[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by Dx11

Well... You have to clean and moisturize the rubbers in the roof about once a year, if you don't they dry out and will start creaking a lot while driving closed. And those rubbers are VERY expensive to replace. So yeah, that could be an issue. Not every e93 owner does this.

BTW OP if you get it at a dealer wouldn't that give you MORE history? Over here the dealers can go into the pc and see every service detail that happened to the car ever..

Can the rubber seals be re-conditioned to get more life out of them, or do you have to replace? It's 13 years old, so what is the life-span of those things if they were marginally maintained at best?

And the dealer is one of those low-volume at home sort of people. Picked up the car at auction and selling it. I meant "dealer" as opposed to private party sale, but definitely not a BMW dealer or even a used car lot. Just someone with a license flipping cars. Pretty much the worst scenario IMO.

[Dx11]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Can the rubber seals be re-conditioned to get more life out of them, or do you have to replace? It's 13 years old, so what is the life-span of those things if they were marginally maintained at best?

And the dealer is one of those low-volume at home sort of people. Picked up the car at auction and selling it. I meant "dealer" as opposed to private party sale, but definitely not a BMW dealer or even a used car lot. Just someone with a license flipping cars. Pretty much the worst scenario IMO.

I don't think the rubbers will be salvageable if they haven't been maintained for 13 years. You can check by how they feel. Open the roof halfway (so that the 3 parts are stacked) and feel if the rubbers feel like rubber, or more like hard cracked plastic. In the last case I wouldn't bother. I think it costs easily over 1000 to replace all roof rubbers.
If they have been maintained well (gummi pflege or something like that at least every year) they'll feel like new, soft and squishy.

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by Dx11

Well... You have to clean and moisturize the rubbers in the roof about once a year, if you don't they dry out and will start creaking a lot while driving closed. And those rubbers are VERY expensive to replace. So yeah, that could be an issue. Not every e93 owner does this.

BTW OP if you get it at a dealer wouldn't that give you MORE history? Over here the dealers can go into the pc and see every service detail that happened to the car ever..

Exactly.
You can have a 150k mile e93 that had the seals cleaned and taken care of and you can have a 60k miles e93 that hasn’t had the seals cleaned and has sat in the sun for all of those years. So it depends on how it was maintained, not so much the mileage.

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Can the rubber seals be re-conditioned to get more life out of them, or do you have to replace? It's 13 years old, so what is the life-span of those things if they were marginally maintained at best?

And the dealer is one of those low-volume at home sort of people. Picked up the car at auction and selling it. I meant "dealer" as opposed to private party sale, but definitely not a BMW dealer or even a used car lot. Just someone with a license flipping cars. Pretty much the worst scenario IMO.

The rubber seals are similar to the door seals on the e90.
I’ve never seen those seals fry and cracked after all these years.

The seals can be reconditioned.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jOJYSEjWGH4
Here’s a good write up on some maintenance.
https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/keeping-your-3-series-origami-top-in-tip-top-shape.609222/

The dealer flipping the car doesn’t necessarily mean it’s in bad shape.
A bmw dealer with the same car would be doing the same thing with a trade in, just a different name.

I’d make sure the top operates smoothly and in 1 go/motion, no stopping in between. Hold the button down until the roof is fully opened, then hold the button up until it closes. Make sure no top errors pop up on the dash while doing so.

Hold the down button until the roof is half way open and get out and inspect the black string, wiggle some brackets/arms around to make sure nothing is loose.
Check the condition of all the seals and make sure the rear windows work and the tray in the trunk works.
Close the top and go for a drive. Listen for any wind noise entering the cabin.
I would try to find a bumpy/rough road to drive over and listen for the roof slap noise.

Finally, if it looks good and you’re going to take it, tell the dealer you want them to spray water over the roof/seals and check inside for leaks.

[Dx11]

Originally Posted by Serf27

The rubber seals are similar to the door seals on the e90.
I’ve never seen those seals fry and cracked after all these years.

The big (very big) difference is door rubbers are within the closed doors. Roof rubbers are full on in the open air (and sun!) at all times! E93 roof rubbers dry out and crack all the time.

I've seen e93 rubbers that have cracked so bad you can pick the pieces out without any effort. Those are very noisy while driving (and probably aren't great in hard rain either).

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by Dx11

The big (very big) difference is door rubbers are within the closed doors. Roof rubbers are full on in the open air (and sun!) at all times! E93 roof rubbers dry out and crack all the time.

I've seen e93 rubbers that have cracked so bad you can pick the pieces out without any effort. Those are very noisy while driving (and probably aren't great in hard rain either).

I was comparing them so OP had an idea of what they look/feel like when I’m good condition.
The roof seals does have a small edge exposed to the sun, the majority of the seal is hidden under the roof.

[StradaRedlands]

So sounds like the seals are the main issue with the top... at least for casual check.
I'm paranoid about the hydraulics/sensors/wiring. Are those all pretty robust?

[Dx11]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Can the rubber seals be re-conditioned to get more life out of them, or do you have to replace? It's 13 years old, so what is the life-span of those things if they were marginally maintained at best?

And the dealer is one of those low-volume at home sort of people. Picked up the car at auction and selling it. I meant "dealer" as opposed to private party sale, but definitely not a BMW dealer or even a used car lot. Just someone with a license flipping cars. Pretty much the worst scenario IMO.

Misunderstood that, over here we have dealers (all BMW), garages (non BMW) and at-home enthusiasts. But I guess in English speaking countries dealers could be anyone that "deals" in cars.

[Dx11]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

So sounds like the seals are the main issue with the top... at least for casual check.
I'm paranoid about the hydraulics/sensors/wiring. Are those all pretty robust?

They are so robust even that with the next convertible 4 series after the e93, (the f33), they used 100% exactly the same roof, and changed nothing. It's that good. (Compare the pictures, you'll see, it's the same roof). The parts are all completely interchangeable.

[StradaRedlands]

Hey internet friends, opinions sought on this N51 car that came up local to me:
https://inlandempire.craigslist.org/...685023905.html

Build: https://bimmer.work/vin/p9cdd2bd3081...58fc8/options/

Price and mileage are both great, lack of maintenance records or a lovingly cared for history are negatives. LOVE the interior color and leather is clean, exterior is pretty good. VCG is leaking up a storm, couldn't see the oil pan gasket, but presume it needs it as well. OFHG looks like it must have been changed, so yay for having the easy job done.

Top seals are pretty craptastic, which is my biggest concern. I've added a couple pictures of the worst ones on the rear glass which is shot. The others are not supple, but are at least not cracked and falling apart like some of the E93s I've looked at. Thoughts? How would I replace those seals on the rear glass, is it a glass out sort of thing?

Anything additional or specific that I should be looking for in the top? I presume trans/suspension/rad/water pump/oil seals will all need replacing, so can kind of build those into the price and I can do all that myself.

Craptastic gasket left side:



Right side of the same:




String thing needs to be replaced, but I got that covered:



No pics of the VCG leak, but it's there. Seller was trying to gaslight me about how it wasn't really leaking. So yeah, he's pretty shifty and I can't trust him for nothing. I'll spring for a PPI if I get serious about it, but not sure if I'm even there. That top worries me the most.

[Serf27]

Quite the price for all the maintenance you’ll need to do and seals.
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1...BoCRp4QAvD_BwE

https://www.ebay.com/itm/38486222385...70d6c819846581

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by Serf27

Quite the price for all the maintenance you’ll need to do and seals.
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1...uine-bmw-part/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384862223852

Ahhhhh, those prices are crazy!!!! OK, there's my answer!

Those seats are soooooo nice though!