E86 Z4M DIY - Must read for all Mcoupe owners

[Z4MC]

Oh Right, I sanded the old rubbery yucky stuff down, followed by thinners to remove the particles and some of the paint. Then I used regular spray in a can matt black and satin black bought from Chamberlains (or Builders Warehouse)

Several layers and voila!

Following your lead mate!

- Air bag off.
- Horribly scratched rubbery coated plastic parts removed.
- Off to hardware store in the morning for some fine sand paper and some satin black spray.

Good one Andy, thanks :thumbs::thumbs:

 

[Sirhan]

Oh Right, I sanded the old rubbery yucky stuff down, followed by thinners to remove the particles and some of the paint. Then I used regular spray in a can matt black and satin black bought from Chamberlains (or Builders Warehouse)

Several layers and voila!

Following your lead mate!

- Air bag off.
- Horribly scratched rubbery coated plastic parts removed.
- Off to hardware store in the morning for some fine sand paper and some satin black spray.

Good one Andy, thanks :thumbs::thumbs:

dude, dont forget before and after pics

 

[Andy1GP]

I'm glad you guys are giving your ///M's some TLC :thumbs: I'm going to take some pics now of mine. Some hardcore awesome shots!

 

[deveng]

Great thread.... raise:raise:

 

[Gizmo]

Just a little heads up, that little splash cover by the kidney grill is there to stop the engine ingesting rain water. Don't get stuck in any big downpours!

 

[Rooi_Willie]

Great thread buddy! Love that car man!

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[slotcars1]

Awesome Work!!!!! :joy::joy::joy:

 

[Z4MC]

Following your lead mate!

- Air bag off.
- Horribly scratched rubbery coated plastic parts removed.
- Off to hardware store in the morning for some fine sand paper and some satin black spray.

Good one Andy, thanks :thumbs::thumbs:

dude, dont forget before and after pics

Not the best photos, but here we go...

Before...



The scratched parts....



And after plenty of effort with thinners and 1000 grit water paper the rubbery gunk was off...
I used various brands of Satin Black spray but wasn't happy with the finish. It just looked too shiny (KAK)... So I opted for matt black, which has a great finish and blends in well with the car. The photo doesn't really do it justice though.

 

[Sirhan]

Following your lead mate!

- Air bag off.
- Horribly scratched rubbery coated plastic parts removed.
- Off to hardware store in the morning for some fine sand paper and some satin black spray.

Good one Andy, thanks :thumbs::thumbs:

dude, dont forget before and after pics

Not the best photos, but here we go...

Before...



The scratched parts....



And after plenty of effort with thinners and 1000 grit water paper the rubbery gunk was off...
I used various brands of Satin Black spray but wasn't happy with the finish. It just looked too shiny (KAK)... So I opted for matt black, which has a great finish and blends in well with the car. The photo doesn't really do it justice though.

awesome, gonna do mine this coming weekend. . . . . . my steering badge is a bit worn as well .... any idea how much to replace and part number

 

[Daaf Vader]

I got the same on the badge funny enough.
Great work and I am happy to see that all trims come of and not just the ones around the buttons.

2 Questions:
To turn of the airbag do you simply disconnect the battery?
What brand of matt black spray did you use?

 

[Z4MC]

I got the same on the badge funny enough.
Great work and I am happy to see that all trims come of and not just the ones around the buttons.

2 Questions:
To turn of the airbag do you simply disconnect the battery?
What brand of matt black spray did you use?

Yup, disconnected the battery first before I did anything to the airbag.
Like Andy posted earlier, there are plenty of vids on youtube to explain how to get it done. Once you get the nack of where the spring is that needs to be pushed, its actually quite easy.

What brand of matt black spray?.. hmmm.. If you want the short answer skip to point 5.

Below is the roundabout approach.. From experience now, next time I will just resort to step 5.

1. Removed all the rubbery gunk with thinners and a rag. The first few panels turned out quite clean, revealing the nice black underneath. Was contemplating just leaving it like that! but as luck would have it, the rest turned out faded and kak, nonetheless, free of rubbery stuff.. So spraying was my only option.

2. Sand the panels with 1000 grit water paper (keep wet, duh), then spray grey plastic primer (Spraymate from builders warehouse, +- R50).

3. Flatten down LIGHTLY with water paper again and spray with satin black (Same cheap brand Spraymate Satin Black). Repeat flattening and light spraying until happy with the finish. Finish turned out crap. Orange peal and super shiny.. Screw this, flatten down completely back to primer level and go back to builders warehouse.

4. After another trip to the hardware store. I picked up pricy Rust-O-leum satin black (+-R100), bonds to plastic apparently, so they say.. Repeated the spray and flatten process. Finish turned out great, silky smooth (good quality spray paint) but the colour was still too shiny for my liking. After all, I am gonna be looking at the damn thing every time i drive the car. So... Waterpaper that stuff down again and back to the hardware store.

5. This time i picked up an ama-cheapy Spraymate Matt Black (+- R50). Went through the same process again and VOILA it turned out great.

Maybe it was all the layers of stuff I put on, maybe it was the matt spray. Either way the finished product turned out great!

 

[Daaf Vader]

:bravo::thumbs:

 

[Andy1GP]

This thread is turning out quite to be quite useful. I will post some results on the Vanos and shimms in due time

What I can mention now is that the shimms have made the valvetrain noticeable quieter throughout the rev range. The car sounds happier.

The Vanos can be felt particulalry from low down RPM. I'm yet to go and play properly to feel the full experience.

The biggest gain with the vanos thusfar is the gain in fuel consumption. It's still too early to gauge the exact gains but I can notice it right away.

Talk about Win Win

 

[Sirhan]

This thread is turning out quite to be quite useful. I will post some results on the Vanos and shimms in due time

What I can mention now is that the shimms have made the valvetrain noticeable quieter throughout the rev range. The car sounds happier.

The Vanos can be felt particulalry from low down RPM. I'm yet to go and play properly to feel the full experience.

The biggest gain with the vanos thusfar is the gain in fuel consumption. It's still too early to gauge the exact gains but I can notice it right away.

Talk about Win Win

Cant wait, you need to give us a run down on what you did to the vanos and reasons you opted to go that route. :thumbs:

 

[Andy1GP]

Reasons?

1. More torque = win races
2. More economy = attend more races
3. Stock car = beats modified car

Need more reasons?

 

[Nikhil]

Reasons?

1. More torque = win races
2. More economy = attend more races
3. Stock car = beats modified car

Need more reasons?

Because S54 :rollsmile:

 

[Sirhan]

Reasons?

1. More torque = win races
2. More economy = attend more races
3. Stock car = beats modified car

Need more reasons?

Sound about right to me ... but I was hoping for something like:

Upgraded Vanos exhaust hub instead of the Oil pump disk and used vender X because of Y reasons.

I fully understand if you do not want to share that technical information if you race all the time. I was like that once when I was into the race scene. :thumbs:

 

[Andy1GP]

Reasons?

1. More torque = win races
2. More economy = attend more races
3. Stock car = beats modified car

Need more reasons?

Sound about right to me ... but I was hoping for something like:

Upgraded Vanos exhaust hub instead of the Oil pump disk and used vender X because of Y reasons.

I fully understand if you do not want to share that technical information if you race all the time. I was like that once when I was into the race scene. :thumbs:

I'm just pressed for time at the moment hence I can't post quality content when rushed.

I would love to share my findings. Oil pump disc was upgraded to fit hub 100% securely. As can be seen by pics and video posted earlier.

Peter aka A1xander (AXIZ) did all the work for me. And I would recommend no one else.

My advise to all S54 owners are to not extend motorplan. Save that money and spend it on vanos seals, shims, and pump disc upgrade.

 

[Peter@AEW]

Reasons?

1. More torque = win races
2. More economy = attend more races
3. Stock car = beats modified car

Need more reasons?

Sound about right to me ... but I was hoping for something like:

Upgraded Vanos exhaust hub instead of the Oil pump disk and used vender X because of Y reasons.



I fully understand if you do not want to share that technical information if you race all the time. I was like that once when I was into the race scene. :thumbs:

Sirhan let me fill you in.

The oil pump disc I will typically measure and specify to the CNC shop the new diameter holes that require drilling.

The reason that I did not get involved with this exercise with Andy, is due to the fact and here is the crunch, Andy's dad has worked in an engineering environment all his working life and the people he recommended are people he has worked with.
Even with all that I still had to do some light work on the disc to get it rotating smoothly as Andy will attest

Each car has a unique requirement so you cannot just do one size fits all as it is likely to lead to tears.

Equally the wear pattern on the disc needs to be examined thoroughly so as to gather as much info as possible on the vanos operation.
It is not rocket science I promise you however neither is it for the layman as one can easily destroy a pump disc and last I looked you cannot get them loose.

So in answer to who the vendor is......a1exander-axis-Lysis
Reason.......a1exander knows what he is doing as he has done it many times before and the cars are still racing. :rollsmile: (said tongue in cheek) It will save the hub tabs from snapping off and having to source a new hub

---

Item no2 in the following link
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BL91&mospid=47621&btnr=11_3004&hg=11&fg=25

 

[Sirhan]

Reasons?

1. More torque = win races
2. More economy = attend more races
3. Stock car = beats modified car

Need more reasons?

Sound about right to me ... but I was hoping for something like:

Upgraded Vanos exhaust hub instead of the Oil pump disk and used vender X because of Y reasons.



I fully understand if you do not want to share that technical information if you race all the time. I was like that once when I was into the race scene. :thumbs:

Sirhan let me fill you in.

The oil pump disc I will typically measure and specify to the CNC shop the new diameter holes that require drilling.

The reason that I did not get involved with this exercise with Andy, is due to the fact and here is the crunch, Andy's dad has worked in an engineering environment all his working life and the people he recommended are people he has worked with.
Even with all that I still had to do some light work on the disc to get it rotating smoothly as Andy will attest

Each car has a unique requirement so you cannot just do one size fits all as it is likely to lead to tears.

Equally the wear pattern on the disc needs to be examined thoroughly so as to gather as much info as possible on the vanos operation.
It is not rocket science I promise you however neither is it for the layman as one can easily destroy a pump disc and last I looked you cannot get them loose.

So in answer to who the vendor is......a1exander-axis-Lysis
Reason.......a1exander knows what he is doing as he has done it many times before and the cars are still racing. :rollsmile: (said tongue in cheek) It will save the hub tabs from snapping off and having to source a new hub

---

Item no2 in the following link
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BL91&mospid=47621&btnr=11_3004&hg=11&fg=25

---

Thank you for the advice today ..... will keep in contact. :thumbs::=):

When you have the time, post some pictures of the Ferrari and the work you have done on her .... :thumbs: