2009 BMW Z4 Hardtop Issues

So following on from the rain sensor theory, has anything been done in that area recently?
New windscreen, new rear-view mirror, fitted a dashcam, etc?
 
So... I went the the BMW dealer and they were telling me that my JBE Module failed which is causing the roof and windows to stop working. I do not believe this to be true because I did not recieve an error code on this. I will be checking the codes again tonight to see if I see one and if they messed around. ALSO, while driving the back glass popped off and when I pressed to the button to drop the convertible top, the glass unlatched and lifted. The top portion remains on top of the windshield and is still locked in.
 
Admend said:
So... I went the the BMW dealer and they were telling me that my JBE Module failed which is causing the roof and windows to stop working. I do not believe this to be true because I did not recieve an error code on this. I will be checking the codes again tonight to see if I see one and if they messed around. ALSO, while driving the back glass popped off and when I pressed to the button to drop the convertible top, the glass unlatched and lifted. The top portion remains on top of the windshield and is still locked in.

When I press to close the top the back windshield wont close and goes down when you shut off the car.
 
So the dealer was saying that the JBE module was to blame for the windows and convertible top not working. I don't agree with them because when I checked for fault codes, none came up for the JBE module. While driving the back windshield popped out on one side. When i got home i clicked to open the top convertible and the other side also unlatched and lifted a little. It then stopped leaving only the back window up. When i pressed the bottom to close the convertible the back windshield didnt drop. It only went back down when i turned off the car. The top portion of the roof didnt budge in either instance. Im unsure what to do next. I will check for codes again tomorrow.
 
Admend said:
Admend said:
So... I went the the BMW dealer and they were telling me that my JBE Module failed which is causing the roof and windows to stop working. I do not believe this to be true because I did not recieve an error code on this. I will be checking the codes again tonight to see if I see one and if they messed around. ALSO, while driving the back glass popped off and when I pressed to the button to drop the convertible top, the glass unlatched and lifted. The top portion remains on top of the windshield and is still locked in.

When I press to close the top the back windshield wont close and goes down when you shut off the car.

that seems to be ok - once the hydraulic pressure is gone, there's nothing to hold the roof structure and it goes where its weight takes it
 
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
Any chance to get the car checked at https://www.caymanautos.co.uk/, where kinger's car was repaired some weeks ago?
 
RobbiZ4 said:
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
Any chance to get the car checked at https://www.caymanautos.co.uk/, where kinger's car was repaired some weeks ago?

I live in New York so I do not think that will be possible lol. I will just start with a JBE Module change and see if that will bring up anything new
 
Do you guys think the JBE module might be the cause of all of this? At this point, that's all I have to work on. I received no other error codes from my reader and when I tried to operate the windows from the JBE module they didn't work but I could manually operate them through the footwell module.
 
RobbiZ4 said:
mcbutler said:
Lubricating the folding and boot opening mechanisms at all pivot points is good practice.
Absolutely a bad idea!

mcbutler said:
My last Zed actually had rust at some of the roof pivot points!
Each pivot point has a permanent lubrication, it's color is light red. There's no rust at all.

there are sections which are suggested to be greased in case of noise https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/...ble-hardtop-noise/locking-hook-rolls/B2bbnBK8
 
RobbiZ4 said:
tintoverano said:
[...]there are sections which are suggested to be greased in case of noise [...]
Exactly, in "case of noise". But the recommendation was regarding a non working hardtop. 8)
mcbutler said:
Lubricating the folding and boot opening mechanisms at all pivot points is good practice. [..]
Once again, it is not a recommended practice on the E89 retractable hardtop. But indeed, I've already seen some E89, where the roof mechanism was totally over lubricated.
But believe me, it doesn't help in case of any broken wire, a defective microswitch or a flooded hydraulic pump.
I had the roof up on my 35i yesterday, I went over it very closely and no sign of any red coloured lubricant at all! The problem with my 23i as I mentioned earlier was rust in a couple of pivots, rust being brown/light brown and leaving run marks on the steel as rust does.
I have been trawling google trying to find any info on roof lubricants/red grease but cannot find anything!
Do you have any references to this or a part number??
 
What we are seeing is the brass/bronze washing out. It says can be lubricated. I have done so with clean engine oil with a syringe, not had any movement problems in 7 years.
One assumes the roof mechanism is forged or cast aluminium, so some kind of bush is required.
i have also silicone sprayed all the wires and pipe work, just in case of any rubbing.
 
enzed4 said:
kinger said:
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.

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
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 :)
[/quote]

Hey, so I ordered the new JBE module and waiting for it to come in. But i see here that u said u tracked down the problem to a specific microswitch. Did a code appear up for this switch or did u just find it by taking apart everything?
 
RobbiZ4 said:
Admend said:
ALSO, while driving the back glass popped off and when I pressed to the button to drop the convertible top, the glass unlatched and lifted. The top portion remains on top of the windshield and is still locked in.

Admend said:
]When I press to close the top the back windshield wont close and goes down when you shut off the car.

This is caused by broken wires in the rear roof shell, mostly on the right side. Can be repaired with new wires, BMW dealer's usually will replace the complete loom for some 4k bucks.

If anyhow possible, send the new JBE back as it's not required.

I checked the wiring on the left and right side where the mechanism folds (higher possibility of broken wires) and there was no evidence of kinks or damage to any of the wiring. They are perfectly straight with 0 corrosion on them. The JBE module comes in today. Ill have it coded and let u guys know if it reveals anything.
 
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