DIY: Strengthen/Repair Windshield Latches

FYI, While repairing mine I ended up with an extra latch mechanism. It's fully repaired, but I accidentally stripped the drive screw where it attached to the input cable. If you are planning to repair your own, you can swap this piece out with your own. If anyone wants to throw me a little beer money and the shipping its yours.

Hi guys, this is my first post in this truly awesome board. just bought an M3 convertible. My latch was cracked completely (RH and LH) . here in switzerland they only sell the complete RH/LH latches for around 500$ each.















i found the top lock latches on ebay. does anyone know if the quality of those is OK? http://www.ebay.com/itm/132069218002 i dont trust my fix to keep working more than a month...

I used something similar from ebay to repair one of my latches. I then proactively did the bolt reinforcement to make sure there was issues down the road

Originally Posted by gigu

Hi guys, this is my first post in this truly awesome board. just bought an M3 convertible. My latch was cracked completely (RH and LH) . here in switzerland they only sell the complete RH/LH latches for around 500$ each.















i found the top lock latches on ebay. does anyone know if the quality of those is OK? http://www.ebay.com/itm/132069218002 i dont trust my fix to keep working more than a month...

WOW your latches are in bad shape. Hopefully others see this and do the strengthening proactively.

That said, have you done the full repair? I see one bolt, not 2, and no epoxy filler. With 2 bolts and sealing the bolt ends in epoxy the repair should have a good chance of lasting.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by taylor192

WOW your latches are in bad shape. Hopefully others see this and do the strengthening proactively.

That said, have you done the full repair? I see one bolt, not 2, and no epoxy filler. With 2 bolts and sealing the bolt ends in epoxy the repair should have a good chance of lasting.

Good luck!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using E46Fanatics mobile app

the 2 bolt repair makes no sense for me. my brackets are completely destroyed and cracked. so far i opened and closed the roof 5 times without any problems. the latch is on its way and i will replace it in 2-3 weeks. meanwhile i'll remove the drivers seat to repair it. this will prevent me from driving and opening and closing my roof

to any one who has done this job with only lossen up the 4 bolts from the inliner :
have pic's off it ? how did the plastic top goes off then?
want to do this job in a few weeks so need some help
Thanks for reply in advance Jack

i dont understand what you mean by loosen up the bolts, but i'll do the job again next weekend with some new latches. if you explain me what you want to see i could take pics

I had read About someone who did not taken out the screws witch held the inlner kept behind the capping hood wich covers the latchers
I wonder how that is possible
And Some pic's Will help
Regards Jack

this is only possible if you bend the cover. it is easy to take out the 4 screws between the top roof and the inliner, too easy to risk bending the cover. the cover is plastic on one side and metal on the inside

Hi Gigu
just some questions first i'll tell what has happenend with my top
last time i was closing it it stops just above the windschield.
than it did'nt get up or down. BMW diagnostic says it was a fault by the clos sensor which is located by the drivers latch.
after reset the fault diagnose it would still not operate up or down.
now i've measured the wire's wich come in the white plug on the CVM
18+9 where good , 17+8 also, 16+ 7 also
14+13 not good 4+ 5 not good
ans from the triple "pairs"where some duo's good and others bad
i even did already take a look at the driver side front bend but all looks well there
so i supose i had to look in the back Is this assumption good??
i 'asking this to save some finding job

I know i even has to fix my latches because they have cracks so i'll get them out and do the 5mm bolts job
I will start next week with this project so can use all the help

Regards from a windy Holland Jack

Please keep this thread to discussing the latches. There is a thread for electrical troubleshooting.

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damn... i just messed up a new latch by moving it up and down the axle because the plastic thread was too narrow and the electric motor got stuck trying to move the latches...


im sick of the plastic latches, i will try to convince my engineer friend to 3d draw this thing and fabric a fully metallic latch. anyone interested?

I want to thank Taylor and others who has helped me out
thanks to this i was able to repair my cracked latches and fixed a broken wire
so my 330ci is ready for summer
Thank again Jack

Originally Posted by Jack fontijn

I want to thank Taylor and others who has helped me out
thanks to this i was able to repair my cracked latches and fixed a broken wire
so my 330ci is ready for summer
Thank again Jack

Good job, glad to help!

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WOW!!! What a post! Thanks to everyone who contributed- This saved me a lot of $ and a lot of time.
I posted photos of my repair in hopes of continuing the knowledge base.
Some thoughts I will add:
-My latches were in very bad condition. One of them had a huge chunk that had separated and left the plastic part almost split in half. It was free floating and had to be pushed back into position to re-form the part.
-I did not remove the parts to fix it. They stayed mounted in the top in the open position.
-I did not do as good of a job lining up the drill as I would have liked to. My screws are at a slight angle.
-The metal was much easier to drill through than I expected. I was surprised that the plastic seemed harder to drill through than the metal.
-When I applied the JB Weld, I applied it immediately after mixing. It was in a more liquid state when I applied it. I think this helped the product to seep into the cracks.
-My end product is a sloppy mess.
-It works like a charm!
Thanks again everyone!

Originally Posted by Landmark

WOW!!! What a post! Thanks to everyone who contributed- This saved me a lot of $ and a lot of time.
I posted photos of my repair in hopes of continuing the knowledge base.
Some thoughts I will add:
-My latches were in very bad condition. One of them had a huge chunk that had separated and left the plastic part almost split in half. It was free floating and had to be pushed back into position to re-form the part.
-I did not remove the parts to fix it. They stayed mounted in the top in the open position.
-I did not do as good of a job lining up the drill as I would have liked to. My screws are at a slight angle.
-The metal was much easier to drill through than I expected. I was surprised that the plastic seemed harder to drill through than the metal.
-When I applied the JB Weld, I applied it immediately after mixing. It was in a more liquid state when I applied it. I think this helped the product to seep into the cracks.
-My end product is a sloppy mess.
-It works like a charm!
Thanks again everyone!

wow, messed up like mine were. i would replace them. i found out that the aftermarket Opel Astra G convertible latches are the same and of way better quality!

Originally Posted by gigu

wow, messed up like mine were. i would replace them. i found out that the aftermarket Opel Astra G convertible latches are the same and of way better quality!

Can you post a link to them, or where to buy them new, since Opel is not sold in North America. Thanks!

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of course, sorry. you have to use german keywords in ebay, like 'opel astra cabrio verschluss'.

they were simimar to these ones: http://m.ebay.ch/itm/2x-Verschlussha...048?nav=SEARCH

i noticed that the thread in the plastic is way smoother and 'easier going' as the silver latches.

I am almost positive that this is the issue on the pass. side of mine. If I bang on the trim panel I can hear plastic bouncing around inside. Just wish there were pics of how to undo the headliner and bend the panel to get access without cutting. I hate to cut up a $300+ part to get to it all lol.

This is a great forum. very informative and complete. I fixed the busted wires in the first bend of the top last night...then discovered this issue.

Originally Posted by RamAirDave

I am almost positive that this is the issue on the pass. side of mine. If I bang on the trim panel I can hear plastic bouncing around inside. Just wish there were pics of how to undo the headliner and bend the panel to get access without cutting. I hate to cut up a $300+ part to get to it all lol.

This is a great forum. very informative and complete. I fixed the busted wires in the first bend of the top last night...then discovered this issue.

someone was able to remove windshield trim to gain access to the screws to remove the cover.

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