Don’t know what to do about my top. =(

[Ooghee]

Hello everyone, before I get bashed about making a “new” post about something that’s been discussed previously please take into account that I’m mainly asking for opinions from people that have already had to deal with this.

So my situation is this, I bought a 98 328i vert that was a fixer upper. The guy before me started the fixing process but quit halfway due to school. Me and a friend of mine have been working on it little by little for fun. Neither of us is a mechanic, his main hobby is working on cars (Jdm) as for me, I’m just learning as I go. So far we’ve had no issues dealing and fixing everything we’re approached up until we got to the top. We have absolutely no idea where to even start the troubleshooting and it’s overwhelming to say the least. It’s a full auto top, the top button is constantly blinking and the trunk locks up often and you have to press down on the right side of it (some sensor) to be able to unlock it. The other day we manually dropped it to finish the rear suspension. Pulled the latch under the seat and used a drill to unwind the windshield latch. We were able to tuck it away but the tonneau won’t lock down. I tried to do a top reset sequence I found on YouTube with no luck. Some of the motors made noise but nothing moved. After trying a few times we figured we out the top back on and call it a day. What a pain in the ass that was! We either broke the motor that attaches to the windshield or it was so long since it last opened that it would not coil shut with the the drill when we tried to latch it back on. We ended up having to pull the two straw looking things that connect to that motor and wind each one down manually because the motor wasn’t transferring the torque to each line as it should. Long story short, we were overwhelmed and I don’t know if I wanna tackle that issue again. My goal with the car is to get it back in shape but without breaking the bank (mainly just something to do with my friends) so taking it somewhere to get done is out of the question. Next option is to convert to manual top. I’ve done some research and it seems pretty straight forward but I want to hear what you guys have to say. Don’t wanna make this too long so feel free to ask any details if you need.

Thanks!!

[66 6]

Please do not use a drill on the top locking motor. People overtorque the motor stripping the gear or unwinding the braided cables to the locks costing allot more $$$$ in replacement parts. You should only use the designated key supplied by BMW in the tool box.

[Ooghee]

Please do not use a drill on the top locking motor. People overtorque the motor stripping the gear or unwinding the braided cables to the locks costing allot more $$$$ in replacement parts. You should only use the designated key supplied by BMW in the tool box.

Thank you for the info. I donÂ’t have the bmw tool box and tried doing it manually with Allen key but it was taking forever. I assume itÂ’s shot now but IÂ’m leaning towards manual anyway.

[66 6]

Thank you for the info. I donÂ’t have the bmw tool box and tried doing it manually with Allen key but it was taking forever. I assume itÂ’s shot now but IÂ’m leaning towards manual anyway.

It does take forever.

[Ooghee]

It does take forever.

Would you happen to have the parts I need? Can’t find anything anywhere.

[66 6]

I have all the parts for convertibles. Best if you remove the header panel to determine what may be broken.
I'm quicker by text if you want.
Greg
410-967-617 zero

[Csrracer]

On my 98 M3 it won't sync in the down position , it will start the procedure by pulling the cover down, then stop.
I did find that if I started the sync procedure after the front lock motor was cranked back to the full open position it worked perfectly .

[Ooghee]

I have all the parts for convertibles. Best if you remove the header panel to determine what may be broken.
I'm quicker by text if you want.
Greg
410-967-617 zero

So yesterday I got a notification that a 95 318 vert was dropped off at a youpick about 70 miles from where I live and I figured it’s worth the drive and time. I got there and pulled the whole rear latch mechanism and the front manual latch. I skimmed through reilym’s walkthrough and seems totally doable. I’m still gonna try what you suggested last week. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks!