Is your car kept outside?

Yes. And to say a modern day car cannot cope with the elements is cobblers imo! And provided one that has been parked outside has been well maintained, cleaned etc... can look just as good and be as reliable as one that has been garaged. :poke:
 
Roof motor is a typical example of purely a weather induced failure ...
 
Then BMW have some questions to answer in that case, seems like the pre facelifts were the ones most affected by this. Had no such issues what so ever with a (electrically operated roofed) Z3 which was kept outside in 4 years of ownership.
 
I keep mine outside.....but want to garage it very badly just to keep it clean. Amazing amount of dust blowing around during the day and high humidity at night result is a crap looking car only 1 day after a good wash. :thumbsdown:
 
Mine is outside until i rebuild the garage and even then i have a sneaky feeling she won't see much of the garage but tree sap, dust, pollen, animals - all take a toll, if i had the option then a garage would be my preference.
 
Indeed roofless, if you have a garage use it, if you don't then I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

As for the rubber seals they have UV additives to stop the effects of the sun and have to operate in the coldest/hottest temperatures that can be found on the planet. The only thing that you cannot stop, even if garaged, is the ageing effect on the rubber, it just gets brittle with time.
 
Mine is kept outside because i have no choice.

The biggest issue I have is bird dirt and fly dirt! I live on a farm so perhaps have more wildlife than most but this year has been really bad. I spent two hours cleaning the Z4 on the weekend as it was covered with little tiny specs of fly muck, really annoying.

And as for bird muck... I guess I try and rinse it off once or twice a week because I know it damages paint.

As for the rubber seals, I use Gummi Pfledge and apply every 6 months or so, it seems to make seals much more supple and almost as good as new.

I also seal the roof with Fabsil with built in UV protection, this not only prevents most water soaking through and affecting the roof motors but also offers some UV protection.

My final protection is a cheap £20 car cover from halfords that covers the hood nicely.
 
mine is keep undercover, but mostly to protect the roof when the hardtop is packed away during the summer

aside from the frabic roof I guess most prone to ageing will be the black plastics. i have noticed the plastic at the base of my windscreen is beginning to fade and discolour :x
 
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