I have the Installation Instructions for Hardtop install kit

[Jeff48]

If anyone needs these I have them available as a jpg file.

Other tips are:

Make sure the dome lights and rear defroster switch are in the off position when placing the hardtop on the car to minimize the chance of shorting out the electrics.

Red handles in the back should be in the forward position (Rotated toward the front of the car) before trying to drop the pins into the receivers.

Turnhandle in the front should be in the open position (90 degrees to the front line of the roof) before trying to drop the front pins into the receivers.

Jeff

[MParallel]

Well if you have it as a .jpg file, why not post it?

[uratrtl]

yeah that would be great if you could post it. I don't have a hard top yet but I am on the look out for one.

[Jeff48]

Here are the OEM documents for installing the hardtop prep kit.

[MParallel]

Cool thx!

[uratrtl]

yes very nice and much appreciated.

[Quailmann7]

my car came factory wired... but does not have parts 1 and 3 in picture 1

should i be able to slap these on and throw on the hardtop?

let me know.

[palomino]

my car came factory wired... but does not have parts 1 and 3 in picture 1

should i be able to slap these on and throw on the hardtop?

let me know.

are you sure your car is even wired?

if it really is, then yes. add the mounting brackets and you should be set.

[Quailmann7]

looking at picture 2 above.. part 2 is installed... so yes i believe so.

[Race Bannon]

part 2 is on most cars, mine had it but was not wired for a top, did the wire myself not very hard especially with the instructions posted here.

[palomino]

yeah, all of them have part 2. there are electrical connections that need to be bought and installed.

its not a big deal though, because you cant buy parts 1 and 3 without getting the connectors anyways. :)

[rphillips80]

So when you have the hard top on, you have the soft top in the down position? Doesn't this cause harm to the softtop to have it down all winter?

[Quailmann7]

harm in what way?
if you mean the window.. you can put a towel or the window cover on it...

the rest is just fabric in a relaxed position... i don't see much harm there.

[kosta]

when i had my hardtop the lights or defoster didnt work

anyone have issues like that?

[Quailmann7]

i don't understand this response


yeah, all of them have part 2. there are electrical connections that need to be bought and installed.

its not a big deal though, because you cant buy parts 1 and 3 without getting the connectors anyways. :)

are you not looking at picture 2? i don't have 1 and 3 in picture 1... and in picture 2.. i HAVE part 2 installed already.

doesn't matter i guess cause i'm not buying anything.. the guy that just sold me my top is going to give me parts 1 and 3 from picture 1

[kosta]

sorry brother...but you make no sense

part#2 in picture 2 snaps onto part#1 in picture 1

so unless you have the wiring in there just laying around.....

[Quailmann7]

that's correct... it's in there.. just lying around

not "snapped" onto anything.

i'm pretty sure they started selling all the verts factory wired at some point.

[graywolf316]

looks like a pain in the @$$ how long does that take?

[Quailmann7]

took like 15 seconds...

it's 4 bolts
and you snap the electrical connection on.. bam

had hardware on seriously in like 2 minutes.. and the top on in another 2 minutes

it's a beautiful thing.

[CabrioArtie]

took like 15 seconds...

it's 4 bolts
and you snap the electrical connection on.. bam

had hardware on seriously in like 2 minutes.. and the top on in another 2 minutes

it's a beautiful thing.

Did you have remove the interior rear side panels to hook up the electrical connectors? Or is there an easier way to connect them?

[easygoing20016]

Hey I have a 95 325i Conv. Took inside panel off and do not see the plug where the wire plugs into. Please help.

[MParallel]

Quailmann7 (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/member.php?u=47529) makes it sound easier than it is. The mounts are 4 bolts, yes, but you don't just plug in the wires. There's much more to it.

Although I can't really go into details about is as mine were factory fitted :D

[Quailmann7]

mine had the wiring from the factory... but at some point i suppose someone took the hardtop and sold it with the hardware...
so just throwing in the mounts with the 4 bolts.. was all i had left.

if you have to wire it up.. yes... that is a little more troublesome and time consuming.


Quailmann7 (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/member.php?u=47529) makes it sound easier than it is. The mounts are 4 bolts, yes, but you don't just plug in the wires. There's much more to it.

Although I can't really go into details about is as mine were factory fitted :D

[MParallel]

mine had the wiring from the factory... but at some point i suppose someone took the hardtop and sold it with the hardware...
so just throwing in the mounts with the 4 bolts.. was all i had left.

if you have to wire it up.. yes... that is a little more troublesome and time consuming.

The wiring is part of the install kit. So if you only had to mount the mounting points and not the wiring, someone must have sold a hardtop with the mounts only and did not give the new owner the wiring :D

[killahe36]

bought my vert 2nd hand and it was hardtop ready...
all i had to do was put it on.

[Quailmann7]

unless of course it was one of the cars that came factory wired... since it is an M and just didn't have the mounting brackets installed?

i don't know
... either way.. my top is on it's second season of less than :redspot weather

bring on the rain and cold!

[MParallel]

unless of course it was one of the cars that came factory wired... since it is an M and just didn't have the mounting brackets installed?

i don't know
... either way.. my top is on it's second season of less than :redspot weather

bring on the rain and cold!

Has nothing to do with being an M or not. It's a vert or not. If the car was fitted from factory with the hardtop prep kit, you'd have it complete, which is the mounts+wiring installed.

[killahe36]

mine came stock completely prepared for hard top... previous owner
never had a hard top... maybe becaus of the ACS package ?

[MParallel]

mine came stock completely prepared for hard top... previous owner
never had a hard top... maybe becaus of the ACS package ?

What does ACS have to do with it having a hardtop prep kit.

Ok again, it's very simple. When you bought an e36 vert, you oculd thick tons of option. For example

BMW option #380 Hardtop Perperation.


There you go ;)

[bigbilly]

but at some point i suppose someone took the hardtop and sold it with the hardware

That's probably more likely. If the person selling didn't know that the other end of the wiring ended at a plug connector, and didn't know where to trace the wiring to, they would probably have just pulled the mounting brackets and given those to the new owner, leaving the wiring to flop around loose. I can't imagine that BMW would only install the wiring without the mounting points - especially as they are sold as one unit.

Put it this way - imagine if you were selling a hardtop and the buyer came to you without the mounting brackets. Would you cannibalize your car to make the sale - especially if it was a cool $1k or so? I probably would...

And Mparararallel, it's not that hard to run the wiring. The hardest part for me was figuring out where to run the wiring so that it wouldn't get pinched in the top when shut.

Well, it was the hardest part other than struggling to get the headrests out in order to be able to remove the back seat and get at the side panels - this was my first time pulling the headrests out and I had to "pop the cherry"...

[MParallel]

LOL. My headrests were never taken out in 10 years. Well or maybe once. Man these babies were held in place so firmly I had to call Arnie to pull them out. :D

[IncaMike]

Anyone have a source to get the prep and install kit? Or part #?

[IncaMike]

I got everything I need, real easy, real quick ...

[boltsm3]

do you have pics of you hardtop? and what color did you choose.


mine had the wiring from the factory... but at some point i suppose someone took the hardtop and sold it with the hardware...
so just throwing in the mounts with the 4 bolts.. was all i had left.

if you have to wire it up.. yes... that is a little more troublesome and time consuming.

[kubihous]

I have a 1997 soft top and I am looking for a hardtop for it. I have found one that came off a 1995. Do you think that I will be able to use it on my car? Will I need to install any special mounting brackets? The seller of the top (he totaled his car and just has the top left) says he needed nothing special, but I'm sceptical...

[MParallel]

I have a 1997 soft top and I am looking for a hardtop for it. I have found one that came off a 1995. Do you think that I will be able to use it on my car? Will I need to install any special mounting brackets? The seller of the top (he totaled his car and just has the top left) says he needed nothing special, but I'm sceptical...

hmm no patience I see. So you opened a new topic.....oh boy...

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1010026

[69tr6r]

I just bought a 97 328i that came with a hardtop. Are there covers for the rear mounting holes that the hardtop goes into? I'd like this to look clean when the hardtop is off. I've seen cars without the hardtop, and this area has a plastic cover.
Thanks.

[MParallel]

I just bought a 97 328i that came with a hardtop. Are there covers for the rear mounting holes that the hardtop goes into? I'd like this to look clean when the hardtop is off. I've seen cars without the hardtop, and this area has a plastic cover.
Thanks.

These small plastic covers simply pull out and click back in...

[t2xsignals]

does anyone knowhow to actually adjust the hard top once its on the car?mine knocks a bit and i dont know which way to turn the two bolts either side of the red handles,last time i tried i couldnt get the hard top off on one side, i had to undo the 4 bolts that hold the red handle to the hard top and take the top off then get the red handle out of the hole by fiddling with it, cheers ray

[MParallel]

Could also be the front hooks. Mine rattles a teeny tiny bit, but I'm not bother by it. If the rear handles take some force to turn fully, you can be sure the rear is okay.

[t2xsignals]

Not knocking from the front,definatly the rear,got the girlfriend to drive for a while whilst i sat in the back(i know i know but she is quite a good driver;) the handles were not that tight to lock forward so i tried to adjust the nuts at the back,which made the red handles really tight to lock,job sorted,until i wanted the top off,couldnt get the roof to come off on one side it just wouldnt undo.The red handles were facing the back of the car as usual and one side came staight off but the other would only lift up about an inch.The little lugs on the end of the spike just didnt seem to want to let the roof off all the way?like i said before ended up undoing the 4 bolts that hold the red handle to the roof and cutting the electrical connectors for the heated screen and curtosy lights ,then lift the roof off leaving one red handle in situe and fiddled about for five minutes before it finally came out of the hole.Top around my mates for the summer now,but really reluctant to put it back on incase i cant get the dam thing off again.Any sugestions ,apart from sell the top?thanks guys great site yours Ray in Peterborough UK

[paris325]

hi jeff48. i bought a hardtop, but it didn't come with a mounting bracket/installation kit. where can get these and how much do they cost? thanks.

[MParallel]

hi jeff48. i bought a hardtop, but it didn't come with a mounting bracket/installation kit. where can get these and how much do they cost? thanks.

Funny, there's tons of topics about his, but you picked a 2 year old topic and ask a question to Jeff, who's been off this section for nearly as much time :)

Either scrapyard or dealer.

[CAP10D]

Can you email me the information you have on installing the hardtop?

tks.

[estorilcab]

hello guys i just brought a hardtop from central london drove all the way there without asking myself will it actually go straight on? and be the same colour! (mines estoril blue so rare to get a colour coded hardtop in good nick) i was very please to arrive an find it was an identicle match, no marks whatsover. it literally sat straight on the car perfect with no rattles whatsoever and best still it cost 325 quid! now im wondering exactly what do i need to wire up the electrics? i have no idea what to look for so obviously i have the rear clips to clip the roof on but what do i need to look for? wires or what?

[jeewing]

This post just keeps coming back.

The wiring is included with the install kit from the dealer. But since your apparently already has the kit installed then I'll assume the PO never installed the wiring. So for that you're either going to have to go to a pick n' pull or the dealer. OR, if the PO actually did snap on the crown adapter then do the wiring yourself.

It's pretty simple actually. This is assuming you have the wiring crown adapter there (part#2 in picture 2 of the second link posted.) Pull the rear seat cushion back and look in the very corners where the side panels meets the sheet metal the rear seat back rests on. You will find a molex connector on both sides with two wires going to each. Cut those two wires and solder/connect an extension long enough to route the wires through the side panel and into the top stowage compartment. Crimp a female blade type connector onto each wire and connect them to the two male posts on the crown adapter. Obviously the driver side gets routed to the driver side electronics and the passenger to the passenger side.

[ds325]

just got the hard top today, the fuse for the lights and rear defrost are what ones,
after reading some of the posts, are they the same as the dome light

[Laʻalohikai]

Are these instructions also for a 1999 323i hardtop install?

[richardodn]

Are these instructions also for a 1999 323i hardtop install?
Yes. All 1999 convertibles were still the e36 chassis.

[Hyunkel]

Can you plase share those instructions I am having issues with my car (e46 M3)