Roof Motor (Bottomless pit of money)

O

olsonn

Active member
I found water had leaked into the passenger side of my 2004 Z4 2.5 a couple of weeks ago and not knowing which of the common faults I was dealing with, blocked drains, door membrane, pollen filter, seals etc, I decided to book it into my local BMW Dealer to have a look at it,£££ Ka Ching, £99 to look at it. Then comes the first phone call, £££ Ka Ching, door is not aligned correctly but they can do that for a price, £££ Ka Ching, roof motor is sluggish, suspect that there is water in the housing, due to blocked drain, £Ka Ching, they will have to remove the roof to check this out, ££Ka Ching, if they find the motor is damaged they quote me to replace the motor.

Anybody care to guess what price we are up to now, bear in mind this is a 2004 model valued at £5000 at most. Then comes the next ££Ka Ching, if they find the wiring for the pump has been damaged by the water, they might have to replace part of the loom.

At which point does it become uneconomical and you should walk away ??? I am sure if you had a crash an insurance company faced with these costs would simply right it off
 
If you can find a good independent mechanic your money will go much further. BMW dealers are not where anyone should take a car only worth a few thousand quid, their labour rates are just too stupid expensive. You run up against the repair vs. value conundrum way too fast.
 
bcworkz said:
If you can find a good independent mechanic your money will go much further. BMW dealers are not where anyone should take a car only worth a few thousand quid, their labour rates are just too stupid expensive. You run up against the repair vs. value conundrum way too fast.
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This.

Oh, and I have never heard of the wiring loom being damaged when roof motors have gone - and a huge number on here have had to replace their roof motor on here. If it does need replaced a decent independent will do it for about £700 all in... From memory BMW will charge over a grand as their labour rates are pretty much double.
 
Book time for replacing a motor is 4.5 hours so knowing the garage's hourly labour rate you can easily work out the cost. Roof motor is £305 plus enclosure £55 (if required) from BMW Soper after Forum discount.
 
Get out the dealers asap - get to an independent fast - ask on the Forum you should get a recommendation.

Good luck.

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
Tbh could you not do a bit of detective work?-there's plenty of info on here regarding drain cleaning and membrane fixing, the door could simply be a matter of adjusting the slam catch on the frame. If not an indy is deffo the way to go.
 
This will be my one and only trip to a BMW Dealership, that is for sure. Considering I took it in for a leak, they also told me that there is a slight weeping from the gears and the brakes and I have condensation in the front light. Funny that as I have never had a single drop on the garage floor and just passed a 12 months MOT. They can be saved for an indy. Anybody on here know of a good indy in the Blackpool area?
 
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