Roof Motor and Pump Replaced FOC (almost)

C

CovertConvert

Member
Hi all

I just wanted to let you know that I have had a great experience with Ocean BMW in Plymouth recently. Took my car, a 2007 BMW Z4 2.0 Msport, into the garage a couple of months ago after the roof motor failed. I got the usual diagnosis, water ingress so not covered by the BMW Insured Warranty!

I argued the case with Ocean BMW, thanks to a few users on here posting pics of blocked drains, etc, and they said they would raise it with BMW directly. It's taken two months but finally got some good news. BMW will pay for 100% of the parts and 80% of the labour. I got it fitted over the past two days and even got a nice 220D MSport Convertible to drive around in whilst they had my car. In total the new roof motor, hydraulic pumps, connections, lines, seals, hydraulic oil and a drivers window adjustment (related to the roof mechanism) cost me £120.

Very happy with BMW and particularly with Ocean BMW in Plymouth. Treated me like a human being which is unheard of at most stealers!

If anyone is going through something similar then its really worth pushing it with BMW directly, the stealers appear to be in the best position to do this but only if you find one that is willing to fight your corner. It also helped that my car had only done 35k miles when the motor went and has a full BMW Service history so they know it has been looked after.

Jon
 
Great result. Only problem is they probably replaced it following the TIS religiously. Which means, poorly sealed sound insulation just waiting for more water ingress...
Obviously you will keep the drains clear to try to avoid such an event, but it would annoy me knowing nothing's stopping it happening again except for your diligence.
I sealed mine up with RTV to try to mitigate water ingress (as well as keeping an eye on the drains). Shame it sounds like a 747 taking off when it latches onto the windshield, but apparently that's not unusual for a new motor :idunno:
 
Unfortunately as Enzed mentions the roof motor housing design and position virtually guarantees that the motor will sit in it's own rust jacuzzi until it fails. When I fixed my roof motor I made absolutely sure that the housing was sealed and in addition I placed a ring of gauze under the motor housing to stop the drain hole from getting blocked.

Still, result on getting the dealer to sort the problem out, did you buy the car from them by any chance?
 
That opens up a can of worms, great result! I hope other dealers will give the same service. The motor which makes the final closure at the the windshield is a 2nd smaller motor located there. Can anyone say why a new main motor and hydraulics effects this. Could it be with a new main motor the pressure is greater than tired old one and therefore noisier in operation?
 
Georgio said:
Still, result on getting the dealer to sort the problem out, did you buy the car from them by any chance?
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Nope. I didn't buy it from them. Im not even local to Plymouth, just happened to be down there on business the day after the roof motor failed. My local stealer is awful and I would never take my car there. Ive had dealings with them in the past and they are not good. For information that is Snows BMW in Portsmouth.

I agree with enzed4 that unfortunately yes it has been replaced as per the TIS but this was more about getting BMW to pay for the replacement. It still works out cheaper than me buying the unit myself and replacing it. I will of course continue to make sure that the drain holes are cleaned regularly and hopefully that will help keep to motor in good shape.

There is always the option to take the roof off myself and seal the unit up better than BMW would have done. I may take a look at this over the winter. I need a new roof anyway! ;)
 
Sounds like a decent stealer for a change. :)
If you're thinking of changing the roof, consider resiting the whole motor housing to the boot. The connections don't need to be modified and it's a very neat job if you take your time.
 
Georgio said:
If you're thinking of changing the roof, consider resiting the whole motor housing to the boot. The connections don't need to be modified and it's a very neat job if you take your time.
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Agree - there are a couple of good threads on doing this, and it doesn't actually seem that difficult if you've got the roof off.

Could it be with a new main motor the pressure is greater than tired old one and therefore noisier in operation?
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I've wondered this myself. At first I just thought I'd bought a dud motor, but plenty of others have posted how noisy their motor is when latching onto the windshield. Although there is a second motor that actually locks the roof into place, the main soft top motor still runs to keep the pressure on the top against the windshield while its latching shut. I hear my motor going 'click click click' a few times after the roof has finished the whole operation, so it must run on a bit. Technically it seems to be working perfectly, audibly it sounds awful... :(
I remember the old motor never had this problem, but of course it was swimming in its own rust filled bathtub so maybe the water was a good sound insulator... :roll:
 
Great result and Good to hear that they are still providing great customer service. My dad bought his first BMW from Chennals (now Ocean) Torbay in 1994 and his second one from them in 1996. And he bought from them because they treated him well even as a tourist in short and t shirt.
 
Angie4m said:
Great result and Good to hear that they are still providing great customer service. My dad bought his first BMW from Chennals (now Ocean) Torbay in 1994 and his second one from them in 1996. And he bought from them because they treated him well even though he is Scottish.
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Corrected that for you Angie :P
 
pvr said:
Angie4m said:
Great result and Good to hear that they are still providing great customer service. My dad bought his first BMW from Chennals (now Ocean) Torbay in 1994 and his second one from them in 1996. And he bought from them because they treated him well even though he is Scottish.
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Corrected that for you Angie :P
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Lol! I was also going to add that. Good job it wasn't my Grandfather..........he was English :lol:
 
I think it's logical that the main motor continues running briefly to keep the pressure on whilst the screen motor completes the locking process. I guess as long as the whole process completes swiftly and safely, a little extra noise is no big deal even though we all worry about hearing a new/different noise from our Zeds.
 
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