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When I finally get the dash I think I will have it flocked but keep the insert where the small instruments sit painted in body colour.
Want to keep the centre console and door panels and if possible keep the original glove box under the new dash.
Morning finally had a chance to make some progress on the dash , it is now fitted but not yet bolted in. This will allow me check the warning lights and gauges , i would probably not want to do the same again!but it does look good , rewiring the BMW circuit board to allow for warning lights on the dash was not easy as there is also limited space to fit everything in . The lights i ended up using were small chrome LED units , all the supposed "classic style lights" i saw were much to large , this is the first time i have used LED lights and the quality of the unit is just OK , after wiring up them i thought they were rubbish as a number did not work! it turns out that unlike the normal 12v dc bulbs the LED`s only work with batt and earth one way around . The rewired BMW circuit board can be seen in the second photo but will be hidden by the new centre console but the mileometer will still be able to be seen , Geoff .
Like you I overlooked that the "D" in LED is for diode. Hence current will flow only one way.
The connectors are usually different lengths. The longer leg is the positive (in nearly all cases) unless they are packaged in a unit. You can't (usually) damage them by wiring them backwards.
Good evening , the dash and the way that i put the instruments together is a mission , but it really is a good finishing touch , pretty much the only clue to the Z3 heritage is the small BMW marked on the bottom corner of the windscreen , although at one point during the morning i did see and hear somebody say it was based on a Z3 after googling a registration website! Geoff .
Good evening all , my car lives outside but is usually covered with a "Triple lined car cover" this works fine until it is really windy as in the last couple of days!
so the first snow of the winter has fallen , i wonder if Jeff used an anti-snow protection coat when he had finished spraying my car . In my opinion the paintwork looks just as good as when i picked the car up , so thanks Jeff , Geoff .
Glad to hear the car is still looking well, no special treatment applied really, once flatted and polished we just use a glaze as it is not recommended to wax fresh paint until it has fully cured.
Mine is sat outside also under a cover but I have had to take the door handles off along with the mirrors, fuel cap, and head lamp bezels due to them starting to get tarnished. (rubbish chrome)
Evening Jag thanks for that , this is what my dash looks like.
The top row of switches are from left to right,a standard Z3 air con switch modified to look "old fashioned" then two switches for front and rear fogs (only rear in use) then a switch for the Hazards.
The next row down are the three Z3 Heater controls again modified. The hole above the line of four switches allows me to see the Z3 mileometer (this is where i positioned the Z3 instrument cluster PCB) this came in useful at MOT time!
The two things left to do are to make a panel to replace the Z3 Glove Box which no longer fits and to find some 8mm sticky vinyl letters to stick on the heads of the various switches
F for Fog L for Lights etc , Geoff .
Looking good.
Shame the original glove box doesn't fit anymore, would have made it easier.
Is the mileometer visible? I presume it will need to be for MOT's.
How come the glove box no longer fits with the new dashboard? Does it just not line up or something? I will hopefully be fitting my new dash in the next few weeks so just after a bit of info.
Good afternoon , ref the glovebox , it would fit in relation to the dash , but because of the curved edge on the right hand side of the glovebox i could not work out a way of combining it with a new centre console , i definitely did not want to retain the standard Z3 centre console as that would have been the last thing in my car which would give a clue to its origin . When i had my MOT done (last month) the tester did ask the mileage reading as he could not see it , i pointed it out to him and he took the reading , i dont know what would have been the result if he could not see a reading (fail? or advisory?) Geoff .
. The rewired BMW circuit board can be seen in the second photo but will be hidden by the new centre console but the mileometer will still be able to be seen , Geoff .
