Quote:
Originally Posted by SD ///M4
My top currently works just fine, but I always follow these threads so I have an idea what to do if and when I should start experiencing problems.
In researching this, I found lots of posts on UK forums and lots of videos on YouTube. One of these posts led me to eBay and it appears that there is someone (in Germany, not China!) producing new replacement motors, complete with the bracket, and multiple people are selling them. Do a search on eBay for "BMW Z4 top motor" and you'll see a bunch, ranging from ~$60 to a little over $100. Some include the bracket and some don't.
Here's one result: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...motor&_sacat=0
This seems like a pretty good alternative to finding a used Ford Mustang top motor. I'm thinking of proactively buying one while they're available since the cost is relatively low and it's probably inevitable that the motor will fail sometime in the future, even though I live in an area with low humidity, little rain, and hardly any trees with leaves. Any good reason why not? |
I tried buying a replacement motor only (though mine was likely chinese courtesy of Amazon) and it went poorly. Pulled the entire top, replaced the motor, reinstalled and it ran for about 4 or 5 up/down cycles and died. The drive shaft/gear interface was not great and I think it stripped the gear under use. After that I went the mustang pump route.
If you can find a high quality replacement pump it's not necessarily a bad idea. But after going to the mustang pump and seeing the increased speed and how easily it can be tucked away I wouldn't go any other route.
That's just one guy's opinion though and YMMV.