E89 roof relay change

Smartbear

Lifer
 a barn in Somerset
Hi, not wanting to watch the endless repeats on tv over the crimbo period, i thought I’d change the 2 salmon relays that operate the roof.
The first thing to do is clear the boot of any blankets etc :P
865CEC64-2607-45E8-89D4-BE9874A694DF.jpeg
You can see the salmon relays in this pic, the white coloured clips are fiddly to release in this position
A26C3731-9FDB-4760-9DE7-EAEE61C6331D.jpeg

If you undo the T25 torx securing the mounting bracket the job becomes a lot easier

F3918187-4426-4174-B0DC-A65CF14A6060.jpeg

629C00C1-93A7-411B-82AE-38AE3C11DDD1.jpeg

The relays pull out after releasing the white clips & wiggling a little

5207D377-8FD2-4453-B748-15C405047922.jpeg

After swapping the relays over for a new pair it makes sense to check the roof still operates correctly :thumbsup:
I also took the opportunity to look at the old relays in more detail, the orange cover pulls off after releasing some small clips underneath & you can now operate the relay manually to check for burnt contacts (which cause potentially massive problems if they weld together or go high resistance)

9874C609-9DE0-433B-A354-E3868218B081.jpegA6CBA554-5AC5-48E9-9F8C-03E7E8A89034.jpeg

My car has covered 37k since 2013 & the contacts still looked good imho, as the pair only cost around £30 it’s cheap insurance to change them though :thumbsup:
Rob
 
Helpful write up Rob. That reminds me I need to do mine since the car is 10 years old and god knows if they have been done! what's the cable with the red crimp connectors for?
 
Silverstar said:
Helpful write up Rob. That reminds me I need to do mine since the car is 10 years old and god knows if they have been done! what's the cable with the red crimp connectors for?

Hi, I’ve wired in a plug for a smartcharger that stays in situ :thumbsup:
Rob
 
Smartbear said:
Hi, I’ve wired in a plug for a smartcharger that stays in situ :thumbsup:
Rob

Presumably no issue doing this Rob? I did this on my E85 but read it was not recommended on the E89 and the connections in the bonnet should be used instead.
 
Timmyboybunter said:
Smartbear said:
Hi, I’ve wired in a plug for a smartcharger that stays in situ :thumbsup:
Rob

Presumably no issue doing this Rob? I did this on my E85 but read it was not recommended on the E89 and the connections in the bonnet should be used instead.

Someone that knows more about the complexities of the car will be along later i suspect, but my cars been fine :thumbsup:
Rob
 
Evening all, as I'm new to zed ownership, how often should this be done? Mine is 2016 and has 37k on the clock - do these salmon relays have a particular name so that I don't get a weird look from my local auto factor?
 
Jasonn said:
Evening all, as I'm new to zed ownership, how often should this be done? Mine is 2016 and has 37k on the clock - do these salmon relays have a particular name so that I don't get a weird look from my local auto factor?

Hi, I’ve read an expert recommended every 5 to 6 years to be safe, it’s a nightmare if they go bad :cry:
Rob
 
Smartbear said:
Jasonn said:
Evening all, as I'm new to zed ownership, how often should this be done? Mine is 2016 and has 37k on the clock - do these salmon relays have a particular name so that I don't get a weird look from my local auto factor?

Hi, I’ve read an expert recommended every 5 to 6 years to be safe, it’s a nightmare if they go bad :cry:
Rob

Thanks for the heads up :thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the write up :thumbsup: . Any need to disconnect battery before replacing the relays? I guess not...
 
enzed4 said:
Thanks for the write up :thumbsup: . Any need to disconnect battery before replacing the relays? I guess not...

I left the battery alone, there’s nothing between the relay & battery that lets you turn off the power if a relay mechanically sticks up via a welded together contact, that’s why it’s such a nightmare if that occurs. The roof motor will run until the battery flattens or the motor catches fire & turning the car off won’t stop it!
A replacement motor from bmw is over £2500 :cry:
Rob
 
RobbiZ4 said:
Smartbear said:
Hi, not wanting to watch the endless repeats on tv over the crimbo period, i thought I’d change the 2 salmon relays that operate the roof.
The first thing to do is clear the boot of any blankets etc :P
865CEC64-2607-45E8-89D4-BE9874A694DF.jpeg
You can see the salmon relays in this pic, the white coloured clips are fiddly to release in this position
A26C3731-9FDB-4760-9DE7-EAEE61C6331D.jpeg

If you undo the T25 torx securing the mounting bracket the job becomes a lot easier

F3918187-4426-4174-B0DC-A65CF14A6060.jpeg

629C00C1-93A7-411B-82AE-38AE3C11DDD1.jpeg

Hi Rob, there is a much easier way without using a tool:
just press the black clip on top of the two red wires on your 2nd picture. By that you can slide out the whole unit. :rofl:


Rob, another thing:
you have to look at the inner relay contacts as these are the critical ones. The outer contact shown on your picture is not of any interest.
In between we have taken a video of an opened relay @work:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/zKQVfM9CK64[/youtube]


Background info to the complete relay story:
https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/urgent-recommendation-to-replace-the-pink-hardtop-hydraulic-relays.3815/

My original post in German:
https://www.zroadster.com/forum/threads/z4-e85-e89-z8-e52-1er-2er-3er-e93-4er-f33-6er-e64-f12-minir57-ersetzt-die-dachrelais-alle-2-5-jahre-durch-neue.133521/

Translated by Google:
https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=de&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zroadster.com%2Fforum%2Fthreads%2Fz4-e85-e89-z8-e52-1er-2er-3er-e93-4er-f33-6er-e64-f12-minir57-ersetzt-die-dachrelais-alle-2-5-jahre-durch-neue.133521%2F

Cheers robbi, it was after reading your posts that it seemed like a sensible thing to do :thumbsup:
Rob
 
[ref]RobbiZ4[/ref], I got confused by your reply to Rob:
RobbiZ4 said:
you have to look at the inner relay contacts as these are the critical ones. The outer contact shown on your picture is not of any interest.

are the inner relays, you mention, different ones to what Rob replaced?

in your German post I just found the same part number

thanks
 
Back
Top Bottom