the understeer was more evident and the back end more jittery than usual. I'm looking forward to getting that sorted.


I've checked a few small items off the list, including replacing the rotted door handle gaskets.


I also replaced the plastic caps on the ends of the top seal just behind the rear of the door frame...they've been missing for at least 20 years.


Now I'm back to collecting parts for the suspension refresh. It's going to be a mix of OEM rubber and 80A poly for all the bushings. I have new lower control arms that will go in as well. I still need to decide on struts or coilovers and purchase a few more miscellaneous parts before I start pulling things apart.

 

Nice project! I've always really dug these cars.

 

It feels so analog compared to the what manufacturers offer now. Manual transmission, no traction control, no screens other than the 2" LCD display, an actual throttle cable. Even with the 1.9 it's fun to drive...big contrast from the heavy truck with no swaybar.