Did any year Z4 allow top operation while moving?

[fueledbymetal]

I'm cross-shopping a 2006+ 3.0si and 2005 Boxster and was wondering if the Z4 ever offered teh ability to lower the top while driving? My undersatdning is that at least the earlier models did not. That's one feature the Boxster offers that I really like.

[imz4n]

If you start the soft top movement when the car is stopped you can pull away up to 25 mph and the top will continue it's operation. Do not stop the operation in the middle or you will need to stop the car to start again.

[fueledbymetal]

Awesome, thanks!

[wasupdu]

Or, clip the speed sensor wire and you can raise/lower the top whenever you want. Careful not to hit the button at fast speeds tho. I did this on my old s2000 and it was great. Countless times driving I'd encounter a rain storm. I'd pull into the right lane and slowly start to pull over. Once the car got down to about 25-30 mph you begin to raise the top. It would save a solid 10-15 seconds which was the difference between getting a little rain in the car and having the interior soaked.

[sirmalloc]

Originally Posted by wasupdu

Or, clip the speed sensor wire and you can raise/lower the top whenever you want. Careful not to hit the button at fast speeds tho. I did this on my old s2000 and it was great. Countless times driving I'd encounter a rain storm. I'd pull into the right lane and slowly start to pull over. Once the car got down to about 25-30 mph you begin to raise the top. It would save a solid 10-15 seconds which was the difference between getting a little rain in the car and having the interior soaked.

This would have saved me from a completely soaked interior a couple of times. You know it's bad when the windshield wipers are ineffective because all the rain is on the inside of the windshield. Do you have instructions on how to do this?

[Huz-Z]

As annoying as this can be potentially, its a lot easier to dry off the seats and inside of the car than it is to straighten a bent-up or jammed roof frame member.

[773H HO]

It's a sports car, not a sloop. Sheesh. Just because the BMW boat just won the America's cup, don't go thinking this thing will sail.

[vicj]

Originally Posted by wasupdu

Or, clip the speed sensor wire and you can raise/lower the top whenever you want. Careful not to hit the button at fast speeds tho. I did this on my old s2000 and it was great. Countless times driving I'd encounter a rain storm. I'd pull into the right lane and slowly start to pull over. Once the car got down to about 25-30 mph you begin to raise the top. It would save a solid 10-15 seconds which was the difference between getting a little rain in the car and having the interior soaked.

Yup...just clip the wire, sure, go ahead. Try it. It's amazing how much bad, and even downright absolutely idiotic advice one can find on the internet. That 'wire', as you call it, is part of a larger circuit on our cars that also ties in the shelf tray microswitch and the window sensor. If you 'just clip the wire', it's highly unlikely the top will function at all. One glance at the TIS wiring diagram would discourage one from trying this....Have you actually TRIED your advice before telling others, or are you just hoping someone else can look like a fool when they pull into the dealer and start explaining THAT boneheaded move.

To answer the original post, no...none of them were ever designed to operate the top while driving at any speed. I BELIEVE the cut off is 4KPH, but that's just an impression from a manual I read some time ago. I could be wrong, but it's certainly not much higher than that if at all.

[wasupdu]

Originally Posted by vicj

Yup...just clip the wire, sure, go ahead. Try it. It's amazing how much bad, and even downright absolutely idiotic advice one can find on the internet. That 'wire', as you call it, is part of a larger circuit on our cars that also ties in the shelf tray microswitch and the window sensor. If you 'just clip the wire', it's highly unlikely the top will function at all. One glance at the TIS wiring diagram would discourage one from trying this....Have you actually TRIED your advice before telling others, or are you just hoping someone else can look like a fool when they pull into the dealer and start explaining THAT boneheaded move.

To answer the original post, no...none of them were ever designed to operate the top while driving at any speed. I BELIEVE the cut off is 4KPH, but that's just an impression from a manual I read some time ago. I could be wrong, but it's certainly not much higher than that if at all.

Gotta love the comments from the children on this forum that ruin it for the rest of us...LOL. I'm not gonna continue the name calling, but I will say that it can be done. Yes, I did it on my car shortly after purchase and I've had no problems as of yet (roughly 2 years/18,000 miles). I'm sorry that you can't understand this "mod" and feel the need to name call and put some of your meaningless thoughts in CAPS.

[vicj]

I believe you are not being truthful. I just spent the morning at my local BMW dealership here in Maryland, and I was showing the Tech working on my car this post. He laughed out loud at this "mod", and said it would not only stop the other systems on the circuit from working, thus disabling the top completely, but would also set off four or five codes in the DME....if you did, indeed, just cut the wire as claimed. He said you would have to do something to try and fool the module that the connection was still made, and that the impedance and amperage hadn't changed, to avoid the codes. Did you do this?

I'm not saying there aren't kits out there that you can buy and install that may allow you to do this...but just cutting a wire? Don't think so.

He said he wasn't quite sure enough about the Honda system to comment on why it worked on that car, but it not only would not work on the Z, it would cause other issues as well.

So, how about simple proof of your "mod"? Post up a video of it moving at over 5 MPH and you operating the top from a closed position. It will finish closing on it's own if you start the top then start to roll. I'd love to show that to the tech for his comments. Otherwise, yes, i will continue call you names like 'liar', 'fraud', and some other ones. Oh, wait a minute...let me capitalize that: LIAR.

[Huz-Z]

Dissenting opinions and further information can be posted in a respectful way, without resorting to name-calling.



That way, if the other party responds and possibly proves you wrong, you don't look like a horse's rear end.

[BlackSapphireZ]

so which wire is that you cut

[wildag]

I'm just interested in knowing how to do this mod. I'm technical enough to understand whether its a good idea, once I hear it.

I'll post my opinion after seeing the steps to perform the mod.

[chickdr]

IMO, it could easily be true. I say this because I myself did such a mod on my 06 S2000. There were two things to trick on that car, one was the parking brake, the other was a speed sensor. It was quite easy to do(about 10 minutes). Here is a thread about it: http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php...ic=138773&st=0 Somebody posted it worked the same way for their Boxster(I wish I had known about that when I had mine...). I don't see why it wouldn't work on the Z4 as well. It isn't as if our cars are any more complicated than the others. In fact, it should be easier to do in the Z4 as all that needs to be done is to fool the speed sensor. The e-brake is not involved.

[wildag]

Originally Posted by chickdr

IMO, it could easily be true. I say this because I myself did such a mod on my 06 S2000. There were two things to trick on that car, one was the parking brake, the other was a speed sensor. It was quite easy to do(about 10 minutes). Here is a thread about it: http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php...ic=138773&st=0 Somebody posted it worked the same way for their Boxster(I wish I had known about that when I had mine...). I don't see why it wouldn't work on the Z4 as well. It isn't as if our cars are any more complicated than the others. In fact, it should be easier to do in the Z4 as all that needs to be done is to fool the speed sensor. The e-brake is not involved.

Actually, the fact that the Z4 uses a bus communications network (I-Bus) to transfer information from sensor controllers to other systems means there's a very real possibility that clipping a wire would have adverse effects. If the clipped wire cuts a system's ability to read a sensor, then its likely that will cause an error to be broadcast on the I-Bus. At the very least multiple systems will impacted by incorrect sensor readings.

I had a 1996 Honda Accord in which I installed one of those Viper remote start kits. I cut the driver's seat belt buckle sensor wire, and connected it to the remote start module through a series of relays. The end effect was that the car would start when the driver's seat belt was connected. (Think about it... what thief is going to get in a car, plugin the driver's seat belt, and then try to hot wire the car). Any way, I could do this because almost all the sensors in that car were directly wired to the controllers that made decisions based on them. So cutting a sensor wire affected only one system, and I could do things to make up for that.

I-Bus means cutting wires is bad.

[chickdr]

Maybe you are right wildag. I sent a PM to the guy who said he had it done in his Z4 and will see what he says. I read his post to mean he did it in his S2000, not that it was also done in the Z4. It could be more complicated with the i-bus.

[vicj]

Originally Posted by wasupdu

Gotta love the comments from the children on this forum that ruin it for the rest of us...LOL. I'm not gonna continue the name calling, but I will say that it can be done. Yes, I did it on my car shortly after purchase and I've had no problems as of yet (roughly 2 years/18,000 miles). I'm sorry that you can't understand this "mod" and feel the need to name call and put some of your meaningless thoughts in CAPS.

Still waiting for proof. a video would be fine.

[chickdr]

Originally Posted by vicj

Still waiting for proof. a video would be fine.

No answer to my PM either...

[vicj]

sigh.
You guys are right, I should not resort to calling him names like 'liar' (ooop! did it again!!). I just get SO burned by how people will just rattle off anything on here as truth, when it can actually really cause issues for people if they follow this so called "advice". I don't post often here (usually just when I get my hackles up), but read regularly.

I know most people are smart enough NOT to just blindly go out and alter their electrical systems because one person said it could be done on a chat board...but if only one person does it, that's one too many.

I'm sure a way around the speed control COULD be worked out, with a lot of time and effort, but it certainly won't be a matter of just clipping a wire. If so, EVERYONE would already know about this "mod", and would have done it long ago. Aftermarket companies would be flooding the market with little "25MPH top down" gizmos. Convertible Gods would be smiling down from the heavens. Unfortunately, with the I-Bus, nothing is that simple.

So, I sincerely apologize for calling a liar just that. I should have said, "oh, I DO beg to differ about that!"

[vicj]

Well, as David Byrne used to sing..." I'm STILL waiting....na na na"...for that video of Wasupdu's top working while moving, after he clipped the wire to the speed sensor.
I guess this myth is absolutely Busted.

[Huz-Z]

Puzzling Evidence LOL!!!

[Flying Scotsman]

So, I sincerely apologize for calling a liar just that. I should have said, "oh, I DO beg to differ about that!"