convertible top

J

jillson7

New member
Good afternoon,
New Z4 owner and new to the forum. Got a Z4 this winter at an insurance auction for a rebuild project. First I'll say exactly what my wife and friends said "What were you thinking" I'm a retired Engineer and needed something to do during the Covid shutdown and used to love sports cars and even raced in SCCA before house and kids came along. Everything went ok, yes there were surprises as there always is and pissing money away. One question I have that just came up the complete hydraulic system for the top had to be replaced and hinges rebuilt. Worked fine until yesterday when it wouldn't go back up. After it sat overnight bingo it would go back up and down but I noticed none of the warning lights went on or off during operations as they did before, this has happened twice now on consecutive days. I suck at electrical problems and have no patience for solving them. Would the condition described point in the direction of the operational switch itself or ?
Thanks
Jim
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. :thumbsup:

As I've only had Coupes I can't offer any help regarding Roadster roof problems, but it might be worth checking the health of your battery. Dying batteries on BMWs often create some random faults!
 
Morning or Good Evening,
Sorry about getting back to your reply so late. Thanks for the battery info sounds like they can be a little quirky. It seems to be fine but none the less I'll check it out.
Your Coupe by the description sounds like she's a beauty .
Thanks
 
Have you set up a code reader when the top wasn't coming up? If so, did you pick up any codes.

If you've moved the motor/pump to the trunk have you, when the top is failing to come up, set a meter on the electrical connections to the motor and pushed top up? By doing this you'll known if power is reaching the motor. If there's power, you'll know there a fault within the motor, if no power, then it's neither the motor or the connection at the motor.

I'd go to the area behind the seats and unplug all of the plugs you'd do if you were taking the top off. I would then clean each plug (his/hers end) with electrical contact cleaner. Note I would also spray the connection at the white convertible controller box itself. Afterwards, reconnect the plugs and hope for the best.
 
Welcome to the forum. :) Not much help I can offer. But I would agree it's probably an electrical issue.
 
Morning everyone,
I'd look into those connectors if it ever stops raining. I live in New England (USA) and it's been raining for four straight days and setting records for low temperatures and no garage with room for it. I have scanners but not the "Big boy Scanner" as I call it. Thinking about buying one if this keeps up. It will be in the shop tomorrow which was already scheduled as the SRS (Air bag light) is on again. Second time after replacing the SRS module unit and reprograming everything. It most likely will be the passenger seat weight/occupancy mat setting it off again. I did have to replace the hydraulic motor and rebuild both the hydraulic hinges for the top but didn't relocate the motor. I modified the system, repackaged how the motor was housed and the storage area so it would be isolated from the water threats from the drainage system instead. I did find that the battery was low as Mr. Tidy replied to my post advising that sometimes when the battery gets low some of the units (Brains) wont or don't wake up and think clearly. System checks out fine and most likely was just low as there has been a lot of on and off work going on without the charging system running to keep up with it.
We'll post again after its Doctors visit and prognosis.
Thanks Guys
 
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