2003 BMW 325Ci convertible top electric flap motor replacement.
Background information:
My problems began when I put a rear-facing child safety seat in my back seat and opened up the convertible top cover to use the latch system inside the top compartment. When I closed the cover, the buckle from the strap wasn't clear, and the cover closed on the buckle. The convertible top computer shut everything down as a safety mechanism, and the convertible control buttons stopped working. At this point, I wish I would have tried manually lowering the top like at the end of this video and holding the Top Open button to lock the cover. This may have reset the computer. After I raised and lowered the top manually a few times, and replaced a fuse, I began getting a clicking noise between the rear seats when using the automatic top controls, which ended up being that the square plastic drive in the electric motor was stripped. My independent BMW mechanic reset the convertible computer and diagnosed the stripped part. They quoted me $700, and wanted to replace the entire convertible flap motor drive unit (Google BMW part# 51258248308). Instead, I replaced just the electric motor (BMW part# 67618380036) for about $45 and put it back in my existing drive unit, which had nothing else wrong with it. Then, I reset the computer as described above and at the end of the video. Voila! Saved myself about $650. I hope this helps someone else in the same situation. Let me know if you have any questions below, and I will try to answer them. If this is not your problem, here is a great forum thread I found on possible top issues: forum.e46fanati...
26 авг 2024