Z4 roof not working

E

Eddie

Member
I have a z4 06 and the roof stopped working after 25k miles. The car is still in warranty and the issue is the common one where the hydraulic motor is water logged. BMW are refusing to fix under warranty because they are blaming leaves!! Does this should normal or is it rubbish? If the later what can I do?
Cheers Eddie
 
Eddie - welcome to the Forum. Sorry your first post is with a problem. Is it BMW (UK) who are blaming the leaves or your dealer? If its still under warranty then the problem is definately with BMW. Establish who is causing the issue - bet its the dealer and if it is ask for the matter to be referred to BMW (UK) - I am assuming of course you purchased from a BMW dealer and it a BMW warranty?
 
Thanks for the reply,

It is the dealer who is blaming the leaves. I have asked for the matter to be referred to BMW, they said they have to go to BMW (germany). I did purchase from a BMW dealer and it is BMW warranty.

Basically the dealer has said that leaves have blocked a water drain and it has flooded the hydraulic motor. Which to me seems like poor design or an excuse not to honour the warranty.

Unfortunately as it stands at the moment, I have been given a bill of £800 to fix it whilst it is still under warranty.

I saw a BMW article relating to the poor design of the motor compartment which means it floods easily, does anyone know if is still applicable in the 06 version ?

Many thanks in Advance,
Eddie
 
A couple of things confuse me here.

1) I've heard lots about drain holes getting gunked up with general rain and dirt,..but how on earth would leaves get in there ?

2) The quote of £800 seems very low for this job if it's a dealer quote. I've had lots of esimates of time and cost for mine fixing and most quoted 5 or 6+ hours of work, plus about £300 for the part and a charge for diagnostics. All in all this would put a dealer quote over at well over a grand.

Maybe they are offering this low quote hoping you will just pay.

Sorry I don't know about the post 06 question.
 
Well I live near a railway station so maybe it is those troublesome wrong type of leaves!!!

The quote breakdown was 3 hours labour at £160 per hour plus £300 for a new motor.

What confuses me is how does a blocked/poor drainage system mean the warranty is void??
 
Maybe they already have the roof off to do the diagnostics and for some reason are not charging you for part of the time.

The whole warranty argument sounds like nonsense to me. I'd be on the phone to BMW themselves and making noise.

I once had a £1,200 job needing done on my Golf which was only four years old. I had no warranty, and I had bought the car second hand. But lots of shouting at VW customer services got me a £700 goodwill contribution to that bill.
 
Issue still exists with facelifts models although less of a problem apparently.

I am not awarevof anybody on here being refused a warranty repair on a roof.

Go back to the dealer and kick arse. If no joy go direct to BMW UK
 
Eddie said:
I have a z4 06 and the roof stopped working after 25k miles. The car is still in warranty and the issue is the common one where the hydraulic motor is water logged. BMW are refusing to fix under warranty because they are blaming leaves!! Does this should normal or is it rubbish? If the later what can I do?
Cheers Eddie
Click to expand...


pre or post facelift?
 
Eddie said:
Thanks for the reply,

It is the dealer who is blaming the leaves. I have asked for the matter to be referred to BMW, they said they have to go to BMW (germany). I did purchase from a BMW dealer and it is BMW warranty.

Basically the dealer has said that leaves have blocked a water drain and it has flooded the hydraulic motor. Which to me seems like poor design or an excuse not to honour the warranty.

Unfortunately as it stands at the moment, I have been given a bill of £800 to fix it whilst it is still under warranty.

I saw a BMW article relating to the poor design of the motor compartment which means it floods easily, does anyone know if is still applicable in the 06 version ?

Many thanks in Advance,
Eddie
Click to expand...

Eddie - you are being given the run around. BMW (UK) can deal with this. Call BMW customer service direct and tell the dealer you are going to do this. As with all these things make a note of who you speak to, date/time and what is said. Who is the dealer?
 
Thanks for your replies...

It is the pre face list model.

They said they did not take the lid off, just that the engineer new already what the issue was. I have the car back now, because it was not under warranty they would not give me a replacement until I agreed to pay. The dealer is Sytner High Wycombe.

I will give BMW UK Services a call today thanks for the advice.

Not sure if it is normal, but they gave me a replacement car the first day with no petrol in and then told me it was a normal policy ! Seems like poor customer service to me.

Cheers Eddie
 
Eddie...I feel your pain!

(First post for me as well...so hi everyone.)

I have an 03 Z4 and have just spent the weekend (on and off) fixing the roof motor using the guide from Shipkiller (great work...thanks) on this site....total cost £4.95 for some masking tape :D The motor was soaked so I detached it from the hydraulics, cleaned it up and dried it in the oven for a while. Connected it up to a car battery and it ran like new. Reassembled everything and the roof works perfectly.

My car is only worth around 7k so I just couldn't justify spending £800 or more on a repair. I read somewhere that the roof motor could be restarted after a clean up so gave it a go.

Not an easy job to do but I reckon anyone could do it.

Hopefully you'll get this sorted out under warranty though but if not you can fix it yourself for nothing.
 
srhutch said:
Issue still exists with facelifts models although less of a problem apparently.

I am not awarevof anybody on here being refused a warranty repair on a roof.

Go back to the dealer and kick arse. If no joy go direct to BMW UK
Click to expand...

See Hutch I'm not sure I buy this. The oldest facelift is only just over four years old, I'd be really surprised if a roof motor, with the additional waterproofing they now install, had given out in that space of time - but if anyone wants to flag one its useful input for all.

I'm also surprised at this one, which isn't much older, but if we assume the dealer might be right, and some drain hole (that I'm not familiar with?) is blocked then its highly likely the motor is indeed swimming in water and leaf crud. At that point it would hinge on whether the driver is deemed to be aware of a requirement to keep something unblocked (I'm not aware thats the case but then how many of us read the user manual cover to cover?).

But, irrespective of that, depending on how long you've had the car, you have a good case.

Is this some kind of proper BMW extended warranty or just the usual dealer 6/12 months warranty (I think they are different potentially?)?

If you've had the car less than 6 months the SoG Act says the dealer is liable for any and all faults that were developing at the time of sale....which this clearly would have been.

Other than that, its a case of arguing the BMW warranty as the guys have said....its just that the SoG one is cast-iron in law.
 
Unfortunately I brought the car 8 months ago, and it is on a 12 months warranty. Still inside by 3-4 months, but outside the 6 months Sog Act. Unfortunately I am the most usless person when it comes to mechanics so doing it myself would cause far more harm then good :(

I know it was never mentioned to me during the sales process or the hand over that I should be keeping any vents cleared of leaves. I will check the manual to see if it mentions anything specifically. It is the soft top version in 06 if that helps distinguish the model ?

So far the dealership have said they are not prepared to discuss the matter as it is simpley out of warranty. :-( BMW UK services is my next option.

Thanks again for everyones input so far.
 
lacroupade said:
srhutch said:
Issue still exists with facelifts models although less of a problem apparently.

I am not awarevof anybody on here being refused a warranty repair on a roof.

Go back to the dealer and kick arse. If no joy go direct to BMW UK
Click to expand...

See Hutch I'm not sure I buy this. The oldest facelift is only just over four years old, I'd be really surprised if a roof motor, with the additional waterproofing they now install, had given out in that space of time - but if anyone wants to flag one its useful input for all.

I'm also surprised at this one, which isn't much older, but if we assume the dealer might be right, and some drain hole (that I'm not familiar with?) is blocked then its highly likely the motor is indeed swimming in water and leaf crud. At that point it would hinge on whether the driver is deemed to be aware of a requirement to keep something unblocked (I'm not aware thats the case but then how many of us read the user manual cover to cover?).

But, irrespective of that, depending on how long you've had the car, you have a good case.

Is this some kind of proper BMW extended warranty or just the usual dealer 6/12 months warranty (I think they are different potentially?)?

If you've had the car less than 6 months the SoG Act says the dealer is liable for any and all faults that were developing at the time of sale....which this clearly would have been.

Other than that, its a case of arguing the BMW warranty as the guys have said....its just that the SoG one is cast-iron in law.
Click to expand...

Jamiez has a facelift 3.0si and has had his motor replaced IIRC due to water ingress IIRC
 
Eddie said:
Unfortunately I brought the car 8 months ago, and it is on a 12 months warranty. Still inside by 3-4 months, but outside the 6 months Sog Act. Unfortunately I am the most usless person when it comes to mechanics so doing it myself would cause far more harm then good :(

I know it was never mentioned to me during the sales process or the hand over that I should be keeping any vents cleared of leaves. I will check the manual to see if it mentions anything specifically. It is the soft top version in 06 if that helps distinguish the model ?

So far the dealership have said they are not prepared to discuss the matter as it is simpley out of warranty. :-( BMW UK services is my next option.

Thanks again for everyones input so far.
Click to expand...

Eddie - don't try and do it yourself. The 12 month warranty should cover this. Put your request in writing to Sytner for the repair to be done under warranty and ask for a writen response. Also contact BMW UK by phone and letter. Perhaps Sytner have forgotten to register your car under the warranty programme and a just trying to wriggle out of the repair. It really doesn't matter what model or year it is, facelift or pre facelift is not the point here. AND theres is nothing in any BMW manual about keeping drain holes clear (certainly not that I can find!).
 
I spoke with the service manager again yesterday. He told me that the they have not removed the roof yet. They have now chnged from leaves being the cause to now dirt blocking the drain. I asked how he knew and he said because someone stuck there hand down the gap and felt water!!

Does anyone know if that is even possible or a valid test for this issue?

Cheers Eddie
 
I have further spoken to the service reception manager and he told me that there is no hole to stick your hand down, and that they is no drainage blockage, but simply water damage to the motor. He said he was sorry that I was mis-informed.

He said that it is still not a warranty Item. I have asked him to put it in writing. Also BMW customer service UK have said that they have to go on what the dealer has said and she beleives that they can not escalate the issue. She will confirm later today !!

What can I do ? Am I stuck ? They offered a goodwill 50% discount. But it is still £450 !

Many Thanks in Advance.
 
You need to ask them to quote in writing the relevant section that excludes this from their warranty .
Just saying its not a warranty item is not enough. I have not seen anywhere the exclusion for roof motors. Checking for clear drains is not mentioned anywhere in the handbook, and it is impossible to see the drain on the motor side without roof removal.
 
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