E85 rescue. I can fix this… Right?

[MikeyH]

Looking good

[DarkApollo]

In the end you will however have an amazing car that you can justly say you have saved from the scrapyard. Been said already but' WELL DONE TO YOU'

Thats my drive and motivation.
I guess I didnt get the car that I wanted, but I got the car that I deserved.
Something busted, broken, unloved, and abused.

[MikeyH]

But getting lots of love now

[DarkApollo]

Yay wiring…
The PO.. ugh. Hardwired headlights??
No wonder so many things are bad. There are shorts and broken wires everywhere.
Thankfully the passenger side is not AS bad.

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[paddy wright]

Why would you do that!

[enuff_zed]

Why would you do that!

My guess would be the usual issue with the multiplug corroding and then breaking when it was disconnected.
Far easier to use crimps than rewire a new plug.

[MikeyH]

New shoes!
Suspension FIXED!
The UltraRacing brace no longer fits, It is off by a good 10mm so I imagine there is some twist in the body now from the.. terrible drive back from New York City.
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I have started recoding modules. I need to get ISTA working to do individual module tests.

If all the panel gaps are okay, bonnet/hood and boot/trunk even gaps then surely it's okay.

[DarkApollo]

Why would you do that!

_I_ didnt.

That is the mess the previous owner made.
I am doing it the right way and putting the plug back on.

[paddy wright]

Why would you do that!

_I_ didnt.

That is the mess the previous owner made.
I am doing it the right way and putting the plug back on.

Sorry- I knew you didnt do it, I meant more why would anyone do that! It is great to see you rescuing this wee z.

[DarkApollo]

Does anyone know the 8 pin plug end wiring? I have looked at a dozen wiring diagrams and none match up to the wire colors I have.

[Matty_Z4]

I have been contemplating calling a lawyer. The gauge cluster has been swapped so the milage is incorrect which was not disclosed. That is actually a felony. With the suspension also being unbolted and him not telling me, insisting it would be more than fine on the 6 hours drive home, that constitutes willful negligence.
But, is it worth it? Dealing with lawyers and such? I doubt it..

Is there a car check service like CarVertical that all of the youtubers are shilling for these days (search youtube for a discount code so I stay on the right side of the forum rules ) That should tell you about any milage issues and other problems (not mechanicals) There is a certain youtuber who has a Lambo Merci that was an ex track car and he genuinly does not know how many miles it has done as the last inspection where the milage was recorded was over 10 years ago and the clocks were fried when he purchased it and the track company has no records of miles it had done on track. So he rebuilt it but will always show up "milage fraud" as it went from 30k + miles down to 0 miles.
If there is such thing as a small claims court in the US then it may be worth looking into that consider asking for a bit of cash to help towards the repairs to "make you whole again", Not 100% how that works but I think in the UK its anything less than £5k you go through small claims.

Does anyone know the 8 pin plug end wiring? I have looked at a dozen wiring diagrams and none match up to the wire colors I have.

Is something like this any good? I have Haynes Autofix but I cant post the full drawing as the PDF gets watermarked with my email address so they can link any leaks to an account.

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I can help you with small screenshots and other things if needed. Or you can download Haynes Autofix
https://haynes.com/en-gb/bmw/z4/2003-20 ... trol-30169

[enuff_zed]

DarkApollo, possibly not what you want to hear, and I fully appreciate why you are doing this. I admire your tenacity.
However, there may come a point where it would make more sense to buy a better Z4, that still needs work, break your current one for spares and also to sell on parts to finance the work.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that though.

[Zedebee]

DarkApollo, possibly not what you want to hear, and I fully appreciate why you are doing this. I admire your tenacity.
However, there may come a point where it would make more sense to buy a better Z4, that still needs work, break your current one for spares and also to sell on parts to finance the work.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that though.

True, in the UK there is depressingly little difference in price between a clapped out Z4 and a nice one where the owner has lavished a lot of attention on it, so there is little to be gained in buying a Z4 to “do up” - maybe because the “do up” community is doing such a great job. Just buy a decent one.

[DarkApollo]

Is there a car check service like CarVertical that all of the youtubers are shilling for these days (search youtube for a discount code so I stay on the right side of the forum rules ) That should tell you about any milage issues and other problems (not mechanicals) There is a certain youtuber who has a Lambo Merci that was an ex track car and he genuinly does not know how many miles it has done as the last inspection where the milage was recorded was over 10 years ago and the clocks were fried when he purchased it and the track company has no records of miles it had done on track. So he rebuilt it but will always show up "milage fraud" as it went from 30k + miles down to 0 miles.
If there is such thing as a small claims court in the US then it may be worth looking into that consider asking for a bit of cash to help towards the repairs to "make you whole again", Not 100% how that works but I think in the UK its anything less than £5k you go through small claims.

I did actually run that. The last ODO report was 119,000 mi and the ODO shows 115,000 so I was chalking it up to a clerical error. I know that when I have done my registrations in the past I never copied the exact milage down, just 'close enough'. I didnt notice the tamper dot until half way home with it, by then it was too late. I can correct it and submit the correction to my DMV. Thankfully, as far as I know, the true milage is stored in the light control module and I can recall from that.

Is something like this any good? I have Haynes Autofix but I cant post the full drawing as the PDF gets watermarked with my email address so they can link any leaks to an account.

Thank you! That is pretty close. I can at least see what the positive leads are and what is the ground. What I am trying to do is put the 8 pin connector back on the SONAR branded eBay-garbo headlights that the previous owner though would be best to cut off. The passenger side is still attached with the 8pin however it is embedded in a rubber grommet so I cannot trace the wires to their pins (well, until I can find my multimeter and check for continuity).
Haynes Autofix is not available in the US market so I am stuck with a blanket 3-series 1999-2005 book.

DarkApollo, possibly not what you want to hear, and I fully appreciate why you are doing this. I admire your tenacity.
However, there may come a point where it would make more sense to buy a better Z4, that still needs work, break your current one for spares and also to sell on parts to finance the work.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that though.

True, in the UK there is depressingly little difference in price between a clapped out Z4 and a nice one where the owner has lavished a lot of attention on it, so there is little to be gained in buying a Z4 to “do up” - maybe because the “do up” community is doing such a great job. Just buy a decent one.

Unfortunately buying another one is just not in the budget. I cannot sell this one in its current state for what I paid, and parting it out would be more work than fixing it for little monetary gain. These things might be cheap over the pond, but here in the states even a beat to death one with over 200,000 miles is still over $6,000 for a running and driving 3.0 6spd. I wont buy a 2.5 and never an automatic which is pretty much all that is around my area. Those are the only ones I can get for a 'reasonable' 20 year old car cost. Even if I could find a 3.0 auto, I have zero desire to manual swap a car. I have done that too many times in my 20's when I had my auto shop but that would be near impossible now in my 40's with the facilities I have access to (or lack thereof now). I cant even get a wrecker yard car for less than $2000 so I have the parts at the ready.
Right now, the only thing left are the electrical gremlins and cosmetics, and the Flintstone hole in the floor pan. The suspension has been replaced, new tires are on, brakes have been replaced, the ABS module has been recoded, I MIGHT still need a steering angle sensor but I will see once I can get the ABS pump PROPERLY bled.

[enuff_zed]

Well that's a positive response. (It was only an alternative suggestion)
Prices in the UK are so much lower.
Even if you pick up a car for £1000, it is touch and go if you can rescue it and sell on at a profit. I do it as a hobby and therefore my only brief is not to lose money. Even then it is sometimes a close run thing.