Roof stuck half closed

[stannie203]

Hi all,

New to this forum. My dad had the mk1 Z4 and ever since then it's been my dream car. So, a month ago I traded in my Polo and bought a second hand mkII Z4 E89. 11 years old, 75k miles for £9k.... it's as far as my budget (and my wife's humour) would stretch.

Anyway, on test driving the Zed me and my dad put the roof down. All good. Came to putting it back up and it stopped coming halfway down. Red flashing light on the switch on the dash... The backstreet garage sent a 'mechanic' out to us. He looked like someone who specialised in breaking locks... anyway.. he fiddled about in the boot from the side behind the driver's door and magically the roof then worked. He claimed the switch needing lubricant. We tested a few times since, and all worked fine so went ahead with the purchase.

A month in, the roof has been up and down a couple of times. And then today, after silicone spraying a couple of the mechanisms with the roof half open, it then did the same thing and suck halfway coming back down.

The rain started falling and my wife was glaring at me - pressures that no man needs with a faulty hard top...

Could be an absolute fluke, but without taking too much apart, i found a swtich (i think!?) or some kind of male/female connector behind the driver's side which very easily pulled apart (male connector to female). The male was on a short length and wanted to pull downwards, and i surmised that this was pulling apart/disconnecting. Anyway, on re-connecting this a couple of times the roof now closes fine.

Has anyone else experienced this?

More to come on creaky roll bar covers / dull rattle noises from the boot (!)

Rob

[flybobbie]

Yes happened to my car, the connector next to the ram on the right side.
On my car the connector had no locking barb, would just pull out.
I just cable tied each to the cylinder and for good measure blob of super glue.
No problem last several years.

[RobbiZ4]

He claimed the switch needing lubricant. [...]

And then today, after silicone spraying a couple of the mechanisms...

As often stated, I'd not recoommend any lubrication in the roof mechanism.

E89 roof maintenance tasks:
viewtopic.php?t=130932