Tarpaulin Cover

Hello all, I have searched but to no avail have I found any information on our website about the Tarpaulin Cover. The part number for this cover is 82110027059. For those of you who do not know what it is, it is a cover that you put just over the cabin of the car when the top is down. The purpose I believe is so you do not have to put the soft top up if you are going to leave the car. This seems very appealing to me, because every time you put the top up and down, it is one step closer to a costly repair. During the summer time I basically leave the top down because it is so beautiful outside, but at night when I am at work, dew will form and get in the inside of the car. I would prefer not to have to put the top back up and down. Basically what I am asking is does anyone have any experience with this cover, reviews, recommendations? Or is anyone selling theirs? I have posted a picture below to help aid with my description, I also have included the link to the cover on BMW's website.
Thanks

http://www.shopbmwusa.com/ProductDet...&ProductId=525

I had not seen these before, so can't offer much feed-back, but they look pretty nice. A quick search showed this same exact cover on Amazon for $75 plus free shipping, (while your link above was $87.50). Description shows its just for 2005 - 2006 model years, but not sure why it wouldn't fit pretty much all E46 verts. Looks like it would be worth a try for only $75. Should meet your needs. I'm going to get one for myself. Will post back how they fit in a couple weeks if you want to wait that long.

Ya, it does look pretty nice, for the price I might just pull the trigger as well.

I got this one at the dealer. Highly recommend it. Fast on and on and I store it in a black pillowcase on the floor behind driver seat (otherwise the fabric rubs the carpet and pills up).

Keeps dew out and lets you drive topless without having to dry off the fabric top before lowering.

Tiny drawback: Unless your windshield is completely clean, the tarpaulin schmaltzes it up when it drags across the glass.

wouldn't this be easy to break in to? I mean, it looks like it's held on with just some Velcro straps.

^ If you mean easy to access the car's interior, yes. You're as secure as when you simply leave the car parked with the top down. But the cover does a good job of keeping dust and sun out.

As far as people taking the cover itself, the straps tuck into the trunk hinge so it can be "locked" onto the car.

oh, cool.

how does it do with water? I'd be interested, but here in Florida you get those out of nowhere rain showers...

I think you guys are going a little nuts...this is exactly what the convertible top is for. Are you really afraid that your top will break ? If so, this may not be the car for you.

I got one and I like it. Nothing wrong with saving wear and tear on the top. I'd rather put a cover on near the beach and protect the interior from birds and the dust/sand that's in the air than always putting my top up/down.

As for the water question, I seriously doubt it protects from water but that's not something I have to deal with often so I'm not worried about it.

Originally Posted by johnrando

I got one and I like it. Nothing wrong with saving wear and tear on the top. I'd rather put a cover on near the beach and protect the interior from birds and the dust/sand that's in the air than always putting my top up/down.

As for the water question, I seriously doubt it protects from water but that's not something I have to deal with often so I'm not worried about it.

Yes, this is the type of usage I am talking about. Like when you go somewhere, you know when you get back to the car, your going to want to put the top back down, so instead of putting wear on the top, for that peice of mind protection against birds, debris, ect.... You put this cover on.

Question. How long does it take to put on the cover, what are the steps?

Maybe 2 minutes. I lay it out over the car. The connections points are:
1) front windshield part just lays over the windshield and under the wipers
2) rear part has tabs that you can open your trunk and lay them in, so when the trunk closes the tabs are pinned down.
I do either the front or rear first depending on which way the breeze is blowing. The tarp is very light.
3) Then there are 4 side velcro straps, 2 around the door handles, and 2 around the side mirrors. That's it.

I wouldn't recommend this is a heavy wind area as the velcro is not THAT strong.

Does this only work with the windows down?

I'd have to check. My guess is that the windows could be partially up, but I don't think there's a lot of extra room for that, so not up enough to make a difference.

Originally Posted by jbehr99

Hello all, I have searched but to no avail have I found any information on our website about the Tarpaulin Cover. The part number for this cover is 82110027059. For those of you who do not know what it is, it is a cover that you put just over the cabin of the car when the top is down. The purpose I believe is so you do not have to put the soft top up if you are going to leave the car. This seems very appealing to me, because every time you put the top up and down, it is one step closer to a costly repair. During the summer time I basically leave the top down because it is so beautiful outside, but at night when I am at work, dew will form and get in the inside of the car. I would prefer not to have to put the top back up and down. Basically what I am asking is does anyone have any experience with this cover, reviews, recommendations? Or is anyone selling theirs? I have posted a picture below to help aid with my description, I also have included the link to the cover on BMW's website.
Thanks

http://www.shopbmwusa.com/ProductDet...&ProductId=525

Thanks, jbehr99!

I was actually looking for this a few weeks ago at Autoanything.com but I did not know there was a BMW OEM one. Autoanything has them for sale from $66 to $112 but I just went ahead and bought the OEM online for $68.26. I also bought the full OEM nose mask for my e46 M3 in the same order for $76.84.

Originally Posted by M3Dux

Thanks, jbehr99!

I was actually looking for this a few weeks ago at Autoanything.com but I did not know there was a BMW OEM one. Autoanything has them for sale from $66 to $112 but I just went ahead and bought the OEM online for $68.26. I also bought the full OEM nose mask for my e46 M3 in the same order for $76.84.

No problem!

Pic of mine on. You can kinda put the windows up... I put one side up, but I think it starts to get a little tight on space.

Originally Posted by johnrando

Pic of mine on. You can kinda put the windows up... I put one side up, but I think it starts to get a little tight on space.

Thanks for the pic

It's nice to see one installed. I've been looking at our photos of them for a while trying to fully grasp how they mount (sometimes the shop BMW site doesn't 100% line up with reality).

click image for more information

Just got mine in today and tried it out. It fits well, and I'm happy with it.

Johnrando gave a good summary how to put it on, and its pretty simple and quick. Only thing I like better is to put the rear seam just barely under the trunk lid so that it gives a better seal in the back and should be slightly less prone to tear the tabs if a strong gust of wind came up.

I got it barely caught under the trunk lid this way the first time I tried it by mistake, and decided I liked that better, than when I correctly just put the little tabs under the trunk. Plus I plan to use mine alot for future pollen seasons down here in GA where the pine pollen can be brutal. I think it will help keep the pollen from blowing inside better that way.

All in all, it seems good quality and wasn't that expensive.