roof works fine but needs a push on opening

Z

Ziggystardust

New member
hi guys and possibly few girls :-)

just bought a 2005 z4, thx for the welcome, the car is a beauty and you've already helped alot with all the great discussions, i'm a car designer and a huge bmw fan (have a 1 series and used to have an 840).

first thing i want to fix is my roof not opening properly as i have to open half, step out of the car and then hold the glass towards to trunk and the give a manual push.
the seller says the roof was already replaced but when done they forgot some elastic part that is supposed to pull the roof back (what i'm doing manually), so far i haven't seen any part incharge of that in the diagrams, any ideas?

the roof closes properly and all the process seems smoth

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Ziggystardust said:
Anyone?
Click to expand...

Hi, there is no “elastic part” that operates the roof, look up z4 roof motor in the search facility to see how it operates & the common problems that can occur.
It sounds as though your seller has taken you for a ride! If you purchased from a garage I’d be taking it back.
Rob
 
Ziggystardust said:
Anyone?
Click to expand...

I have the exact same issue and my roof also isn't the original. I've researched this problem and never really got to the route cause of it. I did think about fitting some sort of elastic device that pulls the glass rearward but never got round to it. I found a BMW article somewhere that said that the roof material can shrink if the roof isn't used regularly. This pulls the glass away from the trunk and makes it hit the bulkhead behind the seats. I seem to remember that the recommendation was to leave the roof in the down position for and extended period. I'm taking my car off the road this winter, I'm going to stick it in the garage with the roof down and just see how it is next year.

There are two sprung loaded flaps that live either side of the parcel shelf. i read one article that said the removal of the flaps can fix it. I tried it and it made no difference.

If you dig up any other information please let me know. This is a really irritating blemish on an otherwise near perfect car for me.
 
Just add a bit more. My interest in this problem died last year after several attempts at fixing the issue, this thread has re-ignited it.

My roof will go down on it's own but the window always catches the trim behind the seats on its way and needs to be pushed down once the sequence has finished to lock it down. I just had a play with the roof in the half way down position. I pulled the excess material above the two top corners of the window, there was an audible "fe-donk" sound and the window dropped perfectly into the recess behind the seats. I pressed the roof down button and the roof locked down on it's own for the first time ever. The problem seems to be that the roof simply isn't folding correctly on the way down.

*EDIT* I just stumbled across the answer, here it is:

http://dellis.co.uk.linkpc.net/Z4/Pdfs/Instructions/SI-19-TopFailsToStowFully.pdf
 
You can remove that bit of from on the rear bulkhead quite easily which will solve your issue
Agreed its not a proper fix but it will stop the problem and you'll hardly notice it
 
Number5 said:
You can remove that bit of from on the rear bulkhead quite easily which will solve your issue
Agreed its not a proper fix but it will stop the problem and you'll hardly notice it
Click to expand...

I did consider that but I'm fairly OCD about things being done proper like. I've spent the past 20 odd years in the aircraft world and struggle with botches. That said, if it pisses me off enough I'll rip the bloody thing of with my bare hands :x
 
wonkydonkey said:
Ziggystardust said:
Solved, the part above the shelf wasn't sitting right, two plastic clips replaced and now like new
Click to expand...
Which part? The housing that holds the microswitch?
Click to expand...
No, I assume the long plastic 'toblerone' shaped trim that sits above the microswitch.
 
peteslag said:
Number5 said:
You can remove that bit of from on the rear bulkhead quite easily which will solve your issue
Agreed its not a proper fix but it will stop the problem and you'll hardly notice it
Click to expand...


I did consider that but I'm fairly OCD about things being done proper like. I've spent the past 20 odd years in the aircraft world and struggle with botches. That said, if it pisses me off enough I'll rip the bloody thing of with my bare hands :x
Click to expand...

If we are talking about the catch then BMW removed it early on after the facelifts were introduced. I removed mine and know a few others who also have. It won’t cause any issues.
 
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