Z4 Hardtop Installation questions

[gadibbleiii]

My 2006 MZ4 has the factory hardtop prep ($75). I've checked.

I bought a new hardtop from Germany, and it's arrived today. The dealer says I need to make an appointment and leave it with them to have it prepped for installation. 1-4 hours.

I think all I should have to do is drive it over to them and have them help me lift it on and show me how to lock it down.

Reading what I could find on hardtop threads I couldn't figure out what is needed to "lock" it down. Does the wiring to the post mounts lock it down? How does the windshield part lock down?

Also, I saw mention of trunk stoppers. Do these come as included with the hardtop, or do I need to get them additionally.

I'm thinking if they won't help me lift it on the car, I'm going to have to pick it up and bring it home until I can figure this out.

Thanks for any help in advance.
George

[psygnosis]

I didn't get mine out of the box so I don't know what's involved in unpacking it. But they may be programming the car so that it's hardtop aware. That way when the top is on the buttons for the soft stop are deactivated. (If you have any programming you want to change this is a good time for that)

But yes, if you car already has the anchors behind the doors, all you have to do with the top is put it on (two person job) then lock it in the front and both sides. The wiring (one on both sides, for the defroster and detection?) is through the posts, no wires to plug or unplug.

I'm honestly not sure the trunk stoppers are really necessary, they don't limit the rise of the trunk lid all that much. Again, I got my top used so I'm not sure if they come with it, but they're cheap so I ordered them when I ordered the anchors/prep kit.

[BruceJ]

Congrats,
You are now part of the Trojan Club (300, not the condom). Hope you love the look as much as I do.
If you bought yours new there should be a locking tool (looks like an Allen wrench that was bent 90° in the center of its length) that comes with it. This single tool allows you to lock/unlock the top. That is strictly a manual process. I think it also comes with the interior covers for the two side lock points.

Trunk Stoppers: FIRST time you open the trunk with the Hardtop attached do it carefully and controlled. When you see how close the trunk gets to the rear window on the Hardtop I'm betting you'll see why you put the Trunk Stoppers on. Even with them on its a close fit. Without them Glass, Paint,or both are out of my comfort zone.

They are too cheap not to buy: http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/51240309364/

As for leaving it at the dealer that kind of depends on you.
1. Reasonably mechanically inclined?
2. Have a friend to help you set it on the car. Unless you install a Hardtop lift in your garage you will need this anyway.
3. The dealer may make any physical adjustments to the mounting points of the top so that it properly sits on your car. (Read the attachments, it’s not that hard)
4. The biggie - Rumor has it the dealer does what we can’t do. Possibly, they "activate" the cars recognition of the hardtop. So with Hardtop installed your car cannot raise the roof when you, "accidentally" don’t realize it’s there, and hold the top up button until you damage something. It may be that even though you have the hardtop option, during production they don't plug in the connections located behind the driver/passenger subwoofers. Or this could be another ingenious BMW computer thing. As the ideal BMW owner concept seems to be one made of money either of the two are a distinct possiblity.

In my car, that came without the Hardtop kit option, the receiveing connector had dummy plug and was tape wrapped as well. See the following link for what I mean about the connectors: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...rdtop+retrofit

Not to be too harsh, as I have done many stupid things, the OEM configuration for the BMW Top Up or Top Down buttons are Dead Man switches. Bottom line: if the Hardtop is installed and you "accidentally" push the Top Up button and you hear the convertible top start to come up, Stop and push the Top Down button. I probably should have just tested this at the time of install to confirm or deny, but I didn’t see a need. Since then I have installed the GAP-TECH RCH+ so I guess now I'm doubly in danger of not realizing that the top up button should not be pushed when the hardtop is on.

As a side note IMHO the RCH+ is probably the most functional, best value aftermarket modification made for our cars.

Hopefully you have a great dealer, I am not comfortable with the level of competence or integrity of my local dealer so I didn’t bother to ask.

I installed my own around the beginning of this year. I also did the mechanical and electrical retrofit since my car didn’t come with this option. This allowed my car to mount the top, heat the rear window, and provide the electrical connection for an interlock interruption of the convertible top. I love DIY's and there are some great ones here. Since yours came with this option you may be plug and play as far as electrical. There are a couple mechanical adjustments you may need to do in order to:
1. Get the top mounting points to physically mate with the car.
2. Adjust the top for left to right centering.
3. Adjust the top for proper height so that wind noise is minimized and you don’t end up over tightened and have paint on paint contact.

I’ve attached two documents that discuss installation and adjustment of the hardtop itself. Its not that hard, but I am one of those people who reads the instructions first. After a while things may flow, but that first time I read. I like to keep the expensive/embarrassing mistakes down to dull roar.

If you decide to do it yourself my last little anal trick was to:
1. CLEAN, with claybar, the entire painted area that the top would cover on the rear of the car.
2. Apply painters tape to that same area on the car in case the top was adjusted way too low. I taped off surrounding areas as well.
3. CLEAN the rear seal on the bottom rear of the Hardtop. I just used distilled water and a microfiber cloth.
4. Do a test fit to see how stuff works, i.e. the mounts go in the holes and there is no possibility of paint to paint contact.
5. Then pull the top off, pull the painters tape, wipe that area off again with a detailer spray and microfiber, clean the top rear lower seal again.
6. Then proceed with the real install. This may sound like a pain, but only takes a few minutes more and avoids tools flying across the garage, risking more scratched paint, broken things, intense cursing and finding the garage door to the house has been locked by the domestic goddess inside. If you are more fortunate she leaves you a cold beer on the step. Not that this has ever happened to me.....

One last thing and it may just be me, but anytime I am just putting the hardtop on I always have the rear locks set so the rear mounts will not drop all the way in the holes. This keeps fingers from getting pinched and I just like one more look to make sure all the mount points are going where they should. It’s not hard to mount but would def spoil my day to screw it up.

[psygnosis]

There is programing for the car to detect the hardtop, I had it done with I did programing for the alarm. Now with the hardtop in place the buttons for the soft top are deactivated.

No matter what amount of adjusting I did to the height of the posts I could not eliminate the gap at the corners at the front. But now that I think about it, I wonder if I could adjust it so the top sits further forward on the car...hmm..

[BruceJ]

Originally Posted by psygnosis

No matter what amount of adjusting I did to the height of the posts I could not eliminate the gap at the corners at the front. But now that I think about it, I wonder if I could adjust it so the top sits further forward on the car...hmm..

Gapwise in the front, are you talking about up/down or fwd/bckwrd?
Heres mine(apologies for the low res pic)

[psygnosis]

Yep, right where the lens flair is, on both sides. I ended up just running a piece of black electrical tape across the whole thing to get rid of the wind noise.

[gadibbleiii]

Thanks for all the responses.

I went to pick up the top and received all kinds of reasons from the dealer parts and shop foreman why I should let them do it at a service charge of 1-4 hours. I listened, but it just didn't seem like it was that big a deal from what I read on the forums AND I had a factory hardtop preb. I insisted, and they reluctantly rolled out the crate.

It was well packaged and color was proper paint, no damage. Underneath the top in the box were plastic bags that were taped down that had the storage bag, lever, and trim pieces. The hardest part was getting it unloose and out of the box with my wife. At first the part and shop guy stood there, but then jumped in and helped with the wife's side.

It went right on and I was able to use the lever to secure. The windows went up with no problem. I tentatively tried the top up button and nothing happened (no lights). I didn't need any software coding. BUT, it also may mean if someone does the hardware prep install, the hooking up of the wiring to the hardtop automatically cuts off software to lift soft top.

The top is quiet. I do notice some creaking noises going over bumps sometime, but I think that's probably normal.

The only thing I couldn't do was clean the car and lid gasket as noted above and in the instructions. I'll take the top off and see what damage may have been done, and clean.

The dealer had some trunk stoppers to give me, but they didn't fit. Apparently he thought it was for a pre 2002 production car. With the lid up the trunk is about 1/8" from the lid glass. I'm being careful, but will order the correct trunk stoppers.

My biggest disappointment is the lack of support from my dealer. I expected that they would be happy to open up the box, and quickly go through the installation with me. It would be very apparent whether any adjustments would be needed, and it wouldn't take them more than 5 minutes. Although I didn't buy the car from them, I've been taking it to them for service since my purchase in 2006.

Thanks to the support of this forum I've saved money and learned something about my dealer.

Love the look, and it's like driving a new car again.

I was thinking about getting a garage hoist for removal and storage. If anyone has one, could you post how you like it?

George

[BruceJ]

Originally Posted by gadibbleiii

Thanks for all the responses.

I was thinking about getting a garage hoist for removal and storage. If anyone has one, could you post how you like it?

George

I toyed around with this but I'm just not comfortable with the top suspended all the time, above my car. I will eventually get an aftermarket version of the bag that came with your top. If I remember correctly this bag enable's you to hang the top on the wall for storage. For now I have an 8' x 3' woodworking bench at the front of the garage that I store it on.

Glad everything has turned out well.

[psygnosis]

For the rattling, I think you can help eliminate it if you adjust the rear posts so that the top sits a little lower on the car. I tweaked my top this year and it sits a bit higher now and I notice quite a bit more noise. I'm rather lazy about cleaning where the the gasket comes in contact with the car and so far so good (never used a clay bar, but I'll wipe it down at the end of summer)

Since your car already had the hardtop prep, it probably had the programing set from the factory or whenever the parts were installed.

I ordered a hardtop stand and cover from UK Custom Covers off ebay, it's was kind of expensive but the stand is pretty slick and it folds down nice and compact to.

[Walkurie]

Thinking about the hoist, as well. I would not use it as a storage device, only to get the top on and off more easily. I do have a rack and a cover, and that works well.

[gadibbleiii]

Originally Posted by tbalutis

Thinking about the hoist, as well. I would not use it as a storage device, only to get the top on and off more easily. I do have a rack and a cover, and that works well.

Thanks for the response..
What would be wrong with using at a storage device?

[Walkurie]

Originally Posted by gadibbleiii

Thanks for the response..
What would be wrong with using at a storage device?

It's just the idea of something hanging over the car. And not being certain the hoist is anchored properly, etc. The roof does weigh a bit, at least 50 lbs.