Soft top open & close whilst driving

Zikim · Post by **Zikim** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:23 am

Hello,

Does anyone know of a mod that will allow the soft top to be opened & closed whilst driving at low speed, invaluable when it starts raining and your in slow moving traffic?

In my previous S2000 this could be done quite simple by cutting the speed sensor wire to the roof control (only 1 wire), thus being able to open/close at slow speeds.

hopz121 · Post by **hopz121** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:39 am

Not that im aware of, you need to be stationary to start the procedings you can move slowly whilst it is going up though (after it has started)

Angie4m · Post by **Angie4m** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:28 am

No mod but you will need a gap-Tech which will allow this as well as some other features I believe.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic ... a#p1079427

Zikim · Post by **Zikim** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:58 pm

Angie4m wrote:No mod but you will need a gap-Tech which will allow this as well as some other features I believe.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic ... a#p1079427

I have the Gap-Tech that was fitted to my zed from the previous owner but it only operates remotely from outside the car i.e. 3 presses to open/close.

Is there a way to mod so that it can open & close on the move?

hopz121 · Post by **hopz121** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:50 pm

Zikim wrote:
Angie4m wrote:No mod but you will need a gap-Tech which will allow this as well as some other features I believe.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic ... a#p1079427
I have the Gap-Tech that was fitted to my zed from the previous owner but it only operates remotely from outside the car i.e. 3 presses to open/close.

Is there a way to mod so that it can open & close on the move?

Nope it doesn't work using a gap tech

Zikim · Post by **Zikim** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:11 pm

There must be a speed sensor input to the roof control, as the zed has to be stationary to open/close the soft top to begin with. On the S2000 the car had to be stationary and have the handbrake on to start the open/close process and just by cutting the speed sensor wire, open top motoring on the move was possible.

Does anyone know if there is a speed sensor wire and where this is to disable/cut? Anyone done it?

Ewazix · Post by **Ewazix** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:21 pm

I doubt there is a dedicated 'speed sensor wire' to cut, the roof module will talk to the ECU for a whole range of data including speed. So (and I'm talking with zero knowledge here so shoot me down) I'm guessing if it was possible it would have to be via code to increase the max permitted speed for roof operation. I thought it was 3 or 5mph as standard but I can't imagine BMW have given it the facility to up it.

ZLuke · Post by **ZLuke** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 7:17 pm

hopz121 wrote:Not that im aware of, you need to be stationary to start the procedings you can move slowly whilst it is going up though (after it has started)

+1 Spot on

Zulu4 · Post by **Zulu4** » Fri May 19, 2023 9:02 am

Reviving this thread as I read that the Porsche 911 996 cabriolet just needs one wire cutting (the speed sensor wire going to the soft top controller) to allow the roof to be raised & lowered when the car is in motion with the handbrake on the first notch. The Boxster can similarly be modified by simply bending the speed input pin of the roof relay.

Does anyone know for sure whether there is a similar dedicated speed input wire or pin on the Zed, or is the speed fed in to the controller via the CAN bus ?

tomscott · Post by **tomscott** » Fri May 19, 2023 9:45 am

With gap tech mine will shut when moving slowly (I have a feeling its like 10-15mph) but it's so slow that it's kind of pointless. Either way I still need to pull over.

http://gap-tech.co.uk/rchp.html

The reason why you cant put it up and down is the way the roof operates it acts like a wind sail as it raises so high and will break the roof if operated while driving.

Zulu4 · Post by **Zulu4** » Fri May 19, 2023 10:17 am

tomscott wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 9:45 am With gap tech mine will shut when moving slowly (I have a feeling its like 10-15mph) but it's so slow that it's kind of pointless. Either way I still need to pull over.

http://gap-tech.co.uk/rchp.html

The reason why you cant put it up and down is the way the roof operates it acts like a wind sail as it raises so high and will break the roof if operated while driving.

I did have a gap-tech but it went bad and it took me a while to figure out what was happening, so I don't really want one again.
The SmartTop STLFBW7 looks better, but expensive.
I'm not wanting to move the roof when at speed

, just when slow in town etc.

tomscott · Post by **tomscott** » Mon May 22, 2023 8:32 am

Zulu4 wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 10:17 am
tomscott wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 9:45 am With gap tech mine will shut when moving slowly (I have a feeling its like 10-15mph) but it's so slow that it's kind of pointless. Either way I still need to pull over.

http://gap-tech.co.uk/rchp.html

The reason why you cant put it up and down is the way the roof operates it acts like a wind sail as it raises so high and will break the roof if operated while driving.
I did have a gap-tech but it went bad and it took me a while to figure out what was happening, so I don't really want one again.
The SmartTop STLFBW7 looks better, but expensive.
I'm not wanting to move the roof when at speed , just when slow in town etc.

Its probably because the standard install the wires clip over the wire insulation if you solder it in properly its far more reliable!

Chris_D · Post by **Chris_D** » Mon May 22, 2023 8:42 am

First world problem.
I'd suggest the inability to open/close the roof while moving is a designed-in aspect of the roof operation, probably based on potential damage that can be caused to the mechanism with a sudden jolt or heavy inertial load on any of the pivot points.
When you look at the mechanism of the E85 roof this theory bears out by virtue of the fact that it looks 'weak' in comparison to some other roof mechanisms on other cars.
A benefit of its' relatively weaker construction as designed is the fact that it is probably a damn sight lighter than other roof mechanisms.

Just pull over and raise/lower when stationary to avoid any issues. Easy.

NaweedMustafa · Post by **NaweedMustafa** » Mon May 22, 2023 7:53 pm

Something i always thought about as well. Now that the weather is getting better, i need to remove my hardtop and enjoy the softtop. Didnt know about the gaptech solution. Should i use my own wireclips if theirs is unreliable?

Zulu4 · Post by **Zulu4** » Wed May 24, 2023 2:54 pm

NaweedMustafa wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 7:53 pm Something i always thought about as well. Now that the weather is getting better, i need to remove my hardtop and enjoy the softtop. Didnt know about the gaptech solution. Should i use my own wireclips if theirs is unreliable?

Gaptech is good when it works.
It wasn't the wiring that caused my problem, but the internal electronics that started to fail intermittently.

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