How to unclog the drains on the soft-top - *OP* GV from Belgium

[sixspeed]

Just trying to save cached How-To's from Z4um.. this originally posted by "GV from Belgium"...


There are quite a few zzzz with a faulty soft top hydraulic system out there. The reason for the problem: water!

The soft top motor is rapped in an insulating foam and is located in the area where the soft top folds down.



There is a water drain on each side. The drain on the right side (side of the fuel filler cap) is only visible if you watch closely between the soft top mechanism (top down) with a flashlight.




The drain on the left side is not visible because the soft top motor blocks the view.

Now what happens: these drains get clogged, water can't get away and gets absorbed by the insulating foam. Result: soft top motor fails. (pic courtesy of www.zroadster.com !!!)





The repair is pretty difficult as the complete top needs to be removed to access the soft top motor (and we all know what can happen when your skilled dealer needs to do that kind of repair).

When I'm writing this DIY, there are at least 20 zzzz I came across that had this problem.

So, lets get to work!! The goal is to unclog the drains so the water can run away freely.

You need:

1 flat screwdriver
1 8mm spanner
1 10mm spanner

1 vacuumcleaner
1 tube inner diameter 6mm or 4mm
1 or more jackstand(s)
1 jack

Lets start at the RIGHT side. You can see the inlet of the drain if you peek with your flashlight in the space where my finger is:



Jack up the car and secure the jackstand!! (very important!!)



You could remove the wheel, but that is not necessary

Remove the wheel arch cover by removing the 2 8mm bolts (part 51718204807) and the 1 plastic 10mm nut (part 51711958025) together with the splash thingy by removing 2 expanding rivets (part 51118174185), 1 8mm bolt and 1 plastic 10mm nut.



The rivets are a pain in the a$$.... I broke them so I replaced them with new ones.

The splash thingy and the wheel arch cover come off as one piece:







Make sure to unclip the ABS/DSC sensor that is clipped onto the splash thingy:



Cover and splash thingy removed:



Now, get UNDER your car and you will see the drain!!



Pull out the drain!



Drain removed from the car:



Whoever designed this should be shot or at least fired! The drain hole is about 8 mm in diamter, but the internal tubing of the drain is only 5mm in diameter. Must get clogged eventually!!

I used compressed air from THE TOP and flushed to system with some Evian mineral water:



Here is a small example of the crap that came out (a lot more was flushed out with the compressed air):



Put everything back and get to work on the other, more important side (because the soft top motor is located on that side).

Same as on the right side, only here I didn't use compressed air, as the system is only accessible from the bottom. Instead, I modded my vacuumcleaner somewhat Smile

6mm tube goes into 4mm tube... and that tube goes into the bottom of the drain:





The "problem" is that you can't be 100% sure the left drain isn't clogged anymore because you can't verify it by flushing the system. But, judging by the amount of crap that came out of the drains it looks like this will be a recurring DIY Smile

Don't forget to put everything back and... DONE!

[inTgr8r]

SixSpeed - Thanks for resurrecting these threads

[Ski]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

SixSpeed - Thanks for resurrecting these threads

Ya, but is it the right thing to do??

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by Ski

Ya, but is it the right thing to do??

Good question;
The alternative is to let the info die,
which I think is more of a disservice to the hard work of the OP.

It would be good to ask the OP permission;
but unless they log on here, how are you going to track them down.

As long as it's not copyright infringment & credit is given to OP,
JMO, but I don't see any problem.

[Ski]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Good question;
The alternative is to let the info die,
which I think is more of a disservice to the hard work of the OP.

It would be good to ask the OP permission;
but unless they log on here, how are you going to track them down.

As long as it's not copyright infringment & credit is given to OP,
JMO, but I don't see any problem.

But if the forum comes back from where the initial post came from, I'd be a little upset..and I still believe that forum will be back..

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by Ski

But if the forum comes back from where the initial post came from, I'd be a little upset..and I still believe that forum will be back..

At that point (if it comes back), I agree they should come down.
or
Get permission.

[sixspeed]

I'm dubious whether there is a backup of Z4um - if there were it would have been a 5 minute job to re-upload the site from the date of the last backup...

The length of downtime means that I suspect we'll see Z4um back one day, but in a completely new state with all the old posts lost.

This information won't stay in web-caches for long, so I think it's a lot more helpful to everyone to keep the hard work people put into making these DIYs going, rather than let it get lost. I've credited all the original posters in the reposts I've made, and I have a hard time believing any of them wouldn't want this information available, albeit on another forum...

[wasupdu]

resurecting an old thread....


I just had my soft top motor replaced by the dealer under warranty a couple weeks ago.

When I wash the car a 'pool' of water remains on both rear corners where the soft top meets the body of the car. Is this normal?

Do I need to unclog these drains? It looks fairly easy to unclog them myself, but shouldn't this be something I can get the dealer to do for free? I spoke to my SA about this at the dealership and he mentioned that they'd 'take car of me' if this happens again outside of warranty but he refused to put that in writing.. Total B.S.

[wasupdu]

I thought this would be a perfect time to I follow this DIY and although it took a bit longer than I expected I feel MUCH better about the soft top and its motor now. This took me about 90 minutes total to do both sides although I expect it to take half the time when I do it again. I'd consider this more of a piece-of-mind task than anything. I got 4-5 small leaves and some other misc dirt and 'gunk' out of the drain and drain area. I also opted to open up the drain about 2-3 mm more by using a pair of scissors on the rubber drain plug.

Also, on my 2005 Z4 you don't have to take off the entire wheel lining, just the smallest portion closest to the door. By only removing this piece you only have to deal with one of the rivets.

[ianbiz]

I did part of this DIY this weekend. I didnt get to the shop vac part. I had about 3 or 4 leaves on each side. A bunch of stuff came out when i flushed it with water. It does take quite a while to do, thus the reasoning behind me not finishing it. I will prob. do it this weekend though.

[blackz30]

will this fix my soft top if my soft top doens't go down anymore eletrically? (I already confirmed my problem is coming from hydraulic system)

[ianbiz]

Originally Posted by blackz30

will this fix my soft top if my soft top doens't go down anymore eletrically? (I already confirmed my problem is coming from hydraulic system)

not really.

[blackz30]

Originally Posted by ianbiz

not really.

So this is really to prevent it from happening right?

[lets]

Would it be possible to drill a large hole in the "splash thingy", that could be plugged with a rubber or plastic, solid grommet, to make easy access to the drain for periodic cleaning?

[GVfB]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Good question;
The alternative is to let the info die,
which I think is more of a disservice to the hard work of the OP.

It would be good to ask the OP permission;
but unless they log on here, how are you going to track them down.

As long as it's not copyright infringment & credit is given to OP,
JMO, but I don't see any problem.

Hey guys, I'm more than happy to see that thread over here!!! It makes me kinda proud that on numerous other boards they link to this DIY.

Mis the old wheels, seeing these pics

[xg3]

Under the pressure of my girlfriend, she only gave me 1 hour to do this..

since, she wants to go shopping!!!

You don't need to take the covers off!!!! If you jack the car and you will see that rectangle cut out as shown in the pictures. Crawl under the car (make sure your car is safely secured) and you should be able to reach for the drain plug, and take it out. I was able to perform the whole procedure within 20 mins on each side.

Another note, the drain plug is of extremely soft rubber, i believe the reason for this is to prevent bugs and stuffs from crawling up.

But good luck to you all!

[Becool]

How to unclog the drains on the soft-top ? I jacked up the car and did not see it. Pictures please...

[GilbertB]

Is there a reason I can not see the pictures? Thanks

[kurtdaniel]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

SixSpeed - Thanks for resurrecting these threads

this thread is very informative,,so its worth the resurrection..hope someone could also link me to a Vent Visor diy repair ....

[Jiz Monkey]

I have an 03 Z4, never joined one of these sites, but have had many problems with my Z4. I have taken advice about window regulator problems, steering notchy issues, and the latest being my boot constantly being soaked through and the battery compartment filling up.

I finally decided i needed to at least say thank you. I came from reading a post and link from the Z4-forum of someone called wondermike from someone called sixspeed here. He posted a link here on how to unplug the drains. I was losing sleep up until today when i got to try it out. I followed the instructions and found lots of crap in my BLOCKED offside (drivers side UK) drain. I spent about 4 hours in total with my dad (he is still a hero) clearing out both sides drains. Thank god my near side seems clear!

I obviously need to test for a few weeks to be sure but the fact that the drain on the offside was completely blocked and now runs clear makes me 99% sure this is going to fix the problem that has worried me for weeks! Whether he/she sees this or not, I felt I needed to write my absolute thanks somewhere and advise those others that may be in the position i was 10 hours ago, that this may really be your problem, and this is THE fix.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

One thing i will add is that I used electrical cable to poke at the obstruction from both ends (The stuff that is usually insulated throughout your house). Perfect flexibilty with adequate strength. I unfortunately had no compressed air.

Also I think the design is very clever. The exit of the drains are small, and they are strangely shaped, but they limit any rubbish coming up the wrong way, so even though they have caused me so much heart ache, i do realise the amount of design and development that must have gone into them.

God I do not know how I have written so much. I appologise and thank any of you who have gone all the way through!

Jiz

[Ale_72]

Originally Posted by GilbertB

Is there a reason I can not see the pictures? Thanks

I have the same issue with pics.
Did anyone, by chance, saved a PDF version of the thread?
Thanks in advance

[Ale_72]

Originally Posted by Ale_72

I have the same issue with pics.
Did anyone, by chance, saved a PDF version of the thread?
Thanks in advance

Sorted it out.
http://www.shipkiller.com/files/BMW_...p%20Drains.pdf