Roof Motor Relocation, in pictures

[Number5]

There's a lot of talk about Roof Motors at the moment and a quest for more info, so here's a few pictures from one I recently did for a forum member.

The Car with the roof out:



The opportunity to unblock the drains, whilst access is easy and visible



The roof on the floor with the motor attached:


The rusty motor unwrapped from its housing:

Continued in next post ( as only 4 pics permitted as attachments)

 

[Number5]

The motor in its new position, in the boot


The motor with its housing back around it for protection, but with the wet foam removed



The Final product, with motor behind a false panel;


Just like that... with a bit of hoovering to go !

 

[olsonn]

That looks good if you know how to take the roof out, when I had mine done in Durham, didn't need to take the roof out, it was carried out with the roof still in situ

 

[Number5]

That looks good if you know how to take the roof out, when I had mine done in Durham, didn't need to take the roof out, it was carried out with the roof still in situ

I suspected that the chap up there doesn't take it right out, hence the amazing price he manages !.
However, it is a good opportunity to clear the drains properly, as we've recently done one, where the passenger side drain was totally blocked and it took about 30 minutes of all sorts of rodding to unblock. No way we could have cleared it with the roof still in.

 

[mac27040]

Heres mine, i cannot get mine in the same ways as your due to the TV module and other bits behind the carpet.

Roof motor relocated

new cardboard boxing with carpet stapled on

finished look

 

[Marlon]

Great pics thanks.
So having the motor angled at 45 degrees doesn't cause any problems then?

 

[Smartbear]

Great pics thanks.
So having the motor angled at 45 degrees doesn't cause any problems then?

As long as the hydraulic fluid is covering the bore hole it will work as normal, I should think that 90 degrees would be pushing it, but 45 seems fine

 

[Ducklakeview]

Great pics thanks.
So having the motor angled at 45 degrees doesn't cause any problems then?

The motor is roughly at that sort of angle in it's original location. Just make sure the fluid reservoir is on top obviously!

Mike

 

[David-H]

That looks good if you know how to take the roof out, when I had mine done in Durham, didn't need to take the roof out, it was carried out with the roof still in situ

I suspected that the chap up there doesn't take it right out, hence the amazing price he manages !.
However, it is a good opportunity to clear the drains properly, as we've recently done one, where the passenger side drain was totally blocked and it took about 30 minutes of all sorts of rodding to unblock. No way we could have cleared it with the roof still in.

He certainly does take it right out and positions it in the same place as you did, held in with ties and then a carpeted cover fitted.

 

[Anonymous]

That looks good if you know how to take the roof out, when I had mine done in Durham, didn't need to take the roof out, it was carried out with the roof still in situ

I suspected that the chap up there doesn't take it right out, hence the amazing price he manages !.
However, it is a good opportunity to clear the drains properly, as we've recently done one, where the passenger side drain was totally blocked and it took about 30 minutes of all sorts of rodding to unblock. No way we could have cleared it with the roof still in.

He certainly does take it right out and positions it in the same place as you did, held in with ties and then a carpeted cover fitted.

Number 5 means that he doesn't take the roof right out , not the motor .

 

[David-H]

I suspected that the chap up there doesn't take it right out, hence the amazing price he manages !.
However, it is a good opportunity to clear the drains properly, as we've recently done one, where the passenger side drain was totally blocked and it took about 30 minutes of all sorts of rodding to unblock. No way we could have cleared it with the roof still in.

He certainly does take it right out and positions it in the same place as you did, held in with ties and then a carpeted cover fitted.

Number 5 means that he doesn't take the roof right out , not the motor .

He doesn't take the roof out at all, just the tray in the top of the boot.

 

[Anonymous]

He certainly does take it right out and positions it in the same place as you did, held in with ties and then a carpeted cover fitted.

Number 5 means that he doesn't take the roof right out , not the motor .

He doesn't take the roof out at all, just the tray in the top of the boot.

Yes.... that's what number5 said

 

[Number5]

Number 5 means that he doesn't take the roof right out , not the motor .

I dont know whether he does or not (take the whole roof out). I'm only going on the info here, but I dont know how he does it for £80. However, fair play as everyone is happy with the job he does.

I can get the roof out in about 1 hour, but you loose another hour or so messing with the motor trying to revive it and also clear the drains. It takes about 3 hours or so to get the roof back in neatly and then there's the false panel to make and all the tools to tidy up, so with coffee break half way, it takes about 6 hours in total. (plus parts of it are a two man job), so it's a fair task !

On top of that, there's stocking of the board & carpet to make the panel and hydraulic fluid for top ups. Then consider the liability if you bugger up someone's car or paintwork in the process !

BMW Charge £700-£800 I believe

 

[David-H]

It takes Dave less than an hour, including clearing drains, fitting the cover etc, with the help of his son because he has done it so often and optimised the way he does it I guess. He sure is thorough and does a great job for £80!

 

[Anonymous]

Well I'm the same as number5 , first one ( my own ) took me ages as it was a learning curve and I had the roof out completely. The second one took less time obviously but I was extra careful as it wasn't my car. The next after that was my first relocation job and again was a learning curve , but was completed in about 6 hrs , since then I've got it down to around 4 hrs if it all goes well, that's motor and casing removed, motor revived, relocated and all the drains cleaned and checked . i see it as a challenge more than a job, I enjoy seeing people's reaction when the dead motor is brought back to life and there car roof works again .

I know I'm sad

 

[Number5]

Well I'm the same as number5 , first one ( my own ) took me ages as it was a learning curve and I had the roof out completely. The second one took less time obviously but I was extra careful as it wasn't my car. The next after that was my first relocation job and again was a learning curve , but was completed in about 6 hrs , since then I've got it down to around 4 hrs if it all goes well, that's motor and casing removed, motor revived, relocated and all the drains cleaned and checked . i see it as a challenge more than a job, I enjoy seeing people's reaction when the dead motor is brought back to life and there car roof works again .

I know I'm sad

I'm glad its not just me being slow ! I've managed one in just over 4 hours, but I normally find a problem with one section somewhere. Either the motor, the hoop bolts ( esp the corner ones) or getting the rubber seal sat back down nicely on the boot.

The one that did pretty go well was 4.5 hours, (with 20 mins for a coffee once the roof is on the floor !)

 

[jpgreenwood]

Just had our motor relocated by Dave and it looks a very neat job, and the roof worked....for a week. He said he couldn't guarantee the motor as it did look a bit shabby but managed to revive it nonetheless. Great job. Unfortunately, now there is no movement whatsoever. No power to the switch. No illumination, no window drop, no unlatching. Ive checked the 3 fuses, 12, 31, 55 and all look good. Is this a microswitch problem or more serious? We will get back into contact with Dave as we are more than happy with his standard of work and the car has had a long list of problems along the way so guess we are just unlucky.

 

[Anonymous]

You have a power issue , IE: no power getting to the complete roof lowering system , the Window drop and unlatching are a completely different set of motors to the main roof motor , if nothing works , you have a power feed issue .

First the roof Unlatches and the Windows drop , if only one of these actions were working I'd say logically the other was at fault but as both do not work, I'd conclude its a power issue , the main motor doesn't kick in till these first two actions are complete .

 

[Number5]

Check the connections to the Module in the rear panel behind the passenger seat. You will get this symptom if the module plugs aren't quite in properly. However, if Dave doesn't remove everything it's unlikely he will have disturbed this, as i would removing the entire roof, but worth a check anyway.

Remove the storage pod and the small speaker grille behind the passenger seat and you will see it tucked in there by where the motor used to live. (Small grey box about 100mm x 100mm x 20mm)

 

[ScottP]

Hello everyone, I joined the forum about an hour ago and I’ve already received a message - thanks Number 5, from reading lots of posts you are obviously well respected and extremely knowledgeable, I’ll call you tomorrow.
Thanks again
Scott