Who can fix my roof?

[Stevo1987]

Then it's probably a broken wire...

Yes, I know that Getting access to the wiring is an issue with the roof in the position it is.

[flybobbie]

With all the knowledge on the forum now, print of repairs and take to indy or auto electrician.
My experience, be it a bit limited, with BMW they don't even research their own bulletins to repair or cure problem.
Problem i had was cured by a 20 year old bulletin i found on the internet, pre E89..
I thought dealers would have access to a central data base of problems, or am i expecting too much.
I bet this AI thing would give quicker answer.

[simnew]

Have you rang or spoken to Cayman autos in Redhill ?

They sound like they have the experience not just with BMW but Mercedes roofs as well….

[skmattwell]

Yes, booked in for Wed. Had a long convo and Mike is confident he can repair it whilst I wait. Bmw have quoted me circa £2000 note I haven't told him that!

Good to know he picks up the phone to some people, he's been ignoring me for months

[THATOLDGREYCAR]

Yes, booked in for Wed. Had a long convo and Mike is confident he can repair it whilst I wait. Bmw have quoted me circa £2000 note I haven't told him that!

Good to know he picks up the phone to some people, he's been ignoring me for months

Travelling up later today to collect mine, which is now apparently repaired!! Just glad to know it's working after the figures I was being quoted, all of which were "estimates."

I shall mention this to him.

My bill, I've been told is £395, but I don't have an exact breakdown of it yet.

[skmattwell]

Yes, booked in for Wed. Had a long convo and Mike is confident he can repair it whilst I wait. Bmw have quoted me circa £2000 note I haven't told him that!

Good to know he picks up the phone to some people, he's been ignoring me for months

Travelling up later today to collect mine, which is now apparently repaired!! Just glad to know it's working after the figures I was being quoted, all of which were "estimates."

I shall mention this to him.

My bill, I've been told is £395, but I don't have an exact breakdown of it yet.

Cheers mate!

[THATOLDGREYCAR]

Ok, so today I am happy..

Sun is shining..
Car is driving..
Roof is down!!!

AND, it goes back up too, without stopping part way (which is how the issues started) and no bong/bong, and I can put the windows up!

Apparently it was a couple of issues, 1 (lower) microswitch, but both replaced (apparently he does that to prevent being phoned in a week for same issue) plus an intermittent hall sensor and a wiring fault to another, upper switch.

Doesn't make much sense to me when it was all shown and explained, the bag of old parts I was given went in the bin lol.

Main thing is all is now working as it should, as I was promised it would be.

Thumbs up from me!

[Stevo1987]

After PM'ing Robbi - So far I have got the roof into a position where I can get to the wiring a bit easier.
I have tested the wiring but found no breaks in it. From the photo you can see I have cut the wiring going to the microswitch connector/plug. I connected my DVM here and teed into the wiring in the second photo where the red tape is and proved there were no breaks. I have tested the microswitch from where I cut the wire at the connector. On manually operating the mSwitch I'm getting open circuit so it looks like the microswitch is faulty. Please can someone let me know the part number of a new swich. I think I read that a 'Z4' one is expensive but other BMW switches are the same and a lot cheaper. I hope that makes sense. Also, is it easy to fit as it looks a bit tricky on inspection?

2024-03-09 173417.jpg (92.32 KiB) Viewed 303 times

[flybobbie]

Just take old wires out and fit new pairs.
Only way not to have future trouble.
I used some old mains flex, let's see that break!

[enuff_zed]

Just take old wires out and fit new pairs.
Only way not to have future trouble.
I used some old mains flex, let's see that break!

What happens when you drive away? Do you have to leave a house window open to let the plug come flying through?

[RobbiZ4]

After PM'ing Robbi
[...]
I connected my DVM here and teed into the wiring in the second photo where the red tape is and proved there were no breaks. I have tested the microswitch from where I cut the wire at the connector. On manually operating the mSwitch I'm getting open circuit so it looks like the microswitch is faulty.

Uhmm, I'm not sure i you are on the right path.

Did you really try to measure sth. on these two wires on the 1st photo (yellow/red wire)? That is the hallsensor (HS) clipped into the hydraulic ram. It can't be simply measured by DMV, as it is an active component (a chip!) and not a switch or resistor.

On the other hand, please don't even think about tearing one of the two microswitches (MS) out of the roof, as you won't be able to mount the new ones. These 2 MS are melted into the roof!

The MS on the right has a pair of green/brown & brown wires, the one on the left has a pair of white & brown wires.

Going this way is absolutely NOT my recommendation!

You will destroy more than you can repair and there will be additional failures in the near future as you will not be able to reconstruct the original routing of the hoses and wires.

Even broken wires are held together by the fabric and will only interrupt the signal for a brief moment when the entire harness is bent.

Typically, there are short circuits or interruptions with a duration of only a few milliseconds that cause the CTM to stop the roof movement.

Look at the current signal (marked in red) from that very microswitch in the roof shell that has dropped to the ground for a tiny amount of time. This can't be measured with a DVM.

MS_RoofShell2_Interrupt.jpg (8.73 KiB) Viewed 276 times

[Stevo1987]

After PM'ing Robbi
[...]
I connected my DVM here and teed into the wiring in the second photo where the red tape is and proved there were no breaks. I have tested the microswitch from where I cut the wire at the connector. On manually operating the mSwitch I'm getting open circuit so it looks like the microswitch is faulty.

Uhmm, I'm not sure i you are on the right path.

Did you really try to measure sth. on these two wires on the 1st photo (yellow/red wire)? That is the hallsensor (HS) clipped into the hydraulic ram. It can't be simply measured by DMV, as it is an active component (a chip!) and not a switch or resistor.

On the other hand, please don't even think about tearing one of the two microswitches (MS) out of the roof, as you won't be able to mount the new ones. These 2 MS are melted into the roof!

The MS on the right has a pair of green/brown & brown wires, the one on the left has a pair of white & brown wires.

Going this way is absolutely NOT my recommendation!

You will destroy more than you can repair and there will be additional failures in the near future as you will not be able to reconstruct the original routing of the hoses and wires.

Even broken wires are held together by the fabric and will only interrupt the signal for a brief moment when the entire harness is bent.

Typically, there are short circuits or interruptions with a duration of only a few milliseconds that cause the CTM to stop the roof movement.

Look at the current signal (marked in red) from that very microswitch in the roof shell that has dropped to the ground for a tiny amount of time. This can't be measured with a DvM.
MS_RoofShell2_Interrupt.jpg

Ah, ok. I did think at one stage that might not be the microswitch connector. I going to put that back together, solder the wires and forget about that part. I'll then think about what to do next. Thanks Robbi.

[skmattwell]

Ok, so today I am happy..

Sun is shining..
Car is driving..
Roof is down!!!

AND, it goes back up too, without stopping part way (which is how the issues started) and no bong/bong, and I can put the windows up!

Apparently it was a couple of issues, 1 (lower) microswitch, but both replaced (apparently he does that to prevent being phoned in a week for same issue) plus an intermittent hall sensor and a wiring fault to another, upper switch.

Doesn't make much sense to me when it was all shown and explained, the bag of old parts I was given went in the bin lol.

Main thing is all is now working as it should, as I was promised it would be.

Thumbs up from me!

Good stuff, glad you managed to get it fixed! Any answer from Mike why he's ignoring me?

[RobbiZ4]

Going this way is absolutely NOT my recommendation!

And once again, sorry guys and especially @stevo1987 to be so direct and "loud", when writing a warning to avoid unnecessary destroyments.

You know, I'm German and usually very direct in my wording.There is no intention to embarrass anyone.

[Baza]

Cayman Motors was mentioned in a previous post I had mine fixed by them in 2014 never a moments problem since. Bit of a treck from Norfolk though. I went to Cayman in Dorking whether they have moved or another branch ?