wind deflector

littlefeller said:
thanks Jim, mine kinks about half way down the sides, the plastic is a lot stiffer than the original beading, it has now cracked. its my own fault for driving roof down so much:)
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I've heard it said that the the screens need to me warmed in winter before putting it down and that's maybe the biggest cause of them cracking, i.e.; run the interior heat fully untill your sure the rear screen is ply adle before attempting to drop it, sounds like good practice to me, don't forget they can't last forever.
Rha,Roy.
 
its the beading that has cracked, the screen is fine. (it has cracked/split where it folds) it kinks, then the glue/sealer comes away as the beading kinks outwards, if it had kinked the other way it would have been fine, but no - it had to go outwards, creating a gap.
 
Sounds like a new one is the way to go then Jason. There aren't many aftermarket suppliers of zip in windows and the German co seems a cheap alternative to BMW especially if your hood's still good. I wasn't able to find an aftermarket supplier of hoods that did a zip in window only stitched but I lucked out and bought one on eBay in beige/tan for £100 and just had my friend install it! Pics coming this weekend when it warms up so I can wash the car! JIM
 
Andy B said:
hi, i have seen these window that zip in and out but not sure if its as straight forward as it sounds.
will there be any info on this on the site? sorry not sure how to find things at the moment, still felling my way around
thanks for any help
andy
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I have a 96 Z3. My window had a break in it when I had purchased the car. As it was a zip in window, I purchased a zip in replacement. On the day that I started to do the replacement, at the onset of the replacement procedure, it became obvious that I was barking up the wrong tree. As you might know, a zipper is manufactured in two pieces. With respect to our plastic windows, one half of the zipper is sewn into the convertible top, and the other half is sewn onto the edge of the plastic window. When the window becomes damaged or worn, we buy a replacement with the corresponding half of the zipper already attached. My problem was that the half of the zipper that was installed on the convertible top had stitching that had begun to deteriorate. While it is my understanding that a new zipper can be stitched into the top, a closer and detained examination of the top revealed that other stitching in different areas of the top was also starting to go bad. It no longer became cost effective to replace the window. Unfortunately, I had already purchased the window several months before and couldn't return it. I had then decided to replace the entire top, which I did myself.
Take a close look at your top and evaluate its condition to determine if it's worth buying a replacement window or allocating the funds towards a new top. Good luck with everything. Frankie
PS. I should say that I actually did start to replace the window myself. In taking my time, it seemed, to the extent that I did, that it was a "do able" thing. I must also tell you that another (former) member of the forum, one of my friends, who takes impeccable care of his ///M, tried to replace it by himself and got so frustrated with it that he, in his words, "launched it down to the end of the driveway". Frankie
 
Grumpy said:
Yes it definitely will. I wouldn't want to drive one without. I have a mesh oem one but it depends if you have roll hoops or not as to what you can fit. This is mine.
View attachment 43445
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Dave, I have a question for you. I was looking at your picture:

20160829_124550-jpg.43445


About a year ago, I had seen a wind deflector in the paper for a Z3. I contacted the guy and he told me that he had a Z3 and bought the deflector for it. He said that it was from BMW and was easy to attach since there were, as I remember him saying, brackes already in to car for this to attach to. I never tried to put it on the car. I have it stored away so I can't look at it without digging it out but it came in its own case and I think it looked just like yours. Did you have to make any special attachments or did yours go right in place with some hardware already in place in the car? It looked to big to store in the trunk if you weren't using it. Frankie
 
the hood is fine, i do know which member your referring to as he offered the window to me once, i can sympathize with his frustration as i have swapped mine in the past, supposed to be and in theory is a simple job but for some reason most certainly is not. the screen is about 3 years old now but has never really been that great, it kinked after about a week, i have seen them with a fabric beading, these look great and would solve the kinks (never really liked the kinks anyhow)
 
FRANKIE said:
Dave, I have a question for you. I was looking at your picture:

20160829_124550-jpg.43445


About a year ago, I had seen a wind deflector in the paper for a Z3. I contacted the guy and he told me that he had a Z3 and bought the deflector for it. He said that it was from BMW and was easy to attach since there were, as I remember him saying, brackes already in to car for this to attach to. I never tried to put it on the car. I have it stored away so I can't look at it without digging it out but it came in its own case and I think it looked just like yours. Did you have to make any special attachments or did yours go right in place with some hardware already in place in the car? It looked to big to store in the trunk if you weren't using it. Frankie
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@FRANKIE. It was already on the car mate when I bought it. It is the OEM one as I have the bmw storage bag with it. I have never taken it off, though I do fold it up and down dependant on if the roof is up or not for viability reasons. I'll have a proper look when I get back next week and post you a close up picture.
 
rob with rosie has one of those deflectors, it is an oem part on his car, it has two arms at the sides which locate into corresponding holes in his trim (if memory serves me correctly i think the holes were in the storage lid) i got a good look at it as at the time i was considering on redesigning it.
 
I can take a pic if you are interested :happy:
 
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