New frame

[dwz8]

Over time, quite a few cars have parked in front of my house, however, this one is quite exceptional...

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20009n.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20008n.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20012n.jpg

220 kg, tires are a bit small, and the auxiliary frame turned out to be less than stabile.

Whether or not this was the right thing to do, I will probably not know until a couple of years from now. For now, however, I got one as a private reserve, and I can watch in a (relatively) relaxed way, how the frames on stock will dry out...

[dwz8]

At the end of the day, it is mainly the front section that causes headaches (at least to us).

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20010n.jpg

The strut towers are simple sheet metals pieces without any reinforcement ribs or similar, as far as I can see.

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20011n.jpg

Compared to the towers, the rest of the frame looks quite rigid.

[dwz8]

A couple of more details:

The towers are welded from underneath:

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20014.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20015.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20016.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20017.jpg

[dwz8]

and the last and most important question:
Are they flat or not?

The first picture shows an arrow pointing to an edge. Within this circle everything is absolutely flat. The lines shown indicate roughly where the following shots were taken.

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20023.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20018.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20019.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20020.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20021.jpg

More flat than this is impossible...

[dwz8]

A look at the rear situation:

There everything looks so rigid that I believe the entire back side needs to be distorted before any bulging happens.

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20026.jpg

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20027.jpg

[thegunguy]

Thanks Dieter. It really is a bit "shocking" how little reinforcement there is around the strut towers.

It would be interesting to see similar "in the raw" frames from other manufacturers/models.

[macfly]

It gave me reason to go back and look at my own shock towers again, and I noticed that I have some curious creases in the drivers side shock tower crown. The top is as flat as yours. These creases are lower down by the front shock tower support arm, and in the light in my garage they really seemed to jump out at me today.

I studied your shots, and it looks like your crown might also exhibit something like this, so I wondered if you could you confirm if you have any anomalies like this in your domes.

Also does anyone else have anything like this?

[Jack]

Dieter,

You BOUGHT a spare frame?

Fascinating to look at. I'm no engineer but it appears to me that some sort of triangular strut brace would easily eliminate the frame torsion problem and should have been installed at the factory (like on the DB9 for instance).

Honestly, if I was sitting on a jury for say... a class action lawsuit and I saw pictures of this frame I would immediately think (rightly or wrongly) that the front end had not been properly engineered due to the lack of strut bracing.

Speaking of which...where's our "upgrade" (fix)?

Jack

[KenZ8]

Thank you Dieter for these terrific photos. My car "passed" inpection as "no damage" but the tops of my towers are certainly not as flat as the unstressed frame that you present. I will present these photos when I bring the car in for the recall, and ask the regional service advisor to meet me there to compare and explain. I'll post when completed....

[Z8Mania]

What kind of rims are those?! ;)

Nicely done Dieter- you are the xtreme.

[fun2drive]

Dieter,
You have given us all a great pictoral reference.
Thank you,
Evie

[dwz8]

Dieter,
You BOUGHT a spare frame?

Yes. When I heard about the - unofficial and unconfirmed - number of frames left on stock, I thought it would be a good idea to save one of the original ones for later.
I admit that I still have some trust in BMW, however, I want to have a chance to replace a frame after a damage (strut towers or real accident) instead of some repair welding going on.

In the meantime, this frame can serve as a nice reference for everything we want to know about a "virgin" frame.

And BTW: I hate how BMW handles this whole thing, but I WILL drive a Z8 as long as I can.

[Norcal]

Great detailed pics for sure. And the towers look woefully flimsy to the naked eye. I too would like to see how Aston did it, or others.

[Orcatek]

Andrew,

Looking at post #2, pic 2, there do appear to be shadows like you are showing in your pics.

I am sure Dieter can answer for sure.

[dwz8]

It gave me reason to go back and look at my own shock towers again, and I noticed that I have some curious creases in the drivers side shock tower crown. The top is as flat as yours. These creases are lower down by the front shock tower support arm, and in the light in my garage they really seemed to jump out at me today.

I studied your shots, and it looks like your crown might also exhibit something like this, so I wondered if you could you confirm if you have any anomalies like this in your domes.

Also does anyone else have anything like this?
yes, the creases are on the new frame as well. They don't look quite as deep, but I would attribute this to the fact that the new frame has no glossy color on it.

[2112]

Is the guage (thickness) of the aluminum the same on both the front and rear shock/spring mounts? I would assume yes but with the rear not having the rolled edge on the opening it has the illusion of being thicker.

[Z8doc]

Great picture reference for sure ! I too have the creases on the shock towers. I asked the FSR about them and he informed me that they are normal. Guess I will have to take his word for that.

Dieter - regarding the frame and wood wheels -- I will keep you posted on where and when you can enter your new Soap Box Derby car here in the states!!:D

[macfly]

I got a several other confirmations that these exact creases are on other owner's shocktowers, so it must be something to do with the shaping/forming/welding during manufacturing rather than a later incident of any kind.

:rolleyes: Phew!!:rolleyes:

[dwz8]

Andrew,

if you look at this photo here:

http://www.dwz8.de/z8frame/060905%20016.jpg

This is the inside of that area. The flat bracket on the right is welded to the round tower, that's were the biggest crease is. The other ones are along the welding seams.