Has anyone had the top stop closing just short of full closed and if so what have they done about it other than returning to full retracted or taking it to a dealer for maintenance?

Has anyone had the top stop closing just short of full closed and if so what have they done about it other than returning to full retracted or taking it to a dealer for maintenance?

Can you move it back to full open?

If so, move it back to the open position and look for anything obvious that's causing it to jam.

If in doubt bring it back in to the dealer. The hard top is a pretty complex mechanism and shouldn't be played with.

eisenb11,

What's the highest speed the top can be opened or closed while driving? Or is this not recommended at all?

You Shouldn't Operate The Top While Driving. I Might Be Wrong, But I Don't Think It Will Even Let You......

I have a 07 328I. I have no problems with opening and closing. I left my hardtop half way open during a car show with no bad affects.

eisenb11,

What's the highest speed the top can be opened or closed while driving? Or is this not recommended at all?

According to my dealer "basically zero". He didn't know the exact number but thought the cutoff was around 1-2 mph.

One of my friends with a MB SLK 350 (also 0 mph for the top) told me that the Porche Boxters will allow a 15 mph cutoff.

According to my dealer "basically zero". He didn't know the exact number but thought the cutoff was around 1-2 mph.

One of my friends with a MB SLK 350 (also 0 mph for the top) told me that the Porche Boxters will allow a 15 mph cutoff.
I had an SLK for a few days (that was fun I tell ya, I had a hard time returning it) and if I recall correctly that it required you to apply the hand brake before opening/closing the top.

I had an SLK for a few days (that was fun I tell ya, I had a hard time returning it) and if I recall correctly that it required you to apply the hand brake before opening/closing the top.

I've never seen him use the hand brake on his car... perhaps that's a Canadian thing or a MT thing? His is an 07 model I believe.

eisenb11,

What's the highest speed the top can be opened or closed while driving? Or is this not recommended at all?My wife has a '07 Conv., you can't operate the top with the shifter in anything but Park on an auto. I don't know about the M/T but I suspect they won't let the top operate with the car moving.

As for leaving the top part way open, the manual states to make the open/close process one full function, that is not to stop until the top is open/closed fully.

I've never seen him use the hand brake on his car... perhaps that's a Canadian thing or a MT thing? His is an 07 model I believe.
Well that was a 98 or 99 model, so they could have changed it.

There have been position sensor faults for the new tops. Is this an intermittent fault or does it happen every time??

My wife has a '07 Conv., you can't operate the top with the shifter in anything but Park on an auto. I don't know about the M/T but I suspect they won't let the top operate with the car moving.

Being in park isn't required.

I usually pull out of my garage then drop the top in my driveway while the car is in drive, but my foot in on the brake. When coming home, I pull into my driveway, stop short of the garage, pop the top back up, then finish pulling in and parking.

All that's needed is to not be moving while you do it.

I've dropped the top with the gear selector in park, drive, and reverse! :)

Thanks guys. Just took delivery of mine over the weekend...took a spin with the top down! I can't even begin to describe how great it felt! It got a lot of looks with the top down in a city full of exotics!!!

Thanks guys. Just took delivery of mine over the weekend...took a spin with the top down! I can't even begin to describe how great it felt! It got a lot of looks with the top down in a city full of exotics!!!

Hehe, I bet! In all my trips to HK, I don't think I've ever seen anyone driving a convertible with the top down! :D

I had one as a loaner for a few days, and that happened when the car was off and I was using the key to close it - particularly if I was playing with it for a while (like showing friends). Once the car was on, it had enough juice and had no problem closing it all the way. Perhaps it's a power isuee...I'm not sure.

Being in park isn't required.

I usually pull out of my garage then drop the top in my driveway while the car is in drive, but my foot in on the brake. When coming home, I pull into my driveway, stop short of the garage, pop the top back up, then finish pulling in and parking.

All that's needed is to not be moving while you do it.

I've dropped the top with the gear selector in park, drive, and reverse! :)I thought we tried that when we first got it, guess not. Does seem strange, I would think the "in Park" requirement would be easier to implement than "not moving w/ foot on brake" requirement but who am I...

I thought we tried that when we first got it, guess not. Does seem strange, I would think the "in Park" requirement would be easier to implement than "not moving w/ foot on brake" requirement but who am I...


It would sure be more straight-forward that way, but less practical.

This morning, I was driving down the block working my way towards work when I decided it was a nice day. Pulled over into an openning by the curb, dropped the top, then pulled back out and continued on my way.

Lot more convenient having one less step.