From Beaten to Babied, 1of1 Z3 Mcoupe rebuild

[robb1887]

I figure most of you dont venture too far into the Z3 subforum and I feel that I've made significant progress enough to show the general masses of BF.c what I have accomplished since I've owned the car since last June.

It started its life as a custom ordered from the factory 2000 Steel Gray over Dark Beige Oregon Mcoupe, which is the only one in this color combination in the US (possibly everywhere). The origninal owner was a doctor in D.C. and apparantly did not care to worry about the car at some point after his 12 years of ownership and let it fall into shambles from it previous prestiege of being custom ordered just for him.

I am technically the third owner of the car, the second is the guy who bought it off the car lot where the Dr. Douche had traded it in, he started to get the car sorted, but in the ~three weeks of ownership he realized exactly how much work this car would need and did not have the dedication and decided to sell it.

Major items that needed fixing: Throw out bearing was shot, transmission pins were sticking, and the driver rear caliper was dragging as I found after buying and driving it 5 hours home (one wheel was significantly covered in brake dust, guess which!?).

Roughly sixteen weeks ago I started with this:


Got it to here and was going "holy shit what did I get myself into", it had no suspension, no brakes, and the headlights were in pieces (I really need to take smaller bites!):


How it sits now:




Since I have owned the car:

Engine/Drivetrain:
Sach's Clutch/PP/throw out bearing kit
Brass clutch fork pivot pin
Shift pin service
Amsoil Trans Fluid change
Rogue SS clutch line replacement (DCV delete)
Rogue Tranny mounts
Shifter bushings refeshed
Delrin shifter carrier bushing
SAP block off plates
ECIS CAI
FAG rear wheel bearings
Oilite clutch pedal bushing
Delrin brake pedal bushing
Slave cylinder

Suspension:
Ground control Coilovers 440/600
Ground control Hybrid camber/castor plates
Meyle FCA
Powerflex offset LCAB
Lemforder inner/outer tie rods w/ fresh boots & locking plates
OEM front strut reinforcement plates (modified for GC camber plates)
Bimmerworld weld-in essentric rear toe/camber adjusters
AKG poly subframe bushings
"Street" rubber RTABs

Brakes: (80% complete)
Zimmermann 2-pc OE "euro" floating front rotors
Zimmermann vented OE rear rotors
Axxis pads
IE SS brake lines
Motul 600 fluid flush
Overhauled calipers (Softparts, & coated)
Bimmerworld SS caliper pistons (rear) (fronts on a now 9week B/O so just pads and rotors installed currently till pistons show up)

Interior:
50% ceramic tint on sunroof
Seat tilt mod
Seat bushing replacement
Sky1Z3 ///M 12V plug blank
Viper 3202 2-way alarm w/ OEM siren & OEM Alarm harness spliced for plug-n-play (Remote functions: Keyless entry, window roll up/down, hatch pop)
ZHP knob
Passenger side "parcel net"
LeatherZ armrest
Refreshed center console

Exterior:
Aluminum Motion Motorsports undertray
ACS Type II rear wing (authentic)
Blacked out kidney/hood grilles

Lighting:
Smoke bumper marker lights
Stealth bulbs all around
LED 3rd brake conversion
LED license plate bulbs
FX-R 3.0 2.5" projector retrofit
Sky1Z3 FX-R brackets

For future plans, and all the "in-process" pictures I have you can check it out in my Z3 subforum thread:
We need more build threads: 00 Z3MC SG/DBO

And a recent action shot from the recent Schuh Syndikat 2014:


Overall I am extremely pleased with it. I already have all the parts for retrofit2.0 since I am not 100% happy with how they turned out. But it was my first attempt so there is plenty of room for improvement.

I know the wheels are tucking, I'd rather save the pennies on spacers for the rebuild of ASCII's I have sitting in the garage.

Stay tuned.

[BimmerBreaker]

Very nice work Robb! I hope to join you soon in resurrecting a rare M Coupe

[Msilvia]

<3

[robb1887]

Very nice work Robb! I hope to join you soon in resurrecting a rare M Coupe

Thanks! Whatcha got up your sleeve?

<3

.

[pottsalot]

Looks very awesome dude.Great work and dedication paid off. How do the coilovers ride?

[Compactive]

Good to see you taking care of a very rare Coupe, hope it works out

[Bear Grylls]

wow what a turn around, great save

[SteadyAim]

Thats awesome! Never seen one that color

[robb1887]

Looks very awesome dude.Great work and dedication paid off. How do the coilovers ride?

Thanks! So far so good, they were great on the mountain roads. I have a little bit of "pop" in the front end on low-speed turns that I think is spring bind, but I havent had the time/energy to work on the car since I got back. Honestly I needed a break from wrenching on it HA. I'm very happy with the overhaul as a whole for sure though. I even dialed out all my toe that these things are natorious for as all Z3's and E30's will understand.

Good to see you taking care of a very rare Coupe, hope it works out

Thanks, all in due time it will come back to its former glory, two big items down, many more to go still.

wow what a turn around, great save

Thanks! It's slowly but surely getting there. More maintence, wheels and exhuast is next. Hoping to have paint done next winter

Thats awesome! Never seen one that color

Thanks! Its the only one in this color combo and one of 126 in SG exterior

[MarketMaster]

This makes me want an M coupe.

[notMpowered]

Great work! I know people say cars aren't "an investment" but this resurrection is money and time well spent!

[robb1887]

This makes me want an M coupe.

Thanks, or is it just the retrofit that has you hooked... Its okay.

Great work! I know people say cars aren't "an investment" but this resurrection is money and time well spent!

Thanks, Investment or not the smiles to dollar ratio is high

[snikwad]

Hehhe looking hella dope man.
I still think you should put some spacers on while the ACS gets redone.
Grab some used ones and then unload them for the same price when done.

[robb1887]

Hehhe looking hella dope man.
I still think you should put some spacers on while the ACS gets redone.
Grab some used ones and then unload them for the same price when done.

Local buddy has a set of 20's I can test and borrow for a bit for the rear... may end up looking for 12's/15's for the front.... hrmm....

[snikwad]

Yeah. Play it safe.

[THADREAMIN]

Very nice.... looks great

[AHay5]

Despite of the condition before, she cleans up nice!

[robb1887]

Very nice.... looks great

Thanks!

Despite of the condition before, she cleans up nice!

A classic 10 from 10ft. It Can only get better.

[MSpeedAddict]

Looks great! I'm sure you feel accomplished

[propcar]

Very nice!

How did you like the bushings change on the clutch brake pedal? I've heard mixed comments on doing this.

[robb1887]

Looks great! I'm sure you feel accomplished

I do. It was a blast to drive all through the mountains for Schuh Syndikat.

Very nice!How did you like the bushings change on the clutch brake pedal? I've heard mixed comments on doing this.

Love them so far. No more pedal slop. The brake required a bit of clearancing but was well worth it for the pedal feel.

[Eurospec]

The car's sure come a long way in such a short span of time. Well done sir, keep up the good work!

What's the status on the ACS build? Can't wait to see them on the car.

[robb1887]

The car's sure come a long way in such a short span of time. Well done sir, keep up the good work!

What's the status on the ACS build? Can't wait to see them on the car.

Thanks.

Currently: one disassembled, another in process. Now that the car is lowered and aligned I will be rolling my rear fenders and rechecking measurements to make sure I am right with my planned sizes. Then its just a matter of cash flow. Saving to buy a house sucks.