Shock Horror!

[Z8Cookie]

Shock horror!

Last Week I had the car up on a ramp to finally get round to removing the CDV.

Whilst up in the air I noticed with horror the front right tyre was worn down to the wire right on the inside edge! The tyres looked fine (not quite ready to replace yet) from ground level, if I hadn?t had it in the air I wouldn?t have noticed how bad it was!

So, into the dealer straight away & left over Easter for a check up. Today I?ve been told that the strut/shock & the body mount is bent. I'm currently waiting for more details/costs/reason etc.

I?ve always thought the steering was ?not quite right? on this car as you can tell from my earlier posts under Recalls & Problems > Tramlining & after my last set of tyres all seamed well, but after a while the car drifted back into the ?tramlining? effect.

The car came from a dealer that had used it as a demonstrator/company car for it?s first year so I have no idea of its history before I bought it.

Has anybody else ever had a ?bent strut/shock? & if the body/mount is bent what are the implications?


Colin, with no Z8 to drive, it?s spring & Cannonball Europe is getting close!

[macfly]

So long as the aluminum frame mount is ok it could just be the perfect opportunity to replace the OEM suspension with Hamann coilovers, ACSchnitzer's suspension kit or Dinan's suspension kit. All of these will improve your handling, as will getting a really good alingment after the work is done.

[Z8Cookie]

Well,

I finally got the car back last Thursday (3 weeks later) with a new shock, coils mount & 2 tyres. The mounting plate & strut had been bent but luckily the frame mount was ok. Cost ?1,350.00 (not as bad as I thought it might be!). The tyre pressure warning light came on after the first 5 miles, but after correcting the pressure to 2.4 bar instead of 2.3 on one side & 2.5 on the other! & resetting the switch all is now ok. I resisted the temptation to change the lot to the Schnitzer or Dinans as I had doubts that the car would be 100% again but the car feels great now & ready for Cannonball in July.

Just one thing.

Last night I used the head lights for the first time since getting the car back & they are a lot lower (about 25 feet max) then they were.

So, what does this mean? They won?t have touched the lights, so this must mean the car is now quite a bit lower at the front than it was. Why? Thinking back to when I first got the car the lights were too high & had to have them adjusted. I?m now wondering if the ride height was wrong before & not the lights or, have they got the suspension height wrong this time?

Any thoughts Guys?

Colin.

[ArtZ8]

Z8 Cookie,

I had a similar headlight problem after getting my Z8 out of shop last time, the both headlights were aimed about 5 feet in front of car. The embarassed service technician discovered that he connected the auto-level sensor connector on backwards( its hard to believe that it is possible), which disabled the headlight auto-level functon. I hope this helps.

ArtZ8

[jawz]

Z8Cookie,

I had a similar experience as ArtZ8. I picked up my car from the shop and didn't notice till the first time I took it out at night that the headlights didn't move after startup. I tried everything I could think of to determine why it didn't work. I finally took it back to the dealership and they found the auto-level lever was on backwards so they "fixed" it. I checked that night only to find out that it still didn't work. I took it back AGAIN (different dealership) and told them there was still a problem. They then got their "master Z8 mechanic" to look at it and found they had still not connected it correctly. He did the work and the lights have been fine ever since.

Make sure you're persistent in getting this fixed and I recommend you insist on the specially trained Z8 mechanic!

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[Z8Cookie]

Hi ArtZ8 & Jawz,

Thanks for the advice, I have not taken it in yet but when I do, I will have great pleasure in telling them what I think the problem is.

I have to say I did LOL when Jawz Said ?insist on the specially trained Z8 mechanic?,

A specially trained Z8 mechanic In Crewe, Cheshire, England!!!

This is the only Z8 the mechanics at my dealer have set their eyes on!

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Colin

[jawz]

Z8Cookie,

I get your point! Good luck and keep us posted.

[Z8Cookie]

Finally dropped off the car this morning for a full checkout & M.O.T. (the Cannonball Europe is just over a month off!) & to have the drooping lights etc.sorted.

Whilst I was there I asked the main service guy to have a drive and see what he thinks of the condition of the clutch, as I have never been happy with it (slipping too often). He confirmed my fears that it?s on the way out, Great!

I know I should have had this sorted out before now, when it was still under warrantee but Ces?t la vie!

I will ofcorse point out that I did mention the slipping clutch soon after I first had it (with 8,000 miles on the clock) it now has 30,000 & is almost 4 years old.

I wonder if it?s feasible to have been driving for the last 22,000 miles with an iffy clutch

Stop press.

Dealer has just phoned to tell me it?s passed its M.O.T. And now the But? the rear ball joints are a bit worn & they have recommended I have them replaced

He is going to see if the clutch & ball joints can be done out of warrantee as a good will gesture by BMW head office. That would be nice! No harm in hoping.

Colin.

[macfly]

I'd suggest that you fit one of UUC's heavy duty clutch assemblies as you obviously use the car hard. I'd suggest their short shift linkage while you're at it. With the exchange rate so in your favor it'll be well worth the FedEx charge to get it rushed over. UUC

Getting 22,000 miles out of a clutch with the CDV installed is actually pretty good, it's a terrible little clutch cooking device, and the clutch is prone to going anywhere from 15,000 onwards if used hard with a CDV in place. In the Z8 DE here in the US they were lasting only a few days at a time at best, but then they were being thrashed in 1st & 2nd gear all day long.

[Z8Cookie]

Typical.

The warmest, sunniest day of the year so far today in the UK & I can?t drive the car as I picked today & tomorrow to have the clutch done!

Oh well.

The good news BMW are picking up the cost of the parts & 50% labour on the ball joints & 30% on the clutch, with the dealer covering the other 70%.

I?ll see how the standard clutch lasts this time now that the CDV has been removed.

Less than 4 weeks until Cannonball Europe. 7 countries, 3000 miles.

Colin.

[Z8Cookie]

10.30 am Thursday 9th June. Phone call from dealer.

They need to replace the flywheel as well because mine has ?Hot-Spots?!

The part will take 5 days to get.

Great!

[macfly]

but please be sure to take loads of pix on the Cannonball run for us, that sounds like it should be interesting event, trying to dodge both the holiday traffic and the cops all at the same time!

[Z8Cookie]

Will Do.

A couple of places are left! Otherwise I'll have the only Z8 in the line up.

To view click here cannonballruneurope

Colin

[jawz]

Andrew,

Did you notice there is a Canadian Cannonball Run planned for Sep? Sounds like it could be fun...Would you entertain the idea?

Terry

[macfly]

so I can't take anymore time off. I really prefer to do speed things on a closed track too, I don't really like mad open road speeding, plus I'm not into beating on my current Z8 like that, as it's my long term keeper - pride and joy car.

[Z8Cookie]

I?ve just collected the car complete with new clutch, flywheel, rear ball joints etc. after another week at the dealer.

Whoa! The clutch pedal is now as light as a feather. Before I took it in, it was heavy, really heavy.

As I have only driven one Z8 I have no idea how the clutch should feel.

Now I don?t know if it was too heavy before, or too light, or right now!

What affects the ?weight? of the clutch pedal anyway springs, hydraulics? (Lack of knowledge here!)

Can we have a poll, how?s yours feel, Light, medium or heavy?

Colin.


P.S.
Thanks for the tips re: the lights, Yes, they had connected the auto-level sensor connector on backwards.

[macfly]

on either of my Z8's or the two or three others I've had short spins in, so I'd have to say that they're pretty light. I doubt they could lighten it, so a second guess here is that it is perfect now. Possibly there was something caught, or not properly aligned within your first unit?

I don't have the knowledge to tell you about what makes them feel heavier or lighter in the pedal, except for the obvious, that a unit with heavier duty springs will feel heavier.