any top tips for the best way to do this?
Roof drain clean from the top?
- Thread starter stevedruidstone
- Start date
Ok, to drain from the top, you fold down roof, get a metal coat hanger and a torchlight ( optional), feel for where the hole is and wallah, you unblock the holes and the water will drain out. Simples! as I did this last year when I heard water sloshing about.If you have a roof motor, that may be in the way on one side so not sure if it is accessable.
I brought a air duster aerosol can today. I'm going to see if I can stick the tube down around the motor and give it a blast.
Water drains fine at the moment but I want to see if it will blow any dirt or leaves up.
For £4 I thought it was worth a go.
Water drains fine at the moment but I want to see if it will blow any dirt or leaves up.
For £4 I thought it was worth a go.
They are fairly weak but if I can get the tube down low enough.....
I just want to see if I can feel the air get blown from the gaps around the motor. If so, it maybe worth getting a garage to use a air hose around the motor ever so often to clear any debris that might sit and clog up the drain hole directly below the motor.
I just want to see if I can feel the air get blown from the gaps around the motor. If so, it maybe worth getting a garage to use a air hose around the motor ever so often to clear any debris that might sit and clog up the drain hole directly below the motor.
As mentioned the roof motor housing sits directly over the 10mm drain hole which is part of the problem of why the damn thing blocks so easily. I doubt you'll get anything to bend round the housing properly.
I 'thought' I was keeping my drains clear by poking things up from the bottom, but only when my roof motor ultimately failed and I took the roof off did I then realise just how bad the problem is at the top end of the drains.
I ended up making up a metal mesh 'donut' about 15mm in height which I put over the top drain hole with the motor housing sitting on top holding it in place, this simple modification stops a single small leaf from blocking the drain hole while increasing the available surface area for draining. Obviously it doesn't increase the 10mm hole which water has to drain through, but at least it has a chance to stay unclogged now.
I'll leave it for a few months, then probably before the winter I'll just unhitch the motor side, lift it and see how clogged or not my little filter is... :roll:
I 'thought' I was keeping my drains clear by poking things up from the bottom, but only when my roof motor ultimately failed and I took the roof off did I then realise just how bad the problem is at the top end of the drains.
I ended up making up a metal mesh 'donut' about 15mm in height which I put over the top drain hole with the motor housing sitting on top holding it in place, this simple modification stops a single small leaf from blocking the drain hole while increasing the available surface area for draining. Obviously it doesn't increase the 10mm hole which water has to drain through, but at least it has a chance to stay unclogged now.
I'll leave it for a few months, then probably before the winter I'll just unhitch the motor side, lift it and see how clogged or not my little filter is... :roll:
I guess it's like when you wash you dishes in the sink and all the food crap gets stuck around the plug hole and blocks the sink until you clean it.
Today I've also used a foam strip to fill in the gap between the roof and the rear boot panel. I'll remove it before I drive. Luckily it's not my daily driver.
It's a bloody big gap that leaves can easily fall down. About 2cm on my car.
Today I've also used a foam strip to fill in the gap between the roof and the rear boot panel. I'll remove it before I drive. Luckily it's not my daily driver.
It's a bloody big gap that leaves can easily fall down. About 2cm on my car.
Havard said:
Unfortunately not, i did this when I first got the car in 2012 thinking that was guaranteed to stop any clogging. The crucial clogging zone is immediately under the motor housing where you have half the roof surface area draining into a 10mm spout which then runs down to the bottom bung hole. So the constriction runs from top to bottom giving amazing scope for cloggage (is that a word even?
).So when you remove the bottom bung and poke and hope all you're doing is hitting the bottom of the motor housing which sits neatly over the top hole, this may dislodge gunk which is immediately in the hole, but there is also a build-up around the hole and extending upto the motor housing, this is why the motors are easily drowned.
The two realistic options are to lift the motor side leg and insert some sort of cleaning device which can hang down through the bottom bung hole and be accessible from the top, so hanging in the boot. A quick 'floss' of this cleaning device every week will keep at least one side free of debris.
the other option as I mentioned is to physically lift the motor housing clear of the hole while still allowing suitable draining, this is hopefully what my little mesh donut will achieve, but as with anything only time will tell.
Of course vigorous rubbing of rabbit's feet and many hail marys might ward off the evil motor drowning but I wouldn't count on it.... :roll:
After my experience I would almost guarantee that virtually every Z4 roof motor in the UK will have some degree of water ingress, the BMW designers guaranteed it.
Georgio said:Havard said:
Unfortunately not, i did this when I first got the car in 2012 thinking that was guaranteed to stop any clogging. The crucial clogging zone is immediately under the motor housing where you have half the roof surface area draining into a 10mm spout which then runs down to the bottom bung hole. So the constriction runs from top to bottom giving amazing scope for cloggage (is that a word even?
So when you remove the bottom bung and poke and hope all you're doing is hitting the bottom of the motor housing which sits neatly over the top hole, this may dislodge gunk which is immediately in the hole, but there is also a build-up around the hole and extending upto the motor housing, this is why the motors are easily drowned.
The two realistic options are to lift the motor side leg and insert some sort of cleaning device which can hang down through the bottom bung hole and be accessible from the top, so hanging in the boot. A quick 'floss' of this cleaning device every week will keep at least one side free of debris.
the other option as I mentioned is to physically lift the motor housing clear of the hole while still allowing suitable draining, this is hopefully what my little mesh donut will achieve, but as with anything only time will tell.
Of course vigorous rubbing of rabbit's feet and many hail marys might ward off the evil motor drowning but I wouldn't count on it.... :roll:
After my experience I would almost guarantee that virtually every Z4 roof motor in the UK will have some degree of water ingress, the BMW designers guaranteed it.
Cheers Georgio,
I have been worried about this since I got the car and the previous owner said that the drains had been cleared, but to what effect, I don't know.
There are loads of threads about this. Does anyone have a link that shows how to get to the motor from the top? Does the roof have to be half or fully down to see where the motor is and what parts do you have to strip away to see it.
H.
If you put your roof half down, then look from the inside of the car down between the hood and the trim you should be able to see the top of the roof motor housing, though it's very tight in there.
Alternatively if you're double-jointed and about three foot tall, remove the plastic boot tray and with the roof fully up you can get in the boot and see the housing from there.
The problem though is that the housing sits right over the drain hole in it's own private 'hot tub' so even though you can just about see it, there is very little else you can do without removing the roof.
Alternatively if you're double-jointed and about three foot tall, remove the plastic boot tray and with the roof fully up you can get in the boot and see the housing from there.
The problem though is that the housing sits right over the drain hole in it's own private 'hot tub' so even though you can just about see it, there is very little else you can do without removing the roof.
AlpinaRoadsterS
Member
Georgio said:.....
After my experience I would almost guarantee that virtually every Z4 roof motor in the UK will have some degree of water ingress, the BMW designers guaranteed it.
Not only in the UK. Same in germany
We have a Z user in germany, who removed my roof motor into the trunk (left side) WITHOUT touching the roof.
He has a LCD SNAKE VISION ENDOSCOPE INSPECTION CAMERA like this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-5-LCD-S...CAMERA-8mm-Camera-Head-Extendable-/1710853741
So the roofmotor will stay dry and you can use a metal coat hanger (like Grizzly9 wrote) to clean the hole.
AlpinaRoadsterS said:Georgio said:.....
After my experience I would almost guarantee that virtually every Z4 roof motor in the UK will have some degree of water ingress, the BMW designers guaranteed it.
Not only in the UK. Same in germany
We have a Z user in germany, who removed my roof motor into the trunk (left side) WITHOUT touching the roof.
You cannot leave us hanging, we need pics and a guide on how to do this.
AlpinaRoadsterS
Member
This is the website of the user, who changed my roof motor into the trunk.
http://www.pixelrichter.de/
And yes, his first job was to cut the cable tie. He was in the trunk with the camera and his wife was on the seat and cutting the cable tie. He was directing his wife, where she has to go with the tool to cut the cable tie.
After this was done, he moved the motor into the trunk (my motor was only 2 years old and like new).
Then he filled in some more oil, because I had not enough in.
The hole job was done in 1 hour and I payed 335,00 Euro.
http://www.pixelrichter.de/
And yes, his first job was to cut the cable tie. He was in the trunk with the camera and his wife was on the seat and cutting the cable tie. He was directing his wife, where she has to go with the tool to cut the cable tie.
After this was done, he moved the motor into the trunk (my motor was only 2 years old and like new).
Then he filled in some more oil, because I had not enough in.
The hole job was done in 1 hour and I payed 335,00 Euro.
AlpinaRoadsterS
Member
281,51 Euro without TAX.
He filled in some oil.
He mounted a metal plate in front of the motor in the trunk.
He gave me a pot of coffee
So his hourly rate is "only" around 100 Euro,
AND 100 Euro for his wife :lol:
He filled in some oil.
He mounted a metal plate in front of the motor in the trunk.
He gave me a pot of coffee
So his hourly rate is "only" around 100 Euro,
AND 100 Euro for his wife :lol:
jampudding
Member
In that case we need a group invite to the UK for this clever roof guru. I reckon in a weekend he could do hmmm.... 20 roofs?? Somebody should organise this - any German speakers??