Z4-forum.com

In my case it was a micro switch which was replaced. Looked all of 10.00 quids worth .The Indy had to get one from BMW obviously special to BMW roofs . I guess the cost is in getting to it and reorganising the sequence of opening/closing.

There's been a few micro switch problems, would be nice to know if there's a common failure of a specific switch.
Perhaps poorly designed, manufactured or poor routing of cables.
RealOEM costs them out at $21, so say £21 UK.

Just had mine done whilst in for its first service. Same problems as described for a couple of months. Micro switch changed and an annoying rattle in the headlining sorted. Would have been very happy if I hadn't noticed the garage has scratched my front O/S alloy! Too late to do anything about it now as picked it up in the rain Friday - only noticed it today!! At least my roof works!!!!

Curious as to how much did you guys end up spending to fix the roof operation issue on the E89 ?

I have a 2014 E89, 39k miles - had mine for 1.5yrs with zero fault whatsoever, and 10 days ago my roof stopped 90% through on the opening sequence, and had to turn off/on engine and try reclosing/opening to make it complete the cycle eventually. Issues seems either at like 90% of the opening sequence (when only windows need to come up, and boot almost closed), or 80% of the closing sequence (when rear window is on top of roof and needs to go back to its position)

And since then I havent really tried it again, but I had the Roof 'red' button starting to flash randomly for a few seconds while driving (or at startup) , although roof was fully up and i was not trying to do anything with it. So I am guessing one of these sensor / microswitch either misaligned or faulty ? (since the actual mechanism does work - eventually-)

I have just booked it in for diagnostics at BMW main dealer (london), asked 150gbp for diagnostics, but obviously this isnt representative of how much I'll end up paying..

bluesun89 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:47 pm 10 days ago my roof stopped 90% through on the opening sequence, and had to turn off/on engine and try reclosing/opening to make it complete the cycle eventually. Issues seems either at like 90% of the opening sequence (when only windows need to come up, and boot almost closed), or 80% of the closing sequence (when rear window is on top of roof and needs to go back to its position)

this happens if the battery is not charged enough and there's not enough juice to finish the operation

if you don't have any fault codes, I wouldn't worry about it right now

if your dealer is not specialized in roof issues, you won't get far

tintoverano wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:57 pm

bluesun89 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:47 pm 10 days ago my roof stopped 90% through on the opening sequence, and had to turn off/on engine and try reclosing/opening to make it complete the cycle eventually. Issues seems either at like 90% of the opening sequence (when only windows need to come up, and boot almost closed), or 80% of the closing sequence (when rear window is on top of roof and needs to go back to its position)

this happens if the battery is not charged enough and there's not enough juice to finish the operation

if you don't have any fault codes, I wouldn't worry about it right now

if your dealer is not specialized in roof issues, you won't get far

But then, shouldn't such roof issue go away when the engine is running ? (car idle)
And this wouldnt explain why I have also been getting random 'red' roof button lights (and sound) while driving, no? (and it also locked down the boot and windows while the red light is on)

I'm afraid to try again and end up not being able to close it back (and alarm going off etc..) I did a bit of googling and coulndt see an obvious roof specialist (or bmw roof specialist) in my area, ie London (central or east)..

bluesun89 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 4:14 pm

tintoverano wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:57 pm

bluesun89 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:47 pm 10 days ago my roof stopped 90% through on the opening sequence, and had to turn off/on engine and try reclosing/opening to make it complete the cycle eventually. Issues seems either at like 90% of the opening sequence (when only windows need to come up, and boot almost closed), or 80% of the closing sequence (when rear window is on top of roof and needs to go back to its position)

this happens if the battery is not charged enough and there's not enough juice to finish the operation

if you don't have any fault codes, I wouldn't worry about it right now

if your dealer is not specialized in roof issues, you won't get far

But then, shouldn't such roof issue go away when the engine is running ? (car idle)

it doesn't help as far as I know, there's not enough ampere regardless - I think the roof operates using ~40A

bluesun89 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 4:14 pm And this wouldnt explain why I have also been getting random 'red' roof button lights (and sound) while driving, no? (and it also locked down the boot and windows while the red light is on)

it is probably because of the front roof shell lock needs adjusting or repair

when I bought mine it was winter and snow on the car, I tested the roof and for couple of days I got the bong when the car went over bumps - it went away afterwards for good, probably the lock started working again as expected, keeping the car in the garage

Oh yeah that makes sense actually, I was on a 100 mile highway trip on Saturday an i did get the red roof button flash (and bong sound) right after going over a bumpier section of the road - So hopefully if this is it, could be an easy repair
I think 150gbp diagnostic is OK (crossing fingers for a sub 300 bill), just dont want to end up paying 1500gbp.. or them not seeing any fault there / unable to replicate it, which would also be a bummer

Fyi - just heard back from the dealer. They diagnosed the fault straight away : faulty microswitch in the rear, which was flicking on/off on its own rather than staying its its on or off position. So a fairly 'easy' fix ; i should have it by tomorrow.

The bad new though (for me) is that although the microswitch costs £20, there is £150 for diagnostics, and another £310 of labor (allegedly they say it takes time to fix, as part of the roof needs to be taken off?) - so it will still cost me a £480 total to change that microswitch..

So i reckon, maybe if someone encounter the same problem and is knowledgeable enough, just change all the microswitch at max £20 a pop and do trial and error, to avoid paying £500

bluesun89 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 12:21 pm Fyi - just heard back from the dealer. They diagnosed the fault straight away : faulty microswitch in the rear, which was flicking on/off on its own rather than staying its its on or off position. So a fairly 'easy' fix ; i should have it by tomorrow.

The bad new though (for me) is that although the microswitch costs £20, there is £150 for diagnostics, and another £310 of labor (allegedly they say it takes time to fix, as part of the roof needs to be taken off?) - so it will still cost me a £480 total to change that microswitch..

So i reckon, maybe if someone encounter the same problem and is knowledgeable enough, just change all the microswitch at max £20 a pop and do trial and error, to avoid paying £500

A code reader should give more of a clue so you don’t end up changing every microswitch on the car
Rob

yeah, in my first response to you earlier I presumed you didn't have any fault codes

code reader or laptop + cable + free sw I'd say is a must, if you wanted to save money (I can help you with the latter one, pm me)

Thanks - A bit of a bummer to spend that much today, especially knowing its a minor fault ; and I was fancying getting a new car into year-end (now spent £1000 over the past month, with the first £500 going towards PS4 tyres as I ditched the RFTs) ; so maybe now I will keep my 2014 zed a bit longer, and at least the next owner will be all sorted out if I were to sell it

I am having the same issue as described above and just wondering how to repair it but not spending fortune on it. If it is a matter of changing micro switch how should I approach it?

Andy G wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:31 pm I am having the same issue as described above and just wondering how to repair it but not spending fortune on it. If it is a matter of changing micro switch how should I approach it?

There are many threads in the "E89 problems" section regarding roof faults. There are several recently. If you read these and find the one which is similar to the problems you are experiencing, they will mostly have an answer on what to change.
If you can't find anything with the same symptoms, post a new thread stating what problems you have got and someone will point you in the right direction. Look especially for replies from RobbiZ4, he's the forum guru on roof issues. HTH

What we need is a table of where and how a fault occurs.
For instance i have had.....bong roof impaired whilst closed, rear shell hall fault = break of wire in roof where cables bend.
........roof stuck in boot, boot lid open = connector right boot cyl. had pulled apart.
........roof intermittent stuck half open = salmon relays seem to cure that.