Hey, so I have been having issues with my hardtop for some time now but I excused it because the weather was cold and the convertible would not be needed until spring. I decided to try and find out what is wrong with it since the weather is getting better. The hardtop slowly stopped working at first, starting with a slow lower and raise the process of the hood and eventually, all functions with the top stopped. When holding down the bottom to lower the hood the windows go down but nothing else happens. Before the red blinking light appeared there was a little click sound between the passenger and driver seat and nothing more. I now am stuck with a car that doesn't allow me to open the trunk because of the red blinking light and the "red convertible top logo" and the windows are stuck open. I repeatedly tried holding the button to close the top again but nothing happens. What can I do to regain some control of this car and ultimately fix the issue? Any guesses on what issues I'm facing?? THANK YOU!
2009 BMW Z4 Hardtop Issues
- Thread starter Admend
- Start date
Hydraulic leak, causing loss of pressure (hence the progressive slowing down of the opening/closing) until there's not enough pressure to complete the cycle? If you can't get into the boot, I'm not sure how you can check for leaks as all the lines and pump are in the boot.
Definitely get the codes read to point you in the right direction and assist with the troubleshooting.
Good luck.
Definitely get the codes read to point you in the right direction and assist with the troubleshooting.
Good luck.
So I managed to manually unlock the trunk from the ski access point and see no evidence of leak or water damage by the hydraulic pump. I brought the car to my cousin who can has the equipment to read error codes and such. He managed to find two error codes that kept popping up, "Misting sensor failure" and something about a relay. Also CCID- 447 appeared on the dash. I'm going to take the car into a BMW dealer to confirm on my suspicions but they do have a habit of adding on addition things. Could these 3 things be related to the hardtop issues?
CCID-447 - hard top not locked, apparently.Admend said:
Misting sensor - for the windscreen auto wipers - not related to the roof as far as I can imagine.
Your roof mechanism could be binding - have you checked/lubricated all of the metal on metal joints/pivot points? A can of white lithium grease is a cheap and effective lubricant, BUT, I would be checking all of the roof folding mechanism for any binding first as lubricating may not fix this. Look for signs of wear/rubbing. Also search this forum for roof-related issues, there are a lot of threads created over the years describing various folding roof issues and their fixes.
The progressive failure of the roof opening/closing just seems like loss of pressure, or increasing binding, but remember you get what you pay for with forum advice :wink: . Will be interested to see what is found.
hi
Might want to check if the cable on the front bumper temperature sensor is in good condition. It is located on the front passenger side front inner fender.
Look under your front bumper (left side-UK ver front passenger) and you will see a small black stick like probe “about 3 to 4 cm” long sticking out towards the ground. However to access the cable you will need to remove the front bumper.
The car will not let you lower the roof if the temperature sensor is not working or the cable to the temperature sensor is disconnected. The car will provide the ECU a fault reading generating a warning light and preventing it to operate. It could be the sensor is not providing a good signal back to the ECU .
If you need help to remove the front bumper, there is a video on YouTube that will help you.
https://youtu.be/_MXwh3CxddA
Hope it helps. Good luck.
Might want to check if the cable on the front bumper temperature sensor is in good condition. It is located on the front passenger side front inner fender.
Look under your front bumper (left side-UK ver front passenger) and you will see a small black stick like probe “about 3 to 4 cm” long sticking out towards the ground. However to access the cable you will need to remove the front bumper.
The car will not let you lower the roof if the temperature sensor is not working or the cable to the temperature sensor is disconnected. The car will provide the ECU a fault reading generating a warning light and preventing it to operate. It could be the sensor is not providing a good signal back to the ECU .
If you need help to remove the front bumper, there is a video on YouTube that will help you.
https://youtu.be/_MXwh3CxddA
Hope it helps. Good luck.
Rob, I wondered about hall sensors/microswitches, but wouldn't they be either working ok, or failed, rather than a progressive failure which the OP seems to be describing?Smartbear said:
There's also the well-documented failure of wires in a loom that runs alongside the folding mechanism due to being constantly bent/folded. I know that's appeared on this forum before.
Lubricating the folding and boot opening mechanisms at all pivot points is good practice. Not only does it reduce friction and motor loads it also stops wear in the joints, obviously.
My last Zed actually had rust at some of the roof pivot points! Lithium grease spray (B&Q) does a great job but use a rag around the joint as you spray or the mist from the spray will be all over the place.
My last Zed actually had rust at some of the roof pivot points! Lithium grease spray (B&Q) does a great job but use a rag around the joint as you spray or the mist from the spray will be all over the place.
Rob, I wondered about hall sensors/microswitches, but wouldn't they be either working ok, or failed, rather than a progressive failure which the OP seems to be describing?
There's also the well-documented failure of wires in a loom that runs alongside the folding mechanism due to being constantly bent/folded. I know that's appeared on this forum before.
[/quote]
My experience of a similar issue is that components do 'work' or 'not work' intermittently...i had 3 months between spells of 'not working' where everything was absolutely working normally.
The problems i had seemed to get worse and lasted longer on each spell of 'not working' till the car absolutely refused to do anything apart from flash lights and bong at me.
My issue was eventually tracked to the left hand side boot loom with an electrical failure of the microswitch.
Robbi is the main man for explaining this....very informed and very helpful..
Mike
There's also the well-documented failure of wires in a loom that runs alongside the folding mechanism due to being constantly bent/folded. I know that's appeared on this forum before.
[/quote]
My experience of a similar issue is that components do 'work' or 'not work' intermittently...i had 3 months between spells of 'not working' where everything was absolutely working normally.
The problems i had seemed to get worse and lasted longer on each spell of 'not working' till the car absolutely refused to do anything apart from flash lights and bong at me.
My issue was eventually tracked to the left hand side boot loom with an electrical failure of the microswitch.
Robbi is the main man for explaining this....very informed and very helpful..
Mike
kinger said:
My experience of a similar issue is that components do 'work' or 'not work' intermittently...i had 3 months between spells of 'not working' where everything was absolutely working normally.
The problems i had seemed to get worse and lasted longer on each spell of 'not working' till the car absolutely refused to do anything apart from flash lights and bong at me.
My issue was eventually tracked to the left hand side boot loom with an electrical failure of the microswitch.
Robbi is the main man for explaining this....very informed and very helpful..
Mike
[/quote]If the failure of the microswitch was a mechanical failure, I can see how it could get worse over time.
Just waiting to hear back from the OP who is taking his Zed for some diagnostics, until then we're just having fun spitballing possibilities
If the misting is showing a fault and roof not locking, could it be wiring going up to the roof via the interior light area where the rain sensor is and wiring to the limit switch just in front of drivers head on windshiled frame.
There is a strange association with the mister and roof. See wiring diagram.
There is a strange association with the mister and roof. See wiring diagram.
