Roof woes

J

johnsi02

Member
 Glasgow
Hello,

I'm hoping for some expert advice on my roof woes.

Car is a February 2007 2.0l Sport. And the roof won't go up. I even tried popping some Viagra in the fuel tank but that didn't work.

The roof is fully down and all the roof warning lights are out. But press the button to raise it and the red light flashes immediately. I can hear a whirring sound which I take to be the electric motor but there's no movement suggesting that the hydraulics are knackered.

Microswitch at the rear of the shelf in the boot is in place and appears to be functioning.

Next problem. The red Bowden cable doesn't release the hydraulic pressure so the roof won't raise manually. I've given it a right old working out but I'm pretty convinced that it isn't releasing the bypass valve on the hydraulic pump. it's probably seized?

Any advice on next steps to take gratefully received. Although I suspect this may involve having to access the motor/pump and/or remove the soft top....

Thanks.

Ian.
 
Does the roof unlatch from the closed position before the motor runs?
If the latches aren't disengaging then they will prevent you from manually lifting the roof as you suggest in your post.

I think there is a way of manually disengaging the latch through the little access panel above the centre storage door.
 
Hi .... thanks for the reply. The roof released as normal and went down ok.

It's stuck in in the fully down position.

Ian
 
Sorry, I did mean to say 'does the roof unlatch from the open position'.

I believe the same applies for when the roof is open or closed; the latches must disengage before the hydraulics can move the roof.
 
I understand.

The roof is apparently released from the catches. It's possible to raise it a bit but it's clearly being 'held' by hydraulic pressure. There's no way you could pull it up by hand, I don't reckon.
 
johnsi02 said:
It's possible to raise it a bit
Click to expand...

Ah ok, that does confirm that it is not a problem with the latching mechanism.

It does sound like the release valve is stuck so I think you might need to dig the pump out of its drain funnel and free that up.
With the roof down that might be quite difficult.
Can it be lifted whilst a buddy holds down the button?
 
You are going to need to pull the motor/pump out to do any work on it and relocate it to the boot to prevent future trouble with it.
Sounds like the release valve is stuck since you had no joy with the red pull ring.
Follow this guide to get it out so there is no need to take the roof off. Done mine using this guide, just take your time.
https://zroadster.org/threads/z4-roof-motor-relocation-to-boot.19256/
 
If the release valve was stuck though then you should be able to move it easily by hand. More likely to be the seal in the hydraulic ram.
 
Thanks for the advice. Looks like I’m about to have lots of fun ......
I’ll have a rummage when I’ve got some time.

Ian
 
Oh boy.
Spent hours this afternoon trying to get the motor/pump out as per the guide above.
Hands completely shredded......
And it’s still in there.
Just can’t seem to either prise the top off or break the cable ties. Does everyone else have doll-sized hands or something?!
Any secret techniques gratefully appreciated.
Ian
 
Which side were you attacking from?
I had to snip some of the ties by feel, using a scalpel and then pop it loose by feeding my arm past the passenger headrest and applying some force to the housing.
My hands looked red raw by the end of it!
 
I’d had enough by 6pm.
But funnily enough I had decided to break out a scalpel tomorrow. I mean ..... what could possibly go wrong :D ?
Not planning on being beaten by a piece of stupid BMW design.
 
Hows it going.. any luck.. Not sure if you follow the guide, there is some black glue thingy that you need to try to remove. I used 2 long screw drivers to pop the top off first before taking anything out.. Once the cap is off, you can pull the motor out.
 
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