Hardtop sealing poorly

[Crawford08]

Hi everyone,

I've had my car for a couple weeks now and I am getting a lot of wind noise coming from where the hardtop meets the windshield. Also it doesn't fit into the latches very well, it really needs forced into the latches.

First I went through the instructions as seen here https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1433

That didn't help when my top was down to about 5mm gap at the rear and even on both sides. Also the passenger front latch was still really difficult to get in so I pulled the top, flipped it over, and removed my headliner hoping to be able to adjust the latches (don't worry, the top is on a fluffy dog bed while it's upside down)



Now I could see how the latches could move around and put it back on the car to start adjusting.



I got the latches moved around until the top goes on the car with no force and just drops into place on its own.

Now that the top fits as good as I can get It I have a problem that the top is a slightly different shape than the windshield. It fits tight in the center



But it gaps on both sides like this



Now to my conundrum, my soft top seals really nicely so I don't want to do anything that will build up the seal or the ragtop won't seal perfect anymore so I need to build up the hardtop until it meets the seal. What would you use to make the top fit just right?

I'm not going to fiberglass it because that would require paint so that options out for now. I've been thinking layers of electrical tape on the underside to get a thickness template but I know that tape will move around a lot in the heat so that's a really temporary solution. I might put some plastic wrap on the windshield and put weatherstrip adhesive on the hardtop then half latch it and let it cure overnight before peeling the plastic wrap off but it's my daily so that will have to wait till the weekend.

 

[DMike]

Hi,
If you have access to TIS, look for document 54 01 04 (082) Wind noises from the hardtop. The document describes two methods, either
- installing a filler piece (which could be removed when the hardtop is not on) under the sealing lip, or
- removing shims from the hardtop catch (under the three nuts on your second image, between the catch and the hardtop if I interpret the TIS images correctly).

 

[Crawford08]

Removing shims won't work for me because the center is already super tight so I guess the filler block method it is.

 

[Rally]

I fitted foam draught excluder worked a treat

 

[firebobby]

I fitted foam draught excluder worked a treat

Same here, not that I've used my hardtop for years now.

 

[alane29]

I tried the adjustment they didnt work so i went for a small piece of draft excluder ,i only has the issue on the corner section on the passengers side.