Soft Top Headliner

[SProZ8]

Like a number of soft top headliners I see on the classified adds, mine is similarly failing. Very wrinkled. The foam/glue backing has failed and the cloth has no rigidity and sags. It has been that way for a number of years. Time to replace. My concern is that the OEM replacement liner has likely sat on the dealer shelf since the early 2000's and itself is not far from failing. Has any owner dealt with the OEM replacement and had good long term results?

It always seems to be the glue!

SProZ8

[macfly]

It is the glue, and honestly a good body shop should be able to just clean and refix yours.

[BigGar]

I'm looking at that issue on the car I'm prepping for sale right now. Getting the hard top headliner done right now, but I'm not really happy with the soft top headliner. The top and rear window are in fantastic shape though. Not going to replace the entire top.

[macfly]

Let us know how the repair goes for sure.

[SProZ8]

Original soft top headliner interior fabric is not salvageable. Fabric has no rigidity and foam/glue has turned to mush. My upholsterer said a waste of time to attempt to salvage it. Besides expensive, I feel that the BMW headliner may have been sitting in the shelf now for 20 years and itself deteriorated. I ended up replacing the headliner with one by CK-Cabrio GmbH & Co. in 2019. Install was about $250. Headliner is much more tailored and fabric more fine. Not original but better.

[BigGar]

Thanks for that info! Looks like a really good company to work with. $749 for the headliner sounds reasonable too.

[Gwmckee]

I ordered a new headliner from CK-Cabrio two weeks ago and received it yesterday. In the next month or so, my son, brother-in-law and I are going to install it, along with the new top I bought from them earlier this year. The quality looks very good and they are a great company to work with. I'll report back with pictures when we are done with the installation.

[boomster]

I think you will be happy with the new top. I purchased my top from them a few years ago, it was OEM, right down to the BMW logo on the plastic window. Just a word of caution regarding the installation- my installer, who has done a lot of convertible tops over the years, told me the installation of the top on my Z8 was one of the more challenging installations he had ever encountered.

[Gwmckee]

I think you will be happy with the new top. I purchased my top from them a few years ago, it was OEM, right down to the BMW logo on the plastic window. Just a word of caution regarding the installation- my installer, who has done a lot of convertible tops over the years, told me the installation of the top on my Z8 was one of the more challenging installations he had ever encountered.

Yep. I read other posts about your experience with replacing your top and it was one of the major reasons I decided to go with CK-Cabrio. As I said previously, they have been great to work with and the product seems to be of very high quality. I even went so far as to call your installer to schedule him to do the job but the person who did the scheduling said they would need to see the car before agreeing to do the job. I told her that they’ve done the job before and even have a photo of your car on their website but she wouldn’t budge. Since I live 8 hours or so away, I didn’t feel like it made sense for me to make the trip once for an estimate and a second time to have the job done. I took it to a local guy here and after dropping it off to have the top installed, he called and told me he wouldn’t do it due to the complicated nature of the job. I think my eyes are wide open on this one I’ll report back and let everyone know how it went. If I could find someone local to do it I would certainly have them do it.

[Z8-NL]

I had my headliner renewed by the BMW dealer here in Rotterdam
it was sagging so now again as new

[BigGar]

I had my headliner renewed by the BMW dealer here in Rotterdam
it was sagging so now again as new

Did they replace the headliner or work with the original fabric and get it smoothed out and back where it belongs?

[Z8-NL]

replacement in total

[BigGar]

Thanks!