Can't manually drop roof, Help needed please!

R

r.a

Member
Hello,

My roof motor needs replacing on my 2003 Z4. Having referred to Shipkillers DIY motor replacement how to, it shows that the roof needs to be manually dropped in several positions during the replacement process if the motor is not functional.

The problem I have is after unlatching and unlocking the roof and lifting and twisting the red hoop attached to the bowden cable in the boot to bypass the hydraulics on roof motor, I am still unable to fold down the roof by hand. There is still a lot of resistance and the interior roof lining bunches up near the seat headrest. I can only move back the roof maybe a few inches at best before significant resistance.

Any suggestions of what I could try?

Thanks.
 
I've never done a roof motor so not really sure what it could be but a quick suggestion: have you got that silly thing in the boot which expands the boot space lowered or lifted? I do know that the roof won't go down with it in one of the positions - not sure which as I've never moved mine but I'm sure someone will tell us.
 
I think your refering to the luggage compartment. This in the correct position to allow the roof to operate. There is a microswitch which determines the position of the compartment and if it is not engaged the roof would not even unlock and unlatch nor would the the windows drop when the roof open button is pressed. So unfortunate this is not the solution.
 
You could try pulling the boden cable in and out quite a few times, it sounds like it is not releasing and the hydrolic fluid is not able to run freely around the system, preventing free movement of the roof.
 
Hi, Have done my roof motor today at last ready of the the sun :!:
My Boden cable had the red handle missing,but I found that if a friend pulled the cable and held it a could move the roof freely up and down until he let go. Hope this helps
 
I ripped out my roof over the weekend. except unlike you my roof motor was working.

My red handle would also not do anything upon pulling, it was seized until i actually removed the roof and smacked the mechanism a few times.
As stated in other threads, get two people. One person pulling AND PUSHING, the red cable in AND OUT of place. While another person tries to move the top.
Red hook pulled out = hydraulics bypassed.
Red hook sittings in its fitting = hydraulics not bypassed.

As for HAVING to move the roof by hand, i disagee. I removed my entire roof while the top stayed in the same position the entire time. Roughly a 10" gap from windshield to top.

Microswitch, if im not mistaken, ONLY allows for opening of roof by button. Nothing to do with manual removal. It is a safety feature, incase your trunk shelf is in the upright position. If your motor is toast, this is off topic for you.
 
Thanks guys for the replies, I'll be giving the suggestion of two people ( one pulling bowden cable in and out and the other pushing roof down a go tomorrow.)
 
OK so tried dropping the roof manually with the help of someone else as suggested. The roof seem to move freely but it only opens to a certain extent and is them met with resistance. This seem to be because the inner fabric/lining is not folding properly and is creasing up against the head rest area. This is a bit difficult to explain but I have taken and included some photographs to make it easier to understand. Would like to know if anyone has any suggestion to this problem. Or has faced this problem too. Thanks!







You can see in the last two photographs in particular why the roof is stopped because of the head lining bunching up!
 
OK, I'm pulling my hair out over this now, need to drop the top manually to replace motor but can't because of the issue, anybody else experience this or have any suggestions please?
 
Surely you must be able to push the folds up and over the hoops and work it free in stages, even if some careful force is required? Like the seat colour btw, I see you may also have the same problem that drives me crazy with my car, namely the seat back continually falling off!
 
You're applying pressure to the wrong area wren pushing the roof down. Make sure rear part of the roof is taught as though it is being pulled from the back, rather than you pushing it from the front.

Hard to describe. Just watch a video if someone putting the roof down and see which order it folds.
 
Hi, guys followed all the suggestions but its not moving beyond that point, the only thing I can think of is maybe the hydraulic bypass isn't working because of the condition of the motor. From what people are saying I understand the roof can still be removed from the opening I have at the moment and does not need to be closed completely. Is that correct? If so I will attempt to follow shipkillers instructions with the roof as is at the mo to remove it.
 
OK, so I've started to remove the soft following shipkillers guide but need some advice from those who have removed their tops.

On step no.5 (removing the weather strip seal that joins the top to the car) how have people removed the seal? I have tried prising and pulling it out with my fingers, a flat head screwdriver and a flat plastic tool but the seal is very tight and doesn't budge from the car body.
 
Have you got a wind deflector in place between the hoops? Or am i not looking at it correctly, it looks like the roof is being prevented from folding properly because of the deflector. Could be wrong though. :roll:
 
Have you managed to get the strip off and any further with the removal, if not why not remove the deflector and see if the roof folds correctly, it looks like it is being caught up on it. Cheers.
 
unfortunately had to stop because it started to rain, its parked up in garage now, so I may pop out and try with the wind deflector removed. Regardless of whether or not I can get the top down I'll still need to remove the seal to remove the roof, would having the roof fully down make it easier for seal removal?
 
Not sure about the strip, never done it myself. Have you got a replacement motor?
 
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