Another top not opening problem/question and advice

F

Fyreball

Member
 California
Went for short ride today and the dash top warning red light and open button light along with bong would go off intermittently. When I got home I tried opening the top and all I would get is the same thing and top would not open. So I did searches and saw all the problems with sensors and switches and broken wires and codes and even a temperature sensor can effect it? holy crap!! One thing that struck me the most was the trunk shelf micro switch(s)—-so I open the trunk and open and closed the shelf, that didn’t help, but I did it again and this time slamming the shelf a couple times and sure enough this time the top opened normally——oh but then the top wouldn’t close and the trunk wouldn’t open. I shut the engine off and on a couple times and then I could close the top and open the trunk ( can’t remember how to say trunk lid in British terms). After all this I’m nervous to open the top ever again lol. To me it sounds like the shelf micro switch, do they come loose or need adjustment and exactly where are they located as I can’t see a switch there? This is a low miles car and from what I can tell the top was not opened much and the wiring looms look like new. —— Forgot to say the lights and bong seemed to go off when hitting a bump or rough part of road, but not sure. I’ve had this car for two months and only had the top open once before.
 
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Very likely boot closed micro switches which are easy to replace. The boot closed micro switches get very intermittent before they fail completely. So best do them now while you can still put the convertible top in service position. There are 2, one on each side

If your serious about keeping this car you should get BMW specific diagnostic software. If you have an android phone or tablet, Bimmergeeks ProTool is great. It will also open the trunk/boot when you have a convertible top error.
 
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To me It seemed the problem was connected to the shelf because of the lights flashing when I hit a bump and then when I slammed the shelf closed a couple times the top worked. Tomorrow I’ll try opening and closing again and see what happens. ———are the hall sensors easier to replace and could they be loose or out of adjustment?
 
Fyreball said:
To me It seemed the problem was connected to the shelf because of the lights flashing when I hit a bump and then when I slammed the shelf closed a couple times the top worked. Tomorrow I’ll try opening and closing again and see what happens. ———are the hall sensors easier to replace and could they be loose or out of adjustment?
Click to expand...
See Robbi z4 threads on these subjects
 
Fyreball said:
To me It seemed the problem was connected to the shelf because of the lights flashing when I hit a bump and then when I slammed the shelf closed a couple times the top worked. Tomorrow I’ll try opening and closing again and see what happens. ———are the hall sensors easier to replace and could they be loose or out of adjustment?
Click to expand...
You started off with the top up (not in the boot). In that scenario it doesn't matter what position the shelf is in.
 
All my roof faults were nearly 100% broken wires.
First thing i would advise would be to replace the 1 pair left side and 2 pair right side.
Just for peace of mind.
OBD reader is the best investment and start point of any fix. Should have been built into cars, Certainly Z4!
 
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Passer by asked me about my car, seen it several times and wanted one.
Well i basically put him off.
I said if you are a diy'er good project cars.
But not if you have to go back to BMW or indie.
I guess i would have spent £10k on my car if it had gone to BMW to fix faults.
 
Lol, I’m a long time auto diy’er with much experience with mechanicals, but I’m not so good with computer/electronic stuff, I do know how to use my basic obd2 reader, but it’s not bmw specific. My son has a new ob2 that’s supposed to be one of the most advanced ones and has the app where everything goes to his phone. Not sure if his is bmw specific but if not I’ll be getting one. My son is really good with computer stuff and he’ll be able to help me out.—Went out to car today and as soon as I opened the door the top open button started flashing and the bong went off when I put the fob in. Shut it off and restarted and no more lights or bong but when I press top open button it flashes and top won’t open. I wouldnt mind driving for a while till I get it fix but if lights and bong go off when driving like the other day—we’ll then that’s not so good. Keep seeing indie mentioned, what is that?——I don’t have an android so I guess bimmergeeks obd is out, so what are a couple different bmw specific ones that work with apple and don’t break the bank?
 
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Indie is an independent garage that specializes in BMW. Also you need a BMW specific code reader. Because most of time with a convertible top, the car is waiting for a specific sensor signal before proceeding. So, you will not necessarily have "fault". You need a code reader that can report the current state of the convertible top sensors.

On a sour not, most indies are not very well versed with respect to convertible hard tops.
 
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What's needed is one good video explaining where every wire goes and what each sensor does.
Then from user feed back what went wrong, where, obd readouts and fixes.
We have now on forum a mish mash of i did this and you did that.
Every time i had a wire break i had to go through getting my head around what's going on, being totally ignorant 10 years ago, still not 100%.
All the photos i took i lost when a 3Tb hard drive failed.
So they are probably still on the forum somewhere.
 
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flybobbie said:
What's needed is one good video explaining where every wire goes and what each sensor does.
Then from user feed back what went wrong, where, obd readouts and fixes.
We have now on forum a mish mash of i did this and you did that.
Every time i had a wire break i had to go through getting my head around what's going on, being totally ignorant 10 years ago, still not 100%.
All the photos i took i lost when a 3Tb hard drive failed.
So they are probably still on the forum somewhere.
Click to expand...
Is this the thread you are referring too?
F

Thread 'Roof fault-bong of doom'

Well few weeks ago, roof fault came up. Code reader said roof module 2 hall sensor.
So today being -1.5 c temperature going home, roof bong continuous and red roof symbol and "roof not latched" all the way home.
So thinking this will be a broken wire, you can just feel the cable in the open section of the interior roof panel just alongside the head rest.
So i pushed on the cables and sure enough the red roof symbol comes and goes.
So looks like a broken wire, bit too cold at the moment to mess.
 
I think that was the second wire to break on a straight section.
That was right seat over my right shoulder.
You can see some exposed wiring, "lucky" when i poked that area the warning flashed on and off.
So i knew break was there.
 
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So my son has a new TopGuru Pro obd2 reader, he loaded e89 into it and it brought up everything. Javis20 wins the best guess on this one. It is the left micro switch. I will be ordering both and my son will help me with replacement. Wires and looms looked great but one spot on the right wire loom had been getting smashed down, going to try and move it a little so that doesn’t happen. With my sons reader and electronic knowledge I feel pretty good about any future problems——————————————————————————————————————————————
 
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javis20 said:
Very likely boot closed micro switches which are easy to replace. The boot closed micro switches get very intermittent before they fail completely. So best do them now while you can still put the convertible top in service position. There are 2, one on each side

If your serious about keeping this car you should get BMW specific diagnostic software. If you have an android phone or tablet, Bimmergeeks ProTool is great. It will also open the trunk/boot when you have a convertible top error.
Click to expand...

Ok I ordered the switches using the part numbers in the YouTube video, hope they are the right ones.
 
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