New owner with broken convertible top.

[Skitcher]

Some of you may have seen my story on Reddit.

My wife and I purchased a 1994 325i convertible and the first thing that happened was the top broke.

Hinge and one of the linkages. I was ready to start changing oil and brakes, not convertible top stuff.

Can anyone offer any advice?

Thanks.

[Twistytee]

Buy the whole assembly from a BMW part out or wrecker. Atlanta should have many options if you can't find one locally. Yours should be a semi auto so if you find another semi auto it should be a bolt on affair.

[66 6]

Hello Skitcher,

I have frames that I can part out. PM me if you are interested and send me pictures of the parts you need.

[JDStrickland]

It's not clear what is broken, but you can easily determine if you can make a repair with a new bolt or something. The metal used to make the roof structure is pretty robust, if all that happened is that a pivot point has come apart, then you can fix it with a bolt.

[Richard Cranium]

I just bought a '94 325i convertible too only I knew the top wasn't working. The guy told me that the gear the top motor bolts into is what is bad. Does this sound right?? Is this something that might happen?? If it is what do I need to replace?? He said the motors still work it's just what the motor connects to. I would really appreciate all the help I can get.

[66 6]

Tonneau motors generally fail when the mounting frame becomes bent which allows the gears to strip into a conical shape forcing them apart. The tonneau motor is on the rear passenger side behind the carpet. I would remove the motor and inspect the gears for wear.

[Richard Cranium]

I will check it out. What does the motor bolt up too?? That's the part I'm not sure of. Thanks for the tip.

[66 6]

Bolts to the side of the car, 4 10mm bolts

[JDStrickland]

Remove the left side of the trunk liner, there are two motors mounted to the inside of the fender, behind the left rear tire. One motor has a rod connected to it, this operates the tonneau cover. The other motor has a cam that is inside of the storage compartment that the roof folds up into.

The Roof Motor uses two switches and a camstack to keep track of where it is. The switches are marked S1 & S2, and the adjustment screws are painted red. The tonneau cover motor uses a Hall IC to keep track of its position. There is no adjustment on the Hall IC, and the two switches should not need to ever be adjusted. There are also a couple of switches mounted on the frame of the top itself. These switches together tell the controller where the roof is, this information is used to decide if the cover should be opened or closed.

When the roof cover (tonneau cover) is closed, it hits a switch that is located on the right hand side of the car, behind the back seat. Basically, between the seat back and the wall where the trunk is. This switch prevents the trunk lid from being opened if the cover lid is not closed. (if the cover is open and you then open the trunk lid damage will result, therefore there is an interlock that prevents both lids from being open at the same time.) Along the bottom edge of the trunk lid, along the sill that is directly above the bumper, there is a switch that does interlock duties that prevents the roof lid from opening if the trunk lid is not closed. The same damage avoidance scheme is in play.

If the top does not operate, it is worth noting the trunk lid interlock because this switch uses two of the wires that are in the wire loom from the left side fender into the trunk lid itself. These wires bend and flex, then flex and bend, then repeat, every time the trunk is opened and closed. If the top worked until you replaced the battery, then you must have had to open and close the trunk lid a couple of times, and the wires bend and flex and this makes a poor connection come apart, and this makes the top think that the trunk lid is open instead of closed.

You can remove the rubber grommet where the wires go into the trunk lid and pull the rubber boot down to expose the section of broken wires, if there are any. If the wires are broken too close to the hole in the trunk lid, then you can remove the liner from the inside of the trunk lid so you can move the wires a couple of inches where you can set your splices.