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How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

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Shipkiller
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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Shipkiller » Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:28 am

I have the AutoEnginuty Laptop system for my cars. This system will read the non-ODB-II codes from the manufactures that are proprietary.. The softtop module is a non-ODB-II system.

I bought my electro-hydrualic motor from the local dealer but I use these two web sellers an awful lot.

BMWPartzDirect
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ ... eid=214760

Tischer
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ ... atalogid=0
Drives 2008 Z4MC (His) & 2003 Z4 Roadster (Her's)

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Leon_in_uk » Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:18 am

How long will thus take to remove for the first time? Also why tape the car up? Thanks
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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Kiamarakid » Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:03 am

Thanks to great posting by ShipKiller I have sucessfully removed the softtop from my 2003 Z4. I have found a hydraulic pipe has been trapped and has sprung a leak. This is undoubtedly the cause of the failure to raise the roof. The question I have now I have spent an unbelieveable $250 on two $5 hydraulic hoses, is how do I put fluid into them, is there a procedure for filling the pump and bleeding the air out of the system?


Added later....I just spoke to a BMW garage today and the Service guy said fill the fluid to the line while the soft top is out of the car, with the hood all closed up and there is no need to run the motor.

I tried to buy a hydraulic kit so that I had new copper washers to fit on my new hydraukic pipes, I only needed 4 washers, but BMW sells the kit which includes all sort of usless stuff for over $100, what a rip off!!
Last edited by Kiamarakid on Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:45 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Kiamarakid » Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:14 am

Leon,
Having just removed it I would say 6 hours to remove, partly because I did not know the terms referred to in the description and ended up trying to remove the carpet in the trunk (boot to you) because I thought this was the 'Soft top Compartment Floor' when in fact that is some thing else. You tape up the car to avoid scratching the paintwork which is easily done when finally extracting the softtop from the car.

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by TRocky » Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:54 am

Okay, guess it's my turn.

We finally moved out of the minivan phase of life and although our budget is slim, I felt my wife deserved something to celebrate her third year of being free of Breast Cancer. Two weeks ago we bought a 2003 Z4 2.5i with 54k. It needed a front wheel bearing and rear control arm, plus the Check Engine Light was on (turned out to be old codes from when the previous owner had replaced the alternator a week before we bought it). Local dealer checked it out and gave us the thumbs-up, cleared the old codes and off we went! It was my plan to do the bearing and control arm (I'm a former Fiat mechanic from the days when Fiat was still in the US).

Last week the Check Engine Light again came on and this time it was a secondary air pump for the smog setup (My Fiat never had one of those!). Whilst driving it to the dealer to have it checked the top stopped working. Some $850 later the Check Engine Light is off, the bearing and control arm are still waiting to be replaced, and I am facing $2500 so my wife can enjoy the sunshine.

I need some reassurance:

1)...that this removal and replacement process can be done and is not wrought with pitfalls and other things left out of the procedure
2)...that BMW does indeed build cars to drive and not to fix
3)...that someone knows the name and address of the engineer who designed the top with the hydro motor buried deep in the bowels of the car, next to an undersized drain hole (I think I would like to visit him and have a chat, perhaps see if he fits in that drain hole)

Seriously, I am going to give this a go. Otherwise there may be a Miata in our future. My dealer has suggested 4 parts for this project; the motor unit ($517.47), wiring harness ($109.83), hydraulic repair kit ($83.04), and Enclosure/Sound Insulation ($123.13). I found that ecstuning.com had these parts in stock for about $250 less and I don't mind waiting since shipkiller's write-up is so amazingly complete. I know shipkiller skipped the wiring harness replacement but I do not want to go in there again...which brings me to a question: How long do the convertible tops last on these vehicles? Mine looks great, but since half of the work would also be necessary to replace the top...

Anything else I should know? Wish me luck.

PS: My first car was a 1958 MG-A and when the batteries were dead (there were 2) I could use the emergency hand crank and be on my way...what has happened in 50 years???

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by srhutch » Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:14 am

A Few members have done this now and nobody has failed or given up that I know off. I am also not aware of anybody changing the wiring harness or hydraulic repair kit, just the motor and enclosure.
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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by AlanJ » Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:20 am

TRocky - welcome to the forum.I have my Zed from new and now into my 6th year with very few probles (broken rear suspension springs and thats about it), apart from that just routine maintenance and a few BMW erxtras added. Fortunately my car is garaged when not in use so perhaps is not subject to the drain hole problems others have had which has resuilted in the hydraulic motor problems. As for the fabric top - just a regular clean during a normal wash and thorough clean twice a year has kept it like new. I have made a point of not lowering it when wet which seems to have prevented crease marks etc. I agree with your rational on the wiring harness - do the lot at the same time. And yes GOOD LUCK!
///M tri colour steering wheel, mud flaps and loads of other extras! ZHP illuminated gear lever..... Pre Purchase Checks,Getting the Best out of Dealers http://www.bmwz4roadster.net

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Uxorious » Wed Aug 04, 2010 2:45 am

TRocky wrote: 1)...that this removal and replacement process can be done and is not wrought with pitfalls and other things left out of the procedure
2)...that BMW does indeed build cars to drive and not to fix
3)...that someone knows the name and address of the engineer who designed the top with the hydro motor buried deep in the bowels of the car, next to an undersized drain hole (I think I would like to visit him and have a chat, perhaps see if he fits in that drain hole)

...which brings me to a question: How long do the convertible tops last on these vehicles? Mine looks great, but since half of the work would also be necessary to replace the top...
My 2003 Z4 had the top fail just over a year ago - water intrusion as you can guess.
Back then, I bit the bullet and paid the $1500-$2000 to have it repaired.
Guess what ... now 1 year later it happened again ... and while the part is still under warranty, it turns out it does not cover "water intrusion" so I'm on my own again.

I'm trying my insurance since this is clearly not a case of "normal wear and tear" (the fact that BMW has a technical bulletin about this issue tells you they also know its a problem).

Has anybody gotten BMW to own up to the problem and fix it.
Pawning it off on the owners, and crossing their fingers and hope it will last a few years is totally unacceptable!

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Kiamarakid » Wed Aug 04, 2010 12:04 pm

Hi,

I just recently removed the soft-top from a Z4 to repair a hydraulic leak. It turns out that one of the hydraulic cables had been trapped (probably installed incorrectly when the soft-top was replaced) and I had a big oil spill on the driveway when I tried to close the top.

I followed Shipkillers description for removal of the top which was a huge help. I did have some small problems.

It took 6 hours to remove, partly because I did not know the term 'Soft top Compartment Floor' referred to in the description and ended up trying to remove the carpet in the trunk because I thought this was the 'Soft top Compartment Floor'.

I did not know why you tape up the car but this is to avoid scratching the paintwork which is easily done when finally extracting the softtop from the car and putting it back. I would add that you should tape up the back of the head-rests as they got all scratched up in the removal process.

Having removed the soft-top I could clearly see that one of the hydraulic pipes had been crushed and there was still evidence of oil on the pipe. I had to buy a pair of new hydraulic pipes (long ones for the passenger side) and was suprised to find that the 2 pipes cost $250 to replace, what a rip off this was...but then again what is the alternative? I was in Orange County Ca, and bought the pipes from one dealer, only to find he did not have hydraulic oil and it would have to be special ordered and come from Germany! I spent a couple of hours on the phone and found another dealer ad the oil in stock, which I duly bought. This dealer did not have the hydraulic kit, which comprises copper washers and some toher odds and ends for another $100. I declined to take this and chanced it with the old washers. So getting all the parts took another day and a bit.

Removing the pipes was easy and you just have to be careful to note where the pipies run. The pipes are labelled 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 and so is the pump. Make sure you put them back in the right place.

So now you have it all back together, but what to do with the fluid. There is a bolt in the top of the plastic housing, remove it and pour in hydraulic fluid until it is full, then put the bolt back.

Now how to purge the system.....I had the soft-top on a camping table and decided the best way to purge it was to open and close it a few times. You will need the help of a friend for this as once a free soft-top starts opening it has a mind of its own. I took a cable (and old power cord) and connected to the battery +ve and -ve terminals MAKING SURE THE OTHER ENDS DON'T TOUCH, then connected the other 2 ends to the pump motor terminals (I had to roll back the protective insulation on the terminals). Then amazingly the soft-top starts to rear its head .... your colleague is hanging onto it for grim death until it is completely open. Then pull the bypass loop that it normally accessible from the trunk to relieve the pressure and the top will close. Do this a few times and then top up the fluid until it is nearly full.

Put the pump motor back into its plastic housing. This is a cheap and nasty piece of engineering, that does not enhance the German Engineering reputation. You will need duct tape to get the housoing to stay closed and also to tape the hydraulic cables into their respective slots on the housing. So lashings of duct tape and then secure the whole motor assembly so that it hangs down by hooking the plastic slot over the metal 'hook' and tighten the silly little screw so that the motor assembly is connected, albeit in a Mickey Mouse manner, to the rest of the soft-top.

Now you will need that colleague again to get the whole assembly back in place, it needs to be someone who has some strength as this is not a job for the faint-hearted. Lift the whole assembly and feed the motor assembly into its hole first, jiggle the whole lot so that you can get the U shaped part of the soft-top fixing over the bottom bolt on either side and then try to get the hoop to fit into the slot on each side. You don't need to have put the rubber seal in place yet. Do get in the trunk and tighten up all those bolt you removed from the hoop. All those contortions and time spent in the trunk did not do my back any good at all and ruined my golf game the next time I played due to mussle pains!!

How do you seal the rubber? there seem to be two levels of sealing, the undersidewhich pushes onto a metal flange which is inside the car. Mine already seem to have some soft goo inside the rubber, which I assume is to seal it. I asked at the BMW dealer what it was , but could never get an answer. so I just used what was there and pushed the whole thing back, it takes time but does go back with persuasion and strong hands.

The top part of the seal is where the rubber rests on the paintwork. I used Silicon grease which you can buy from ACE hardware for penuts and paited it on the inside of the rubber with a kids paint brush. It seemed to help the rubber slde into place.

After connecting the electrics, putting all the other bits together

Getting the final mouldings in place was a trial, I ended up having to use instant glue to avoid having a big hole where the soft-top moulding and the complex rubber moulding interweave in each side.

I did a water hose test to see if anything leaked and it all seemed OK.....then finally the moment of truth...a week after starting...would it work... and suprise suprise it did. So we will see if it stands the test of time....good luck!
KiamaraKid

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by sctiberio » Tue Sep 21, 2010 2:01 am

THANKS!! I GOT AS FAR AS REMOVING THE HOOPS FROM THE CLIPS AND GOT STUMPED. THIS INFO SHOULD COME IN HANDY.

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Uxorious » Tue Sep 21, 2010 3:33 am

Uxorious wrote:
TRocky wrote: ...which brings me to a question: How long do the convertible tops last on these vehicles? Mine looks great, but since half of the work would also be necessary to replace the top...
My 2003 Z4 had the top fail just over a year ago - water intrusion as you can guess.
Back then, I bit the bullet and paid the $1500-$2000 to have it repaired.
Guess what ... now 1 year later it happened again ... and while the part is still under warranty, it turns out it does not cover "water intrusion" so I'm on my own again.

I'm trying my insurance since this is clearly not a case of "normal wear and tear" (the fact that BMW has a technical bulletin about this issue tells you they also know its a problem).
FWIW, I got my insurance (State Farm, California) to cover it.
The original repair was still paid by me (didn't press them on it), but they covered the second repair.
From the repair shop I heard that they had another customer who got his insurance (Liberty Mutual I believe) to cover his first repair.

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Ewazix » Sat Oct 16, 2010 8:41 pm

I thought my roof motor went yesterday, but it looks like I sorted it and the info may help someone else without changing the motor.

On pushing the button to drop the top it opened a fraction, then stopped but the motor kept running (and sounded strong) with a steady red light. It did close and lock shut OK. I tried several times during the journey with no joy. I got home and tried it was fine a couple of times then it failed again.
On checking the latches on the front of the roof frame and slots and rollers on the windscreen top rail they were very dry. Having soaked the latches, fittings and all the roof frame pivot points in lube it’s working fine now. Phewwww! :)

I also followed the excellent forum guide for cleaning the roof drain holes for good measure; fortunately they were clear so hopefully it was just latches sticking, this might be worth eliminating before attacking the roof motor.
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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by m44rrt » Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:50 am

What did you use to lube the latches and rollers as mine sticks a bit periodically?

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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Ewazix » Sun Oct 17, 2010 8:51 am

m44rrt wrote:What did you use to lube the latches and rollers as mine sticks a bit periodically?
I'm not sure what's recommended but I spayed some WD40, dried that out then used some light cycle oil. There is a roller/bar in the windscreen top rail which the latches lock in to, one of these was dusty and stuck. I actually think it was part of the mechanism in the front roof rail latches though as they fly in and out now.
I might be wrong but resisted using grease as that might collect dirt and grit over time. It was certaily a relief to find it wasn't the motor!
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Re: How to Remove your Soft Top.....56k Beware

Post by Leon_in_uk » Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:19 pm

please help, this guide is good but i am also stuck on the hoop, i cannot see the middle clamp thingy, and there werent any thread dangling like in your picture? like a piece of fabric? i have followed all steps and removed the weatherproof etc and screws just need to know how to remove the back, do i unplug the cables from there homes?
SOLD: 3.0 BMW z4 grey, 108's, 4 spot rears, clear indi's, zhp, cruise...
previous - seat leon cupra mk2 in red 240bhp
previous - Porsche boxster 2.7 manual, lapis blue 240bhp
previous- BMW z4 2006 2.0 m sport
Previous - mr2 mk3 silver

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