'Wrapping the spike'

[Busterboo]

I don't want to flog this to death, but McHaggis69's solution of 'wrapping the spike' to stop a roof rattle deserves more publicity, I think.

"Post by McHaggis69 » Thu Oct 06, 2022 1:59 pm

... bring the roof halfway down and you’ll see in the centre below the rear windscreen a ‘peg’ or latch [or spike].
It fits very badly into the ‘hole’ in the black plastic section of the boot cover when the roof is up.

If you wrap the latch in a few layers of tape, it fits much more snugly and eliminates this particular rattle when the roof is up completely."

I did it with one layer of Gorilla Tape, have tested it for a week - not least to make sure the roof doesn't get stuck down - and it works,

 

[Smartbear]

Nothing worse than a rattle, useful to know
Rob

 

[Busterboo]

6 weeks later and it still works.

(And I use the roof quite often.)

 

[javis20]

Exactly which direction did you wrap the tape? Photo's?

 

[Busterboo]

Exactly which direction did you wrap the tape? Photo's?

There's only one direction you can wrap it. One single thickness of 25mm/1" wide black Gorilla Tape horizontally around the spike.

Even one thickness is close to too much and it crushes as it goes into the slot. The tape is sticky, too, so the spike resists coming out of the slot as you put the roof down. I had to trim it carefully after experimenting.

Even with 6 weeks' use, though, enough tape remains to stop the spike contacting the sides of the slot and making a noise.

I and my indy had looked all over the car, trying to stop this particular noise - the roof frame, the rear windows, the rear suspension ... with no success. I was amazed to discover that McHaggis69's advice was right and it was 'the spike'.

Try it and see.

 

[spammy]

Don't have a rattle when the roofs up, but i do have one when its down? :?

 

[McHaggis69]

Exactly which direction did you wrap the tape? Photo's?

There's only one direction you can wrap it. One single thickness of 25mm/1" wide black Gorilla Tape horizontally around the spike.

Even one thickness is close to too much and it crushes as it goes into the slot.

Yup - can't stress enough that if you wrap it too thick the tape just crushes and your roof actually wont pull closed properly. A single layer of tape max is all thats needed.

Can't claim the credit - when I bought the car the dealer (young lad who loved BMW's) told me all about it.