Z3 Black Hardtop £300

[oldcarman]

D

TBH Jim, the first time I read that post I thought it said Key, so you're not on your own mate. I'm losing my marbles too.

Tony.

damn! I thought I had a valid reason to go to the Legion for a few Guinness!! Think I'll have to go anyway now it's in my head!! JIM

 

[t-tony]

I would if it wasn't bedtime mate. Have one, or two, for me.

Tony.

 

[bertiejaffa]

Ok so firstly if you have everything you need then £300 to fit it is very expensive. Some people say they need adjusting and that might be the case but I have had 3 and each one has fit very well and they are easy to adjust - do not pay £300 just to do this.

However, to fit a hard top you need the fitting brackets - these are rare in the UK and will cost around £300 or more, not sure if you have them already or what the availability is like in the US? The brackets have a number of bolts and there are 2 torx bolts that are needed for the front - there is a standard BMW wrench to tighten them but a normal socket set with torx bit will work just as well. At this point the hardtop will FIT the car.

to make the demist work you need a button (prefacelift for yours) and a wiring loom. the loom is fairly cheap from BMW, but the pre-facelift button is £120 for BMW in the UK !!! If you have an electirc hood then the loom is easy to fit/find. if you have a manual hood then the loom is tucked up under the carpet behind the passenger seat under the window. The button loom is tucked under the rear console pocket/switches.

After this there are additional trim pieces that go over the brackets to make it look cleaner and neater etc and these are harder to find 2nd hand.

All in all its easier than it sounds. PM me if you need more info - i think they radically change the look of the car.....

 

[oldcarman]

Totally agree with @bertiejaffa if you get all the pieces. The plastic covers are indeed hard to find, I managed to find a couple but still need a few pieces. So make sure you have everything and then it's a pretty easy install and once it's set up properly is a few minute job with help to reinstall time after time! JIM

 

[Wilko58]

Got mine from a breaker - it was still on the car when I enquired and asked that I get all the fitting kit and even sent them a diagram - being delivered on Thursday then it's off for a respray first. Probably see lots of posts asking this and that over the next week or so!

 

[Boysie]

Got mine from a beakers aswell, unfortunately it had been taken off badly all the fitting missing, didn't realise until I got home, to far to go back and they were very unhelpful once they had their money and it cost £600-£700 can't remember exact price
You did extremely well

 

[DavidM]

I got mine from an M Roadster - the owner separated the top from the car - I should have bought the car. Anyway - the fitting kit and top cost me 680 euro and a further £400 to respray. You got a bargain. Put the top on your car and test - although be careful the top doesn't rest on the paintwork at and around the rear window. I placed pieces of thin rubber around the bodywork rear and side window areas and checked the height very carefully - there is an exact height from bodywork to bottom of hardtop that can be found if you google 'z3 hardtop settings'. Hope this helps.

 

[Wilko58]

What do I do next? Hardtop was delivered along with the main mechanical fitting and a couple of bolts but that was it. Contacted the seller and he has told me that it appears the hardtop wasn't fitted correctly and the covers, wiring and switch weren't fitted. He offered me a full refund or £100 refund for me to source the parts - is it worth getting the £100 and finding the parts myself or get a full refund and start again? Hope it's ok adding my post to this thread?

 

[DavidM]

have you pics of the mechanical fittings and bolts?

The missing parts shouldn't prevent you from fitting the hardtop and sourcing the missing parts later. Take the £100 offered.

 

[Wilko58]

I'm a bit worried that the parts will be like hen's teeth or will only come with the complete kit (which is far more than £100) could ask how much he wants for the roof and buy a complete fitting kit which are going for around £300.

 

[DavidM]

I believe this photo illustrates more or less a complete fitting kit and tools:

 

[Wilko58]

Cheers DavidM. I was using the official hardtop fitting kit guide and in addition to the above it includes an extra bit of loom, a switch surround, 2 switch blanking plates and the HRW switch. I've already been in touch with one guy selling a hardtop and/or fitting kit and his doesn't include the switch - I've seen one listed at £100 (yes, £100).

 

[Lynden]

Try the BMW dealers for a HRW switch. I have just bought one from a dealer in Spain for €35.....,

 

[Wilko58]

Now I've found one with every part except the two plastic covers - the seller claims that they got in the way of his soft top so got rid of them and cuts hole in the soft rubber covers. Anybody else have issues with the covers fouling the soft top?

 

[Wilko58]

Plastic covers £55 plus VAT each side! Seller agreed to knock £100 off so think I'm sorted now!

 

[g8jka]

Now I've found one with every part except the two plastic covers - the seller claims that they got in the way of his soft top so got rid of them and cuts hole in the soft rubber covers. Anybody else have issues with the covers fouling the soft top?

No, he probably hadn't got them fitted properly or more likely is trying to fob you off as it sounds like he hasn't had any of the kit he promised you in the first place. You don't need the covers, they just tidy up the look and cover the brackets and are pretty expensive for what they are. Can't believe how much some of these parts fetch nowadays, I've got a complete kit with everything needed that I'll be selling in a couple of months.

 

[Wilko58]

Don't care whether he had them or not as he's knocked £100 off the price - he called it an expensive mistake lol!

 

[oldcarman]

Enjoy your HT and be careful around the cops as you literally stole it!! JIM

 

[Boysie]

Reading your thread i went down the route of buying the bits missing, what a pain.
It came to £150+ at the time, plus the parts dept kept ordering the wrong stuff, they were not into old cars
even though they were looking at the parts screen, got there in the end, they even tried to charge me for restocking and it was their fault for ordering the wrong stuff, it did get a bit nasty, I reported the guy to the management.
Im nearly in the process of fitting the hoist, the mice have chewed the fitting instructions
I'll just let the top gather dust again

 

[Wilko58]

I hope I don't get the same issue Ray. Well, the hardtop is being resprayed I've fitted the hardtop fitting kit - kind of! I've got an electric roof so the wiring is in place - well most of it as I can't find the wiring for the switch - it isn't wheree the switch goes - any idea please? Thanks