Anyone have disassembly diagrams for California Roof?

[RAMontgomery]

Folks,

I bought a '96 ti with the California roof this January (less than 35K miles, garage queen, automatic - oh well).

Things have been great until the recent torrential rains here in the Northeast. I've got a leak which is exiting at the bottom of the panel below the steering wheel. Having replaced the windshield, and being told by my glass guy that he couldn't find the leak, we've got it narrowed down to the sunroof. Both my mechanic and I are a little leery of tearing it apart without documentation. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I'm more than happy to pay for something online or at the dealer.

Thanks,

Rick Montgomery
96 318ti
86 635Csi
74 2002

[mrnine]

It's not much, but it's a start:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...98&hg=54&fg=05

But I assume you've already seen that. They're nasty intricate. There was a thread on here of a guy troubleshooting a leak, but I think his originated in the rear.

[cali-ti]

possible the drain is plugged, broken, disconnected ... i think i have a pic of where the drain tube exits in the front wheel well in my gallery pics. not sure that'll really help much in disassembling anything though. i know of no third party manual that covers the cali top (or i'd own it!). don't know what bmw manual covers it, but i'm guessing one must exist. sounds like we need a source who works at a bmw dealership

[2002mcs]

I have had the same leak problem in varying degrees. The water runs down the inside of the A pillar trim and exits the heating vent by the window or the under dash panel by the hood release. I had the dealer look at it and $200 later they reattached a disconnected drain hose at the corner of the Cali top. They removed the sun visor and A pillar trim to reattach the hose I think. Ther are some access holes there. This solved about 90% of my problem. I could then see the water draining out of the bottom drain hole when you fill the water channel of the Cali roof. Someone else on this site suggested that leaks can occur if water seeps between the the gap between the Cali roof seal and the body. This can be corrected by inserting silicone adhesive between the seal and the roof with a syringe. I have also tried this and it has helped. I do not know if the problen has been solved yet. I am waiting for a good rain.

[RAMontgomery]

Folks,

Thanks for the replies (this is a REALLY frustrating problem) - my mechanic and I used the diagram from OEMPARTS to help diagnose (thanks for the post). Between what's been posted here, and what was in earlier posts on the board, we've located the spot where it comes in (and yes, it travels through/around the A pillar, and exits in the panel below the steering wheel). The problem is, my mechanic pretty much believes that silicone caulk WILL work, but he'd need to disassemble part of the roof to GET to appropriate place to put the caulk, and we're both petrified (him more than me) that we'll break something in the process.

As this point, I'm going to try:

The dealer network (Herb Chambers, et al here in Boston)

and

Convertable top specialists (of any stripe)

Thanks again for your input - and any other insight is welcome!

(Especially since my wife is losing her mind over this and says Sell It!)

Rick

[RAMontgomery]

Folks,

We did the silicone in via the syringe at the spots where there was a gap between the seal and the body - it SEEMS to be holding up - will let you know. When we got home, a new/previously unnoticed problem cropped up: when I closed the roof, it seemed to lock in place. When I got out, I noticed that the passenger's side was sealed, but the driver's side was loose at a couple of places. I pushed the "open" sunroof button for a second or two, and the the driver's side sealed. Has anyone seen this problem before?

Rick

[96cali]

I was the first to post the silicone/syringe solution and other members have made it work. No disassembly needed. Check my previous posts. It sounds like a leak between the seal and the metal roof. You just need to put silicone in the corners where the roof meets the seal. That micro gap wicks in the water.