z4 e85 roof issue

[Z4MCSL]

So my Dad's Z4M roadster has had its roof fail

currently it is closed, you can electrically lower it but you cannot electrically put it up

BMW have advised that it: "requires hydraulic pump kit which is no longer available through BMW"

Any advice here on best and cheapest way forwards?

Many thanks

[rix]

Depends where you are, but Ross at RBM in Hants is your man. The drain holes get blocked where the motor lives and it gets flooded and corroded. Ross can remove, probably fire back to life and then relocate in the boot so it won't happen again. A very common fault. I think there are others in the country that can do this but I've no experience/details

[Maracus]

If you can contact Mervyn at AutoElectron in Harrogate, he is an Oracle with the E85 Roof and associated electronics.

[Wotzname]

Head over to https://z4-forum.com/

Should be a few knowledgeable owners knocking about who could help with your dad's roof problem

Good luck in getting it sorted

[530dTPhil]

I had the same problem on an E85 but decided to tackle it myself. There are some good videos on YouTube detailing the procedure.

Quite an involved job to remove interior trim, hood and frame complete with motor but certainly achievable at home.
Removed the motor from the frame and got an exchange unit for less than £200. Unblocked the drain holes, refitted everything and all was well.

Interesting was that someone had had it apart before and done some 'rudimentary' repairs to get it working again.

As someone said, the drain holes get blocked causing the motor to corrode. I didn't relocate the motor to the boot as the car was always garaged in my ownership.

[Earthdweller]

As above the forum is a good shout

The fix is not expensive and easily done, normally involving relocating and drying out/topping up the motor

It shouldn’t cost your more than £300 from a specialist who knows what they are doing

If you’re in the north, or even not it’s well worth travelling to see Mike at the zed shed near Warrington

What Mike doesn’t know about E85 roofs isn’t worth knowing

He has done mine and many folk I know .. people travel from all over the country for his magic

Honestly couldn’t recommend him highly enough

[ian in lancs]

Earthdweller said:

As above the forum is a good shout

The fix is not expensive and easily done, normally involving relocating and drying out/topping up the motor

It shouldn’t cost your more than £300 from a specialist who knows what they are doing

If you’re in the north, or even not it’s well worth travelling to see Mike at the zed shed near Warrington

What Mike doesn’t know about E85 roofs isn’t worth knowing

He has done mine and many folk I know .. people travel from all over the country for his magic

Honestly couldn’t recommend him highly enough

Seconded!

[Earthdweller]

530dTPhil said:

e.

Quite an involved job to remove interior trim, hood and frame complete with motor but certainly achievable at home.
Removed the motor from the frame and got an exchange unit for less than £200. Unblocked the drain holes, refitted everything and all was well.

All that is unnecessary, the motor can be reached, removed and relocated without having to do that

The normal place to relocate the motor is in the to left hand side of the boot behind the lining which allows the motor to be stood up rather than lying down

I’ve watched a number of them be relocated, refreshed or replaced and it’s literally a 20 min/half hour job to do

[Mr Tidy]

Earthdweller said:

530dTPhil said:

e.

Quite an involved job to remove interior trim, hood and frame complete with motor but certainly achievable at home.
Removed the motor from the frame and got an exchange unit for less than £200. Unblocked the drain holes, refitted everything and all was well.

All that is unnecessary, the motor can be reached, removed and relocated without having to do that

The normal place to relocate the motor is in the to left hand side of the boot behind the lining which allows the motor to be stood up rather than lying down

I’ve watched a number of them be relocated, refreshed or replaced and it’s literally a 20 min/half hour job to do

Agreed, you don't need to remove the roof.

Relocating to the boot is what the guys on z4forum do and they fit a trim panel to cover it. As well as Ross at RBM in Hook, Hants and Mike in Cheshire there are others based near Bristol and in Norfolk who will do it.

[Baddie]

Impressed by the people who can fish the motor out with the roof on, I couldn’t get my (not big) arm down there. Lifted the roof with two ratchet straps from a child’s swing frame.

If the roof goes down, I’d be surprised if it’s a motor issue. Does the motor spin when trying to put it back up? If not, may be a microswitch type problem. If the motor does spin, I’d recommend topping up the hydraulic reservoir. My car always needed a hand to push the roof back until I squeezed another couple of mls of hydraulic fluid into the reservoir with a syringe and needle. Much quieter now too

Edited by Baddie on Thursday 30th May 12:08

[Z4MCSL]

Thanks all, super useful.

So i need to get a better picture of what is wrong but apparently the motor has already been relocated. There is apparently some confusion between motor vs pump vs hydraulic pump etc so I'm unsure which bit is broken but I will chase up with my dad/BMW and get in touch with recommended indies...

Thanks so much

[Maracus]

One issue mine had before I bought it was that the hydraulic pipes both required replacing. They had not aged well.

[530dTPhil]

Earthdweller said:

All that is unnecessary, the motor can be reached, removed and relocated without having to do that

The normal place to relocate the motor is in the to left hand side of the boot behind the lining which allows the motor to be stood up rather than lying down

I’ve watched a number of them be relocated, refreshed or replaced and it’s literally a 20 min/half hour job to do

The problem with mine was that someone had bodged the motor mounting and connections and I couldn't remove it. Hence why the whole lot had to be removed. The motor itself was faulty and needed to be refurbished, plus the previous bodged needed to be corrected.

[Court_S]

I think you need to talk to a specialist; they’re normally better with these things on older cars and develop work arounds etc.

The Zed Shed seem to be very well regarded.

[Mr Tidy]

The only problem is Mike is running a business so can be hard to get hold of!

You might do better heading to z4forum and posting a question there like this thread:- https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=146887

Both "bigwinn" (Stuart) and "enuff_zed" (Martin) are serial Z4 fixers on more of a hobby basis so will often offer advice.

[g3org3y]

I need to get the one on mine sorted. I've been putting it up/down manually for the last year!