Z4/M Owners Thread

Invertigo · 12 Jul 2017 at 14:26

I'm led to believe my xenon bulbs have never been replaced and, honestly, aren't any better than the halogen lights on my dads 5 series.

So, figured new bulbs may well help and managed to snap up a cheap set in the Amazon sale yesterday, £41 for a pair of Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited bulbs! Will get them fitted at the weekend and enjoy being able to see at night properly!

Invertigo · 12 Jul 2017 at 14:28

dante6491 said:
Annoyingly the roof motor in mine went today. Bit of a nuisance and I guess I already know what the Christmas bonus is going on.

07 Plate purchased privately in late March

As Grudas said above, there's a lot of guys on the Z4 forum who can repair them. Typically seems they're just slightly seized and a soak in diesel seems to get them back to life. My nearest member says he's done over 100 moves now and never had to replace a motor so they're resilient!

Uncle_Gravy · 12 Jul 2017 at 15:09

Mine died in Feb, Been waiting for when I haven't got bills to get it sorted xD chap on the Z4 Forums "Number5" in Bristol said he'll sort mine out for £150, but in my case probably another £150-200 for a replacement motor as mine has been sat in water since Feb

Cleisthenes · 12 Jul 2017 at 15:20

badgeruk said:
Yeh mine are £35~ each plus vat I think. Dads picking them up for me today hopefully so I can fit them on a lunch break one day this week.

Better make sure they're straight for that money

badgeruk · 12 Jul 2017 at 15:34

Thankfully they all went on fine and haven't fallen of yet which is nice.

Psycho Sonny · 14 Jul 2017 at 13:58

dante6491 said:
Annoyingly the roof motor in mine went today. Bit of a nuisance and I guess I already know what the Christmas bonus is going on.

07 Plate purchased privately in late March

Take it out if you know how and soak it in diesel overnight. Then give it a good wipe and then spray with WD-40 for a couple of days. there are guides on z4 forum. get it moved into the boot too.

grudas said:
A few guys on the forums repair them and move to boot around the UK, go and search. Cost is like £200 and you don't usually need a new motor. They stop because they're soaked in water. Z4 forums that is.

guy in county durham (south of newcastle) charges £90 and he tops it up with fluid for you too. the good stuff from BMW which costs a fortune.

rodenal · 14 Jul 2017 at 14:16

Yeah my Dad knows the guy who has done a few for the z4 forum in the south west area. I'm sure he has helped with one or two and tbh it doesn't sound difficult

Invertigo · 14 Jul 2017 at 14:49

It's one of them jobs, no doubt it's simple enough to do yourself, but it might take quite a while and result in blood sweat and tears... and swearing

For the sake of £80 it might be best to leave it to someone who's done multitudes before, knows all the tricks and can have it done in under an hour.

Psycho Sonny · 14 Jul 2017 at 16:38

Invertigo said:
It's one of them jobs, no doubt it's simple enough to do yourself, but it might take quite a while and result in blood sweat and tears... and swearing

For the sake of £80 it might be best to leave it to someone who's done multitudes before, knows all the tricks and can have it done in under an hour.

it's £80 and half an hour just to move it into the boot. the actual revival of a dead one takes days and it's really a DIY job unless you live local to someone on z4 forums who can help.

still cheaper than £1600 to get a new one. that's why i travelled all the way down past newcastle from Glasgow to get mine moved for £80. add in petrol £70, i've helped to avoid a very expensive bill later on.

Invertigo · 14 Jul 2017 at 17:21

Psycho Sonny said:
it's £80 and half an hour just to move it into the boot. the actual revival of a dead one takes days and it's really a DIY job unless you live local to someone on z4 forums who can help.

still cheaper than £1600 to get a new one. that's why i travelled all the way down past newcastle from Glasgow to get mine moved for £80. add in petrol £70, i've helped to avoid a very expensive bill later on.

Aha, of course.

Speaking of which I need to get mine moved. Was replaced with a new unit a few years back by a previous owner at the cost of £1300 according to receipts, so I don't want this one dying.

Quite why they had a new one out back in the same place I don't know, but hey ho!

[TW]Fox · 14 Jul 2017 at 21:18

It's nothing like a 1300 quid job anymore - it's a 170 quid part and 4-6 hours of labour.

Ours went twice, basically every 6 years :rolleyes:

badgeruk · 14 Jul 2017 at 21:21

Been lucky with mine I think, one car was 12 years old and it never had a replacement and the M is now 10 years old and its also not had one. I just check the drains and maybe parking on a slight slope keeps the motor from sitting in water.

BusError · 17 Jul 2017 at 08:11

Oh, can I ping in with my little Z3? 2.8 facelift. Got that recently, hadn't realized you could get one for so cheap. Excellent nick, 60k miles. A few bits and bobs to change -- pocket rocket!

Usel · 17 Jul 2017 at 08:57

I've had my motor relocated by Ducklakeview on the Z4 forums. We had a mini meet and he changed 14 motors in one day.

Some motors hadnt been working for a long time and were completely full of water and he got all of them working.

Cost was £100 as he had to travel for us but if you went to him it was £80.

Its not a difficult job but its not a pleasant one. He bascially lays back down and head first in the boot for half an hour. If you can pay someone else to do that job for £80 its money well spent.

Also you dont lose any practical boot space at all.

Invertigo · 18 Jul 2017 at 10:28

Managed to not reseal the headlight properly when I changed the bulbs, was driving next day in heavy rain and my bulb died. Got home and saw a nice pool of water accumulated in the bottom of the headlight, and full of condensation!

Checked the bulbs and igniters and both are working, so it seems the ballast may have been fried with water ingress as it sits directly below the headlight.

Got a replacement ordered on eBay, can return if it's not the ballast that's failed, and now it's become a bumper off job next weekend! Joy

Psycho Sonny · 18 Jul 2017 at 11:19

badgeruk said:
Been lucky with mine I think, one car was 12 years old and it never had a replacement and the M is now 10 years old and its also not had one. I just check the drains and maybe parking on a slight slope keeps the motor from sitting in water.

How does parking on a slope help? also surely it would have to be in a particular orientation. as in upwards is beneficial but downwards isn't. how would you know which one is good or bad?

Invertigo said:
Managed to not reseal the headlight properly when I changed the bulbs, was driving next day in heavy rain and my bulb died. Got home and saw a nice pool of water accumulated in the bottom of the headlight, and full of condensation!

Checked the bulbs and igniters and both are working, so it seems the ballast may have been fried with water ingress as it sits directly below the headlight.

Got a replacement ordered on eBay, can return if it's not the ballast that's failed, and now it's become a bumper off job next weekend! Joy

The seal on the back of my right headlight is knackered. Apparently you need to order a whole new back. It may be the same with you. Just need a new back. If you find the part number let me know. I spent 2 hours drying it out with a hairdryer for it to fill with water 4 days later. it's the seal that goes on them.

badgeruk · 18 Jul 2017 at 11:54

Psycho Sonny said:
How does parking on a slope help? also surely it would have to be in a particular orientation. as in upwards is beneficial but downwards isn't. how would you know which one is good or bad?

I have no idea what the motor or where it sits looks like. I did say maybe as its a complete guess on my part, my thinking is that maybe being on a slope stops the water sitting in the area as the drain is now lower then the rest of the compartment.

Psycho Sonny · 18 Jul 2017 at 12:03

badgeruk said:
I have no idea what the motor or where it sits looks like. I did say maybe as its a complete guess on my part, my thinking is that maybe being on a slope stops the water sitting in the area as the drain is now lower then the rest of the compartment.

It's the housing the motor sits in that fills with water if there is a gap. It's got some sort of foam around it which soaks up the water like a sponge. So it's literally covered in water. I don't think a slope would help much tbh it depends more on your drains and whether they are clogged or not and what kind of gaps is in your motor casing.

Uncle_Gravy · 18 Jul 2017 at 12:05

BuyCarParts reputable?

Psycho Sonny · 18 Jul 2017 at 12:06

Uncle_Gravy said:
BuyCarParts reputable?

what you trying to buy?

i usually go dealers or euro car parts or a specialist site depending on what it is.