Z4 Roof Doctor Required! - E. Midlands
- Thread starter RileyRennocks
- Start date
The hydraulic lines as well as the wires to the different sensors in th rear roof shell get weak over the years and finaly will break. Wires can be repaired for a while, but the hydraulic lines will break and can't be repaired.peng said:
The only spare part available is a single bundle of all cables and hydraulic lines in the roof, that has to be completely replaced. Since all hydraulic cable harnesses have been in use for around 10 years, the wear and tear is already very advanced.
At the summit of the picturesque fens
As someone said earlier in this thread (think it was step_change) it would be very useful for the information contained in the relevant linked threads to be combined into one and then posted as a sticky in the E89 problems sections. This is, after all, the discussion section where many people may not look. Also, the "do a search" response for many problems is not easy due to the way this forum (and I'm not saying it's a bad thing because I am probably more guilty than most) tends to go off on a tangent with many threads, so is a nightmare for the software. Just a thought 
peng said:
Well... I should not have said anything... my December 2015 Z4 is now in the garage to have 4 hydrolic lines replaced. A few weeks ago I noticed that hydrolic oil was leaking from the passenger side... I've got a good indy that could source 4 new lines here (in NL) https://cabriotech.nl (replacing a bunch at once, so that we prevent the same thing happening later to a loom that has endured similar strains)
while we are at it all the microswitches are replaced also. (Since the roof is being disassembled now anyway)
Frankly... I'm a bit pissed off at BMW... the car has only done 60K and is 6 years old... this should not be possible! Looks like this will be an expensive repair...
I still think I'm lucky that my BMW guy wants to take this on though, most 'specialists' don't want anything to do with the convertible roof was my experience with my E46 cabrio, which ALSO gave me (expensive) roof problems
peng said:
Well, IMHO it does not make any sense to only replace the 4 hydraulic hoses, as the 2x2 +1x2 wires to the sensors/switches will break as well. The whole hydraulic harness should be replaced to be safe for the next let's say 8 to 10 years. And it's much less work to only mount a new hydraulic harness insted of
- dismounting the old hydraulic harness
- stripping the old hydraulic hoses off the harness
- organice 4 new hydraulic hoses
- integrate the 4 new hydraulic hoses into the old harness
As the whole hydraulic harness is taped and fixed with zip ties, this nonsense steps take too much time and arises the risk for a next issue.
I've been in the Netherlands last Sunday, so it's a pity to not get informed or contacted before.
RobbiZ4 said:
Well..... looks like you were right... Fixing the hydraulics turned out to be quite a challenge, even though the lines were fine we needed to source the exact right kind or O rings (oil proof, right size etc.) which turned out to be quite a hassle! Because of this the repair took a long time, and my guy made sure to replace the switches while he was at it... It's a good thing I'm mostly working from home (for now...)
And even though the hydraulics seem to work fine now, after the repair there is a new roof-issue that frankly baffles us!... :-(
when opening/closing the roof I very often get the message 'Roof movement impaired' (like 9 times out of 10) and the roof will stop its motion. After re-starting the roof movement a few times I will be able to close the roof. My BMW mechanic thinks it is the switches or cables (already replaced the switches). I have the reinhold engineering roof module, so we though that might have caused it (a previous version caused some issues with my trunk) but after removing the module the issue remained...
What is really strange is that I could swear it is temperature related; if my car is cold, like starting it in the morning I will always be able to reproduce the issue. But after a drive (say 50KM) or (it seems) after being in the (heated) shop/garage for a few hours the roof will move just fine!!! (tested many times)
I really could use some help! (any plans to visit NL soon? ;-) ) What would be our best approach on finding the cause of this issue?
your insights would be much appreciated!
RobbiZ4 said:
Phew, what a story.
Hope your inexperienced BMW guy is cheap enough that all the hassle makes sense.
There are so many possible combinations of problems after your/his very unusual rework that I really don't know where to start.
When I finish replacing a hydraulic harness, the roofs are always in perfect condition. But your current result makes life much more complicated.
Which ones exactly? There are 5 microswitches mounted in the roof.peng said:
One very important thing is that some bolts/nuts need to be marked in their original position before removing.
If your guy didn't do this, then everything might not work as expected.
And it should be a cautionary tale for all other DIYers. Repairing the E89 roofs is a very special job.
You need endless amounts of time to test and learn on a working roof, like I did. When you start with a roof that is already broken, it's easy to make major mistakes.
You can order me to the Netherlands or visit me in Neuffen.
https://www.staiger-neuffen.de/bmw-z4-e89-dach-notdienst/
RileyRennocks
Member
Hi All
I started this board discussion a while ago but I'm afraid I've not been back for a while (sorry) but hopefully this may help someone having had an utter nightmare with the roof being stuck in the half open position on my wife 2013 Z4 that's done 28,000 miles. We managed to get it down via someone locally but it wouldn't lock down. I spent ages searching for a solution and a company that had the skill set to resolve our string of roof issues, hence the 'Z4 Roof Doctore Required' post.
Then via this forum someone suggested these guys...
HoodTech Convertible Roof Specialists
Unit 52 Evans Business Centre
Chester West Employment Park
Minerva Avenue
Chester
CH1 4QL
0333 772 9652
www.hoodtech.co.uk
Email: mailto:[email protected]
Charlie is the guy there and I have to say, he was not only amazing to deal with but was also good value for money. All he does is roofs and I got the impression he lived and breathed them as there is nothing he didn't seem to know about everything roofs. We went from the 'nightmare, we need to get rid of this, why did we buy it' mindset to 'wow, we love it, press that button and of course it will work, it's all working and now back to being reliable'. Yes, it's fixed but it's the 'roof aniexity' that is the main thing for us. As he was so knowledgeable and did a great job, it's left us with confidence to actually use the roof again and that really matters as otherwise, why have a convertable?
I started this board discussion a while ago but I'm afraid I've not been back for a while (sorry) but hopefully this may help someone having had an utter nightmare with the roof being stuck in the half open position on my wife 2013 Z4 that's done 28,000 miles. We managed to get it down via someone locally but it wouldn't lock down. I spent ages searching for a solution and a company that had the skill set to resolve our string of roof issues, hence the 'Z4 Roof Doctore Required' post.
Then via this forum someone suggested these guys...
HoodTech Convertible Roof Specialists
Unit 52 Evans Business Centre
Chester West Employment Park
Minerva Avenue
Chester
CH1 4QL
0333 772 9652
www.hoodtech.co.uk
Email: mailto:[email protected]
Charlie is the guy there and I have to say, he was not only amazing to deal with but was also good value for money. All he does is roofs and I got the impression he lived and breathed them as there is nothing he didn't seem to know about everything roofs. We went from the 'nightmare, we need to get rid of this, why did we buy it' mindset to 'wow, we love it, press that button and of course it will work, it's all working and now back to being reliable'. Yes, it's fixed but it's the 'roof aniexity' that is the main thing for us. As he was so knowledgeable and did a great job, it's left us with confidence to actually use the roof again and that really matters as otherwise, why have a convertable?
RobbiZ4 said:
Thanks, I've sent him a screenshot of your reply, asking about the switches. He's really not inexperienced, been working on quite a few other Z4's, but I'm sure you've done a lot more z4 roof work of course. Does the temperature thing make any sense to you? It's so weird that all is working fine when at the right temp. (I'm secretly hoping it all will work good in the summer, but still....)
Didn't see a temp. issue in the past on any E89, except on hydraulic pumps massively damaged by water.peng said:
'Roof movement impaired' is the message for any missing, wrong or in deed delayed sensor signal.
This can be caused by defective sensors, wrong positioned sensors, mechanically issues after rebuilding the roof components or damaged wires anywhere in the reworked hydraulic harness.
The correct timing of all signals is important over the complete opening or closing process.
RobbiZ4 said:Any update or did you kill him in between?peng said:
Sorry for the late reply!.. Ha ha, No he's still very much alive. He's bummed out as much as I am though, and he's definitely gone above & beyond in trying to fix this... but the problem unfortunately still persists! Next thing he wants to try is to replace the cabling. (Please insert 'I told you so' here...
) Now that the weather is warming up I'm re-considering the cause being related only to temperature... Although I do still believe it is a -factor- I do observe that now that temperatures get warmer the issue still persists (even at close to 20 degree Celsius)...
The only thing that seems a -constant- is the fact that the roof warnings only seem to occur after the car has been standing still for some time. (not sure how much time 'some' is yet...)
The latest theory someone told me: (my neighbour who's an aircraft mechanic) is that he believes it may be related with the hydraulic oil having a air 'bubble' somewhere, that gets compressed and might change the timing of the roof closing, causing the warning. Keeping in mind that all this started after a repair of a broken hydraulic line there is some merit to this theory..
I'm not sure if this theory is grasping at straws, but just to be on the safe side I've mentioned it to my mechanic.
This Friday the car is going to the shop again..
Although the issue is a PITA, I'm actually quite happy he's very persistent! My previous garage left me out hanging dry when I had roof issues with my old E46. The mechanic I'm going to now is hanging in there & keeps digging.