New 2009 2010 BMW Z4 - ZPOST
BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Go Back   New 2009 2010 BMW Z4 - ZPOST > BMW Z4 Forum (E89) > 2009-Current Z4 Forum (E89) General Discussion

Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      06-13-2012, 09:03 PM   #1
///MIKE
Second Lieutenant
///MIKE's Avatar
11
Rep
202
Posts

Drives: E89 35iS
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Hong Kong

iTrader: (0)

Roof stopped working after installing Vario Roof

Just wanted to share and see if anyone has experienced the same.

I recently purchased the vario roof module from mods4cars and installing it was a real breeze however my roof is now stuck in the position below

At first I thought I didn't have the back latched correctly but I checked and tried again and again and it still didn't work, including restarting the car. Even when I put everything back together back to the way it was the roof was still stuck at this position

I ended up calling BMW and the car is now at their shop. Has anyone experienced this? I'm hesitant to try again.

I e-mailed mods4cars and only got some sort of automated response which didn't help.
I am driving a 2012 35is.

Has anyone experienced the same problem?
__________________
2012 E89 35iS
Appreciate 0
      06-18-2012, 09:44 PM   #2
timwhayden
Private
United_States
10
Rep
64
Posts

Drives: '11 Z4is AW/Walnut
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Jackson,TN

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
I have the SmarTop which is by the same company and I assume the same thing as you have. I had it installed for about 9 months and did fine until the roof got stuck in the trunk and would not come up. I had to take it to the dealer and pay $250 dollars to get the top back up so I could then uninstall the SmarTop. It still would not work and I then had to pay $1200 to get a shorted out trunk release latch replaced and now it works fine. This of course was not covered by warranty since it was POSSIBLY related to the SmarTop. I really loved all the advantages provided by it but am afraid to get another now...
__________________
Garage:
'11 Z4is
'09 Audi Q5
'07 Lamborghini Gallardo
Appreciate 0
      06-18-2012, 11:28 PM   #3
///MIKE
Second Lieutenant
///MIKE's Avatar
11
Rep
202
Posts

Drives: E89 35iS
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Hong Kong

iTrader: (0)

I was lucky as my car has only been on the road for less than a month so everything was covered, otherwise I'm sure that I'd be paying the same fees. I was lucky enough as the roof malfunctioned when I have access to the module otherwise I will have to leave it in and I'm guessing the charges will be similar. I've spoken with Stefan the General Manager there and he assured me that there are no problems with the unit and I should try and reinstall it once I got the car back but of course I am quite skeptical about this as I have installed this module in my prevoius SLK and I've been working with car electronics for quite a while.

Are you going to do the same? If I was Stefan I'd ask for our units to be sent back to do some diagnostics on the unit itself.
__________________
2012 E89 35iS
Appreciate 0
      06-19-2012, 07:16 PM   #4
rfx45
Lieutenant
rfx45's Avatar
United_States
39
Rep
560
Posts

Drives: E89
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: CA

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2012 BMW Z4  [8.50]
I asked this in the other smarttop problem thread but did this got stuck while you were trying to open or close the roof or did it just open/close by itself and it got stuck (someone in the other thread mentioned other brands opening/closing by itself)?

Also, did yours actually work after the install? timwhayden had his for 9 month before the problem occurred and since yours Z is only a month old, i'm just curious how long it took before it malfunctioned or if it got stuck during installation (a few had this problem too but was fixable)?
__________________
2012 Z4
http://e89.zpost.com/forums/image.php?type=sigpic&userid=32142&dateline=132899  8397
Appreciate 0
      06-20-2012, 02:14 AM   #5
persian54
Lieutenant General
persian54's Avatar
United_States
922
Rep
15,818
Posts

Drives: M760/G83M4
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The Valley, SoCal

iTrader: (298)

Was it the PNP or the pin out?

Mine have all been pin outs so maybe it's best that I never switched to PNP....?
Appreciate 0
      07-18-2012, 03:39 AM   #6
///MIKE
Second Lieutenant
///MIKE's Avatar
11
Rep
202
Posts

Drives: E89 35iS
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Hong Kong

iTrader: (0)

Just wanted to follow up and say that I have resolved the problem. The issue lies in the programming of the module before installation. I have reprogrammed the module back to factory default and redone the install and everything has worked fine. I assume that one of the preprogrammed settings has interferred with the signal from the on board computer causing it to negate the internal latch which tells the computer the inner compartment is closed, so the computer things the inner compartment cover isn't closed and will not let the roof open or close.
Anyway this brings this case to a close. My advise to anyone doing this install is to install the entire module first and program using the blinker system.
__________________
2012 E89 35iS
Appreciate 0
      07-18-2012, 06:11 AM   #7
nickm9
Private First Class
8
Rep
185
Posts

Drives: E89 Z4 35i - Alpine White
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: London

iTrader: (0)

Or the best piece of advice is don't dick around with the car and keep it they way it was meant to be...save yourself the money and uneccesary worry of faults occurring. All for raising and lowering the roof while driving etc .....it's not worth it.
Appreciate 0
      07-18-2012, 07:07 AM   #8
jparnes1
Colonel
jparnes1's Avatar
No_Country
241
Rep
2,389
Posts

Drives: 2016 340i, 2012 Z4 35i
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NY

iTrader: (1)

Quote:
Originally Posted by nickm9 View Post
Or the best piece of advice is don't dick around with the car and keep it they way it was meant to be...save yourself the money and uneccesary worry of faults occurring. All for raising and lowering the roof while driving etc .....it's not worth it.
+1
__________________
2016 340i XDrive, EBII/black, 6 MT, M Sport, Track Handling, Cold Weather, Tech, Lighting, Driver Assistance Plus.

2012 Z4 35i, ED 2/24/2012, Melbourne Red Metallic, Black Leather, Carbon Trim, 6MT, M Sport, CW, PP, PS, NAV, CA.
Appreciate 0
      07-18-2012, 09:34 AM   #9
Vintage
Colonel
Vintage's Avatar
United_States
378
Rep
2,588
Posts

Drives: BMW G80 (MT), 718 Spyder
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Austin, Texas

iTrader: (0)

I uninstalled the Smart Top after concerns about possible wiring modifications and electrical gremlins kept me up at night.
Appreciate 0
      07-20-2012, 05:14 PM   #10
tom @ eas
General
tom @ eas's Avatar
United_States
8056
Rep
18,786
Posts

Drives: BMW
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Anaheim, CA

iTrader: (19)

Garage List
2018 BMW i3s  [0.00]
2010 BMW M3  [6.50]
2015 BMW M4  [5.25]
Quote:
Originally Posted by nickm9 View Post
Or the best piece of advice is don't dick around with the car and keep it they way it was meant to be...save yourself the money and uneccesary worry of faults occurring. All for raising and lowering the roof while driving etc .....it's not worth it.
All M4C commands are OEM BMW commands, it's simply enabling those via automation. No foreign code is ever introduced into the system.

Quote:
Originally Posted by persian54 View Post
Was it the PNP or the pin out?

Mine have all been pin outs so maybe it's best that I never switched to PNP....?
Shouldn't be any difference, assuming the pinouts were performed correctly.

The PnP harnesses simply make any wiring errors practically impossible. We've installed a large number of the modules here (including yours ) without a hitch.
__________________
Tom G. | european auto source (eas)
email: tom@europeanautosource.com · web: https://europeanautosource.com· tel 866.669.0705 · ca: 714.369.8524 x22

GET DAILY UPDATES ON OUR BLOG · FACEBOOK · YOUTUBE · FLICKR · INSTAGRAM
Appreciate 0
      07-20-2012, 08:23 PM   #11
E36ic4Me
Private First Class
E36ic4Me's Avatar
United_States
3
Rep
98
Posts

Drives: Z4 & M3 Convertible
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Bay Area

iTrader: (0)

Another reason I love my M3. All you do is pull a wire from a harness and *POOF*, you can raise/lower the roof while in motion.
Appreciate 0
      07-23-2012, 05:33 AM   #12
Atebit
Private First Class
3
Rep
107
Posts

Drives: Yellow 2011 Z4 sdrive30i
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: NC

iTrader: (0)

I never even use mine for that. Just being able to release the open/close button is great, not to mention being able to open/close the roof from a distance (albeit a short one) and the comfort-loading feature on a non CA car.
__________________
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:48 AM.




zpost
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST