Chris' zed progress thread

[chris_p]

I've owned the zed a little while now so here's a few updates for you. I'll try and update this accordingly.

I'll start with the photos from my new car thread

I managed to restore the headlights that were looking a little sorry for themselves:

Before

After

Different light I know but they were equally misty!


I've plastidipped my front grill Matt black, I wasn't sure if it would suit the car but I'm so glad I did it, makes the front look far more aggressive without looking chav.
One coat

I still haven't decided what I want to do with the rims, originally wanted something with a dish, bbs rs would look insane, but with an upcoming house purchase I'm settling with refurbishing the 108s for now


I've only done the one wheel for now, it's quite time consuming!
It's not 100% perfect but it's a marked improvement.

Im going to sand/paint the insides when I have more time, I hadn't even cleaned the stars for the photos so they're not looking their best!


I've also given the car a 75% machine polish, I'm still waiting on the bonnet as I intend on doing a smart repair to the stonechips etc. The panels that have been completed look great: complete swirl and rds removal, black is a nightmare it oh my does it look good once cared for.


Here's a nasty scuff I waved my magic wand at:
Before

After

The chip just needs touching in and leveling down with some wet&dry and it will be as good as new!




I don't have any finished photos from the detail, I'll crack out my Nikon at some point for some real shots, these are all straight off the iPhone quick snaps just to show some progress.

All in all, I'm very much still enjoying it!
It gives me..

lol.

I'm still finding little things out about the car, I found a website that tells you the options it's had from new and unbeknown it was speced pretty well! M sport heated memory seats, M sport suspension (lower), carver 10 speaker setup, multifunctional steering wheel, Bluetooth with car phone, cd changer, xenons, parking sensors, wind deflector, cruise control, chrome line package, etc!


Its a nice place to sit, the seating position is very adjustable despite being so low and everything just feels 'proper'.
The engine is ridiculously smooth, so much so that I find myself driving incredibly slowly everywhere with the roof down enjoying the finer things.
The power delivery is very linear, it's deceptively brisk. There's enough low down torque to keep me entertained which you'd expect from a straight 6, it will happily munch up the miles, sitting at around 2.5k at 80mph it's a real cruiser.

Thats not to say its not fun, because it is. You just need to tell it what to do in that regards as it will gladly get you to your destination with minimal fuss, but when you grab it my the scruff (sports button pressed, dsc off...or half disengaged) the noise is pretty seductive, a great howl! I love how lightweight it is for a BMW (around 1250kg), the turn in is nice a tight, it rides nice and flat in the corners and it will do what you want on the exit of the corner. If you want it to be composed for speed then that's easy, likewise if you want to kick the rear out, I've connected with this car surprisingly well, everything just feels right.
Lightweight, RWD, and a proper engine, what's not to like?

Any questions etc just ask x

 

[VeinAST]

Looking forward to more updates!

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Good job on that paintwork. Black grills on black car = win.

 

[RDH]

Sell it to me?

Been looking at a black one with red leather on AT tonight. I really like these

 

[Scrooge]

Black with red leather= proper spec.

 

[chris_p]

Sell it to me?

Been looking at a black one with red leather on AT tonight. I really like these

My mate has just got himself an e90 M3 on a cracking finance rate, I won't lie, I'm tempted! Meaning this will go lol.

Theyre a great step up from a Clio tbh, definitely worth considering, absolute bargains.
I saw your thread on what car to get next btw, I think coming from a MCS and 182 you'll find a TT very dull..

 

[chris_p]

Cheers for the comments btw

I have to agree, the red and black are pretty boss! It gets lots of attention, the right type of attention unlike my little 182

 

[Joe#]

I'm in love with these cars. It looks fantastic mate. Good job on the wheels too, although I have to agree that BBS RS' would look so awesome.

 

[chris_p]

I'm in love with these cars. It looks fantastic mate. Good job on the wheels too, although I have to agree that BBS RS' would look so awesome.

Cheers mate, my last car was just like yours bar the stripes lol, similar tastes.

The wheels are hard work, but worth it. I hate forking out money for something when I can do it myself! The bbs rs will probably never happen, more financial commitments than to worry about some delicious wheels but I can dream.

 

[Shotgunsjay]

i had the 2.2se (silver, black roof and leather) sounded ok, drove ok, handled ok, but thats all it was ok nothing special, traded it in for a 197 f1 and now im all :approve:

 

[Rob]

No idea how I missed this mate, what a cracking spec motor you've got from standard.

Personally, as you've not got a lot to spend elsewhere, I'd go for the //M sport thicker wheel and the gear knob to match (shorter, and weighted)! Would make the inside even better. Have you tried to restore the leather yet? Some people have had cracking results!!!!

So lucky having the msport seats and xenons

Nice job on the wheels, hard work though isn't it? I would wet and dry to begin with, makes the start easier!

You've done a cracking job of the grilles and headlights too.

Keep us updated, 108's are awesome tbh, I'm thinking of buying a second set to play with...

If you sell before me, can I have your seats/door cards for mine?

 

[chris_p]

i had the 2.2se (silver, black roof and leather) sounded ok, drove ok, handled ok, but thats all it was ok nothing special, traded it in for a 197 f1 and now im all :approve:

You sir were lacking engine! I'm glad you got a car you enjoy, the Renault sport range are cracking, not for me at the moment though.

No idea how I missed this mate, what a cracking spec motor you've got from standard.

Personally, as you've not got a lot to spend elsewhere, I'd go for the //M sport thicker wheel and the gear knob to match (shorter, and weighted)! Would make the inside even better. Have you tried to restore the leather yet? Some people have had cracking results!!!!

So lucky having the msport seats and xenons

Nice job on the wheels, hard work though isn't it? I would wet and dry to begin with, makes the start easier!

You've done a cracking job of the grilles and headlights too.

Keep us updated, 108's are awesome tbh, I'm thinking of buying a second set to play with...

I got lucky dude, I waited for ages, did my homework and this popped up.
I think the gear knob sounds like a good shout, the gear change is alright as standard but could be shorter like the Ms.
Ive not bothered with the leather, it's generally in good condition the photo makes it look a bit tatty though granted! I will treat it with liquid leather or something at some point as my OCD rules me so no doubt I'll update this thread then.

I forgot to mention the roof, cleaned that pre detail. Nothing special, just some AG hood cleaner&protector, it came up well getting rid of the fold lines.

The wheels are tough work, but easy enough really, boring tbh! I stripped them with Nitrors, agitated, then wwent through the grades of wet&dry from 400 to 2500. I then polished them up using a drill bit attachment and some specialist pads/steel compounds. Then waxed to protect. As said I still need to finish them off but it's a good start.
I was playing with the idea of sending away the stars for a custom paint job, maybe a nice metallic purple flake but I think I may leave them silver, looks so clean.

Glad you're still enjoying yours, there's not much not to like tbh, good all rounders.
I went camping at the weekend with the missus, the car drummed up so much attention it was actually weird!

 

[DrewBear11]

Looks a lovely example mate

Defo considering one of these in the future when once I've begun & finished playing with Focus ST

If you don't mind me asking, what products, methods did you use on that scuff ? Cause that has come up beautifully

A machine to be proud of mate.

 

[chris_p]

Looks a lovely example mate

Defo considering one of these in the future when once I've begun & finished playing with Focus ST

If you don't mind me asking, what products, methods did you use on that scuff ? Cause that has come up beautifully

A machine to be proud of mate.

Cheers drewbear!

started with:

then some progressive shots..

Nearly finished

Done! I just need to touch in the chip, sand it down to the same level, one final pass and it's complete.

I originally hit it with a pass on my da with some menz 3.02, and a green pad but it wasn't man enough.
I turned my hand to some gradual wet sanding, grade 2500 keeping it well lubricated.
Once I was happy with the scratch removal I had a pass with menz 106 to refine and you wouldn't know it was there anymore

I'm going to give the car a well earned wash tomorrow and may take a few photos with a proper camera!

 

[leeds_182]

That black grill looks great.

 

[DrewBear11]

Cheers for getting back to me !

I've got a small scuff on the rear wheel arch very similar to that one, but tbh im a bit nervous of wet sanding it myself...

I'll give it a few passes with menz and see what i get, cheers man ! The marks are gone in that pic, excellent job !

 

[chris_p]

I treated the Z to some new cleaning products and I have to say I'm impressed!

As said earlier in the thread I'd previously machined the whole car bar the bonnet (as I wanted to do a full smart repair on stonechips) but I had a day off and thought feck it!

Rinsed, washed with daisy APC then clayed

The photos don't look too bad but in reality the bonnet was very swirled!

I went down my usual route: green pad, menz 3.02 followed by 106 on white hex. JD on here advised I try the Zenith technique, which I did and it works FAR better than anything I'd tried before, correction was easy tbh.

After: different light as it was an hour later lol, fully corrected.

I then washed the whole car with my new washmitt and duragloss shampoo, then dried with my new CYC huge drying towel.

2 coats of poorboys blackhole, and 2 coats of AG HD wax and I finished the car off with my new zaino z6, impressed! I was sceptical at first my it literally wowed me.

Heres the afters that you've probably skipped to lol:

The wheel I refurbed

Photos have been compressed massively but they still look alright. Thanks for reading x

 

[chris_p]

Little update, nothing exciting.

Overall, still very much enjoying the car! Although convertibles are primarily a summer tool, its been more than adequate over the cold winter we've had.
The snow was great, although this is not my daily I couldn't resist having some snow fun! It was pretty useless if you needed to be somewhere, how the hell Rob managed it I don't know as any minor incline was like climbing everest. So fun though! Ridiculously easy to put sideways and hold it there.

I've customised the rear lights and I'm over the moon with them, it's something that always bothered me about the prefacelift, that god damn orange on the rear! Strangely, I quite like it on the front, it breaks up the black and adds a splash of colour but on the rear it just dated it horrendously.
So simple too, I've tinted the indicator part of the cluster with 1 sheet of lamin x, and left the rest of the light. It still shines as orange as before, and most importantly it takes the edge off the horrid tango. It's still a bit orange which I don't mind, it just tones it down and still looks relatively oem.

Before (when the car was wearing some polish!)

After, the 'french fries' have also been removed, don't know why they split up the lights originally tbh.

I'll get some better photos of the car once I've given it a good clean with a decent camera.

I had a minor panic a couple of weeks ago when the coolant light came on, I topped it up, and it came on again. Naturally I cacked myself and assumed HGF lol, I took it to a bmw specialist and the radiator and expansion tank have now been replaced so it's all good.

I'll be honest, I do keep looking on AT/PH for new cars but I really shouldn't, this is more than enough car for me, I just miss having a hard top. Grass is always greener right..

 

[Rob]

Don't you dare sell it yet, it's almost the weather for it. just wait, top down, sun proper blazing, music on. You'll be in love.

As for the snow, I did hundreds of miles, when on winter wheels that I didn't care about so I wasn't worried about kerbs etc it was great fun and quite capable really for what it is.

Car looks superb in the clean photos, proper lovely. I'm almost at your spec now bar xenons, but I MAY do the clear lens headlights...

 

[chris_p]

Don't you dare sell it yet, it's almost the weather for it. just wait, top down, sun proper blazing, music on. You'll be in love.

As for the snow, I did hundreds of miles, when on winter wheels that I didn't care about so I wasn't worried about kerbs etc it was great fun and quite capable really for what it is.

Car looks superb in the clean photos, proper lovely. I'm almost at your spec now bar xenons, but I MAY do the clear lens headlights...

Cheers mate.
I hear what you're saying on the weather haha, it would be stupid to sell! I'll probably get a couple of months of sun and sell up. I shouldn't as I do love it, I just have a hankering for something else. Something with a turbo or two..or a Porsche.

Yours is coming along lovely, good seats make cars like these so much more special.
I'd recommend do your rear lights like mine though, I'll get some proper photos at some point. I now prefer them to the facelift lights!

 

[James28]

Good read!

 

[chris_p]

Good read!

Cheers!

As it was dry I went out for a proper drive just now, DSC fully off, sport button on, noisy pedal down.
After that little session, I've decided I'd be a fool to sell up so soon. Genuinely brilliant.

 

[Rob]

I'm glad you've changed your mind in the correct direction, IMO, they're BRILLIANT cars, the perfect thing for the summer, and not even that expensive. Quite popular with le females too

 

[deutsche_blonde]

How's your Plastidip holding up Chris? Mine lasted about a wk before it started peeling. I gave it 4 coats as well.

 

[chris_p]

How's your Plastidip holding up Chris? Mine lasted about a wk before it started peeling. I gave it 4 coats as well.

It's been on for about 10 months and it still looks as good as when I first did it! I didn't expect much from it but it's far surpassed my expectations.
You enjoying yours?

 

[Matthew]

Still gutted I didn't get one instead of my first GTI a few years ago.

Its a scratch I'm destined never to itch now

 

[deutsche_blonde]

It's been on for about 10 months and it still looks as good as when I first did it! I didn't expect much from it but it's far surpassed my expectations.
You enjoying yours?

What did I do wrong then, mine lasted a week!

Yeah i'm loving it. I had the front wishbone rear bushes replaced with polybushes yesterday and a full alignment afterwards. It's much improved the handling and got rid of the tramlining that was bugging me. Just need some sunshine now!

 

[ben81]

Nice work, looks so much nicer now!

 

[chris_p]

Still gutted I didn't get one instead of my first GTI a few years ago.

Its a scratch I'm destined never to itch now

Shame! Such a bargain at the moment too. The coupe is better still, but by the time you're in that price bracket you're nearly in M territory..

What did I do wrong then, mine lasted a week!

Yeah i'm loving it. I had the front wishbone rear bushes replaced with polybushes yesterday and a full alignment afterwards. It's much improved the handling and got rid of the tramlining that was bugging me. Just need some sunshine now!

Agree on the sunshine!
I was surprised with how well these handle, mines on m sport suspension, I don't know if it makes much difference but it feels good. The driving position helps sitting so far back it's hard to forget you're in a sports car, makes it more fun accelerating out of corners for some reason lol.

Nice work, looks so much nicer now!

Cheers man, I'm happy with the minor changes I've made. Nothing else planned tbh, full refurb for the wheels, spacers and a small drop and it'd be how I'd like it.