BMW Z4 HardTop Wind Noise Help ''Photos''

orfanidis360 · Post by **orfanidis360** » Wed Mar 16, 2016 8:56 pm

Purchased a hardtop today.There seems to be a bit of a gap between where the hardtop meets the upper windshield frame left and right. A wind noise starts at about 40mph and gets really loud as I increase speed. Please help!
Does the hardtop need an adjustment by an approved Bmw dealer?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/117 ... %20LHD.pdf
Bmw says the installation time is approx. 1 hour.
It took me less than 5 minutes to install it.

omar · Post by **omar** » Wed Mar 16, 2016 9:35 pm

Adjustments are easy but time consuming. You'll just need a 5mm rawlplug as a guide. What you do is adjust the locking pins that go into the car up and down with the aim of getting a 5mm gap between the roof and the body behind the side window. After that it should be fine tuning though I never got mine to stay totally quiet above 80mph until I added some draught proofing foam tape to the front edge of the roof and the deformations in the windscreen rubber seal caused by the soft top over time. There's a BMW tech bulletin on this somewhere.

Just to be clear, Increasing the gap I mention tilts the roof forward to eliminate the gap at the windscreen. Good luck!

orfanidis360 · Post by **orfanidis360** » Wed Mar 16, 2016 10:35 pm

omar wrote:Adjustments are easy but time consuming. You'll just need a 5mm rawlplug as a guide. What you do is adjust the locking pins that go into the car up and down with the aim of getting a 5mm gap between the roof and the body behind the side window. After that it should be fine tuning though I never got mine to stay totally quiet above 80mph until I added some draught proofing foam tape to the front edge of the roof and the deformations in the windscreen rubber seal caused by the soft top over time. There's a BMW tech bulletin on this somewhere.

Just to be clear, Increasing the gap I mention tilts the roof forward to eliminate the gap at the windscreen. Good luck!

Thanks omar for the response!
So based on the BMW tech bulletin an approved Bmw dealer will be able to adjust it, right?

Paulj100 · Post by **Paulj100** » Wed Mar 16, 2016 11:02 pm

I had a simulier problem when I bought my hard top there would be wind coming in from the front edge above the window screen but was simple fix for me just pressed hard down on the hardtop front edge and it dropped about 1-2mm then made sure it was locked down from inside, cured all the wind noise instantly. Love the hardtop transforms the Z

Hope you get it sorted.

Paul

orfanidis360 · Post by **orfanidis360** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:05 pm

Paulj100 wrote:I had a simulier problem when I bought my hard top there would be wind coming in from the front edge above the window screen but was simple fix for me just pressed hard down on the hardtop front edge and it dropped about 1-2mm then made sure it was locked down from inside, cured all the wind noise instantly. Love the hardtop transforms the Z

Hope you get it sorted.

Paul

It definitely tranforms the car. Actually it is a matter of taste. Personally, I decided to buy a hardtop because I wanted a quieter cabin when travelling. But basen on my current situation, it is proved that it is even worse.

Hope to get it sorted!

orfanidis360 · Post by **orfanidis360** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:33 pm

Left the car today at the approved dealer for the hardtop adjustment and the paintjob.
To be honest I quite liked the color combination of the silver & black, but decided to get the car all black!

There is also a damage on the plastic at the right front corner of the hardtop (it is visible at the 4th photo above). Bmw couln't give me a guarantee for the paintjob on that. Also some glue will be put on.

These are the consequences of a used hardtop. Took me a long time to find one.
But 800 Euros (625,48 British Pounds) seemed a good price.( Hardtop Cover & Stand Trolley Storage included)

orfanidis360 · Post by **orfanidis360** » Mon Apr 11, 2016 1:34 pm

No solution was found for the hardtop.
Tried also the official workshop manual BMW gives for ''Wind noises from the hardtop''.
http://workshop-manuals.com/bmw/z_serie ... rdtop_e85/

The last possible probability remaing is the Sealing of the windshield panel which has never been changed from the car's production date.
Price for the sealing is way too high considering that two sealings are needed for column A & B. Check part number 2 following the link below.
http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E85/E ... ame_cover/

Won't bother again. Hardtop has been removed and sits in its cover.

The filler piece BMW's workshop Manual gives.

derin100 · Post by **derin100** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:30 pm

So, just resurrecting this thread as I've just put the hardtop on my Z4M today and driven it with it on for the first time ever. I too have noticed this symptom with wind noise at the leading edge on the driver's side.

I understand the principles of the described adjustment above i.e. adjusting the back edge of the hardtop makes the front edge press down harder on the top edge of the screen. But I don't know exactly what I have to adjust and how hard is it to do?

Thanks

synthedup · Post by **synthedup** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:35 pm

derin100 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:30 pm So, just resurrecting this thread as I've just put the hardtop on my Z4M today and driven it with it on for the first time ever. I too have noticed this symptom with wind noise at the leading edge on the driver's side.

I understand the principles of the described adjustment above i.e. adjusting the back edge of the hardtop makes the front edge press down harder on the top edge of the screen. But I don't know exactly what I have to adjust and how hard is it to do?

Thanks

Where are you based? Easy to do but hard to explain.

Happy to show you if you’re near Sheffield? Or I can make you a video tomorrow if no one explains it well tonight.

paulc_bkk · Post by **paulc_bkk** » Sun Feb 10, 2019 2:08 am

From what I saw of the hardtop I tried on my car, the mount points not only move up and down but also to the front or rear of the car to allow for a tighter fit...

The hardtop on my e36 also had height adjustment at the front locks - is the Z4 hardtop not adjustable there too?

I ended up not buying the hardtop I tried as the seller was being an idiot and it was a non-metallic black

: 10E21BB7-E73A-478C-8DE3-82724DE49DDF.jpeg (452.33 KiB) Viewed 2364 times

: A367B591-F966-477A-91BA-72826FC8414B.jpeg (428.6 KiB) Viewed 2364 times

Anyway, good luck sorting it out, as it looks smart on your car

derin100 · Post by **derin100** » Wed Feb 13, 2019 1:40 am

synthedup wrote: ↑Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:35 pm
derin100 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:30 pm So, just resurrecting this thread as I've just put the hardtop on my Z4M today and driven it with it on for the first time ever. I too have noticed this symptom with wind noise at the leading edge on the driver's side.

I understand the principles of the described adjustment above i.e. adjusting the back edge of the hardtop makes the front edge press down harder on the top edge of the screen. But I don't know exactly what I have to adjust and how hard is it to do?

Thanks
Where are you based? Easy to do but hard to explain.

Happy to show you if you’re near Sheffield? Or I can make you a video tomorrow if no one explains it well tonight.

Thanks synthedup!
Sheffield is not too far....Lincs here.

But I've actually cured the problem I had now as well.

I gave all the rubbers a good soak of Gummipflege to re-lubricate them...then I re-seat the hardtop down making sure I pressed it down properly at the front and guess what? All wind noise completely eliminated!

NaweedMustafa · Post by **NaweedMustafa** » Mon Sep 25, 2023 6:05 pm

Resurrecting this thread as i will be performing this seal filler job soon. Any idea how to get the seal installed as shown above? is it just forcing the addition rubber into that spot or must i unscrew something to properly sandwich the seal into the spot?

Claretsam92 · Post by **Claretsam92** » Fri Apr 12, 2024 11:05 am

NaweedMustafa wrote: ↑Mon Sep 25, 2023 6:05 pm Resurrecting this thread as i will be performing this seal filler job soon. Any idea how to get the seal installed as shown above? is it just forcing the addition rubber into that spot or must i unscrew something to properly sandwich the seal into the spot?

I'm also about to have a go at this... If you tried it please could you let me know how you installed the seal and whether it solved the issue?

Thanks!

NaweedMustafa · Post by **NaweedMustafa** » Thu Apr 18, 2024 2:03 pm

Claretsam92 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 11:05 am I'm also about to have a go at this... If you tried it please could you let me know how you installed the seal and whether it solved the issue?

Thanks!

Did what was done above, shoved it in the gap, no difference. Ended up filling the gap between the from the inside (see below) i know it looks a bit janky but it gets the job done + you cannot see this unless you intentionally shine a bright flashlight there.

: 20240418_110953.jpg (255.39 KiB) Viewed 118 times

I still get some wind noise but I think its from the side windows, which cannot be avoided

Claretsam92 · Post by **Claretsam92** » Thu Apr 18, 2024 2:34 pm

NaweedMustafa wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 2:03 pm
Claretsam92 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2024 11:05 am I'm also about to have a go at this... If you tried it please could you let me know how you installed the seal and whether it solved the issue?

Thanks!
Did what was done above, shoved it in the gap, no difference. Ended up filling the gap between the from the inside (see below) i know it looks a bit janky but it gets the job done + you cannot see this unless you intentionally shine a bright flashlight there.

20240418_110953.jpg

I still get some wind noise but I think its from the side windows, which cannot be avoided

Thanks for the update.
Is it the same headlight gasket you have pushed into that gap?

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