This has turned into a bit of an escapade. I bought a 2011 E89 3.0 from Carvana, with a SilverRock warranty about a year ago, with 42k, and since then, had SilverRock cover one ignition coil... BMW recommended replacing all of them. I ended up replacing the rest on my own as I don't have time to take it in for every coil as they go out. Been running like a tank since and smooth as butter. Having a warranty is weird for me, as I tend to do a lot of work on my cars.
The top started hitching when opening a couple weeks ago, but always would close on the second attempt. I had an oil change due, and took it to the dealer, and had them look at it, and diagnosed, for $165, the top had some overheat codes showing for the Hydraulic motor. They recommended replacing it for around $5k. SilverRock, to their credit, approved the repair. With that repair, I'd be already into $7k+ in coverage on a warranty I paid $4k for and still have 30k miles and/or 3 years left on. They said I should retrieve the car and wait.
I picked it up, did some research and found I could get it rebuilt for $600. Also found there was about an inch of water in the lower recess of the trunk under the top motor and battery. It doesn't appear that it's been a recurring issue, as I'd guess there would be some rust or something ? There was some corrosion on the bottom of the hydraulic motor, but none anywhere else. I'm guessing the dealer couldn't get the top down, like I once couldn't and manually did it, and then left it outside, and there was rain while they had it, and I think they also washed it.
Problem is, BMW say they can't get a motor for 3-4 months, likely. I'm not interested in waiting that long, so I pulled the motor myself and am sending it off to tophydraulics.com and am curious to see if anyone has experience with them?
They seem reputable, are run by an ex-physics professor from Stanford, but you never know, right ? If no one does, I'll post my experience. Sending the motor off today.
By now you should have gotten your top motor back, and reinstalled. Are you still having problems? Have you replaced the salmon relays yet? Since you had water in the hydraulic bay area, did you check the bay next to the hydraulic bay to the right for water? That is where the top control module is located. That module drives the top, sets the salmon relays which drive the top motor, and all the valves in the hydraulic unit.
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