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2004 E85 Soft Top issue.

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Edd.Land
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2004 E85 Soft Top issue.

Post by Edd.Land » Fri Sep 03, 2021 9:21 am

I have re located my motor to the boot and since this, I’m having an issue.

Prior to the motor re location, the roof was fully functioning, but a bit lazy…
It unlatched fine, but then needed a little help to get going, but once moving, it was fine. It would open all the way, but wouldn’t latch down, so I had to manually press it to latch.

To close, I had to manually unlatch, but then the roof would fully close and latch closed.

Once the motor was freed from it’s original location, it was apparent that it had flooded at some point, the housing was soaked.

I removed all the wet sound proofing etc and cleaned up as best I could.
I decided to split the motor from the pump, and annoyingly, due to the awkward location and slippery hands, I lost the hydraulic fluid.

Once the motor was off I bathed in it WD40 and left it a few days to dry out before putting it all back together, refilling the fluid to the top of the + on the res when in the vertical position.
I did a bit of research re bleeding the system, and was advised the system is self bleeding, just fully open/ close two or 3 times.
So I fixed the motor to it’s new home in the boot crossed my fingers and went to test.

Unlatched fine, opened all the way down but still didn’t latch open (which I can live with)
So I manually pressed it down to the latch.
When attempting to close
It doesn't unlatch, so had to do it manually as previous (which I can live with)
But here’s the big issue, even though I can hear the motor going, but absolutely no movement in the roof.
In trying different things, I’ve discovered that if I manually pull the roof closed 1/4 way and then try the button again, it closes fully and latches.
So it seems the be the very first part of the closing procedure.

Any help or advice gratefully received.

Edd

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bigwinn
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2004 E85 Soft Top issue.

Post by bigwinn » Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:02 am

Hi Edd

Welcome to the forum-

Sounds like you have already taken big steps to remedy stuff that most people wouldnt have even embarked on yet- so kudos for that!!

I know there are several roof experts on here who will be able to go straight in with some suggestions of where to look and test- foremost would be Number 5- as you are a new member you cant PM until youve done 3 posts, so may be worth doing that then dropping him a line for a view?

Good luck let us know how it goes!

Stuart
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Zulu4
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2004 E85 Soft Top issue.

Post by Zulu4 » Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:49 am

Well done for sorting your motor. :thumbsup:
The later cars (such as mine) do not even have the latch for the roof open (down) position as BMW realised it was not necessary so, if it were mine, I'd remove the latch and forget about it - the roof will just say down.
Like yours, once my roof is fully down the motor continues to run for a couple of seconds with no further movement of the roof. I guess that's normal.
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enuff_zed
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2004 E85 Soft Top issue.

Post by enuff_zed » Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:56 am

I'm sure the experts will arrive soon regarding it not going up on it's own.
Have you checked the fluid level again? Maybe it's dropped a little?
Have you tried assisting it by hand while someone presses the button? Maybe it still needs to bleed.
I have also heard advice to swap the hydraulic pipes over and the electrical connections too, and see if the problem happens in the opposite direction. This may point more to the failing part.
With regard to latching down, my wife's has the same issue.
As the roof goes back, check the material at the rear of the door windows (there's a short restraining strap attached in that vicinity, as guide). The material should fold outwards. In our case it was folding inwards instead, which was just enough to stop it latching down.
Fold the roof halfway back and stop, pull the material to fold outwards and finish the movement. Hopefully it will now latch down.
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Edd.Land
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2004 E85 Soft Top issue.

Post by Edd.Land » Fri Sep 03, 2021 11:00 am

Thanks both for the info.

I’ve come from a line of BMW’s
In order
E92 M3
F series 330D
F series 340i
F87 M2 (Current)

But always fancied a Z4 and the E85 just has that iconic look.
Was looming for a 3.0 is, but they are asking silly money.
I found a 2004 2.5SE locally, and went for it.

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2004 E85 Soft Top issue.

Post by mark50 » Sat Sep 04, 2021 1:42 pm

The same happened to me, after moving the cables when relocating the motor it opened the red pull switch for manual mode. There is a adjuster on this cable to stop this from happening. Hope this helps :D

Edd.Land
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2004 E85 Soft Top issue.

Post by Edd.Land » Sat Sep 04, 2021 6:01 pm

mark50 wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 1:42 pm The same happened to me, after moving the cables when relocating the motor it opened the red pull switch for manual mode. There is a adjuster on this cable to stop this from happening. Hope this helps :D
This would make sense, manually lifting part way may be disengaging the manual mode.
I think I may have even cable tied the cable to the others.
Will check this tonight.

Will feed back.

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2004 E85 Soft Top issue.

Post by Edd.Land » Sat Sep 04, 2021 8:43 pm

mark50 wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 1:42 pm The same happened to me, after moving the cables when relocating the motor it opened the red pull switch for manual mode. There is a adjuster on this cable to stop this from happening. Hope this helps :D
You sir, are a genius.
Just snipped the cable ties and routed the cable separately.

Roof shoots up and down now.

Topped up the fluid and greased the hinges while I was in there.

Will sleep happy tonight!

Hope it’s sunny tomorrow 😎

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