Roof won't lock down

B

blindlemonjeff

Member
Hi all,

I've been a lurker here for some time now but I have finally made myself register.

I have a 2.2SE 2004 roadster and I have noticed a problem with the roof. As far as I can tell, the problem seems to be that the roof doesn't go all the way down. The last centimetres of travel don't happen and I have to push the roof down so that it clicks home. This can really ruin the 'coolness' of having an electric roof. :cry:

Any ideas? Does it just need an oiling?

P.S. I really don't want to have to visit BMW for this one. Any DIY solutions would be super, fantastic and exciting. :D

Cheers folks.
 
Get some teflon (ptfe) spray on the locking latch and on the corresponding latch on the roof itself, this really helped mine to 'click home'.

Also worth retracting the roof half way and lightly lubricating all the moving parts with the same spray.

I use GT85 which you can often find in cycle shops. http://www.gt85.co.uk/

My roof still sometimes fails to click home and the latch could need a little adjustment in my opinion but im not sure how to adjust it. Raising a lowering a foot usually fixes it.
 
Cool. :thumbsup:

Thanks for that - I take it that this is a slightly common issue then for roadsters of this age? Does anyone know how to 'adjust' the roof then?

I've had some bad luck so far with this car. First, a broken rear coil then the roof, and now the driver side window isn't working! :headbang:

I long for the day when I have no problems with the Z.
 
I don’t think this is a common problem at least I have not heard or seen this problem on this forum or others I visit. I have an 04 and all works just as it should. If you are not the originally owner the previous owner may have abused the Zed. If problems continue, if it were me, I would fix it up and get another newer one as soon as I could. :(

Some cars in General are just not good. I assume you are pushing the top down button until the red light goes out. I am not an expert, but if the red light goes out, the Zed must think it is latched.

As far as the window not going down, on most cars with electric windows there is a small DC stepper motor connected to the regulator. Either or both of these could have failed, or a wire or switch. It will probably take a technician to diagnose it for you. My Mercedes just had that problem and the window regulator had failed. Not a pleasant situation in the old pocket book. :cry: Good luck. :)
 
WaZZZZman said:
I don’t think this is a common problem at least I have not heard or seen this problem on this forum or others I visit. I have an 04 and all works just as it should. If you are not the originally owner the previous owner may have abused the Zed. If problems continue, if it were me, I would fix it up and get another newer one as soon as I could. :(

Some cars in General are just not good. I assume you are pushing the top down button until the red light goes out. I am not an expert, but if the red light goes out, the Zed must think it is latched.

As far as the window not going down, on most cars with electric windows there is a small DC stepper motor connected to the regulator. Either or both of these could have failed, or a wire or switch. It will probably take a technician to diagnose it for you. My Mercedes just had that problem and the window regulator had failed. Not a pleasant situation in the old pocket book. :cry: Good luck. :)
Click to expand...

If the roof is not latching then even BMW recognised the problem and removed the latch on later cars :)

There is a thread on here discussing it.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3404&p=58013&hilit=roof+latch#p58013
 
Oh I am sorry, I must have misunderstood your question. Looks like you are concerned about the fitting of the roof and how it lines up with the body when it is down. At least that is what they guys on the other tread where talking about.

When it is latched it still is a little higher than the rest of the body? So I guess I am confused is it that the latch does not latch and you have to push it down to hear or get it to latch or when it is latched, is it still too high? In either case it would be annoying and I understand that, and I would not like that either. Mine latches and is at the same height when it is down. Sorry I can not help you. :(
 
I also had this and it was caused by 2 issues.

Firstly the latch didn't always work and stuck in ( roof side ) also the bracket on the car needed a little adjustment, I just bent it by had a couple of mm and all is good.
 
ianreeves said:
I also had this and it was caused by 2 issues.

Firstly the latch didn't always work and stuck in ( roof side ) also the bracket on the car needed a little adjustment, I just bent it by had a couple of mm and all is good.
Click to expand...

Can you be more specific as to which part you 'bent' to sort out the problem, please?
 
ianreeves said:
sorry, I just bent the locking plate it's the one the lock will want to fit into. When I get home I'll take a photo !
Click to expand...

Cheers. I just tried the lubrication method and it has made a bit of a difference. It still doesn't work every time though. I'm waiting for these photos then. :D
 
Hi,

I know this is old but I found it only today, so may help others.

Long story short. I had the same issue but after replacing the motor.

Replaced my motor through the boot (trunk :wink: ), relocated it to the boot at the same time, so I had time to play with the pump in situ and it turns out it was air in the hydraulic system. I ran the hood while at the same time slightly loosening the banjo bolt (one side at a time) and releasing some fluid while operating. Did this a few times. Not an ideal bleeding process but it worked.

One troubleshooting hint would be that if the motor runs for a noticeable few seconds before actual movement down then it could be what I had wrong with mine and solved after a few repeats of this 'bleeding. Of course it could be low fluid or other hydraulic related issues.

I am now a lucky Z owner with the motor in the boot, in future all of this motor worry will be nothing but a little pain. I am so glad I attempted and suffered the relocation process.

Good luck,
Neo
 
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