Wanted titanium hardtop
Wanted titanium hardtop
Just treated myself to my first proper car. After years of dull family saloons decided i needed a Z to drive at the weekends but want a hardtop too. Any suggestions?
Welcome on board 
It is worth checking if you already have a hardtop fitting kit on the car (ie it may have had a hardtop in the past).
If not then you will need to source one as I don't believe BMW sell it anymore. It consists of some brackets, switch for the rear screen heater and new trim parts.
If your car has the kit fitted it will look like this (ie there are little "swivel" covers that rotate to reveal the holes that the hardtop fits into.
The best place to source a hardtop is eBay. Prices range from £400ish to £700ish depending on colour and location (its not the sort of thing you can post
) without a fitting kit. Fitting kits are c£250.
It is worth checking if you already have a hardtop fitting kit on the car (ie it may have had a hardtop in the past).
If not then you will need to source one as I don't believe BMW sell it anymore. It consists of some brackets, switch for the rear screen heater and new trim parts.
If your car has the kit fitted it will look like this (ie there are little "swivel" covers that rotate to reveal the holes that the hardtop fits into.
The best place to source a hardtop is eBay. Prices range from £400ish to £700ish depending on colour and location (its not the sort of thing you can post
) without a fitting kit. Fitting kits are c£250.
Silver was one of the more "common" colours('_')Z3 wrote:Cheers, had seen that one. always a bit concerned about something so much cheaper than everyone elses There seems to be far more arctic silver around is this normally the case?
There are two differnet silver colours, Arctic (<04/99) and Titanium (>04/99).
They can be resprayed for c£200-£250 in any colour.
The one on eBay seems to be a dealer who has probably "split" from a car so priced to sell and extra money in his pocket ? If so worth asking if fitting kit is available as well if needed
Yep your will be Titanium, note although does not seem much diff to Arctic silver in pics they are noticebly different when side by side. IMHO an arctic hardtop on a titanium car does not look good so make sure you source a titanium one. Most sellers just describe as "silver" and don't have a clue 
The hardtop should have a manufacture date stamped on it so you may need to ask for that to check.
Here is one fitted to my "old" 2000 Titanum Z3 (the day I sold it with new owner driving away
)
You will need a hardtop fitted to collect the roof on the car but people have "swapped" over a fitting kit from the sellers car in a few hours when picking up the roof.
Unless you are prepared to pay a premium I would be patient at this time of year (ie you won't use it in summer and plenty of people will sell soon to realise some cash ?). Took me 6 months to find that titanium one, missing out on several that went for >£600 (my car already had the fitting kit installed) before I found a mint one just 10 miles from my house for <£450
I've never actually seen one with ripped velour interior as it would be hard rip it
Most common is scratches on the roof as its is cumbersome to handle requiring two people and I think lots of people put a blanket down and assume putting it down upside down will not scratch it Also common for rear edge to be chipped as putting it down the right way this area "hits" the ground. Easy touch up though and I've never seen a rusty one.
The hardtop should have a manufacture date stamped on it so you may need to ask for that to check.Here is one fitted to my "old" 2000 Titanum Z3 (the day I sold it with new owner driving away
)You will need a hardtop fitted to collect the roof on the car but people have "swapped" over a fitting kit from the sellers car in a few hours when picking up the roof.
Unless you are prepared to pay a premium I would be patient at this time of year (ie you won't use it in summer and plenty of people will sell soon to realise some cash ?). Took me 6 months to find that titanium one, missing out on several that went for >£600 (my car already had the fitting kit installed) before I found a mint one just 10 miles from my house for <£450
I've never actually seen one with ripped velour interior as it would be hard rip it
Most common is scratches on the roof as its is cumbersome to handle requiring two people and I think lots of people put a blanket down and assume putting it down upside down will not scratch it Also common for rear edge to be chipped as putting it down the right way this area "hits" the ground. Easy touch up though and I've never seen a rusty one.'old one' looks pretty damn nice to me. Almost positive its not got the fixing kit as i know there is no switch to defrost the window fitted. Will have to keep searching. any suggestions for fixing the seat belt guides? i've read the take the seat out and remove all the covers thread but don't think i'll be attempting that any time soon! there must be a way to fix it for the short term until confidence grows? 
zedder3 posted this one.
My Dad came up with a classic for sorting this out.
As the retainers were broken and could turn round, he drilled into each of the parts which are normally not joined together (in the gap), with a tiny drillbit, and inserted a metal pin into the holes. This stays in place, holding the retainer together as per the above method, but using a small pin instead of the wrap. Genius!
Will post some pics when I get a chance.
HT
My Dad came up with a classic for sorting this out.
As the retainers were broken and could turn round, he drilled into each of the parts which are normally not joined together (in the gap), with a tiny drillbit, and inserted a metal pin into the holes. This stays in place, holding the retainer together as per the above method, but using a small pin instead of the wrap. Genius!
Will post some pics when I get a chance.
HT
Or you can just use black large diameter "shrink wrap" tubing (from B&Q) that you use as a "sleeve" to fit over both halves and heat shrink down('_')Z3 wrote:'old one' looks pretty damn nice to me. Almost positive its not got the fixing kit as i know there is no switch to defrost the window fitted. Will have to keep searching. any suggestions for fixing the seat belt guides? i've read the take the seat out and remove all the covers thread but don't think i'll be attempting that any time soon! there must be a way to fix it for the short term until confidence grows?
