Can't get rid of Rollover Protection Bars warning light. Thus auto softop won't work.

[JohnnyCowboy]

Hello,

I have an e36 320i convertible 1998 model.
I've had my rollover bars deployed after a side crash, I had everything fixed and the rollover bars put back to place. But the (Roll Over Protection System) warning light on the dashboard never got away.
So I cant operate my fully automatic softtop, it does nothing when I press the button to open or close it. I guess that's because of the roll over bars since i read in the manual that you cant operate the soft top if the rollover bars deploy.

I've checked if the bars are fully pressed down, it seems that they are.
I've disconnected the battery few a couple of minutes so the ECU resets.
I've checked all the fuses in the engine bay plus the one in the trunk near the battery that belongs to the automatic soft top.

I've checked the cables of the roll over sensor (located on the left side bar) and the cables on each bar. They seem fine.
When I disconnect the cable that goes to the roll over sensor the warning light on the dashboard stats on from the beginning, while when the cable is connected to the sensor the warning light takes 1-2 seconds to pop up.
This is the roll over warning, the one on the left in this photo (random photo i found): http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...3/photo-75.jpg

Any ideas or things to try?

[JDStrickland]

My bars went up once, all I did was use the appropriate tool to get them to go down again -- I seem to recall that I used a hacksaw blade to release the lock tab -- and the light went out immediately.

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My car is a '94, so the top is different than yours. I have the semi-auto top, you have the full auto top.

[DannyBoy909]

Wow. Is that instrument panel light true? Try to bypass the relay circuit.

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[Bill837]

Maybe unbolt and disconnect the sensor (which is really a tilt switch) and try reading the wires as you tilt it. Might be the crash damaged something inside that box.

[JohnnyCowboy]

Wow. Is that instrument panel light true? Try to bypass the relay circuit.

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Bypass the relay circuit? What do you mean by that?

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Maybe unbolt and disconnect the sensor (which is really a tilt switch) and try reading the wires as you tilt it. Might be the crash damaged something inside that box.

I will try that, it could be possible.

Thanks for the replies!

[JohnnyCowboy]

Still haven't found a solution, I had the car checked by a mechanical and he said that its is probable the softtop control module.
I'm now looking for a new one to try out.

Do you guys know if that thing is programmable and can be re-programmed?
Or if it stops working it's worthless?

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He also told me that the rollover control system communicates through the top control module.

[JDStrickland]

Roll Over Protection has one wire that goes to the control module for the top. You should be able to unplug the roll over module and clear the problem. If you unplug the roll over protection module and the issue remains, then you have something else going on.

[DannyBoy909]

Downgrade to basic stock. It might be a site backward. I'm pretty sure these parts are easy to find.

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