Broken Convertible Roof Motor

[Sephanite]

Recently, the roof motor has been making a straining noise when its folding down or up and moved slower. Today though, it stopped halfway with a lil noise and the roof not moving making me pull it close by hand and pressing the close button to lock it into place.

DIY for checking and changing the motor?
Anyone know if there is a simple fix?
Motor price or what else could be broken?

[*AL*]

Ouch this can an expensive problem to resolve.Is the motor 'straining' or is the roof frame stiff? This would put load on the motor and potentially damage it.Have you tried manually raising and lowering the roof as this will give you a good idea if you have a stiff frame or failing motor. If the roof moves freely does the motor now make any sound? If not has the fuse blown? If it is a failed motor then it's not an easy DIY job, it all depends how mechanically skilled you are and if you want to give it a go? If mine goes i'm giving it a go but i'd rather try preventative maintanence, ie lubing the frame pivot points and clearing drain channels.

[Sephanite]

The motor is straining and the roof is easy to move by hand and close manually

[*AL*]

The motor is straining and the roof is easy to move by hand and close manually

Doesn't look good then, motor could be goosed.Has it always been slow or straining, as i was wondering if there is any warning with motor failure?

[Sephanite]

there was a warning. the motor started making some straining noises about 1 mth ago and the roof would shake open instead of a smooth fold

[*AL*]

there was a warning. the motor started making some straining noises about 1 mth ago and the roof would shake open instead of a smooth fold

Sorry to hear, but thanks for the info.

[Shipkiller]

MIne has gone also. I am getting ready to take my Zed to the dealers and have it fixed...

[Sephanite]

i hope your dealer is more merciful then mine. They said this is a big job and asked me for 800$ labour. looking at doing it myself atm

[Shipkiller]

I know how to do it, I just am worried that if I have to bleed the hydraulic system, I will not be able to do it. In this case, it my be better for the dealer to do it than me....

[zee42]

Just beat on it really hard with a hammer........fixes most of the problems I've had !!!!!

[Shipkiller]

[*AL*]

Just beat on it really hard with a hammer........fixes most of the problems I've had !!!!!

I think the only thing being beat on hard will be the pocket unfortunately! I'd give it a go myself.

[Sephanite]

Just beat on it really hard with a hammer........fixes most of the problems I've had !!!!!

I think the only thing being beat on hard will be the pocket unfortunately! I'd give it a go myself.

im good at beating stuff hard. its always a screamer

[Cloudberry]

My 2005 Z4 had this problem too .The roof would unlatch from the windscreen frame when activating the opening button, but it would not go backwards into open position. If I pushed the closing button, the roof latched into close position and sealed towards the top of the windscreen frame. My local stealer fixed the roof, and it turned out that the electrical motor had been exposed to water. To protect the motor, it is wrapped in a protective bag. But for some reason, water accumulated into the bag. Hence, the motor was permanently soaked, and it eventually failed. When I saw the failed motor after the repair, it was rusty and in a bad condition.




From my view this is actually a design error. It is described in a BMW service bulletin dated august 2003 (SI B 54 03 03, http://tech.bentleypublishers.com/servl ... 40303g.pdf). But as the problem normally takes some time to occur (usually after the warranty periode ), BMW has not done anyting to correct the problem.

[Shipkiller]

How hard was it to get the softtop out of the car. I have the TIS/ETK procedures, but I was wondering just how hard it was to do?

From what I see in the procedures, I have to remove the rear trim panels (behind the seats) to access the mounting bolts to get the top out of the car.