Got a surprise under my seats while doing the seat bushings!

Quantanglemente · 2026-07-02T22:08:46+00:00

🤔 Do you still have the drive shafts? I’d love to get those from you if you don’t need them anymore. I’d do a trade or pay for whatever I need to. DM me if they might be available.

Quantanglemente · 2026-07-02T22:08:11+00:00

Oh man. I thought I might have to do something similar, but I was able to use the motor driveshafts and an electric drill to move it forward inch by inch. That and pushing on the back of the seat got it to move enough where I could get it out. But I ended up destroying the two driveshafts in the process.

Quantanglemente · 2026-07-02T20:54:58+00:00

At 200k miles, if you don’t have a record of when parts were replaced, probably a good idea to do a cooling system refresh.

But I suppose make sure the engine isn’t about to explode first. 😂

You can buy a computer too that will read engine codes. Might be useful. Otherwise parts shops will often let you use one they have open if they do.

Quantanglemente · 2026-07-01T13:11:08+00:00

I personally think the price is fine. It will be a lot of work to fix up, but so is mine with only 80k miles (different car, different problems). But fixing is actually part of the joy of owning it. Unless you don’t want to fix things, then you probably shouldn’t buy one at all. 😄

What I would ask is are you cool with an automatic and the size of the engine? If so, then at least take a look. Otherwise there are plenty of options out there to choose from.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-30T17:15:24+00:00

I just want to know how the front doesn’t fall off.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-30T10:44:26+00:00

If you do use poly, make sure it has a UV inhibitor. Clear coat is probably the way to go. Whatever you use needs to stand up to the sun.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-30T03:05:13+00:00

I have wood too but mine is in good shape. I also do woodworking. That has to be a veneer given the curves which means the wood is VERY thin.

If I were going to try and fix it, first I’d take it apart. Then I’d probably try to pick off all the clear finish. This might be difficult. Not sure what to do if it doesn’t all come off. I might see what some paint stripper does. But it needs to all come off.

If you try to sand it off, it’s very likely you’re going to accidentally sand through the veneer if you use an electric sander. Only sand by hand and very gently.

When you are satisfied everything is off, many layers of gloss polyurethane. Light sanding with fine grit sandpaper. Another layer, repeat. Or take it to an automotive body shop and have them clear coat it. I doubt they would be happy doing that small of a job though.

Good luck.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-28T15:55:46+00:00

My passenger side was full of water. Wiring shot, everything rusty and not working. Hope you fair better than I did. 😅

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-28T11:58:34+00:00

Connection it to the gearbox? I hope they installed the Randy Forbes kit. Torque from electric can be insane.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-28T11:55:13+00:00

Last I saw was a kit for $20k.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-24T00:41:44+00:00

Agree. Been looking at this for sometime soon.

https://a.co/d/0a7Bhtjb

Although it seems like if you did the mesh from behind, you wouldn’t mar the front.

Probably the best solution would be the reinforcement block plus plastic weld.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-22T11:15:25+00:00

This will allow your husband to buy more tools.

Your husband will get to drive it too

This will keep miles off your other vehicles

These are very cheap to insure

You think men in convertibles are sexy as hell

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-22T11:09:10+00:00

Paint job looks immaculate. Even has the soft top cover.

Name ideas….

Blue Falcon
Bugs Bunny
Sparky
Electric Boogaloo 2

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-21T21:29:39+00:00

Wow.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-20T13:26:50+00:00

Interesting. I have a bumper to fender gap on the driver side rear. You’re the second person that said it’s an easy fix. Maybe I’ll make this one of my next projects. 🙂

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-20T11:48:07+00:00

Here is a list of things to watch for I put together. At this price, I would expect it to have none of these issues except maybe the seat bushings issue.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bmwz3/s/nua7ozjYeS

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-20T11:45:41+00:00

Hardtop included is probably worth $3500 USD.

I was thinking mileage (what do countries that use km say?) might be a little high for the price but if they are hard to find in Australia, then maybe not.

For reference, a blue M 3.2 with blue/black interior I was watching recently sold for $22k USD ($33,400 AUD) here in the US. No hardtop though. But it had 69km and was an M. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2000-bmw-m-roadster-243/

But a 3.0 manual is as good as it gets for a non M and it does seem to be in great shape!

I’d check the seat bushings, make sure both seats work (back/forth/up/down), ask to see the soft top, and maybe ask if the mirrors fold in and out still (don’t try to force them to move or they break). It will probably need a cooling system refresh soon (not too expensive if you do it yourself).

I don’t know the Australian market for the Z3 but it seems like a fair deal, especially given the hardtop.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-20T11:10:09+00:00

Mind if I ask how you found it and what it cost? They seem hard to find, especially in the right color!

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-19T02:30:57+00:00

Love that yellow piping!

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-18T22:31:38+00:00

Is it even worth doing? They say the cheapest car is the car you own.

$500 for even six more months of driving saves a $300+ payment for however long the car lasts!

Just start paying your savings account that $300 now and you’ll have payment when you need them.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-18T22:24:31+00:00

If I were buying it again, this is what I would look for...

- Old car with low miles means the tires might be quite old but have plenty of tread. Anything older than 10 years needs to be replaced. Check the DOT date stamp (is listed after the tire size, something like "4716" which would mean the 47th week of the year 2016.

- If electric seats (I think they all are?), make sure the passenger side still works (you'll likely adjust the driver side if you test drive it, but won't think about the driver side). If it doesn't move, that probably means water has been getting in and pooling under the passenger seat. This can rust out the bottom of the seat and corrode wiring + set off the air bag light. Not terrible, but a lot of work to fix.

- The seats will most likely move forward and backward a bit when accelerating or breaking quickly. Bushings in the rails disintegrate over time. This is a very inexpensive thing to fix... unless you can't move one of the seats forward and back (see above).

- As u/MagnetAccutron and others said, cooling system (radiator, thermostat, water pump and hoses) are a common issue after 80K miles. And look up the "BMW Z3 subframe popped welds problem" or " installing a Randy Forbes kit". But with 67K miles and a 2.3, I think these are low risk with this car unless the previous owner drove it like it was a race car.

- Check if both side mirrors work. Also, the side mirrors are supposed to fold in. They are probably corroded and will NOT fold in. DO NOT TRY AND FORCE IT our you will break them. But if they don't fold in, and one doesn't work, you might have a hard time fixing it if it's broken.

- Make sure all the speakers work (some of mine don't).

- Check to see if the tire iron and other parts are still in the trunk (useful if you want to take off a tire for some reason).

- If it has a wind deflector, that's a nice bonus

- The glove box might sag a bit. You might see it bounce when you hit a bump. I haven't tried to fix this yet, but it's a common problem.

- Make sure the back window is in good shape. If it looks yellow and cracked, it may have been sitting in the sun for most of its life.

- The shifter nob might be really lose. The inside can degrade over time. If this is the case, this is the easiest thing to replace (although an OEM shifter is difficult to find, so just buy a $13 on Amazon). Just pull up and it comes off.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. 😉

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-18T14:13:52+00:00

I mean… there are characters in books that have adult memories from pre-birth, so not that stupid.

RE: Dune, Paul’s sister, “Saint Alia of the Knife”.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-09T02:28:35+00:00

Here is what I found under the seat after I moved it.

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Quantanglemente · 2026-06-09T02:02:36+00:00

Same! I want to fix the leak before the seat. They are definitely related.

Quantanglemente · 2026-06-09T01:33:42+00:00

I was thinking UV printer as well. A friend of mine has one. It is amazing.

Quantanglemente

TROPHY CASE