emergency/manual hardtop control: a big question for safety

[siscobmw]

Hi!
my friend with his 35i yesterday had a bit of a problem.
he was not able to close the hardtop(the display told him "system overheating"), neither to open the bootlid(his car has got comfort acces system).....it was raining
we looked at our user manual, but after one hour of "scratching-head work", we havent find no release/emergency handle , in order to move manually the hardtop....
I lookaed also at my car, the one of the pair with access to boot and hardtop....no handle no emergency procedure....nothing.the user manuale told us nothing, maybe I read the wrong pages.....

My friend is angry, not only for the wet interior...

But I was guessing....
IS there any emergency procedure when the powered hardtop system fails?
If a customer has his meds(like insuline, for example)locked in the boot........?????
Anyone knows the answer?

I hope I wrote the wrong page on user manual....


I hope and think there shpuld be a more clever procedure than calling someone to tow your car away and/or calling ambulance for your daily insuline dose....

Francesco

[aurabbit]

I don't know the definitive answer but I'm the kind of person who like to read the manual for his new toys. And I don't remember reading a backup way to lift the top.
I used to have VW EOS which also a hard top convertible. It also lacks the way to lift the top in case of malfunction. infact the very early batch of EOS comes with rain hood, so you can avoid the interior getting wet in case of malfunction during a rain.

I guess the only thing we can learn from this is to always take important stuff(eg, medicine or phone) with you in the cabin.

--ricardo
http://jaminphoto.smugmug.com/Portfolio ... 9-Z4-2009/

[srhutch]

TBH I think you need to contact your dealer, there wont be much info on this in the public domain unitl people start having problems.

It would seem crazy that there isnt a manual way to raise the roof but in saying that it's so complicated and heavy it's probably not practical.

Another reason to stay with fabric roof.

[Breaker]

Another reason to get a coupé!!

The folding roof is an extra for me on the new Z4 and it wasn't really a big factor in me deciding to buy one. It is nice with the roof down on a nice day, but if there was a coupé version as well I probably would have gone for that to be honest!

I may change my mind after a few trips with the roof down mind!

[Andy]

is there a manual release on a 3er E92 ? There's one in my family but I've never looked.. doubt it though.

Although, on the E84 you can release the hydraulic pressure to move it.. might not be practical but i guess if there were no hydraulics 2 people could open/close a hard roof.

[srhutch]

attached post about an E93 where owner had to drive with roof open half way to delaer even BMW assist couldnt move it, so looks like manual up/down isnt an option.

http://www.bimmerpost.com/forums/archiv ... 75042.html

[Andy]

ah yes E93, thats why my googling wasn't going well.

[siscobmw]

the car is now revocered to the dealer..they are still investigating...but I got in touch with BMW customer care, they don't know about a manual backup release.....
Francesco

[RX-78]

Another reason to get a coupé!!

The folding roof is an extra for me on the new Z4 and it wasn't really a big factor in me deciding to buy one. It is nice with the roof down on a nice day, but if there was a coupé version as well I probably would have gone for that to be honest!

I may change my mind after a few trips with the roof down mind!

I'll exchange my coupe with your new 35i if you want