2012 Z4 can open/close roof while driving from March 2012 on

[richard in NC]

Originally Posted by jparnes1

Actually,the factory option allows you to close the roof as well as open it.
And then, if you have CA, you can do the Convenient Access option with the factory key fob.

Half the time I've tried opening the top from the remote, it stops 1/2 way up. Either my finger slips off the button or the battery is too weak.

[CanTURK]

Hello guys I am from turkey and I have a Z4 35is; This car is like 160K usd here;
Whats the price in states ?

I just found ur forum while I search the 2012 models roof can open up to 40 Km speed is adaptable to older cars or not ?

My car is 15 months old and 2 months after I got it; dealer send me invitation to service for general update to fix roof software errors. Did you have such a fix?

Thank you for your replies in advance; BMW Turkey people doesnt know anthing and doesnt have problem like helping you!!

Cheers

[jparnes1]

All Z4s made in July 2012 and after will allow you to open the roof while moving, but there's no retrofit for older models because they're beefing up the supports to allow for this. 35is base price here is $64,200. when I bought mine, I had to sign a waiver agreeing not to ship the car overseas for 1 year. Apparently people will buy the car in the US and send it overseas for resale at a much higher price.

[Dr Stig 2]

Has anyone looked up the parts catalogue to see if BMW really did beef up the roof mechanism or whether it is just a marketing line to justify them from not retro fixing it on all our cars?

[Frank_B]

Hi CanTurk,

take a look at the prochip.de site, they offer a OBD solution for open/close the roof in motion up to 40kmh, i use it long time now without any problems.

br
Frank

[ManiacGT]

They uprated the hydraulics. They did it for two reasons so I'm told, 1) and this is the primary one, some of the roof mechanisms failed, leaking oil all over the place, this is what they wanted to fix, and 2) to create a new feature to sell on the back of the fact it was actually to ensure less roof failures.

[HerrK]

Originally Posted by Dr Stig 2

Has anyone looked up the parts catalogue to see if BMW really did beef up the roof mechanism or whether it is just a marketing line to justify them from not retro fixing it on all our cars?

OEM shows the hyd pump and a couple of lines applicable to 03/2012 but no new PN"s yet. Problably will be on the next batch of prts diagrahms.

[Dr Stig 2]

Originally Posted by HerrK

OEM shows the hyd pump and a couple of lines applicable to 03/2012 but no new PN"s yet. Problably will be on the next batch of prts diagrahms.

THanks HerrK.

[CanTURK]

Originally Posted by Frank_B

Hi CanTurk,

take a look at the prochip.de site, they offer a OBD solution for open/close the roof in motion up to 40kmh, i use it long time now without any problems.

br
Frank

Hello frank;

thank you for your reply;

could you please let me know how this modul use? cut cable ?
or just transfer through obd ? can I do işt alone or need service help _?

Service will not help for sure; So it must be easy stuff so I can do alone..

Please let me know

[marcw]

That is what worries me most about this car. As my daily driver I intend to keep this car for a long time. Still debating how to cover myself once I'm out of warranty and a major failure like that occurs. The extended 7yr/100k miles BMW warranty doesn't cover the roof mechanism.

Originally Posted by ManiacGT

... some of the roof mechanisms failed, leaking oil all over the place, this is what they wanted to fix...

[jparnes1]

Marc, I'm also planning to keep this car for a long time and I've thought about the same issue. My solution was to set aside $200/month in a "repair account". By the time my warranty runs out after 4 years, I'll have $9600. That's kind of painless way to pay for those repairs. And I like it better than paying for an extended warranty which I may or may not utilize.

[HerrK]

Originally Posted by marcw

The extended 7yr/100k miles BMW warranty doesn't cover the roof mechanism.

The extended owner protection plan has no exclusion for convertible roof mechanisms. In fact under Electrical "convertible top storage lid and top drive motors; manually and electrically operated switches" are noted as covered items.

[Frank_B]

Originally Posted by CanTURK

Hello frank;

thank you for your reply;

could you please let me know how this modul use? cut cable ?
or just transfer through obd ? can I do işt alone or need service help _?

Service will not help for sure; So it must be easy stuff so I can do alone..

Please let me know

Hi,

no cutting wires, no install anything... plug into obd port, press a button, wait 10seconds, all is done. and for sure you can do it without any help from your service. by the way, go to prochip.de site, there you see pictures and how it works.

br
frank

[persian54]

i <3 my smarttop

[rfx45]

Originally Posted by laz4

I just got my special order z4 two weeks ago. It was built in March and I can confirm that the roof does indeed open at speeds up to 20mph. It is very convenient. The button is placed in the same distant spot though. The operation while driving is similar to the E85.

Do you have to hold it or is it one touch?

[marcw]

Unfortunately $9600 isn't going to get you very far with a catastrophic roof mechanism failure. Might want to go look here and see what can happen, not that I'm saying it will.. http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=293685. If I remember correctly the new roof was in the order of $20k!! BMW sent three roofs total all having shipping damage of one kind or another before agreeing to a buy back. Even if BMW would manage to ship a replacement to your dealer would you trust your dealers mechanic to install a new roof on your Zed? I sure wouldn't.

Originally Posted by jparnes1

Marc, I'm also planning to keep this car for a long time and I've thought about the same issue. My solution was to set aside $200/month in a "repair account". By the time my warranty runs out after 4 years, I'll have $9600. That's kind of painless way to pay for those repairs. And I like it better than paying for an extended warranty which I may or may not utilize.

[marcw]

I'm not convinced that the extended owner protection plan is an exclusionary coverage. Meaning it covers only items that are specifically mentioned as being covered. Somewhere in the contract it states that damages which occur due to failures of parts that are not covered are also not covered. This seems to leave a huge hole and plenty of wiggle room for BMW to argue not paying for a very expensive roof repair. The more I read about the BMW plan the more convinced I am that you would not be covered in a catastrophic roof failure event. I'd love to see evidence to the contrary.

Originally Posted by HerrK

The extended owner protection plan has no exclusion for convertible roof mechanisms. In fact under Electrical "convertible top storage lid and top drive motors; manually and electrically operated switches" are noted as covered items.

[jparnes1]

Originally Posted by marcw

Unfortunately $9600 isn't going to get you very far with a catastrophic roof mechanism failure. Might want to go look here and see what can happen, not that I'm saying it will.. http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=293685. If I remember correctly the new roof was in the order of $20k!! BMW sent three roofs total all having shipping damage of one kind or another before agreeing to a buy back. Even if BMW would manage to ship a replacement to your dealer would you trust your dealers mechanic to install a new roof on your Zed? I sure wouldn't.

Well, I read that thread and all I can say is I'm not getting all worked up about it. Anything can happen with any car, but this appears to be an isolated incident. I had 2 turbos blow on my previous Z4 but I wouldn't say that that was anything but a very, very low frequency problem. Now, would I be using Smart Top on a car that isn't designed for opening and closing while in motion? Hell no. That's just asking for trouble, IMO.
$20K? Are you sure? That's 1/3 the cost of the car!

[laz4]

Originally Posted by rfx45

Do you have to hold it or is it one touch?

You have to hold it down. No one touch from BMW.

[ManiacGT]

Originally Posted by laz4

You have to hold it down. No one touch from BMW.

Correct... safety feature to prevent you cutting someones fingers off or crushing your dog.

Which with a smart top you can override.. poor pets..

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by 35iDriver

Which is exactly why the new feature will be virtually useless.

...and how difficult is it to decide whether you want the top up or down BEFORE you take off in the car?

It's not useless at all. MYs prior to this can open/close but at a much lower spd, I dunno, 15-20 kph? Of course it's better w/ a higher spd threshold esp if the traffic light switches faster than anticipated and the roof movement is not complete, in order not to look foolish & hold up traffic. It's especially useful for those w/o MT.


Another pt is are we sure that this new feature is an added on the price to the new MY?

[themush1326]

anyone know if the CPO cover the top on the Z4?