manual hood to eletric hood

[marko1979]

I recently bought a 1990 325 motorsport, its had a manual hood conversion done by bmw many moons ago, I have a manual release handle in the rear. I would love to get this back to fully electric but all I have is the switch on the dash and the wiring loom and not to sure about some things,

does anybody know

Is there two different types of folding top, an electric and manual or are these the same and if not what are the differences?

Ive had a look on real oem but the pics arent too great, does anybody have some decent diagrams or instructions and list of key parts?

cheers

[Ant]

Dude, the elect hood, in either version is a POS, they did not work well from new, and most were retrofitted back to mech operation , good plan given the cost of the motors, linkages and all related gumph

In short, leave it as is, unless you really have 2 grand to spend getting it to work ( for a month or so.. )

[Andyboy]

Forget it! It was converted to a mnaual hood for a reason, as Ant says - they were absolute garbage and a total and utter nightmare. Believe me, your car is infinitely more desirable with a manual hood.

[Rosc0PColtrane]

Electric hood wrongness.

Converted for a reason!

[marko1979]

Seems to be the consensus.......dont touch!! Ive seen alot of threads on people complaining about the elec hood, so do you think it is more desirable to have a manual roof then? I was thinking it would maybe devalue the car slightly??

Its down to laziness with me, was waxing the car the other night in the garage and thought it would be a good idea to put the roof down while I done it and for some fecking reason the thing wouldnt go in the trunk so I just gave up.

[DJ_B4L]

i heard there are two types of electric hood setups for a E30?

[kam-325i]

i heard there are two types of electric hood setups for a E30?

Yeah.....The one's that work and the one's that dont........

[spence_star]

Just get a hardtop mate for the money you would spend to have it electrified. I know i would.

[marko1979]

been loking for a hardtop since I got it they look superb, its pretty hard to find one near glasgow, Ive seen a few on designna beemer but missed out as they seem to be the only people that will deliver, theres a lot down near london area and its a long way to go, dont want to take my pride and joy all the way down there and back!

[DaveD]

If you want it here it is...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-E30-Cabriolet ... dZViewItem


I have loved having mine,,, had no trouble since i had it fixed. (two summers ago)..but you have got to be careful with them they are very delicate


there are two different types of soft top. the electric version is slightly different (it has an extra bit over the drivers head)

[DJ_B4L]

Yeah.....The one's that work and the one's that dont........

i mean theres one the normal type and another thats hydrolic version im not sure if this correct

jason has had all his parts remade out of the strongest metal

[DaveD]

i heard there are two types of electric hood setups for a E30?

there are the electro mechanical, which is the most common, and the hydraulic,which i have never seen.

[DJ_B4L]

see someone here knows what im talking about lol

[marko1979]

If you want it here it is...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-E30-Cabriolet ... dZViewItem


I have loved having mine,,, had no trouble since i had it fixed. (two summers ago)..but you have got to be careful with them they are very delicate


there are two different types of soft top. the electric version is slightly different (it has an extra bit over the drivers head)

Nice one, Im sure I seen this a few weeks ago and it finished at 170...oh well

Did you fix this your self? Is there anything major to look out for whensetting the thing up?

[DaveD]

when you've got one and paid lots of moula to get it right you tend to find out about them

besides if you look on realoem you can see a piccy!!

[marko1979]

Has anybody got a pic of the electric hood and the extra bit over the drivers head, I think this might be what I have but not to sure, had a look at the receipt from bmw when this was converted and there isnt any mention of a new hood mechanism or cover change

[DaveD]

before you even begin to think about it have a look on realoem and see the drawings.Check whether you still have the metal rods that actuate the roof and are the micro switches still fitted, and check if you have a power soft top,,,it is a very expensive job for the bits if you are missing any.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=54&fg=10

part 33

and no i got a pro to set mine up but i do have the instructions