Which cover to get?

[gas guzzler]

With the recent downpoor I've noticed water getting in and dropping onto the seats on both sides and with more rubbish weather on the way thought I'd treat the Z to a cover. Probably be snow and ice on the way soon to so a half cover would be a good idea for the early morning starts.
Saw these two on ebay and although the one with magnetic looks better quality I don't want to buy it only to find it gets blown away, anybody got any experience with either of these two products?
Cheers Andy
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Half-Size-Wat ... 3f287ad228
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z3-CAR-CO ... 2587896943

[Alan W]

Here's an interesting story about magnets... My son in law got a large magnetic moustache for the bonnet of his car as a bit of a joke xmas present from his parents and felt obliged to attach it to his little A series Mercedes. About a week later his car began to have starting problems and a warning light came on which was related to the internal restraint system and checked all the seat connectors but everything appeared okay. Then one day it actually cut out on his way home from work but restarted after 5mins. Mystified he got his dad to look at the car who after much head scratching said 'hey son, why don't you take this ridiculous moustache off your bonnet, we got it from the 99p shop and didn't think you would actually use it'. So off it came and guess what... the warning light has gone out and the car has worked perfectly ever since... therefore we can safely assume that car electronics can be sensitive to magnetic fields... something to bear in mind mr gas guzzler...

[Del]

This might be a helpful read for the buzz tops one:-
http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... t=buzztopz

[gas guzzler]

This might be a helpful read for the buzz tops one:-
http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... t=buzztopz

Thanks for that link, thought there must have been one somewhere couldnt find it though. Made very interesting reading, and despite the negative views I think there are more positives so will get a buzztop.

Cheers Andy

[littlefeller]

the magnetic tops seem popular, I did consider these but im a tight fisted git and opted for a large bag, we use them at work for heat shrinking large pallets, you can get your whole car in one, and it was free . as for magnets and electricity errr yes, a magnet can cause electrons to flow in a conductive medium like a wire for instance, but with out the magnet moving its unlikely, they can however interfere with other electrical devices simply by interfering with there electrical flow, this is one of the reasons some wires are shielded. there was a post on another forum where some chap set off a seat belt tensioner by moving a speaker around under his seat (it was the magnet in the speaker that caused the tensioner to fire), an unlikely story but I suppose it could happen

[Gazza]

I use the magnetic cover from Buzztops, it has proved very good during the recent wind/rain storms.

[Gareth 161]

I too bought a cover from "Buzztops" a few weeks ago and am delighted with it.
Very easy to put on and has survived the recent gales down here in Cornwall with no problems although I did stretch a length of bungee cord across from handle to handle but do not think it would have made much difference with the wind we had.
It certainly fits well & is waterproof.
Gareth

[GE45TON]

I've had a Buzztop magnetic cover for over a year, it fits very well but like a few others on the forum I have noticed some very small marks on the paintwork (they do polish out), this seems to occur when its windy causing the magnets and stitching to rub against the car. I have now cut off the magnets and trimmed the cover so it finishes about level with the bottom of the glass and soft top, I have retained the door mirror straps and use the windscreen wipers to hold the front part of the cover down, I also use a piece of small rubber mat to keep the area over the rear window in place. As mentioned in the other post it seems to depend on the paint colour as to how likely your paint is liable to mark.
Admittedly it doesn't look as pretty but seems to work quite well (so far), I may try fitting some additional straps at the rear so I can hook them into the boot.

Before I had the magnetic cover I also tried one of the cheaper vinyl types, only used it once and sent it back...

Keith

[Topperz]

I use the genuine bmw z3 cover....silver one with Z3 on the front

Great fit and covers the whole car,right down to the tyres at the side

It's stayed on throughout the current strong winds/gales

I just make sure the car in nice and clean first

I did have a big problem with green mould on the soft top after every winter..that's now gone due to the cover and a good clean in the summer

I've left the cover on for over 6 weeks at one point.....removed it,and the car has been spotless and ready to go

You can even pop it in the washing machine for a clean according to the instruction booklet .....the cover that is

Folds up nice and small into a storage bag and takes up no room in the boot

German engineering eh

I'm sure this house had a garage somewhere when I brought it....ahhhhh found it....it's the laundry and freezer room now.....how did that happen

[Rafolian]

Where did you bring the house from?