BMW Z4 G29 roof creaking SOLVED
Discussion
I recently got a Z4 M40i, lovely low mileage one owner car. During the test drive with the roof down the car was glorious, but with the roof up there were a few creaks, like plastic on plastic or plastic on metal sounds from right near where the roof mounts to the windscreen surround. I spoke to the dealer (approved used) and they said they would look at it. Of course the looked and said it was normal, they have cleaned the seals etc. Anyway, I went ahead with the purchase, but on roads near me which granted are worse quality surfaces the creaking was pretty unbearable.
Searching around I found a very useful post here: https://g29.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p...
This describes similar noises and how to take the front part of the roof apart and place cloth tape/felt on some spots where one of the roof fabrics mounts and can cause the noise.
So, I set about doing this on my two day old (to me) Z4. The long and the short of it is that the car is now silent! SILENT, not a creak or rattle over the same roads as before, so looks like this is a great DIY fix that only takes about an hour, perhaps an hour and a half.
The thread above gives a few pictures and some details on what to do, but since someone messaged asking I have written some more details, and a few other sports I added tape.
I hope this might help someone else:
So, this is what I did and nothing broke, even though it sounded like it breaks when you pop the clips.
Tools used:
1. Trim removal tool
2. Loom tape, its a cloth based tape that is pretty thin and slightly adhesive (sticks to itself well and will stick to metal or plastic if its really clean
3. Panel wipe (or any wipe to remove dirt/grease)
1. Open roof half way
2. Shine a torch between the plastic roof panel and fabric hood and you will see four white clips - two close to the edges and two about 25cm apart either side of the middle. These are where you need to get the pry tool onto the bottom of the white part and prize down. You will hear a horrible pop as it comes out of the metal hole. You do this to the four clips - the panel won’t fall down as there are two retaining straps (which you can just un pop from near the clip.
3. You now have the front loose, but there are another four clips at the back which you can’t see, so you literally have to grab the back of the panel and pull down. The clips are in similar positions to the front ones, but just towards the back of the panel. For me two of the clips stayed in the roof (as there are slots in the plastic panel, but I just used the pry tool to get them out. There are also two fabric straps that can be disconnected.
4. That’s the worst part done! Now you can unhook the first ‘curtain’, literally just pill it forward over the tabs and just let it drop down
5. Now you can unhook the upper ‘curtain’ wire which requires you to pull on the tabs and prize out of the clips. This can be a little tough but just pull hard on the tabs
6. Now you need to apply your cloth tape in little strips along the metal surface between the tabs. I did this for both ‘curtains’ just to be sure.
7. I also noted how ‘scratchy’ the plastic panel that you took off earlier is and thought that could also make some horrible creaking sounds so, I used my fabric tape and placed across all 8 mounting holes that the clips came out of earlier. Then I poked a hold through the centre so the clips will go back through. This does make it a little harder to get the panel back on, but I thought worth it so I don’t have to take it off again…
8. Now you can hook the upper curtain back, this takes a bit of effort as it’s much tighter than the lower one.
9. Now hook the lower one back on
10. Re-attach the fabric straps from the roof bolts to the clips on the plastic panel
11. Align the plastic panel clips with the roof holes and press firmly (you may need to give the plastic panel a gentle hit from underneath so the clips pop back in. Go round and hit under all mounting clips.
12. For good measure (and I may remove and see if it makes any difference) I also put strips of my cloth tape around the front of the panel where it rests on the windscreen plastic surround when closed. This was just belt and braces and I will remove to see if it is required or not.
The job isn’t as bad as it first looks and getting that plastic panel off is the worst/hardest and scariest part.
That’s about it. I hope that helps, but for me is was so worth it. I now feel like I am driving a saloon car as it feels so solid.
Searching around I found a very useful post here: https://g29.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p...
This describes similar noises and how to take the front part of the roof apart and place cloth tape/felt on some spots where one of the roof fabrics mounts and can cause the noise.
So, I set about doing this on my two day old (to me) Z4. The long and the short of it is that the car is now silent! SILENT, not a creak or rattle over the same roads as before, so looks like this is a great DIY fix that only takes about an hour, perhaps an hour and a half.
The thread above gives a few pictures and some details on what to do, but since someone messaged asking I have written some more details, and a few other sports I added tape.
I hope this might help someone else:
So, this is what I did and nothing broke, even though it sounded like it breaks when you pop the clips.
Tools used:
1. Trim removal tool
2. Loom tape, its a cloth based tape that is pretty thin and slightly adhesive (sticks to itself well and will stick to metal or plastic if its really clean
3. Panel wipe (or any wipe to remove dirt/grease)
1. Open roof half way
2. Shine a torch between the plastic roof panel and fabric hood and you will see four white clips - two close to the edges and two about 25cm apart either side of the middle. These are where you need to get the pry tool onto the bottom of the white part and prize down. You will hear a horrible pop as it comes out of the metal hole. You do this to the four clips - the panel won’t fall down as there are two retaining straps (which you can just un pop from near the clip.
3. You now have the front loose, but there are another four clips at the back which you can’t see, so you literally have to grab the back of the panel and pull down. The clips are in similar positions to the front ones, but just towards the back of the panel. For me two of the clips stayed in the roof (as there are slots in the plastic panel, but I just used the pry tool to get them out. There are also two fabric straps that can be disconnected.
4. That’s the worst part done! Now you can unhook the first ‘curtain’, literally just pill it forward over the tabs and just let it drop down
5. Now you can unhook the upper ‘curtain’ wire which requires you to pull on the tabs and prize out of the clips. This can be a little tough but just pull hard on the tabs
6. Now you need to apply your cloth tape in little strips along the metal surface between the tabs. I did this for both ‘curtains’ just to be sure.
7. I also noted how ‘scratchy’ the plastic panel that you took off earlier is and thought that could also make some horrible creaking sounds so, I used my fabric tape and placed across all 8 mounting holes that the clips came out of earlier. Then I poked a hold through the centre so the clips will go back through. This does make it a little harder to get the panel back on, but I thought worth it so I don’t have to take it off again…
8. Now you can hook the upper curtain back, this takes a bit of effort as it’s much tighter than the lower one.
9. Now hook the lower one back on
10. Re-attach the fabric straps from the roof bolts to the clips on the plastic panel
11. Align the plastic panel clips with the roof holes and press firmly (you may need to give the plastic panel a gentle hit from underneath so the clips pop back in. Go round and hit under all mounting clips.
12. For good measure (and I may remove and see if it makes any difference) I also put strips of my cloth tape around the front of the panel where it rests on the windscreen plastic surround when closed. This was just belt and braces and I will remove to see if it is required or not.
The job isn’t as bad as it first looks and getting that plastic panel off is the worst/hardest and scariest part.
That’s about it. I hope that helps, but for me is was so worth it. I now feel like I am driving a saloon car as it feels so solid.
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