"Reduction in price to move hood motor into boot"

[Chris_D]

It will be the best £80 spent on your car...

Ditto

U just had urs done as a preventive measure didnt u marlon?
If the motor fails is it mounted in such a way as to be owner-replaced easily?
I'm fairly handy with a spanner and i have no idea what condition the motor is currently in but i always expect the worst case scenario and prefer to have contingency measures in place.

 

[MACK]

Haven't even collected my 'new' Z yet and after following and being inspired by all of your positive experiences have made contact with dave to get the roof motor relocated!
He's currently on holiday but has kindly advised that he will try to squeeze me in next week.
Looking forward to a pleasant trek through the lake district from Liverpool to gain some piece-of-mind with this bit of preventive maintenance.
Also looking forwards to becoming an active, z-owning member of this brilliant forum!


Picking up this lovely. 3.0L se next tuesday...
File 13-08-2016, 12 54 39.jpeg

Very "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES" that photo!

U callin my new toy a girly-car u cheeky whippersnapper u!

No the "Wisteria Way" sign in the background, thats was the street in it (I think)!

 

[Marlon]

It will be the best £80 spent on your car...

Ditto

U just had urs done as a preventive measure didnt u marlon?
If the motor fails is it mounted in such a way as to be owner-replaced easily?
I'm fairly handy with a spanner and i have no idea what condition the motor is currently in but i always expect the worst case scenario and prefer to have contingency measures in place.

Yeah, preventative measure Chris. Once its in the boot it shouldn't ever fail - broken motors are almost always caused by water ingress.

 

[Axelf]

It will be the best £80 spent on your car...

Ditto

U just had urs done as a preventive measure didnt u marlon?
If the motor fails is it mounted in such a way as to be owner-replaced easily?
I'm fairly handy with a spanner and i have no idea what condition the motor is currently in but i always expect the worst case scenario and prefer to have contingency measures in place.

Don't think the worst about the motor... Dave done mine and he said mine was the worst he seen... He got it going again so have faith

 

[Chris_D]

Very "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES" that photo!

U callin my new toy a girly-car u cheeky whippersnapper u!

No the "Wisteria Way" sign in the background, thats was the street in it (I think)!

Ahh reet. I don't watch telly so i wouldnt have known. 8)

 

[Chris_D]

Ditto

U just had urs done as a preventive measure didnt u marlon?
If the motor fails is it mounted in such a way as to be owner-replaced easily?
I'm fairly handy with a spanner and i have no idea what condition the motor is currently in but i always expect the worst case scenario and prefer to have contingency measures in place.

Don't think the worst about the motor... Dave done mine and he said mine was the worst he seen... He got it going again so have faith

Well, current owner claims it's still smooth, quiet and problem-free but better to be safe than sorry later on. At £80 it really is a no-brainer. Will be a nice long maiden trek in any case....

 

[Axelf]

post on here when you are going... if i am not at work i can pop up... only 30 mins away from me

 

[Chris_D]

post on here when you are going... if i am not at work i can pop up... only 30 mins away from me

Well that's very convivial of you old boy! is dave's place a bit of a meeting hub for forum members?
Still subject to confirmation from the man himself (dave) but heading towards next weekend fri/sat hopefully. will certainly post up ETA if anyone else fancies scooting over to say hi to a z4 newb!

 

[Axelf]

keep us posted ...

 

[Chris_D]

Very happy to report that Dave, assisted by his son Cory have successfully relocated my roof motor yesterday. And as a nice little bonus for me he said the motor was the 'best he'd ever seen', in terms of it's overall condition. Very lucky for me as I've seen the photos of roof motors here of much newer zeds than mine and some were horrific enough to make me presume that mine would be the same. The foam inside the motor housing was bone dry and looked brand new, confirming claims from the seller that it had been garaged most of its life. However, as a new owner, just 4 days now, this is a considerable 'load off' and a good bit of future-proofing/preventive maintenance. Don't have to worry about getting stuck in the rain with the top down should the motor fail. Photos below.

The job wasnt without a few difficulties however; due to the fact that I have the updated sound system with the amplifier bulge behind the passenger seat this meant that there was less room for Dave to work with in terms of positioning the motor at the critical operating angle it needs to be at in order for the hydraulic fluid to work as it should. But after cutting away some of the plastic plate to the left (rear) of the boot recess where the motors new location is Dave managed to get it into a suitable position. They also fitted a new set of pads to the rear as the warning light had just come on. 120 quid inc pads. Nice one!

I'm of the opinion that Dave doesnt charge enough for the roof motor job and I broached the subject with him citing BMW labour costs as comparison but to his credit he said he thought it was a fair price. TIP: if you have this job done I would suggest maybe tipping a bit extra as I did. Dave fitted me in around my own busy schedule and also managed to sort the pads at very short notice. In my book that's worth an extra pony on top!

CherryM also popped in to say 'haway mate' which was a nice surprise. He's local to Dave and likes to come and say hello and have a niknak with forum members should they trek up the for the roof motor job. Thoroughly bloody nice chaps, all of them!


Men at work. Dave (in boot), duly assisted by son Cory.


Motor extracted and looking brand new. Got lucky there!


Nice dry condition for interior of the motor housing. (Excuse my half-eaten apple!)


The finished article. Looks stock almost!

All in all, even if your roof motor's working fine I would highly reccomend this job to be done if only for piece of mind in the future. For 80 and a tank of petrol from Liverpool and back for me, it's a no-brainer!

 

[Marlon]

Great write up Chris. It's a great feeling isn't it having the motor protected from the elements in the boot
I reckon 12 months ago when I bought my car the motor was in the same condition as yours because it was a second car for the previous owner and was always garaged. I believe that the slight water and rust showing on mine was from last winter's storms, now that its relocated I feel much happier on days like today when its tipping it down.
Dave said to give it a week or two to thoroughly dry out and then if I want to quieten the motor I can bubble wrap it. It's a great setup there isn't it - father and son make a great team

 

[Chris_D]

It is indeed nice not to have that nagging doubt about if/when/how the motor will pack up unexpectedly one day Marlon!
Having worked many years as a design engineer I still can't quite believe it's been designed this way! Somebody somewhere higher up the food chain at Bmw must have made some kind of cost/benefit analysis which has overridden any kind of consideration or risk analysis for TTF and operational longevity estimate. Crazy!
:roll:

 

[85genius]

Booked in with dave Friday afternoon I'm up properly north so thought I may as well get it sorted whilst I'm in the area

 

[Marlon]

Booked in with dave Friday afternoon I'm up properly north so thought I may as well get it sorted whilst I'm in the area

Will be interesting to see the state of your motor.

 

[85genius]

Booked in with dave Friday afternoon I'm up properly north so thought I may as well get it sorted whilst I'm in the area

Will be interesting to see the state of your motor.

In theory it should be in pretty good nick as it was replaced at bmw less than 2 years ago

 

[david_l_perry]

Just got back form Daves place in Sunderland. Great 2 hour drive up, and even better 2 hours drive back with the roof down....Yeahhh...

It all works again

Dave has clearly got this method down to a fine art...

I arrived at 11.10 this morning....quick hello...I then went to grab a bite to eat and a coffee from the shop round the corner. In the time it took me to eat my fish and chips, and drink a cup of coffee...it was done....astounding and very neat.

I set off back home at 11.55.....

Best part of it was that he managed to get my motor up and running again with no issues, clean up with an airline and some diesel and saved my buying a replacement motor at £175....

Its simply a no brainer.

Interestingly the motor is also quieter and faster than it used to be...it must have been struggling for a while with the water.

Dave showed me the usual case and utterly soaked wrap that the motor is housed in....

Very pleased and well worth the trip over without any question. Its all hidden behind the wheel arch and the usual carpet cover over it so looks nice and hidden.....well impressed

So nice to have a working roof again after several weeks without

 

[paulgs1000]

Got to applaud Cherrym for setting this up in the first place with his mechanic friend Dave. It offers a way out of one of the major concerns of Zed ownership at a very reasonable cost.

Nice one Mike

Great to see it such a success - my 3.0si has been done - will have to get my M over to him for the same - just to get that peace of mind and see what condition the motor is in.

 

[Chris_D]

Good move dave.
i stuck around while dave and cory were busy with my roof motor relocation. Friendly banter to be had and cherryM turned up for a niknak.
Really happy with the result and you should now be future-proofed.
Hope u tipped him? He's way undercharging for this job.

 

[Marlon]

Got to applaud Cherrym for setting this up in the first place with his mechanic friend Dave. It offers a way out of one of the major concerns of Zed ownership at a very reasonable cost.

Nice one Mike
. . .

Could't agree more Paul

 

[david_l_perry]

Good move dave.
i stuck around while dave and cory were busy with my roof motor relocation. Friendly banter to be had and cherryM turned up for a niknak.
Really happy with the result and you should now be future-proofed.
Hope u tipped him? He's way undercharging for this job.

I did indeed Chris