E30 Electric Roof conversion to manual

Post Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:11 pm

Dear All,

I'm in the process of renovating my sleepy 92J 325i Cabriolet. The roof as originally fitted was electrical, but (un)surprisingly the roof arm has sheared off from the motor casing in the usual place (offside of horseshoe). The indy I'm using are doing their best but a repair isn't really economical (as the motor internals are wrecked thanks to previous owner trying to force the arm when already broken) and my experience of electrical roofs is that they are both troublesome and expensive.

I'd really prefer to switch it to a manual as my previous E30 was manually operated and was a bit more straightforward.

There doesn't seem to be a conclusive answer anywhere (here, BMWland, bimmer forums etc both here and in the US) about the best way to do this. The indy is looking to me for guidance and I read somewhere that conversion kits and instructions are available, but can't seem to find any details.

As far as I can tell, I'll need to remove the top and lid motors, the synchro computer and the metal rods connecting the top to the motor (although as this has sheared off has this already been done!?)

The replacement parts are the two hinges and bolts (for the base of the roof? Or to latch the horseshoe?), the release handle with long and short cable to do both sides of the horseshoe, and the corresponding speaker cover/internal trim to fit the release handle.

Anyone done this before? All criticism / insults gratefully received

Post Mon Jun 24, 2013 8:25 pm

I converted mine a while ago from manual to electric. You need to change the whole mechanism. Best thing to do. Is to buy the manual handle including the tubes which take the cables. I still have mine but prob missing parts by now its been kicking around so long and endured a house move!

I'll try and find some pictures just you'll have to do it in reverse

Post Tue Jun 25, 2013 9:13 am

Minimayhem81 wrote:I converted mine a while ago from manual to electric. You need to change the whole mechanism. Best thing to do. Is to buy the manual handle including the tubes which take the cables. I still have mine but prob missing parts by now its been kicking around so long and endured a house move!

I'll try and find some pictures just you'll have to do it in reverse

Hi Mate, I've got the thread going, where I need a pic of the lever settings for the horseshoe. Can you send me a pic please, of yours?

Thanks.