I'm New Here

[Txfly]

Hey all,
Just wanted to say hello and thanks.
I picked up a 2000 2.3 on Friday and am starting to sort it out.
My first BMW.

Had to rebuild passenger side inner door panel; Done
Issues w/ the tach/ MPG gauge, Bimmerforums has been a great resource so far, but still not working.
Fuel Gauge goes to full when I turn the key....(it's full right now, so I don't know if I fixed it)
Lots of janky stuff from PO, at least 8 fuses were wrong, 30's in 5's and such....people are stupid.

Don't know if I'm turning DSC off as I'm not getting a light.

The dealer told me the top needed a new motor as it didn't work...I texted him after I brought the car home and said "you need to have your foot on the brake pedal"...
Anyway, again thanks guys, I've learned a ton in the two days I've had the car.
You'll probably find me sitting in the corner using the search button most of the time.
Scott

[JeffyD]

Hold the DSC button for two or so seconds.. if it doesn’t light up, it’s likely not disengaging. Unless the bulb is out, or something, but that’s easily checked when switching on the ignition... anyway - is intended to light when turned off, and disengages when held down a quick few seconds.

Howdy, and welcome, pardnuh.

[amancuso]

Welcome! If you mean MPG gauge in the cluster, the cluster has been replaced with the wrong one. Z3 clusters do not have an MPG gauge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[khammack]

The dealer told me the top needed a new motor as it didn't work...I texted him after I brought the car home and said "you need to have your foot on the brake pedal"...
t

You also need to push it up about 6-8 inches before the motor will start. There is a micro switch just above the dirver's head on the bow which detects that the top has been pushed up and it can fail and not allow the top motor to start.

[Txfly]

Top works fine.
Issues w/ Google Chrome says site isn't secure, lost post.

[Tigershark48]

Welcome and happy wrenching. Don’t forget to drive it once in a while. I’d be out driving mine, but we have 14” of snow on the ground and expecting 10-12 more today.

[zellamay]

Top works fine. I texted him after I brought the car home and said "you need to have your foot on the brake pedal"...
Issues w/ Google Chrome says site isn't secure, lost post.

Do they work that way: that you have to have your foot on the brake pedal? My top didn't work when I bought the car. I took it all out, so it's completely manual. I had a 97 Z3 before it, and manual operation is so easy from the driver's seat that, to me, there is no need for a power top. Also, I have a homemade liner in the top. It doesn't compress well when down, so might not be good to have power. Anyway, I'm just curious......

[z3forlife]

Yes. You must press the brake pedal while holding the top down/up button. You also have to raise the front portion at the same time.

[zellamay]

Yes. You must press the brake pedal while holding the top down/up button. You also have to raise the front portion at the same time.

That's almost funny. Maybe my top worked fine when I bought the car.

[Adker]

There are good instructions in the user manual that you can refer to.

" If the convertible top has not beenlifted far enough, or if the footbrake is not applied, the motor whichoperates the convertible top will notoperate. "

[Z3 freak]

Welcome to Z club..........had the same thing happen to me from the PO I purchased my Z3 from. Got home checked out the top that he said had to be pulled up by hand. He owned the car just a little over 2yrs. and didn't see that the rod wasn't in the slot when the top was raised. What a tool! Dealers are the same way.........anyway, the members here won't lead you astray.

[Tigershark48]

Helping the motor to start working automatically is only required when taking it from up to down to get past that first bend motion six inches back from the windshield. Putting it back up requires no help getting started, but must be manually pulled forward and locked past that last final hinge point. And, yes, brake pedal must be depressed, so your motor probably worked just fine.

[Txfly]

Thanks guys for the info...I did use the search button and the top was working w/i 30 minutes of when I got home.
I tried to respond last night but google was blocking me from the site as a security license had expired here.

- - - Updated - - -

[QUOTE=amancuso;30192356]Welcome! If you mean MPG gauge in the cluster, the cluster has been replaced with the wrong one. Z3 clusters do not have an MPG gauge./QUOTE]

Thank you for that tidbit, I hadn't gotten that far yet!
I will again use the search engine to find which cluster I need to replace w/.
The fuel gauge goes straight to full when I turn the key on so I'm assuming I have a short, unless I already fixed it (it's got a full tank now, and I know not to top it off[now])

[Txfly]

Got a cluster from Evilbay, everything working! Thanks for the time saving heads up on the cluster, I would have been beating my head on the wall for years!
(I'm trying to bump post counts for picture upload)

[TexaZ3]

Welcome!