» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | 1999 M3 Swap 09-07-2023 10:10 PM 05-02-2024 08:18 PM 6 Replies, 403,654 Views | | | | | | 03-03-2012, 03:29 AM | #31 | Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Atlanta Posts: 50 | i wish my cali top's motor was broken but it is not! The motor spins for nothing, so to fix that problem you gotta take off the headliner which is too much work at the beginning. Still looking for a nice weather to get this done before the summer.. | | | 03-14-2012, 11:42 PM | #32 | Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6 | Could it be possible to bypass the motor and just slide the top open and closed manually, and just fashion a latch on the inside to keep it closed? | | | 03-15-2012, 02:38 AM | #33 | Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Posts: 1,364 | Quote: Originally Posted by SpidersInMyBed Could it be possible to bypass the motor and just slide the top open and closed manually, and just fashion a latch on the inside to keep it closed? | I've wondered the same thing about Cali tops. | | | 03-15-2012, 08:48 PM | #34 | Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6 | I think thats an option I'm going to explore. I haven't been able to locate a motor (at least not for what I want to pay). The weather has been nice this past week , and I was able to slide my roof back with only minimal effort, it's just when I slide it back closed it doesn't want to pull as tight as it would if it were functioning normally. I'm thinking a latch similar to to the ones used on a Jeep hood would work best (sort of a tension latch). To give it a snug closing. I'll update my progress and in the mean time, does anyone know of a car that was made with a similar, manually opening top that I could study. | | | 07-02-2014, 04:12 PM | #35 | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,451 | Quote: Originally Posted by lpossie I took my motor apart and removed the faulty gear that had the stripped teeth on it. Went to a local machine shop and they made me a new and 'improved' gear out of metal instead of plastic. Cost me $20! Sure beats the $400+ for a new motor! | Hello, Older post, but do still have the name of the machine shop that made the gear(s) for you? Thanks! Rich __________________ 1998 318ti Sport - "Cali" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, Cali top 1998 318ti Sport - "Max" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, S52 1997 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior 1995 318ti Active - "Blanca" Alpineweib III/Schwartz leather interior Other Current Bimmers: 2006 530i / 2000 2.3L Z3 / 1997 1.9L Z3 / 1999 540it 1997 318ti Sport - "Huera" - RIP 1995 318ti Active - RIP 1995 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Sold 1994 325i Sedan - "Jade" - Sold 1991 318ic - "Bert" - Sold 1985 635csi sold 1984 533i "Max" Sold 1984 318i sold BMWCCA #160411 SUPPORT 318ti.org! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE! Hosting a forum like this is not free. 318ti.org is one of the best BMW forums on the web because it is member supported, not vendor supported. The cost to become a Supporter is a nominal $10.00... A YEAR! DO IT! NOW! | | | 07-02-2014, 04:21 PM | #36 | Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: US Posts: 22 | Quote: Originally Posted by BlackBMWs Hello, Older post, but do still have the name of the machine shop that made the gear(s) for you? Thanks! Rich | I'm in Utah and I just went to a local shop. I knew one of the machinist and they took my old plastic gear and made one out of aluminum for me. I'm sure they would have charged me more, but they said they just quickly "put it together" for me, they typically do military aircraft parts. The shop is called Aerospace Engineering and Support ( www.aesut.com). Hope it helps. | | | 07-02-2014, 04:26 PM | #37 | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,451 | Quote: Originally Posted by lpossie I'm in Utah and I just went to a local shop. I knew one of the machinist and they took my old plastic gear and made one out of aluminum for me. I'm sure they would have charged me more, but they said they just quickly "put it together" for me, they typically do military aircraft parts. The shop is called Aerospace Engineering and Support ( www.aesut.com). Hope it helps. | It's a lead, thanks for taking the moment to respond! Do you still have connections there by chance? I did check out their site. Curious about a contact or entry point to inquire. Inside connection sometimes is way more effective. __________________ 1998 318ti Sport - "Cali" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, Cali top 1998 318ti Sport - "Max" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, S52 1997 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior 1995 318ti Active - "Blanca" Alpineweib III/Schwartz leather interior Other Current Bimmers: 2006 530i / 2000 2.3L Z3 / 1997 1.9L Z3 / 1999 540it 1997 318ti Sport - "Huera" - RIP 1995 318ti Active - RIP 1995 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Sold 1994 325i Sedan - "Jade" - Sold 1991 318ic - "Bert" - Sold 1985 635csi sold 1984 533i "Max" Sold 1984 318i sold BMWCCA #160411 SUPPORT 318ti.org! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE! Hosting a forum like this is not free. 318ti.org is one of the best BMW forums on the web because it is member supported, not vendor supported. The cost to become a Supporter is a nominal $10.00... A YEAR! DO IT! NOW! | | | 07-02-2014, 04:31 PM | #38 | Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: US Posts: 22 | Quote: Originally Posted by BlackBMWs It's a lead, thanks for taking the moment to respond! Do you still have connections there by chance? I did check out their site. Curious about a contact or entry point to inquire. Inside connection sometimes is way more effective. | I used to work for them long time ago, used to be their IT manager. The machine shop manager's name is Ryan. Talk to him and ask him about the gear for a bmw. I'm sure they'll do the part for you, you'll probably have to send them a sample of the part though. I forgot Ryan's last name, but if you call their main number and ask for Ryan the machine shop manager, they should know who you're talking about. He's a great guy, he'll see what he can do for you. Cheers. | | | 07-02-2014, 04:35 PM | #39 | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,451 | Quote: Originally Posted by lpossie I used to work for them long time ago, used to be their IT manager. The machine shop manager's name is Ryan. Talk to him and ask him about the gear for a bmw. I'm sure they'll do the part for you, you'll probably have to send them a sample of the part though. I forgot Ryan's last name, but if you call their main number and ask for Ryan the machine shop manager, they should know who you're talking about. He's a great guy, he'll see what he can do for you. Cheers. | From one IT manager to another, Thanks! __________________ 1998 318ti Sport - "Cali" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, Cali top 1998 318ti Sport - "Max" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, S52 1997 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior 1995 318ti Active - "Blanca" Alpineweib III/Schwartz leather interior Other Current Bimmers: 2006 530i / 2000 2.3L Z3 / 1997 1.9L Z3 / 1999 540it 1997 318ti Sport - "Huera" - RIP 1995 318ti Active - RIP 1995 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Sold 1994 325i Sedan - "Jade" - Sold 1991 318ic - "Bert" - Sold 1985 635csi sold 1984 533i "Max" Sold 1984 318i sold BMWCCA #160411 SUPPORT 318ti.org! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE! Hosting a forum like this is not free. 318ti.org is one of the best BMW forums on the web because it is member supported, not vendor supported. The cost to become a Supporter is a nominal $10.00... A YEAR! DO IT! 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