07/04/2002 - 1998 1.9 100,000 mile report - By: BMV
"This little four-pot BMW is all the sports car I need.", Road & Track, March 1999.... Our 5/98 1.9 recently hit 100k miles.

05/23/2002 - Wacky Gas Gauge - By: Robert Leidy
One of the most consistent failures in the BMW Z3 is the gas gauge. Let me share with you some observations I have made regarding my wacky gas gauge.

12/28/2001 - Z3 Paint Problems - By: Stu Beam
While in for a service check, I asked the BMW Center of San Antonio, Texas to look at the trunk lid to make an assessment of why the paint was fading. They stated there was nothing they could do and were not sure why it was fading.

12/28/2001 - Fighting Brake Squeaks - By: Robert Leidy
For some reason I associate brake squeak with old junker cars. It was embarrassing for me when my Z3 started making those annoying high pitched squeaks every time I came to a stop sign. After some research the solution was cheap and easy.

12/28/2001 - Changing Brake Pads - By: Robert Leidy
After 60,000 miles on the stock brake pads I assumed I was getting close to needing to change them. I've been pleased with the performance of the stock BMW brake pads, but the brake dust was always a mess. I wanted to find some replacement pads that offered equal performance but without all the brake dust mess.

06/06/2001 - VDO Oil Pressure Gauge - By: Shawn McCurdy
The BMW M coupe comes with a warning light for oil pressure, as well as an oil temperature gauge in the center console. I'd like to know if my oil pressure drops below normal without waiting for the oil warning light to come on at 7 PSI, so I decided to install a VDO oil pressure gauge.

06/05/2001 - Cleaning the Conforti Air Intake System - By: Robert Leidy
I'm a big fan of the Conforti Air Intake System, since installation the unit has not given me any trouble and has offered great performance (plus it sounds good). But the time had come to clean the filter. Thankfully cleaning this air intake is nowhere near as involved as cleaning the dinan air intake.

01/04/2000 - Philips Bluevision and Allweather bulbs - By: Brad Husick
I replaced the stock bulbs in my 1999 M Roadster with Philips Bluevision and Allweather bulbs. The entire process took about 15 minutes.

11/01/1999 - Z Rated Tire Patch-Plug - By: Robert Leidy
Not soon after recovering from the expense of new M roadster tires, I discover a nail embedded in the tread. Luckily I found a solution that maintains the Z rating on the tires.

08/20/1999 - PIAA replacement headlight bulbs - By: Robert Leidy
I've always been unhappy with the performance of the headlights in my 98 M roadster. PIAA makes replacement headlight bulbs that are the same wattage but claim to produce brighter, whiter light.

07/26/1999 - Servicing the Z3 Battery - By: Robert Leidy
The leading cause of battery failure in the Z3 is from a lack of water. Learn how to properly check and maintain the water level in your battery.

05/23/1999 - Swapping Z3 and M roadster rear view mirrors - By: Robert Leidy
If the grass is always greener on the other side, we confirmed that the Z3 and M roadster rear view mirror can be interchanged.

05/23/1999 - Fixing a paint chip on Robert's M roadster - By: Robert Leidy
After last years homecoming I picked up a real nasty rock chip on the hood of my M roadster. The rock that hit me caused a chip about 5mm wide and a pair of secondary chips that appear to have come from fragments of rock. Needless to say it was a big blemish that I wanted to get rid of.

03/03/1999 - Improving the Boot Cover Snaps - By: Robert Leidy
I still consider the boot cover a pain to put on, but this improvement makes it a little easier to deal with. It's an old idea from the original windscreen instructions so consider it BMW approved.

02/26/1999 - Cell Phone and Radar Detector Power, another way - By: Russ Caslis
I was getting tired of plugging my cell phone charger into my cigar lighter, so I decided to permanently wire it into my car.

02/26/1999 - Finding Power in your Center Console - By: Vince Parsons
Need access to a switched or unswitched power source in your Z3? BMW prewired the Z3 for their cell phone kit. Part of this prewiring is a connector providing switched and unswitched power.

10/16/1998 - Dissecting the M Air Intake Box - By: Robert Leidy
I was curious to see how the M air intake box worked. It looks similar to the 2.8 air intake box, but has some additional performance enhancing additions to it.

06/27/1998 - HK Sub Dissected - By: Robert Leidy
Just had to see how this HK sub worked, so I took it apart.

05/31/1998 - Tilting the Front Seat More - By: Richard Carlson
Instructions to raise/tilt the Z3 seat to provide more comfort and support

05/31/1998 - Direct V1 Power in the 2.8 - By: Chris Bull
I wanted a switched direct power source for my V1. I tried to follow the directions for the M Roadster and discovered the 2.8 is wired a little differently.

04/27/1998 - Power for your Radar Detector - By: Robert Leidy
Are you tired of using that cigarette lighter as a power source for your radar detector? Well here is a way to hard wire a power source for it in your M roadster.

04/21/1998 - Cutting the Cord - Power For Your Radar - By: Richard Carlson
How to install a hidden power cord for your radar detector.

04/04/1998 - Adding a Motion Sensor to the BMW Alarm - By: Lou Voerman
The BMW alarm lacks a motion sensor which is really needed for convertible (top down) protection. These instructions will tell you how to add a proximity sensor to the stock alarm.