Vanne's 2014 28i

V

Vanne

Senior member
 Dubai
So i picked up a pretty e89 yesterday. Not without faults though. It has the roof issues, which no doubt is why i got it for a really good price.

Couple pics after i got it home from pick up.

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Darn kids :D

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Found the arial next to the drivers seat. ;P

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Its not rego'ed atm, but drives fine and makes good power. It does have the dreaded roof issues, ie the boot not closing fully as the roof module or sensors are stuffed. Not too sure, but step one will be getting the boot to unlock. Ill need the boot to unlock to get through rego. after the boot is unlocked ill put her through rego and then ill start on the roof. It says roof module on the dash of the little flip up screen, and it comes with a bunch of codes ill look into once i can get the boot open.

Looks like it needs a helluva good wash. The interior is Imola. (at least i think thats the colour)

I am going to try to release the boot lock with pin 12 to the blue fuse in the fusebox. fingers crossed. There is no boot pull inside the boot, so that's not an option, and that ski hole is really narrow, pretty much useless to get inside the boot.
 
Just have a look on this thread to get an overview:

RobbiZ4

Thread '⌛ E89: Retractable Hardtop (roof) Maintenance (and additional) tasks'

Edit post

New:
Z4 E89: Collection of the typical age-related defects in the roof environment

https://z4-forum.com/threads/hourgl...-in-the-roof-environment.148657/#post-2091928


Breaking News 2026​

Ich habe hier im Forum einen Beitrag veröffentlicht, in dem ich die meiner Meinung nach richtige Strategie zur Behandlung der alternden Leitungen in unseren E89-Dächern beschreibe.

J'ai posté un message sur ce forum décrivant ce que je considère comme la...






This was he starting point of @khalidfh in the last year to understand the E89 roof:
khalidfh

Thread 'Roof service past error A6A5 and trunk stuck open shells in but not latched'

Hello fellow Z4 owners,

I'm seeking help with my 2011 BMW Z4 E89 SDrive 23i. My retractable hardtop has been malfunctioning. This started while ago. Sometimes it did it initiate while opening or closing, I leave the hardtop at that position either closed or opened for a week or two, then it working fine, but they persist.
Last time a month before when it was in closed position, I try open the roof, both shells went into the trunk but the lid not closing. so i waited in that position for a week, but no luck. error like not latching then A6A5 code appears everytime I try to open or close...
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Yeah.. couldent be stuffed.. anyways, car failed its RTA inspection, 2 blown front shocks and 2 worn tie rod ends.. that sounds about right..

Is there a go to suspension refresh option for these things? I’ve got some e92 tie rod ends lying round from a previous frankenfurter.. though I wouldn’t expect the tie rod ends to cost a lot.. might just oem them..

Might need a set of camber plates to as the oem ones are also shot. The rubber in em is torn, I wonder why they didn’t pick that up..
 
Cool, that probably the go then, excuse my ignorance, but what is wdc and air suspension, how would I know what’s in mine? These things came with air suspension? Really?
 
Erudite-Idiot said:
If you want sporty, then the Bilstein B12 kit is usually the choice.
I fitted to mine and I love it. I don't get why people think it will be harsh. It really is not.
Click to expand...
Completely agree. I fitted the B12 setup to my 30i and I wouldn't describe it as harsh at all. On good quality tyres it runs beautifully and is very controlled, yet compliant. The best overall setup IMO.
 
Vanne said:
Cool, that probably the go then, excuse my ignorance, but what is wdc and air suspension, how would I know what’s in mine? These things came with air suspension? Really?
Click to expand...
They didn’t come with air suspension, but some were fitted with Adaptive M Suspension, is that what you’re thinking of? You’d usually know if you had it, as there’s a “Comfort” mode, and it noticeably firms up when you switch into Sport. If you’re still unsure, you can check the VIN spec, although that assumes nothing’s been swapped out before (it’s not cheap to repair if it fails).

Also, as the others have mentioned, the B12 kit is excellent, I’ve got it on mine. :):thumbsup:
 
Vanne said:
Okay bit of a mod.. I need to get the car rego’Ed and to do so, they need access to the boot..

So I made this lol but of my arcade background coming out there I guess.View attachment 296442View attachment 296443View attachment 296444

So now I can click the button and the boot unlocks. Lol
Click to expand...
People will be a bit taken aback by the luminous green button, but apart from that, with a bit of tidying up, I reckon you could market that solution.
I assume the recess is where an airbag deactivation button would be on some cars though, so may need a bit of a rethink there.
Could maybe use the boot release button from an E85?
 
New B12 46-181268 kit ordered, new front top mounts ordered. new front control arm kit ordered. that'll take care of the front, what do i need for the rear?

ok new rear upper mounts ordered..

is there a rear bushing kit i should be looking at?

i should add, what a complete dumb arse place to put the fuse box.. wth??? not sure what they were smoking when they were developing the e89, but thats gotta be the worst place for a fuse box in any car ive EVER owned.. and theres been a few..

Thanks Martin, i wasnt trying to market anything, was just trying to make my life a bit easier while the roof is nuked, as iam expecting the fault finding to take a while.. lol yeah the lime green arcade button is a bit out there, but at least its from Sanwa, they make good stuff. ive got some red ones lying around too, maybe that would be less scary.. lol thanks for the encouragement though. Previous guy who owned the car hasn’t had access to the boot in over 5 years.. lol. You should have seen the antics when I asked him to open the boot.. lol needless to say I chopped a rather large chunk of cash of the purchase price for not opening boot and non working roof. It’s a project car, doesn’t need to be perfect.. and the aircon is bloody cold as.. so that’s pretty good.

another question i have is that the exhaust in the tip has a valve in it, is that oem?
 
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Starting to do some research why the roof isn’t working, and even the buttons on the lower dash don’t light up at all, no green, no red blinking.. so I wonder if someone has completely disabled the roof by pulling the fuses, so my next question would be which fuses are responsible for the roof?
 
Vanne said:
another question i have is that the exhaust in the tip has a valve in it, is that oem?
Click to expand...
It is, makes the cold start quieter. You can do a mod to keep it permanently open to impress all your neighbours 😎, think it's called the golf tee mod, something like that.
 
Vanne said:
I also ordered 2 new brake pad sensors and 2 wheel speed sensors.. abs and brake light on on the dash.
Click to expand...
Before swapping sensors, inspect the condition of the reluctor rings to make sure they're not swollen and contacting the sensors. If you're in a hot and dry climate, they're probably fine.
 
i could use some new front rotors, anyone know if brembo do a part number? 28i and drilled would be nice :D

34116782601 and

34116794427​

are the bmw part numbers..
 
Vanne said:
New B12 46-181268 kit ordered, new front top mounts ordered. new front control arm kit ordered. that'll take care of the front, what do i need for the rear?

ok new rear upper mounts ordered..

is there a rear bushing kit i should be looking at?

i should add, what a complete dumb arse place to put the fuse box.. wth??? not sure what they were smoking when they were developing the e89, but thats gotta be the worst place for a fuse box in any car ive EVER owned.. and theres been a few..

Thanks Martin, i wasnt trying to market anything, was just trying to make my life a bit easier while the roof is nuked, as iam expecting the fault finding to take a while.. lol yeah the lime green arcade button is a bit out there, but at least its from Sanwa, they make good stuff. ive got some red ones lying around too, maybe that would be less scary.. lol thanks for the encouragement though. Previous guy who owned the car hasn’t had access to the boot in over 5 years.. lol. You should have seen the antics when I asked him to open the boot.. lol needless to say I chopped a rather large chunk of cash of the purchase price for not opening boot and non working roof. It’s a project car, doesn’t need to be perfect.. and the aircon is bloody cold as.. so that’s pretty good.

another question i have is that the exhaust in the tip has a valve in it, is that oem?
Click to expand...
Rear bushing kits revolve around uprate RTAB mounts, uprated RTABs, uprated knuckle bushes and uprated camber arms ..big improvement
 
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