r129 roof problem

shurdle

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I have searched through a number of posts detailing problems with the roof mechanism, but have been unable to find anything which quite matches the problem I am encountering.

It has been well over a year since the hardtop came off my 91 sl but with the recent nice weather I thought I would make some room in the dining room to store it in doors for a while (no garage!).

Hard top released fine and everything seemed good. Went to put soft top up and was delighted to see that everything appeared to working well. Unfortunately, the very last bit of the operation failed. The soft top bow stopped in the upright position and did not drop down. I tried the operation several times, but always with the same result. Calling on my other half to operate the switch I applied light pressure to the bow and the hood drops down in to position. A little more pressure is required to get the catches to drop in to the slots, however everything does lock in to place.

Any ideas as to what the problem may be? Turning up to work and having to ask the receptionist to help close the roof has been no fun.

Thanks in advance.

Simon
 
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shurdle

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I don't think so. Having searched this forum, I found the instruction to push roof switch forward and hold electric window buttons up for 10 seconds. Have done this for both sides and it does not appear to have made a difference. Is there something else that I should have done to re-sync?
 

television

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The roll bar also needs a re set by holding button up foe 10 sec in key 2, but I do not think that this is the fault, the is a micro switch for the bow. need to know the number of the car 129--- the next numbers
 

guv

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I don't think so. Having searched this forum, I found the instruction to push roof switch forward and hold electric window buttons up for 10 seconds. Have done this for both sides and it does not appear to have made a difference. Is there something else that I should have done to re-sync?

have you total closure on your alarm? if so lock the car with your fob and hold down the button, until everything is closed
 
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shurdle

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Hi Television,

Are the numbers you need those following on in the Vin. If so, then it is 1290612. If not, I feel foolish and need more direction.

Thanks

Simon
 

television

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Please never feel foolish on here they are complicated things

Anyway I feel daft as you say it went up by hand help.

I can send you 2 papers so you can check the oil. and a check paper for now,,but I need an email address.

If you put the roof up and down a few times it may clear itself
 
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shurdle

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I was hoping that using it several times might do the trick, but no luck yet. I had actually consisered that it might be a microswitch myself as my partners z3 had a problem whereby the electric would not lower itself without a helping hand. That proved to be a microswitch problem which BMW charged a massive amount to rectify given that the switch itself cost about £10. Fortunately it was covered under warranty by the trader we had bought the car from.

Have pm'ed my email address. Thanks again for the help offered.
 

television

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I will send off the papers and some where I have a paper with all of the switches on it. time is a little short today
 

television

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HI,
I look forward to any solutions as this matches the problem that I have with my 1993 R129

Paul

Hello Paul and welcome, why not start a new thread on your fault
 

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i am also looking forward to any replies as i have also got this simular problem on a w129 500sl. i am almost certain the fault must lie within a switch or rod or something to do with the hood hideaway section as my faults seem to revolve around this area
ian
 

brianbrian

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Hi I am not an expert on soft tops but I have a 1992 sl129 When I bought it last year all worked well with soft & hard top, I have done a lot of work on the engine side when I went to use car after 8 months and took hard top off no problem, when I went to close soft top had same problem as you, so I went round and greased every moving part and tried again making sure that the front of soft top closed properly, if you do not get the front to completely close then the rest will not, double check this before you do anything else, the front only wants to be a 1/16 out over the front rubber seal and the rest will not work. Hope this helps let us know how you get on.
 

sahtas1

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soft top re-sync

Good morning to you all,
I am trying to resurrect a R129 that has been off the road for a while and have been having similar issues with the soft top mechanism. The roof will raise to the vertical but no further. It will go down from there and the cover locks down properly. I think this is a sync problem but have no manual available to reset it. Does anyone have a documment available to guide me through it? Vin code in part is WDB1290662
Many thanks,
Ashley
 

television

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First you must memorize some functions.

Raise the roll bar and hold the switch up for 10 sec with the key turned to 2, do the same with both windows. the foot brake needs to be applied to some models when lifting the roof.

See how that goes
 

Alex Crow

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hello ashley, do the windows both go down fully when operating the roof switch?
 

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