I just bought a 2000 Z3 2.0 6cyl 5spd in Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. This video was very helpful. Replaced my door handle gaskets while watching.
I just picked up a 96 with the 1.9 in silver and black with 25K on the odometer. Great shape but will definitely need some sorting out. Glad I found your channel. Thank you for sharing your experience and tips. Agree about the beauty of the Z3. Timeless.
Alright, a channel for Z3. Your car is the same color as mine. I have a 98 with a 2.8 engine. I have done a lot of work to mine, replaced engine, catalytic converter, seat bushings, radiator, door seal. I am now repainting. I repainted the front bumper cover and currently painting the rock chips on the front of the hood. Oddly enough my door handle gaskets are in pretty good shape.
Your videos have literally made me work on cars now thanks for all you do for the Z3 community very informative and great instructional videos. I live in SW Florida.
Picked up my original parts today and the difference in quality compared to those from Ali Express is like night and day. Hopefully they’ll last another 30 years.😂
My goodness, what were those shenanigans in the beginning? I forgot I was about to watch you fix a car. That's talent. You're good. Yes. I guess I'll watch the rest now, before I fix mine. Thanks, that was great.
Love the very informative and cool video on this door handle gasket replacement. And, I might add, the convertible top conditioning video, I just finished, as well. I'm a Z3 lover, too! I own an Imola Red 2000 M Roadster, and a 2000 Topaz Blue Z3. Love these cars, like you!! Your DIY repair and maintenance videos are very helpful Thanks bud!!
Les- thank you so much for watching! Sorry for the delayed response. Love to get pics and descriptions of both cars for the next Zed of the Week if you'd like. Check the description of any vid for details.
Thank you. I started by ordering only the gaskets from the link above, once disassembled I realized that one of the bottom plastic catch tabs was old and had sheared off inside the door so I went back and ordered new covers too. Overall it was very easy, took less than 30 minutes and the directions were perfect, looks like new now!
So i was pushing in the wrong place and finally figured it out. Unfortunately the gasket I purchased on Aliexpress was of such poor quality that it tore in my hands while trying to fit it, so will now look again online.
Great video Mark! I think mine are completely gone so I need to do this as well. I used to own 2 E36s and those handle gaskets were bad too. Good ol Florida sun sure wears out old rubber and plastics. Take care!
@@MomentofZed my next project is the seats they are rocking i already get the bushings been watching the video you have made....yes it's my next project
@@minrorotololo good luck! I forgot to put in that you should disconnect the battery before you disconnect the seat wiring harnesses. Reconnect the battery after reconnecting the seat harnesses when you're done.
Maybe I misunderstood what you mean by brass rod, but you don’t have to touch anything brass coloured. There’s a tab adjacent to the inside of the door very close to the handle that you just push with a tool such as an Allen Key. It’s wider so easier to push with - hope this helps someone
dude.... "restore to black" you can put on anytime without taking the handle out. As long as you had them out you should have spray painted them with a high quality paint. Same color.
I took the handle cover off to change the gasket; both the handle and handle cover were OK, so I just polished them up a little. But, good advice as they are continuing to fade; I'll have to spray them black again sometime soon. Thanks for watching!
Never noticed this until seeing this video. Mine has just slight cracking on the gaskets. Certainly not bad enough to change but good to know when and if I feel it is needded.
I have a 2000 Silver Z3 but the door handles are silver metal, and there is a leather panel on the inside of the door. Your video shows just the metal on the inside of the door so I'm assuming you already removed the leather panel or yours doesn't have one? I already bought the replacement door handle cover and gaskets for both driver's and passengers doors and thought maybe I could replace them myself but I have no idea how to remove the leather door panel that also includes the leather grab bar (not sure what it is called) and the speaker. Is this to complicated to do myself and should I just have my repair shop do it? I have a feeling it's not gonna be easy for me to do or cheap for them to do.
Kathleen, the part I'm manipulating in the video is inside the door jamb (the small side facing rear when the door is closed) and releases the outer door handle cover (you're commenting on the inside door handle). I'm lucky in that my inner door panel/handle are in excellent condition, and I don't plan on removing them if I can avoid it. You can remove the inner door panel; I'll attach some links to help. Many viewers have done it themselves; I don't know your level of experience/confidence. One thing I'd suggest if you try it yourself is to buy a kit of tools to help, sucjh as the one I reviewed here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RqQb2h-UAN8.html Here's some other folks tacking the inner panel removal: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZKaVItaMWYU.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CCv-vWho_mU.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2QaQvxO2_Ek.html Let us know how/what you did, good luck!
@@MomentofZed hi there!! Thank you for your response. I actually need to replace the handle cover and gasket on the outside of the door so it sounds like we have the same issue. From your video, I just thought that the hole you were accessing to get to the handle was under the door panel. If it’s in the door jam, it should be much easier to do. I actually just went outside and opened the driver’s door and I saw the area I need to access. I don’t have the tools you used so am wondering if I can replace it without them by McGivering it. Lol
@@kathleenperkins6581 The hole is at the top of the door jamb, with a two piece plastic cover as shown in the video. If you don't have "soft" tools, I would use a thin blade regular screwdriver with the tip covered in electrical or duct tape so it doesn't scratch around the hole. This alone will get you to the point where the cover and gasket are off. Then you can use any smallish metal hook shaped object to pull the brass bar to the locked position once you have the new parts on. I certainly wouldn't pay anyone to do this, should be a 20 minute job each side. Good luck!
The video was well done, thanks. Unfortunately, the little brass colored bars on my rust-free 2000 won't budge. I tried pushing, prying, and pounding and there's no moving them. Both sides are that way, don't know what I'm doing wrong but they simply won't move and the gaskets are solid and won't come out, except for one side that fell apart while prying on it, but the new one won't go in.
Hit it with lubricant and make sure you're trying to move it the right way! Double check everything you're doing before trying to force things. A lesson I've learned the hard way! 😁
@@MomentofZed Thanks for getting back to me. Yes I shot WD40 in there and tried pulling the brass rod then pushing then pulling to loosen it. I don't go ham fisted unless all other options are exhausted, and even then go back and research again. I looked for other brass rods in there and only saw the one.
@@andrewszatmari2941 I'd try wd40 or a similar penetrant , with that said make sure you are trying to move the right part. I didn't have my endoscopia camera then and some folks have told me they were trying to move the wrong part
I'd hit it with wd40 or something similar and let it soak a little while and try again. Be sure you're pushing the right part. Sorry I couldn't show it better. I have an endoscopic camera now, but this is an old video.
Not exactly a 5 minute job. It took me about 30 minutes total. I was kind of disappointed in the fit of one of the gaskets. Maybe it will sit down after some time. I might email the company about it. Good video though, and an easy job. Thanks!
Sorry to hear that. That's the first time anyone's mentioned it. Been awhile since I made this. If it's an Amazon link, the return is easy, at least. I'm sure you don't want to dismantle it again though.
Gave this a try, but cannot get either door handle cover to unlock. I've tried both doors of my 2001 Z3 roadster, on each side I'm pushing hard on the ends of the brass rods but they don't move. Could the mechanisms be seized up? I've even sprayed WD-40 in there, and it doesn't seem to help. Anyone else had this issue? Thank you!
Haven't heard of this; I'm assuming mine were original and the brass rod moved easily. It's only going to move a quarter inch or so. Any others having this problem? Please comment!
@@MomentofZed Thank you so much, I figured it out. The first thing I saw was a rod that I pushed on, but it turns out I was pushing on the wrong thing. In mine it looks more like a tab, and I was doing the passenger door and the color of the tab is black. Weirdly on the drivers side door the tab is brass in color. Leave it to me to make it much harder than it needed to be, but all is well now. Thank you so much for the wonderful Z3 videos!
@@joesofia6875 i was thinking you might have over thought it. Sorry my camera wasnt more up to tbe task! Which i had had the endoscope for that one! Glad it worked out!
Hi what would happen if i swap the 2.5 in the trunk to 5.2 and make engine noises will the Miata's believe me? thx for ur channel has any issues with the fluid from the roof only works for like 3 uses and it all leak's out .
Need to purchase replacement oval-shaped plastic plugs that had to be removed to replace the door handle cover gaskets.. the originals (1997 Z-3) were dried and cracked when I removed them,e can anyone tell me what these little plgs are called or ID the part number(s)?
@@MomentofZed yeah that was my thought tried that as well so I’m taking a break before I break something and moving on to the seat bushings next lol come back to that I guess
