Hi everyone I'm Steve who with my partner Helen was hoping to buy a 1997 Z3 2.8 Roadster yesterday afternoon, it was going so well, just 68K from new in metallic silver, near perfect black leather interior, that sweet straight six as quiet as a church mouse, no rust anywhere, for a 19 year old car it was ticking all the boxes... till we were ready for the test drive & the electric roof refused to work so I drove it with the roof up & mechanically everything was perfect, if the roof had worked we would have had it then & there ( though the soft top ideally needs replacing soon as is original), is there any common faults with these roofs & could they be disengaged from the mechanism & used as a manual roof? Such a nice car & a good price, thanks Steve
Near to owning our 1st Z3, but not quite...
- Thread starter Perkio
- Start date
The roof has to have the brake pedal pressed to operate or it will not function .You have to lift it a little as theres a micro switch that has to trigger to feed power.
The switch wire may be damages but the roof loom is relativly simple.
Sounds a great find hope you find the problem.
The switch wire may be damages but the roof loom is relativly simple.
Sounds a great find hope you find the problem.
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You can disengage and make the roof manual i think you will find a t shaped key on the pump undoing it allows the fluid to flow .
Hi Steve and welcome from Pembrokeshire South Wales ,issue with roof not working should not be a deal breaker as this is a common fault with the z3 and is usually a faulty micro switch which is in the roof frame on the left hand side , the roof can be operated manually by turning off the pump which is located in the boot on the left hand side behind the boot carpet there is a screw like a butterfly screw by releasing this you can use the roof as a manual , there is a thread on here about repairing this switch and i am sure someone will be along shortly to point you in the right direction this forum is full of friendly helpfull people
Bill
Bill
Its more then likely a minor fault and should not be a major issue, If the car is otherwise right and the right price, take the plunge, you won't regret it, it also gives you an opportunity to chip the current owner a bit.
I normally start mine before dropping the roof to reduce drain on the battery
The last owner bought it in 2002 at 55K & only put 13K on it in 14 years all the MOT's back this up, in fact just 300 miles a year for the last 10 years, but MOT'd every year!The roof has to have the brake pedal pressed to operate or it will not function .You have to left it a little as theres a micro switch that has to trigger to feed power.
The switch wire may be damages but the roof loom is relativly simple.
Sounds a great find hope you find the problem.
Engine doesn't have to run it just sometimes is a quicker operation with it running but not needed.
Ignition on brake pressed and rooof pushed up to disengage the switch.
If the micro switch is broken it will not be completing the circuit to engage the pump, the wire sometimes gets caught on the frame and gets damaged.
As mentioned theres a fix on here somwhere
Ignition on brake pressed and rooof pushed up to disengage the switch.
If the micro switch is broken it will not be completing the circuit to engage the pump, the wire sometimes gets caught on the frame and gets damaged.
As mentioned theres a fix on here somwhere
If you don't mind me asking, how much is he asking for it.
@Antm72 do you know if the micro switch is in place when you fit an electric roof as an upgrade. Its just that I am thinking of doing the upgrade over winter.Engine doesn't have to run it just sometimes is a quicker operation with it running but not needed.
Ignition on brake pressed and rooof pushed up to disengage the switch.
If the micro switch is broken it will not be completing the circuit to engage the pump, the wire sometimes gets caught on the frame and gets damaged.
As mentioned theres a fix on here somwhere
to the forum from West Cumbria. Shouldn't think any fix would be a big issue as mentioned above. Sounds well worth a punt
If you buy from Synclare or Spurs fan the switch normally is included i believe.
It is a safety feature in theory i presume its adding an earth to the circuit when open so it could be bypassed with a permanent earth i suppose if it was missing .
Have contacted the seller & he's not sure if he did press the brake pedal! I remember he kept pulling the handbrake on though, he's gonna check in the morning & get back to me, think I will have a punt as there is not that many 2.8's about with low mileage/history/rust free at sensible money as I loved the way it drove, Steve
Good luck Steve, look forward to seeing the pics of it.
Nice one, plenty of techy advice on here to help if needed.
If the car is right don't lose it for the sake of a soft top issue. Try to get a bit off the price as it's really a buyer's market at this end of the year. If the seller won't budge and the car is right otherwise buy it anyway. You won't regret it.
Tony.
Tony.