Schaefft's Bargain Barge Extravaganza - BMW Z3, XK8, Swedish Lawn Mower, Taxis...

[Schaefft]

Bronx late April '95 or Newcastle '25?

Played taxi service when taking the inlaws back home from church today. They both are the opposite of car people but praised the velour-like seat materials and comfort.

Also, if you ever wondered how a "fullsize" Jag compares to a fullsize product from Detroit (Arlington TX really), there you go:

[Schaefft]

I've spent the last few days throwing some of the bits I've hoarded at the Z3. The biggest offenders were the cheap aftermarket floor mats that had to go:

Instead we now have original BMW mats in pretty much new condition, with all the fittings needed to hold them in place properly:

Next on the list: Replace the flaking chromeline shifter and the sea of black plastic on the center console:

Center console out, not particularly hard to figure out either. Hoovered everying while in there before putting things back together.

The next steps however were a lot more faffy than I expected. To replace the plastic trim with its wood counterpart you have to disassemble everything in a very specific order, which basically means that you have to take it all apart until you can't anymore:

It doesn't help that BMW, in all their wisdom, introduced tiny differences between center consoles that received the wood trim and those that didn't, absolutely unnecessarily as well, like the little notch in the knee bolsters.

Everything back in one piece. I know some people don't appreciate wood in their cars all that much but it sure looks better than all the alternatives BMW would have offered you at the time:

I've replaced the handbrake lever with a wood one as well, thats actually a pretty rare part for Z3s. I tried to figure out why my handbrake warning light isn't coming on in the dash (unless I cycle the key), the old contact switch bracket it grounds itself to was pretty oxidized. Replacing it all didn't seem to do the trick though, I think the wire to the switch just doesn't supply any voltage.

[Schaefft]

You may have noticed that I've also replaced the somewhat tacky looking Alpine headunit with an original BMW Z3 one. Unfortunately I cannot get it to turn on (no sound, display, button illumination etc.). The original harness is untouched, I get voltage from the battery and ignition to the harness earth as it should be, the fuse in the head unit isn't blown. I took the faceplate off to clean all the contacts on it but still no luck. I can hear a relay of some sort clicking when pressing the on button as well (plus some brief quiet noise from the speakers) so I know something is working. If anyone had any experience of their Philips/BMW/90s radio refusing to work for no apparent reason (this one had been sitting for years outside the car with the previous owner), let me know!

[hairnet]

25 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

I've spent the last few days throwing some of the bits I've hoarded at the Z3. The biggest offenders were the cheap aftermarket floor mats that had to go:

Instead we now have original BMW mats in pretty much new condition, with all the fittings needed to hold them in place properly:

Next on the list: Replace the flaking chromeline shifter and the sea of black plastic on the center console:

Center console out, not particularly hard to figure out either. Hoovered everying while in there before putting things back together.

The next steps however were a lot more faffy than I expected. To replace the plastic trim with its wood counterpart you have to disassemble everything in a very specific order, which basically means that you have to take it all apart until you can't anymore:

It doesn't help that BMW, in all their wisdom, introduced tiny differences between center consoles that received the wood trim and those that didn't, absolutely unnecessarily as well, like the little notch in the knee bolsters.

 

german complains about germans

 

[Schaefft]

17 minutes ago, hairnet said:

german complains about germans

 

I'm not immune to complaining about silly engineering decisions😂

[Schaefft]

That's right, I somehow never owned a Volvo or Saab before, which means thanks to @Rocket88 this Stiga Villa Classic is my first ownership experience of a vehicle made in Sweden.

It even says so right on the floor:

It got delivered this morning. Aside from one flat rear tire that I fixed with fire there wasn't anything wrong with it. I charged the battery (we didn't know there is a cut-out switch under the seat you need to sit on to crank it) and changed the oil and it started right up!

I haven't looked into the details of the engine yet but it seems to be your ubiquitous Briggs and Stratton 4 stroke petrol machine. Its got a slight misfire despite fresh petrol which is noticeable at lower rpm and it cut out once during my test run and was tricky to start no matter how much/little choke I gave it, as if it was starving for fuel. I'll probably need to get a carb service kit or at the very least some plugs. Let me know if you have any suppliers you can recommend for these. I did get a little area mowed though:

Lets do a little tour of it then, shall we? It's got a whole 5 speeds plus reverse, I was actually a little surprised to see that. Its doesn't hang around when in 5th!

Front wheel drive, rear wheel steering. Its basically a Honda Prelude. Nice offroad tires, too.

Dinky little gearbox and chain drive:

The deck seems to be in great shape, most of these usually seem to be rotten out. Adjustable for 9 different height settings. Doesn't seem to be the most powerful mower cutting long grass but it should do the job.

Engine speed is measured in turtoise and rabbit. You can also adjust the seat height depending on your weight, graphics are pure fat shaming:

Lets see if I can get this thing to run smoothly and turn it into a reliable mower. It certainly seems to be a solid piece of kit, they were anything but cheap when new and most of its successors are still being sold with 4 digit asking prices so I'm very happy with my purchase so far.

I've had a little detour on my petrol run with another vehicle of similar vintage:

I giant spider lowered itself from the windshield frame while driving. That'll need to leave before I take it for its upcoming test...

[cbowditch]

I think I would of crashed if a giant spider attacked me whilst driving! 

[hairnet]

On 27/04/2025 at 21:09, Schaefft said:

Bronx late April '95 or Newcastle '25?

 

 

no steam sadly

[Schaefft]

6 hours ago, cbowditch said:

I think I would of crashed if a giant spider attacked me whilst driving! 

It doesn't help that there constantly seem to be new spider webs forming around the windshield! The hoover will remain next to the car in the garage for a little while I think.

I recently got my XK8 key fobs back from the repair service, it now has two perfectly well working remotes again (one actually belongs to the XJR I think), looks like the battery contacts were the issue. No more alarms going off shortly after unlocking the doors! For under 30 quid including new batteries I cannot complain about that, its a major quality of life improvement with the Jag.

So with the nice weather outside it was a great choice for the trip to Tesco. It's a car thats very easy to like, it looks great, sounds good, has decent handling and pulling power and is slowly becoming a better and better vehicle. It's also got plenty of space for groceries (don't forget theres a backseat, too!):

The next jobs on it will be replacing a blown lowbeam bulb and sorting the parking brake. Long term I'd have to do something about the rust on the rear quarters, its all fixable and seems to be fairly solid still but the question is whether this would be the right XK8 to do this kind of work on. With so many of them around for cheap with much lower miles it would be easy to just wait for the right car that won't need paint. Then again this is a fairly well sorted example that could be kept on the road for relatively little money, unless something tries to blow up again. And if you find a cheap XK8 convertible it's unlikely to be in any better shape. The devil you know etc.