e85 Z4 - Anyone tried aftermarket Convertible Soft Top?

[Curt]

I'm looking for a quality beige aftermarket soft top and headliner at an affordable price.

Anyone have experiences with aftermarket tops?

Parked on driveway and woke up one morning to find it slashed through the top and headliner..

It'll cost $3300 parts and labor for OEM, looking for OEM quality cover+top for < $1000 hopefully

[Huz-Z]

That is awful! Jerks who vandalize cars need to be dropped off in the middle of the desert.

There was a recent discussion here just within the last few weeks on replacement tops. Although I advocated OEM all the way, folks pointed out that certain aftermarket tops were made of the very same material but were a lot less costly. Have a hunt for that thread.

By the way, don't you have insurance coverage for vandalism for something like this?

Cheers!

[antennahead]

Try this thread on the subject. My experience was a good one:

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828796

John

[Huz-Z]

For that crazy low price I would almost buy one as a spare!

[Curt]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

That is awful! Jerks who vandalize cars need to be dropped off in the middle of the desert.

There was a recent discussion here just within the last few weeks on replacement tops. Although I advocated OEM all the way, folks pointed out that certain aftermarket tops were made of the very same material but were a lot less costly. Have a hunt for that thread.

By the way, don't you have insurance coverage for vandalism for something like this?

Cheers!

Yeah, it's like you've had the car for a while and one day outta nowhere some asshat decides to vandalize a car w/o reason.

I'm hoping on an aftermarket top that doesn't rip or show wear/tear easily

Thanks! I would get OEM but I wouldn't pay the deductible for something that can easily happen again, (knock on wood).

Originally Posted by antennahead

Try this thread on the subject. My experience was a good one:

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828796

John

Thanks! That helps lots! Those were the two sites (autotopsdirect/autoberry) that I've been eying, I wonder if there's any more dealers with actual customer reviews, but I'm most likely buying from autoberry/autotopsdirect.

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

For that crazy low price I would almost buy one as a spare!

Haha yeah but I wonder how the quality of the top would be, and don't forget the price of labor! It's usually rated at 10 hours for that + headliner :P

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by Curt

Yeah, it's like you've had the car for a while and one day outta nowhere some asshat decides to vandalize a car w/o reason.

I'm hoping on an aftermarket top that doesn't rip or show wear/tear easily

Thanks! I would get OEM but I wouldn't pay the deductible for something that can easily happen again, (knock on wood).


Thanks! That helps lots! Those were the two sites (autotopsdirect/autoberry) that I've been eying, I wonder if there's any more dealers with actual customer reviews, but I'm most likely buying from autoberry/autotopsdirect.


Haha yeah but I wonder how the quality of the top would be, and don't forget the price of labor! It's usually rated at 10 hours for that + headliner :P

Based on Antennahead's comments, I would expect that the quality of the after market top would be quite good! (John, that's your cue to comment!)

Be sure to let us know how this turns out. In view of the high price of the OEM top, it would be great to have some good lower price alternatives.

Cheers!!

[THE JEDI]

Most people will say hey it's just a car so don't get made because they did something to it, a human life is worth more..and I agree..A top can be replaced......so can a KNEEE CAP

[norcal_cyclist]

See my aftermarket top review here

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=844875

I will be able to get them at a better price for zpost folks