Hey everyone..

my wife's R52 convertible top is doing my head in lately.
it all started one day while she was cleaning up the car and she left her purse resting over the rear LH side window (while it was down) and went ahead and closed the roof..
the roof closed up alright, but as the side windows went up, the LH regulator snapped a pulley and we had to have the complete mechanism replaced.

now since then, i noticed that particular window goes up a bit slower like it's binding against something, i thought it needed a bit of alignment but never got around to doing it, and now i wish i did, as it seems to have caused some damage in the convertible mechanism on its side:

at the moment everything works fine, the top opens and closes smoothly and all seems well, till you drive and get up to 50-60mph and you hear the wind leaking in from the top left corner (or even worse, go through a car-wash)

upon closer inspection i noticed the following.. i'll let the pics do the talking:

LH Mechanism missing two plastic guides:


Close up on the mechanism and two arrows pointing at the missing guide tabs:


Compared to the other side which has them:


Now the LH side mechanism with the two missing tabs can be moved up and down a little when the roof is unlocked/slightly opened, whereas the other side is pretty tight and i assume that's what causes it not to latch on tight..

i've tried to find the part on ETK, and what i came up with is 54347174761 - Mechanism, sliding roof ( ~$420 Retail )

my questions are as follows:
1. is this the correct part # i'm looking at?
2. assuming it is.. do i REALLY have to replace the whole assembly for those two missing tabs? :(

i'd appreciate some feedback from any of you that have had experience with this particular fault.

furthermore while we're at it.. the soft top itself is starting to get de-laminated near the rear glass:


any DIY tips to fixing this before it gets worse?

Thanks in advance!

 

I don't really see how the top mechanism's tabs could possibly be knocked out by a purse strap in the window.

But to answer your question, it does seem that the only way to get those tabs is by purchasing the cable pair. (Unless you can find them from a salvage yard? Have a machinist make them for you?)

Maybe there's another cabrio owner who needs the RH cable and would split the pair with you?

 

Thanks for the response alwzopn,
the purse on the window actually broke the rear left window mechanism.. she was distraught (power steering pump died out on her in the middle of the road, so she called road side assist, and was clearing her stuff out of the car.. put the top down for easier access and left her purse that was crammed with stuff over the lowered rear left window.. then when she got done, she pressed the button to close the roof which closed right up, then the windows came up effectively cramming the bag between the roof and the glass, and she heard a snap which is when she realized what had happened)

i replaced that window regulator assembly and adjusted the window myself, it closes properly but seems to bind against the weather stripping a bit..

i figured i'd get around to adjusting it properly when i had more time but then the wind noise from the top left corner of the roof started a couple weeks after and now i'm wondering if the tabs broke because of any of the above.

i wish BMW sold them individually, then again i may as well buy them and keep the other for when/if it fails.

on another thought, do you know of anyone that have had those tabs broken before? if so, what caused the failure?

i don't wanna replace the part, realign the rear left window, only to have the tabs snap again due to something else being out of spec :\