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      04-01-2013, 12:39 AM   #111
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ManiacGT that is a sad sad affair you have experienced.
I haven't been back to the dealership at all in 32 months, 24k miles.
I changed the oil 4 times. I replaced my wiper blades. I repaired my luggage space divider that I broke. Installed new hepa filter. Installed new plugs at 20k. Maybe just Lucky I guess.
Really hard to find in 400 square mile LA area. Sell fast. For available new 2013 models there are only 4 35iS, 13 35i and 25 28i in inventory. Sunny weather and no rain must contribute to BMW success in California.
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      04-01-2013, 02:26 AM   #112
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jparnes1
Holy crap! No lemon law...so what kind of protection does an owner have in the UK? You've obviously had an incredible amount of serious problems. Did you ever ask corporate BMW to make good?
Yes, they extended the warranty and have given a small amount of compensation. It doesn't make up for the hassle I've had. They just keep saying 'well we have made the car good for you'.
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      04-01-2013, 04:43 AM   #113
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Hi Maniac! Just to chip in as I am in the UK also! I have sold my Z4 back in November last. I only bought mine last April so had it 6 months. My car was a staff car for a BMW staff member. Right from the start I had issues, if you care to pop in and read my previous threads you will gain some idea. Having said this it is no were near your hassles. My final decision to get rid was when my dealer agreed that I had an issue with the rear axle (somewhere??) they wanted to hold onto the car for 10 days without even working on it and did not offer a loan car! For me the final straw!!!
Now the kicker in all of this!!!! I wanted to go back to a BMW 6 series, so wanted to trade the Z4 back to a Dealer and get a 640 or 635, BUT BMW would only offer me 65% of what I paid for the car 6 months previously and that against buying another from them. The offer was £10k less than I paid, and it got worse because nobody wanted the Z4, repeat no BMW dealer wanted to take on my Z4 !!!!!!!! (by the way it was immaculate, better than new as they agreed)
I contacted the BMW dealer I bought the car from (Synter's Coventry) but the salesman did not respond for days after repeated calls.
So I then researched the market as I wanted a droptop 4 seater, (hence the 6 series) but by this time I hated BMW.
So I went to Mercedes and eventually bought a E class 350 cabriolet (2010) model. When I did the trade in the offered me £2.5k more than BMW but again here comes the next kicker!!! They told me that they approached 8 BMW main dealers (as Mercedes will not hold BMW cars on their forecourt) and 7 of the dealers said they had no interest whatsoever in making an offer on my Z4!!!!!!
After having my new Mercedes (which I am very pleased with to a point, as Mercedes have also proved to be as bad on warranty as BMW on a particular matter over some trim) anyway I met someone who works for BMW at a function and naturally started chatting about cars and yes I told my tale of woe, and he told me that BMW considers the Z4 as the worst car they have model wise and are stuck with so much stock and quality issues that it is a real issue, and is a financial bag of worms as they depreciate faster than a plane falling from the sky !!
You may ask why do I persist in carrying on with this forum, well my brother bought one partly on my recommendation, his first sports car!! And whilst his car appears to be a good one, no issues, I like to keep my eye on trends!
This is the abridged version of events and sorry if it is a bit long!!!!!
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      04-01-2013, 01:28 PM   #114
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raven333 View Post
I met someone who works for BMW at a function and naturally started chatting about cars and yes I told my tale of woe, and he told me that BMW considers the Z4 as the worst car they have model wise and are stuck with so much stock and quality issues that it is a real issue, and is a financial bag of worms as they depreciate faster than a plane falling from the sky !!
That makes me feel really angry. I properly feel ripped off. Lesson learned.
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      04-02-2013, 04:35 AM   #115
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raven333 View Post
Hi Maniac! Just to chip in as I am in the UK also! I have sold my Z4 back in November last. I only bought mine last April so had it 6 months. My car was a staff car for a BMW staff member. Right from the start I had issues, if you care to pop in and read my previous threads you will gain some idea. Having said this it is no were near your hassles. My final decision to get rid was when my dealer agreed that I had an issue with the rear axle (somewhere??) they wanted to hold onto the car for 10 days without even working on it and did not offer a loan car! For me the final straw!!!
Now the kicker in all of this!!!! I wanted to go back to a BMW 6 series, so wanted to trade the Z4 back to a Dealer and get a 640 or 635, BUT BMW would only offer me 65% of what I paid for the car 6 months previously and that against buying another from them. The offer was £10k less than I paid, and it got worse because nobody wanted the Z4, repeat no BMW dealer wanted to take on my Z4 !!!!!!!! (by the way it was immaculate, better than new as they agreed)
I contacted the BMW dealer I bought the car from (Synter's Coventry) but the salesman did not respond for days after repeated calls.
So I then researched the market as I wanted a droptop 4 seater, (hence the 6 series) but by this time I hated BMW.
So I went to Mercedes and eventually bought a E class 350 cabriolet (2010) model. When I did the trade in the offered me £2.5k more than BMW but again here comes the next kicker!!! They told me that they approached 8 BMW main dealers (as Mercedes will not hold BMW cars on their forecourt) and 7 of the dealers said they had no interest whatsoever in making an offer on my Z4!!!!!!
After having my new Mercedes (which I am very pleased with to a point, as Mercedes have also proved to be as bad on warranty as BMW on a particular matter over some trim) anyway I met someone who works for BMW at a function and naturally started chatting about cars and yes I told my tale of woe, and he told me that BMW considers the Z4 as the worst car they have model wise and are stuck with so much stock and quality issues that it is a real issue, and is a financial bag of worms as they depreciate faster than a plane falling from the sky !!
You may ask why do I persist in carrying on with this forum, well my brother bought one partly on my recommendation, his first sports car!! And whilst his car appears to be a good one, no issues, I like to keep my eye on trends!
This is the abridged version of events and sorry if it is a bit long!!!!!
Whouaa! That is a sad story man ..
I cross fingers for mine (that I owned for 6 months now)!
(For the sake of our cars resale .. we should delete your post )
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      04-02-2013, 02:42 PM   #116
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One thing I haven't seen discussed with these roof noises is whether or not owners operated the roof while the car is moving

I've read speculation on these forums that moving the roof while the car is moving puts strain on the roof mechanism, which is why that feature wasn't available from the factory

Thoughts?
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      04-02-2013, 03:18 PM   #117
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Many of the cars with issues are the older models that do not have the roof opening or closing whilst the car is moving. Unless they have the aftermarket module fitted??? On the older models it will open up to 5mph and basically that is it!!!! I think it is 2012 on wards that has the roof opening when moving 25mph ??
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      04-02-2013, 04:15 PM   #118
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raven333 View Post
Many of the cars with issues are the older models that do not have the roof opening or closing whilst the car is moving. Unless they have the aftermarket module fitted??? On the older models it will open up to 5mph and basically that is it!!!! I think it is 2012 on wards that has the roof opening when moving 25mph ??
Mid-2012 and forward. Mine was made in early 2012 and doesn't have that feature.
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      04-02-2013, 06:45 PM   #119
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jparnes1 View Post
Mid-2012 and forward. Mine was made in early 2012 and doesn't have that feature.
Mine was made in April and doesn't have it either.
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      04-02-2013, 07:14 PM   #120
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raven333 View Post
Many of the cars with issues are the older models that do not have the roof opening or closing whilst the car is moving. Unless they have the aftermarket module fitted??? On the older models it will open up to 5mph and basically that is it!!!! I think it is 2012 on wards that has the roof opening when moving 25mph ??
Definitely mid 2012 models. My 12/11 build 2012 doesn't open at 25mph

Yea, that aftermarket module is what I was thinking about specifically
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      04-03-2013, 02:58 AM   #121
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My noises were there way before my smart top was installed, and with the weather here in the UK I've not had chance to use the smart top since installation some months ago. In any event I'd never operate the top in windy conditions, at any significant speed or on rough ground.
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      04-04-2013, 03:21 AM   #122
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nicknaz View Post
Definitely mid 2012 models. My 12/11 build 2012 doesn't open at 25mph
A friend's 04/12 build already has the 40 km/h function.

Please note that BMW has built in a reinforced hydraulic pump, reinforced hydraulic tubes and reinforced mechanics for the 40 km/h function. So the smarttop module will certainly work with older cars at higher speeds (I also had such module in my 2009 23i), but driving > 6 km/h in the older models may destroy the roof mechanism (aerodynamic resistance, bumps); the car's speed > 6 km/h when opening/closing the roof will even be stored in the car's history memory. In Germany, we had at least one case in which BMW denied warranty for a damaged roof (in the concrete case: "goodwill") as the roof was opened at a speed of up to 46 km/h with the help of a smarttop module, according to the car's history memory....

Best regards

Mick
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      04-04-2013, 11:06 AM   #123
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mick70 View Post
A friend's 04/12 build already has the 40 km/h function.

Please note that BMW has built in a reinforced hydraulic pump, reinforced hydraulic tubes and reinforced mechanics for the 40 km/h function. So the smarttop module will certainly work with older cars at higher speeds (I also had such module in my 2009 23i), but driving > 6 km/h in the older models may destroy the roof mechanism (aerodynamic resistance, bumps); the car's speed > 6 km/h when opening/closing the roof will even be stored in the car's history memory. In Germany, we had at least one case in which BMW denied warranty for a damaged roof (in the concrete case: "goodwill") as the roof was opened at a speed of up to 46 km/h with the help of a smarttop module, according to the car's history memory....

Best regards

Mick
That's kind of scary... I guess I won't be enabling that feature if I ever get a smarttop.
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      04-04-2013, 12:04 PM   #124
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Quote:
Originally Posted by morfinx View Post
That's kind of scary... I guess I won't be enabling that feature if I ever get a smarttop.
Yes this is one of the reasons why I probably won't have a smarttop in my new 35i - I do not know which other functions are monitored by BMW and may affect warranty claims.

Another reason is that my wife had her fingers between roof and window frame once when I was closing the roof in my old 23i (with another roof module - not smarttop!). I could stop the mechanism immediately, but unfortunately I could not reopen the roof and release my wife: I tried everything - keyfob, car buttons - nothing. Only when I started the engine after 5 min trying (just before calling the firefighters with their heavy tools), I could regain control of the roof and it finally went up again. So I and in particular my wife have a somehow "reduced confidence" in roof modules.

Of course this does not mean that the original smarttop module will indeed bring up the same issue, I think it is much more elaborated than the module I used to have
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      04-04-2013, 12:12 PM   #125
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Bad news about your wife getting trapped. But to be fair, you really shouldn't have any part of your body near the roof when operating, smart top or otherwise.

I've had no issues with the smart top so far. If you're careless in its operation, knowing what its designed to do (get around safety) then can you really be surprised if something bad happens...
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      04-04-2013, 12:30 PM   #126
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mick70 View Post
Yes this is one of the reasons why I probably won't have a smarttop in my new 35i - I do not know which other functions are monitored by BMW and may affect warranty claims.

Another reason is that my wife had her fingers between roof and window frame once when I was closing the roof in my old 23i (with another roof module - not smarttop!). I could stop the mechanism immediately, but unfortunately I could not reopen the roof and release my wife: I tried everything - keyfob, car buttons - nothing. Only when I started the engine after 5 min trying (just before calling the firefighters with their heavy tools), I could regain control of the roof and it finally went up again. So I and in particular my wife have a somehow "reduced confidence" in roof modules.

Of course this does not mean that the original smarttop module will indeed bring up the same issue, I think it is much more elaborated than the module I used to have
I recoded my car to have these functions, who needs a smarttop? Have not had any problem with mine but I never operate the top on a slope or in windy conditions. (Why would I open the top when the conditions are bad anyway?)

Seems you've had quite a dreadful experience with the roof though.
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      04-04-2013, 06:25 PM   #127
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rafale View Post
I recoded my car to have these functions, who needs a smarttop? Have not had any problem with mine but I never operate the top on a slope or in windy conditions. (Why would I open the top when the conditions are bad anyway?)

Seems you've had quite a dreadful experience with the roof though.
I'm curious which functions you were able to code. Do you have comfort access? I don't have CA and I only had success with unlock on key ejection, and remote mirror folding, but only after tricking the car into thinking I had CA. I was not able to code anything else.
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      04-05-2013, 02:13 AM   #128
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ManiacGT View Post
But to be fair, you really shouldn't have any part of your body near the roof when operating, smart top or otherwise.
Oh yes - this was clearly a fault of both of us - my wife used to know the car for 30000 km and of course my habit to close the roof when leaving the car and should have heard the mechanism - and I should have oberved the roof's movement as even mentioned in the manual. But don't get me wrong - I do not complain about the roof trapping my wife but about not being able to release her for 5 mins afterwards

Best regards

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      04-05-2013, 03:17 AM   #129
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Originally Posted by morfinx View Post
I'm curious which functions you were able to code. Do you have comfort access? I don't have CA and I only had success with unlock on key ejection, and remote mirror folding, but only after tricking the car into thinking I had CA. I was not able to code anything else.
Pretty much everything but I do have comfort access. Only think from the smarttop that I could not do was the single press top up top down movement. I still have to hold the button which in fact is not a bad thing. It allows me to stop the top operation at will.

Folding mirrors with keyfob and CA
digital speedometer
Speedometer offset removal
Top operation up to 40km/h
One key push unlock of the door to avoid the double pull
Double blinking warning light

I am probably missing a few.
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      04-05-2013, 12:13 PM   #130
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ManiacGT
My noises were there way before my smart top was installed, and with the weather here in the UK I've not had chance to use the smart top since installation some months ago. In any event I'd never operate the top in windy conditions, at any significant speed or on rough ground.
Same as ManiacGT : I had roof rattles before installing smart top.

Contrarily to ManiacGT, I don't care much since I drive with the roof down most of the year.

But it is annoying to know that the rattles are there. Except the rattles I had no real issues.
I had a z3 and a z4 which had no rattles at all (softop ...).

It is indeed exceptional to see an e89 on my dealer lot. It doesn't mean there is fundamental issues with this car. Since I can say the same for X6M
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      04-05-2013, 05:02 PM   #131
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Thought I'd share a few pics from the attempt...

The glue at the tips and scraping rough drill holes are from the factory by the way!











[img]ttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8622203059_0de42bba6f.jpg[/img]
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      04-05-2013, 06:02 PM   #132
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Quote:
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It is indeed exceptional to see an e89 on my dealer lot.
Funny you should mention this.... I went back to a dealership where I test drove a Z4 35i last June while I was shopping and saw the EXACT SAME vehicle I test drove but did not purchase still on the lot



They should have taken my lowball offer
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