Roof not fully opening - no error codes

P

Peter 3

Member
Hello all,

I'm after an advice from you guys.
Short decryption in chronological order:
1. Bought 2009 Z4 in Sept 2024
2. Love the car, everything seems to be working, but roof stops after unlatching from the front, when button pressed again it keeps on opening.
3. Everything else is fine.
4. Feb 2025 big storms go through UK
5. Few days after storms passed, battery dead.
6. Managed to get to the boot, battery flooded, pump flooded.
7. Dry everything, recharge battery. Car lives again.
8. Pump motor is showing extreme fluid temp on the reader + error A696.
9. Replace pump motor and HAL sensor, no more errors. (Pump now much more eager than before).
10. Roof now stops with both parts on top, just after unlatching. Still no errors. You can close it back up.
11. I lost any faith that I will get this fixed and extremely disillusioned by German engineering (first no drain in the boot where battery and other electrics are, now the roof....).
12. Visually checked what I could, can't seem to find any issues.
13. The only thing I noticed is that all windows except driver's front show status open, drivers window shows state as it would be operating although it is fully opened.

Can drivers door window be the cause, reset it few times, opens and closes fine.
Can this be a problem with the wires that system is not discovering? I know roof unlatches from the front as you can slightly lift it with your hand.
Does anyone have any ideas? Finding a fault without any error is something that I feared the most. :headbang:

Please help....
 
What are you using to get codes?

When the roof stops do you get anything showing on the dash?
 
nothing, just the LED by the opening button flashes red.... Closing button LED shows Green. I will try to upload a video of me going through the cycle and what it shows on my Chinese reader.
 
North Wales, not sure, might be a good idea, however the same reader helped me diagnose the pump and HAL sensor, seems to be working fine, especially that there isn't anything on the dash.
 
[youtube]https://youtube.com/shorts/WQBpbnoPzpU[/youtube]

This is what the reader shows, run it 3 times through opening (you can hear the latches working at the end of the cycle) and closing.

I wonder if there is somewhere a diagram on what should happen when with this opening procedure.
 
That’s a decent code reader to be fair… good amount of data

Nothing obvious on the 3 screens
 
As there are no codes showing it’s not obvious

However it could be a wire break or sensor issue

Don’t give up
 
The window reporting not open will not help..

This will help you understand the roof..

https://weblog.pac1.net/_Documents/140610_BMW_Z4(E89)-05_product_description.pdf
 
Peter 3 said:
9. Replaced pump motor and HAL sensor, no more errors. (Pump now much more eager than before).
Click to expand...
Which hall sensor? There ist none at the pump.

Peter 3 said:
10. Roof now stops with both parts on top, just after unlatching.
Click to expand...
At this point the pump should drive the main pillars into the trunk. Mightbe an issue with the pump motor, the 3 solenoids, the 2 relays.

Broken wires in the roof shell should place a fault code. So I'd assume it's ok, as the front locking system is opening and closing.
 
RobbiZ4 said:
Peter 3 said:
9. Replaced pump motor and HAL sensor, no more errors. (Pump now much more eager than before).
Click to expand...
Which hall sensor? There ist none at the pump.

Peter 3 said:
10. Roof now stops with both parts on top, just after unlatching.
Click to expand...
At this point the pump should drive the main pillars into the trunk. Mightbe an issue with the pump motor, the 3 solenoids, the 2 relays.

Broken wires in the roof shell should place a fault code. So I'd assume it's ok, as the front locking system is opening and closing.
Click to expand...

the HAL sensor on the smaller ram responsible for the rear module, the one that error pointed me to, one closer to the front of the car.

I haven't replaced solenoids or relays as I thought that if only few weeks ago everything worked, it wouldn't fail just like that, however thinking about it now, might be the case.

I have a diagnostic booked on Monday with local specialist for convertible roofs, we will see what they say.
 
Hall sensor should be ok, if renewed. The 2nd one should be checked for traces of rust on the front, opposite of the wires. Take a sharp picture, zoom into and check for tiny orange points or lines. If any, it's rust from the internal magnet.

The relays have to be renewed!

⌛ E89: Collection of the 7 typical age-related defects in the roof environment
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=148657
 
Update: Roof is working again!

Thank you to everyone that recommended relays. Replacing them solved the issue.

Not sure if this has to be mentioned, but this thread can be no closed.
 
Top! :thumbsup:

Please get both relays opened and send us pictures of both internal contacts.
 
RobbiZ4 said:
Top! :thumbsup:

Please get both relays opened and send us pictures of both internal contacts.
Click to expand...

I thrown them away, but you could clearly see water damamge on the on the outside.

Sorry I was so happy that it was working agin that I didn't think about taking pictures. :headbang:
 
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