Another E36 Cabrio

[abels]

Hi all, I have just bought another E36 Cabrio for a bit of a song from a friend of mine. The reason that I got it at a discounted price is because there are a couple of minor faults that need correcting and thus I need the almighty PH knowledge.
The first problem is with the hood. The hood itself is in reasonable condition. But there is a problem with the mechanism. When bringing hood up and down you have to physically give it a little encouragement and there are strings hanging down in the corners. Any ideas?
Secondly, the car has been kept in the garage over the winter and during this time a pot of varnish was left on the boot. Now there is varnish and bits of news paper stuck to the bootlid. Not really a BMW specific problem. But again any handy tips would be useful to remove this.

I will post a couple of photos over the weekend when I have the plates and get it out of the garage.

Many thanks in advance.

[monthefish]

abels said:

The first problem is with the hood. The hood itself is in reasonable condition. But there is a problem with the mechanism. When bringing hood up and down you have to physically give it a little encouragement and there are strings hanging down in the corners. Any ideas?

There were three hoods on the E36 cab:

Fully automated (no handle at header rail)
Semi automated (release handle at header rail)
Manual (i.e. lower and raise hood yourself)

If it's the middle one, and it needs a little bit of an upwards push once the handle has been released just to get it moving, it is a fault but I understand this is fairly common.

The strings shouldn't be hanging down when the hood is up (all should be taught to keep the headlining taught) however the tabs that hold the ends of the cords are fairly flimsy and do tend to break, resulting in the cords becoming loose and/or incorrectly routed.

Edited by monthefish on Thursday 6th August 14:14

[abels]

monthefish said:

abels said:

The first problem is with the hood. The hood itself is in reasonable condition. But there is a problem with the mechanism. When bringing hood up and down you have to physically give it a little encouragement and there are strings hanging down in the corners. Any ideas?

There were three hoods on the E36 cab:

Fully automated (no handle at header rail)
Semi automated (release handle at header rail)
Manual (i.e. lower and raise hood yourself)

If it's the middle one, and it needs a little bit of an upwards push once the handle has been released just to get it moving, it is a fault but I understand this is fairly common.

The strings shouldn't be hanging down when the hood is up (all should be taught to keep the headlining taught) however the tabs that hold the ends of the cords are fairly flimsy and do tend to break, resulting in the cords becoming loose and/or incorrectly routed.

Edited by monthefish on Thursday 6th August 14:14

Thanks for the feedback. Yes it is the semi automated version. I think I will have to spend a bit of time investigating. Luckily I have the 325 Cab to compare it to.

Thanks again

[bmwtechie]

hi, check your fluid level of your hydraulic roof pump in the boot, if this is slightly low it can cause it to be even slower than it normally is or not work at all

[abels]

bmwtechie said:

hi, check your fluid level of your hydraulic roof pump in the boot, if this is slightly low it can cause it to be even slower than it normally is or not work at all

Another great tip. Thanks