Roof fix with Foxwell

Hi

So having suffered the folding roof dramas of wont go up, down, drops the windows and locks them over that last month. I did my bit of research and shelled out for a Foxwell510Elite.

What a piece of kit, though significantly more expensive that the system i use on my VW&audis.

As suggested elsewhere you can look at the individual sensors and read their current state all through the operation. On selecting the channels before even operating I could see that for some reason the rear end module closed, left and right sensors were not reading the same. (see pic).

On opening the roof, part way through the cycle they read the same and the roof worked perfectly after that all the way down and back up again. Once again the roof was performing corrrectly, shortly after it errored again and went back to its original different reading.

I stripped out the rear trim and got to the sensor wiring and checked that for continuity from the ecu plug and all was well. So that either leaves the microswitch or the ecu. I get the new microswitch from BMW later today (£18) and will install tonight and report back.

Put the new sensor in last night and all works perfectly now, thanks to other posters on removing the hinge.

One difficulty was the tiny allen screws that hold the micrositch on, rounded off, rather than coming undone. The threads look to be a bit corroded. In the end i used a hack saw and cut slots in them so i could use a screwdriver on them and all worked fine. Also the connector on the new part was different so i had to chop off and resolder the old connector back on

So after the purchase of the foxwell, the actual fix only cost me £18.

Oh yeah and two of the little plastic trim rivets broke 07147136172, cant believe I cant find them cheaper on fleabay than about £2 each for a little piece of plastic. Anyone know of a cheaper source, i want to keep them like the originals not generic ones that will do the job.

great job

where is the microswitch located and its part number please?

thanks

Griffsplace said:

Put the new sensor in last night and all works perfectly now, thanks to other posters on removing the hinge.

One difficulty was the tiny allen screws that hold the micrositch on, rounded off, rather than coming undone. The threads look to be a bit corroded. In the end i used a hack saw and cut slots in them so i could use a screwdriver on them and all worked fine. Also the connector on the new part was different so i had to chop off and resolder the old connector back on

So after the purchase of the foxwell, the actual fix only cost me £18.

Oh yeah and two of the little plastic trim rivets broke 07147136172, cant believe I cant find them cheaper on fleabay than about £2 each for a little piece of plastic. Anyone know of a cheaper source, i want to keep them like the originals not generic ones that will do the job.

Click to expand...

I think the corrosion on the tiny Allen screws is actually thread locking agent & a hair dryer helps to soften it to aid removal
Rob

tintoverano said:

great job

where is the microswitch located and its part number please?

thanks

Click to expand...

The microswitch is the one under the hydraulic cylinders on each side of the boot. the switches are handed so make sure you choose the correct side.
A simple google search will bring you up the switches diagrams (mine was no5 on the attached).
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=LM32-EUR-04-2011-E89-BMW-Z4_23i&diagId=54_0413

[attachment=1]all switches.jpg

Griffsplace said:

The microswitch is the one under the hydraulic cylinders on each side of the boot. the switches are handed so make sure you choose the correct side.
A simple google search will bring you up the switches diagrams (mine was no5 on the attached).
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=LM32-EUR-04-2011-E89-BMW-Z4_23i&diagId=54_0413

Click to expand...

thanks a lot

here https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=119167&p=1709406#p1709406, [ref]RobbiZ4[/ref] mentions:

- the new MS have different plug housings as the connector on your old looms, it must be reworked. I cut(!) the new housings (only the housing, not the wire - is a bit tricky) from the new MS and replace it by pinning the new wires into the housing of the old MS - no soldering is required

Click to expand...

did you have to do this?

tintoverano said:

here https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=119167&p=1709406#p1709406, [ref]RobbiZ4[/ref] mentions:

- the new MS have different plug housings as the connector on your old looms, it must be reworked. I cut(!) the new housings (only the housing, not the wire - is a bit tricky) from the new MS and replace it by pinning the new wires into the housing of the old MS - no soldering is required

Click to expand...

did you have to do this?

Click to expand...

ignore, this is the old connector thing