2005 E85 Roof Troubleshooting

[137mph]

Hi All

Firstly, apologies for another roof thread, have spent a couple of hours looking at other roof threads and can't seem to diagnose whats wrong.

The story so far

Last used the car in November 2020 in between company cars, roof was working ok, noticed that it was 'notchy' going back up the last time it was used.
Fast Forward to January 2021, went out in the car, tried to put the roof down, the windows dropped, the front latches released, and then, nothing, no roof motor noise, and the flashing red light on the roof operation switch. Nothing when trying to reclose the roof so manually secured the latch with the allen key.
Today, thought, right, I'll get the motor out and have a look, bit of fiddling and a couple of hours later, roof motor is in the boot (did it without taking the roof off), I was expecting a rusty, nasty mess, but looked like the motor had been changed ( I have had the car for nearly 6 years), fluid level in pump right on centre line of + with roof up.
Split the motor from the pump and removed from car, put a 12V supply to the motor and runs up fine in both directions.
Reassembled motor and pump, refilled with fresh hydraulic oil , tried again, WIndows drop, fromt latch goes and all stops, no motor noise and flashing red light.
Disconnected the car power and connect the motor to 12V supply, roof goes up in about 10-11s, and down in 8-9, reconnect car supply - Windows drop, front latch goes, all stop and flashing red light, again nothing when trying to reclose.
Tested Microswitch in boot for luggage tray, when open, amber light flashes, when closed, get the same sequence
Checked all the fuses - 12, 31 and 55, all good

From what I can see, (not much to be fair) no damage to wiring loom,all the hyraulic lines look ok and no oil being lost, have had a feel around as best I can and can't feel any loose/brolen connections

Can anybody help? Am I missing something obvious? Am looking to sell, but want it to be right before I let it go.

Thanks in advance
137mph

[Number5]

Sounds like it could be the sensor loom routed through the hood, not sending continual information to the roof ECU, so everything stops.
They have a habit of breaking down after a few years of constant folding.

[137mph]

Thanks for the come back
I'm presuming prohibitively expensive and/or a real swine of a job?

[ph001]

Not too bad a job I don’t think. See here... viewtopic.php?f=3&t=53729&hilit=Wiring& ... b&start=15

[Zedebee]

Thanks for the come back
I'm presuming prohibitively expensive and/or a real swine of a job?

An absolute b*gger to find if you don’t know where to look, but easy to fix, if that’s what your problem turns out to be. The loom will appear to look fine until you unwrap it and find the broken wire (in my case the red one). Like many plastics on the Z4, the insulation seems to go brittle over time and once that’s gone, the wires break.

[137mph]

Thanks for all the input folks........

Took the front rail cover off today and checked continuity of all 5 wires from the latch motor right down to behind the door shut on the passenger side, also checked the continuity of the wires feeding the roof motor, all seemed to be ok, tried it with the roof in various stages of up/down positioning.
Put it all back together and....... Nothing, no movement of anything, no flashing lights on the roof switch, totally dead.

Zebedee - Where abouts in North Hants are you? Its where I am too, fancy a beer and a fiiddle (Don't take that the wrong way)

Thanks again
137mph

[Number5]

If you're in Hampshire, it may be worth popping it into RBM. They'll be able to read the codes and pin-point the error.

[137mph]

Further update

Took it for an MOT last week , and got the garage to read the codes, 1 code for brake pressure sensor (historic as have changed both) and 14 codes for the roof! It has basically lost its coding, so not sure what to do now. WIll a battery disconnect 'reset' or will I need to have it re-coded?
Think a trip to RBM is in order

Any ideas would be great in the meantime

thanks again

137mph

[ph001]

It has basically lost its coding, so not sure what to do now

I've never heard of this before. The roof doesn't have it's own ECU as far as I'm aware. Is it possible you have some kind of aftermarket roof module that has gone faulty or has a bad connection?? (usually fitted behind the ashtray).