roof works fine but needs a push on opening

Ziggystardust · Post by **Ziggystardust** » Sun Jul 01, 2018 4:05 pm

hi guys and possibly few girls

just bought a 2005 z4, thx for the welcome, the car is a beauty and you've already helped alot with all the great discussions, i'm a car designer and a huge bmw fan (have a 1 series and used to have an 840).

first thing i want to fix is my roof not opening properly as i have to open half, step out of the car and then hold the glass towards to trunk and the give a manual push.
the seller says the roof was already replaced but when done they forgot some elastic part that is supposed to pull the roof back (what i'm doing manually), so far i haven't seen any part incharge of that in the diagrams, any ideas?

the roof closes properly and all the process seems smoth

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Ziggystardust · Post by **Ziggystardust** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 12:56 pm

Anyone?

Smartbear · Post by **Smartbear** » Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:02 pm

Ziggystardust wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 12:56 pm Anyone?

Hi, there is no “elastic part” that operates the roof, look up z4 roof motor in the search facility to see how it operates & the common problems that can occur.
It sounds as though your seller has taken you for a ride! If you purchased from a garage I’d be taking it back.
Rob

peteslag · Post by **peteslag** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 9:03 am

Ziggystardust wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 12:56 pm Anyone?

I have the exact same issue and my roof also isn't the original. I've researched this problem and never really got to the route cause of it. I did think about fitting some sort of elastic device that pulls the glass rearward but never got round to it. I found a BMW article somewhere that said that the roof material can shrink if the roof isn't used regularly. This pulls the glass away from the trunk and makes it hit the bulkhead behind the seats. I seem to remember that the recommendation was to leave the roof in the down position for and extended period. I'm taking my car off the road this winter, I'm going to stick it in the garage with the roof down and just see how it is next year.

There are two sprung loaded flaps that live either side of the parcel shelf. i read one article that said the removal of the flaps can fix it. I tried it and it made no difference.

If you dig up any other information please let me know. This is a really irritating blemish on an otherwise near perfect car for me.

peteslag · Post by **peteslag** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:22 pm

Just add a bit more. My interest in this problem died last year after several attempts at fixing the issue, this thread has re-ignited it.

My roof will go down on it's own but the window always catches the trim behind the seats on its way and needs to be pushed down once the sequence has finished to lock it down. I just had a play with the roof in the half way down position. I pulled the excess material above the two top corners of the window, there was an audible "fe-donk" sound and the window dropped perfectly into the recess behind the seats. I pressed the roof down button and the roof locked down on it's own for the first time ever. The problem seems to be that the roof simply isn't folding correctly on the way down.

*EDIT* I just stumbled across the answer, here it is:

http://dellis.co.uk.linkpc.net/Z4/Pdfs/ ... wFully.pdf

Number5 · Post by **Number5** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:06 pm

You can remove that bit of from on the rear bulkhead quite easily which will solve your issue
Agreed its not a proper fix but it will stop the problem and you'll hardly notice it

peteslag · Post by **peteslag** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:14 pm

Number5 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:06 pm You can remove that bit of from on the rear bulkhead quite easily which will solve your issue
Agreed its not a proper fix but it will stop the problem and you'll hardly notice it

I did consider that but I'm fairly OCD about things being done proper like. I've spent the past 20 odd years in the aircraft world and struggle with botches. That said, if it pisses me off enough I'll rip the bloody thing of with my bare hands

Ziggystardust · Post by **Ziggystardust** » Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:50 pm

Solved, the part above the shelf wasn't sitting right, two plastic clips replaced and now like new

wonkydonkey · Post by **wonkydonkey** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 6:37 am

Ziggystardust wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:50 pm Solved, the part above the shelf wasn't sitting right, two plastic clips replaced and now like new

Which part? The housing that holds the microswitch?

Number5 · Post by **Number5** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:23 pm

wonkydonkey wrote: ↑Fri Jul 27, 2018 6:37 am
Ziggystardust wrote: ↑Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:50 pm Solved, the part above the shelf wasn't sitting right, two plastic clips replaced and now like new
Which part? The housing that holds the microswitch?

No, I assume the long plastic 'toblerone' shaped trim that sits above the microswitch.

wonkydonkey · Post by **wonkydonkey** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 9:27 pm

Number5 jolly good. I'll have a look some time, thanks.

Post by **srhutch** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:03 pm

peteslag wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:14 pm
Number5 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:06 pm You can remove that bit of from on the rear bulkhead quite easily which will solve your issue
Agreed its not a proper fix but it will stop the problem and you'll hardly notice it

I did consider that but I'm fairly OCD about things being done proper like. I've spent the past 20 odd years in the aircraft world and struggle with botches. That said, if it pisses me off enough I'll rip the bloody thing of with my bare hands

If we are talking about the catch then BMW removed it early on after the facelifts were introduced. I removed mine and know a few others who also have. It won’t cause any issues.

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