New Member but not in age

[milkomark]

Hello boyos,
new Welsh member here but, don't hold it against me. Thanks to Gary for letting me join this illustrious forum. In July I took the plunge and bought a 2000 year Z3 with 71000 miles and the 6 cylinder 2000 engine. I thought I would buy it with the intention of improving it and making an easy profit. 3 months on and a few things have gone pear shaped and it has certainly showed how naïve I was in thinking it would be a quick turnaround. I'm currently in the process of changing both sills. The first one hasn't been too bad although there has been a lot of bad language emanating from my garage due to rusty nuts and bolts. Why does there always seem to be one that holds everything up. Earlier I made a monumental cock-up by removing the seat without disconnecting the battery. You guessed it, airbag light now on. I've a friend who has hopefully traced it to the airbag module so lets hope he has the knowledge to refit it. I've read on forums that it will probably have to be coded to the car? Is that the case? Is it a dealer only fix? I have bought a second hand one online so will see what happens. The bills are certainly stacking up and the wife is certainly losing patience. She's like the grim reaper looking over my shoulder. It's only a matter of time before she wields that scythe.
Wish me well. Best Wishes to all. Milkomark

 

[MisterP007]

Welcome on board

 

[Keet]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[milkomark]

Thanks very much. Looking forward to picking up some tips and words from the wise. Here's a question. Fibre glass or BMW sills? Only £20 difference so I'm more inclined to go with the BMW originals. Any opinions? Thanks Mark

 

[Nodzed]

Hello boyos,
new Welsh member here but, don't hold it against me. Thanks to Gary for letting me join this illustrious forum. In July I took the plunge and bought a 2000 year Z3 with 71000 miles and the 6 cylinder 2000 engine. I thought I would buy it with the intention of improving it and making an easy profit. 3 months on and a few things have gone pear shaped and it has certainly showed how naïve I was in thinking it would be a quick turnaround. I'm currently in the process of changing both sills. The first one hasn't been too bad although there has been a lot of bad language emanating from my garage due to rusty nuts and bolts. Why does there always seem to be one that holds everything up. Earlier I made a monumental cock-up by removing the seat without disconnecting the battery. You guessed it, airbag light now on. I've a friend who has hopefully traced it to the airbag module so lets hope he has the knowledge to refit it. I've read on forums that it will probably have to be coded to the car? Is that the case? Is it a dealer only fix? I have bought a second hand one online so will see what happens. The bills are certainly stacking up and the wife is certainly losing patience. She's like the grim reaper looking over my shoulder. It's only a matter of time before she wields that scythe.
Wish me well. Best Wishes to all. Milkomark

Welcome. You should be able to just reset the airbag light, the reset tool is about £17 on ebay or if you know anyone with a code reader such as Carly they can do it, if the car is on the road drive to me in Lydney and I'll do it for you or maybe @colb can help, he shouldn't be too far from you. (assuming you are S Wales)

 

[colb]

Wot Nodzed said, if your South Wales, I am in Newport where a few of us participate in a Zed Shed sorting our cars as and when, we have full diagnostics to hand so your quite welcome to join us.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

And in North Wales there's always me. Got a code reader doing nothing at the moment.

 

[Stevo7682]

Hi and welcome from me in Scotland

 

[milkomark]

Thank you so much boys, very humbled by your kindness much appreciated. I'm in Nelson near Caerphilly so not that far from Newport and Lydney The car is not roadworthy at the moment though unless its a dry day as I need a new roof hopefully from Jack Smith in Swansea some time( had to cancel the fitting of a new one as I couldn't get an MOT with the airbag light on ) and also have the sills off at present. I did buy one of those cheap BMW SRS RESET diagnostic tools from Ebay is that the one you mention Nodzed? It has a yellow and blue front. Will keep your kind offers in mind if I get stuck though, I might be really glad of help. Thanks again its a real tonic as sometimes as it gets a bit overwhelming with different problems surfacing one after another.

 

[Duncodin]

Thanks very much. Looking forward to picking up some tips and words from the wise. Here's a question. Fibre glass or BMW sills? Only £20 difference so I'm more inclined to go with the BMW originals. Any opinions? Thanks Mark

The steel sill usually rust on the front and rear edges. Lot of stone chips down there breaking the paint exposing bare steel to the elements.

I don't think there's any benefit in fibreglass sills. When the gelcoat chips, especially on the edges of the panel, it's actually harder to fix than chips in steel paintwork.

 

[milkomark]

Hi Ians,
thanks for the reply. Much appreciated. For once I might be on the right track with the genuine parts

 

[abh29]

Welcome from another “gog”.

 

[Duncodin]

Hi Ians,
thanks for the reply. Much appreciated. For once I might be on the right track with the genuine parts

But please do wait a little while to see if other zed'ers want to comment. Most round here are more experienced in z matters than me.

 

[colb]

If the airbag tool you bought is a B800 like this from ebay

Airbag Reset Tool Diagnostic Scanner Code Reader B800 for BMW E36 E46 Z3 Z4 X5 | eBay

B800 BMW Airbag Scan/Reset Tool. 1 x B800 SRS Scanner And Resetter Tool for BMW. E36 - 316i THROUGH TO M3 (SALOON, COUPE, COMPACT, CONVERTIBLE & TOURING). E46 - 316i THROUGH TO M3 (SALOON, COUPE, COMPACT, CONVERTIBLE & TOURING).

www.ebay.co.uk

Usually its good at reading the code and as long as the fault is sorted will clear the code.
There are better readers that will do the same and a lot more, they cost more but they will pay for themselves when they sort the first problem you have. I have Laptop based Diagnostics BMW INPA and BMW Scanner and a more portable scanner called a Creator 310+ which sorted an airbag light on my Z4 that the other software failed to do. Also have a B800 which now lives in the boot just in case its needed when away from home. I would reccommend the Creator 310+, for circa £50 its a powerful bit of kit to have in your tool kit.
As your car is off the road at present let me know if you would like me to call in and plug my kit in, your quite close to me, I am in Rogerstone so just a short distance from you. PM me if you want to take the offer up.

 

[milkomark]

Hi abh29 & stevo7682,
thank you for your warm welcome. Regards to you both

Hi Colb,
thank you for taking the time to reply and your very generous offer. I will see if my butty can sort it out as he has a lot of diagnostic tools ( its a matter of time for him ) and it might save you a trip. If he fails perhaps you would be willing to make that trip to Nelson. I would be grateful.

 

[mwpe]

Hi and from Surrey.

 

[Shelly]

 

[milkomark]

Hi mwpe & Shelly,
thanks you for your kind welcome. Sorry only now I've noticed. Wishing you all well.

 

[bombur]

welcome from porthcawl

 

[milkomark]

Hi bombur,
thank you very much. The wife and I took a trip down to your neck of the woods last week. Sadly not in the Z3. Very nice indeed. Plenty of development going on. It's getting like the Monte Carlo of South Wales. I'm sure I saw your car outside one of those illustrious new apartments in Rest Bay. Regards Mark