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Thread: Convertible top main motor replacement questions

  1. #1
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    Convertible top main motor replacement questions

    I have a 98 M3 Convertible that has had an ongoing issue with the storage cover for the top. Intermittently won't open to store the top. When this happens S2 does not switch to close on GT1. I ordered a used main motor. Any hints on replacing it would be of great help and appreciated. Timing the gearbox and such. I do have to dig out the stripped screw for the center arm. Thanks Dale

  2. #2
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    Used motor was worse than the one I had. S2 on mine was intermittent. This one it didn't work at all. Installed my old one and the top works again. Easier the second time. Now I'm back where I started. Debating putting a momentary switch in so when S2 doesn't engage I can just push the button. Has anyone done this?

  3. #3
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    Ordered another used motor today from Greg. I'm going to get pretty good at swapping these things out.

  4. #4
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    1996 BMW 328ic
    Hi bmwbob,

    What is the secret to removing the arm in the top compartment so that the top motor can drop down. It seems like what seems like an allen-headed bolt is actually a spline with the allen head that helps to turn it when needed (maybe to help align the gears when needed). Would much appreciate any advice you can give. Does the spline for that arm somehow release from below?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by sreidvt2 View Post
    Hi bmwbob,

    What is the secret to removing the arm in the top compartment so that the top motor can drop down. It seems like what seems like an allen-headed bolt is actually a spline with the allen head that helps to turn it when needed (maybe to help align the gears when needed). Would much appreciate any advice you can give. Does the spline for that arm somehow release from below?
    The secret is you hope BMW did not latter the bolt in thread locker. Sometimes they can be a huge PITA to get out. There are times I end up torching the head off the bolt and then after motor removal, remove the rest of the stud. Always use a good allen head key and I use an impact to hopefully break it loose. Trying to simply muscle them often leads to a stripped allen hole.

  6. #6
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    Yes and I've seen it seized in the splined part. I picked one up a while back and the peice was still stuck in the motor. I took it back as it was useless. If you get the Allen screw out you might be able to find a way to get a small puller on it. Soak it in but buster overnight.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Thanks. Sounds like you have both experienced what I ran into. It seems BMW must have used something as strong as red Loctite on that Allen bolt. And, for my car, I think the bolt was also seized in the spline shaft.

    Trying to drill out the bolt did not do the trick so, sadly, I ended up just slicing the arms off with a cutting wheel on a dremel. I hated to do it (since it was a working top motor) but the process of trying to remove the motor while trying to also save it had already taken more time than I could afford. It certainly was not the most elegant solution but it got the motor out.

    I assume that BMW did this to make absolutely sure that the actuating arm did not come loose accidentally. I can imagine that BMW techs in the 90s and early 2000s must have cursed loudly when they had to swap an E36 top motor.

    Almost done with the manual top swap and looking forward to a simpler life with the top. Love the car but after almost ten years of messing with the auto top it was time for a change.
    Last edited by sreidvt2; 06-25-2019 at 10:36 PM.

  8. #8
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    OK here is where I am and I think its fixed. I installed another used top motor. Now I'm back to no S2. So then I added a momentary switch to the system and viola the top works but its not really a fix. So I said what the hell and had my wife watch the GT1 screen while I turned the forbidden screw. It took 3 full turns counterclockwise and S2 tripped. Opened and closed the top several times and seems to be fixed. I'll get back after a couple of weeks and update the post. Now I have to get a new battery as it failed during all of this even with a trickle charger hooked up. Had to borrow the one out of my M-5.

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Congratulations. Now we'll hope it stays fixed.

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