Help with my top

[pandaman]

Please help. I have been having a problem for over a year now and always thought it was my boot that didn't fit properly when put on. It would not stay secure. Well it took me about a year to come up with the idea of comparing my car with someone elses. Yesterday I met with my friend Routineer and we compared tops. His top actually goes down about 1 1/4 inches further into the storage area than mine which allows his boot to fit perfectly. I have no obstructions, everthing seems to work properly, my top just simply descends 1 1/4 inches less then Routineer's. I'm wondering if there is a switch that shuts the motor off at a certain point?? Any ideas will be apprecitated. I also am contacting Classic BMW this morning to see if they have any ideas.
Pandaman

[thegunguy]

Hey Panda,

Silly one, but I assume you checked to make sure that there is nothing on the rear deck where the top descends that would keep it from going all the way down.

Is it an even 1 1/4" on both sides? Wondering if the top is torqued to one side.

Are the "strings" okay? If they're broken, the material could get caught in the scissor mechanism, causing the top to not retract fully.

...just a few ideas.

[pandaman]

Both sides are the same. The well the top goes into is clear and clean, strings seem to be fine. I had this problem even before we went to Santa Fe but always thought it was the boot, dummy me didn't think of comparing it with another car.
Pandaman

[macfly]

I too have had the experience with covers that were too shallow at the rear, and would constantly lift off. I have had two of them, one came with my 'beater' and one came via EBay which I thought would make a good spare, but no doubt that owner already discovered what you and I now know, not all covers were created equal.

No one else ever mentioned this oddity, so I put it down to an odd quirk, and never bothered posting about it, especially as last year we were far more concerned with the frame issue.

What you describe is exatly what I noted, the rear of the cover, where it slips under the shelf with the central rear light, is about one inch shorter than the normal covers, and as a result it doesn't fit over the closed top securely, and lifts out during fast runs.

[pandaman]

Andrew we didn't actually compare our covers. But it really seems to be a top issue. Routineers top goes down about 1 1/4 inches lower than mine.
Panda:mad:

[thegunguy]

I'll let Panda clarify, but I thought he was saying that the top itself doesn't retract the last 1 1/4", not a shallow boot.

EDIT: Guess he was typing at the same time...

[macfly]

Sorry, my mistake - didn't read it correctly - and thought it was about the tonueau covers, which is why I mentioned them.