ALBundy
Founding Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2004
- Messages
- 11,610
- Points
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BackgroundThe Z1 was a largely hand built car and was only made in small numbers around the late eighties. The car was first shown at the 1987 Fankfurt Motor Show. Initial construction was performed by Baur who made around 8000. The Z1 was a very expensive car for it's time.ModelsThe car had many plastic body panels and used some E30 components. It was said you could quickly change colour by having another set of plastic body parts, not quite true. It was one of the first BMWs to have multi-link rear suspension the Z axle.The coolest feature was without doubt the doors. These drop down into the car's sills (rockers for you Americans) and as they drop the windows lower. This is just pure sex to watch and must be the ultimate posing gizmo.There was only one Z1 model. Alas all Z1s are left hand drive. A right hand drive conversion is probably not feasable due to the custom made dashboard. I want to cry now... Griffin made a few dozen right hand drive cars bu cutting the dash into five parts to make a new mold! They also made it up to a 2.7 using the eta block. The gorgeus Z1 convertible, a rare sight. All Z1s had these unique 7 spoke alloys. EnginesMany have said that the 170bhp M20 engine was too little power for a car with such a good chasis. Several tuners, such as Hartge, offer upgrades to the M20 however. Kellners have fitted M3 euro engines and other such exotical to Z1s if your feeling rich.Model Body styles Engine Weight (kg) Power / Weight (bhp / 1000kg) Final drive ratio Brakes Z1 Convertible M20 1253 136 3.64 Disc/Disc ABS See the engine details page for power figures.Known ProblemsCylinder head bolts on the M20 2.5 litre engines are prone to failure. Not overly expensive to remedy. Only bolts from one supplier case the problem so not all cars are affected.The Z1's unique wheels are hard to replace if you bend them but other BMW wheels will fit.The fancy doors and windows have been known to get out of sync, not a big issue really.
EnginesThe 1.9 gets the M44 engine from the rest of the E36 range, a good little engine but the OBD-II system makes modifications difficult. This was later replaced by the 1.9 M3TU 8 valve engine with much less power. The 2.8 is the standard M52 engine, lots of torque but horsepower is stiffled to 193bhp by German insurance regulations unlike the 3.0 M54 which replaced it.The M cars in europe get the wonderful 321bhp double VANOS engine. In the US they get the same engine as the US M3 but thanks to good gearing only top end performance is affected. Later 2002 onwards US cars have the full E46 M3 engine. All M cars had the five speed gearbox as the six wouldn't fit the chassis.For the '99 model year the US 1.9 has been replaced with the M52 2.5 170bhp engine which was never a euro option. The M44 1.9 has been replaced with a 2.0 six and there is a new 1.9 eight valve M43TU. Some of the very early cars had the 1.8 8 valve M43.Model Body styles Engine Weight (kg) Power / Weight (bhp / 1000kg) Final drive ratio (man / auto) Brakes Z3 1.8 (early) Convertible M43 1250? 93? ? Disc/Disc ABS Z3 1.9 (late) Convertible M43TU 1250? 94? ? Disc/Disc ABS Z3 1.9 Convertible M44(some had M40) 1275 110 3.45 Disc/Disc ABS Z3 2.0 Convertible M52/M54 1345 111 ? Disc/Disc ABS Z3 2.8 Convertible M52 1335 145 3.15 Disc/Disc ABS Z3M euro Convertible S52 1420? 226? ? Disc/Disc ABS M-Coupe 2.8 2 seat Coupe M52 1350?? 143 3.15? Disc/Disc ABS M-Coupe 3.0 2 seat Cope M54 1350?? 171? ? Disc/Disc ABS Z3 3.0 Convertible M54 1350? 171? ? Disc/Disc ABS M-Coupe euro 2 seat Coupe S52 1450? 221 ? Disc/Disc ABS See the engine details page for power figures.Known ProblemsOne year waiting list in the UK when it was new!The Z3 1.9 doesn't have vented front discs, penny pinching BMW should know better! If it has a power roof check it well, relaible but not cheap to fix if they break.Do not buy an M52 with an alloy block made before 3/98 unless it's had a new engine under warranty or you get a compression check done. Sulphur in fuel causes premature bore wear which shows as a bad idle and lack of power. Only solution is a new block. This was a particular problem in the North of England. After the problems with the M60 V8 BMW NA were vary of the alloy block M52 and all (or maybe just early?) US cars had a steel block instead.Early M52s use a water pump with a plastic impeller. After 80k this can fail and leave little bits all around the cooling system. Replace it with the later metal style pump before it fails, not dear. M50s don't seem to like the cooling system being neglected, you need a fluid change every 2 years at least
