Convertible roof chords

[Gablelad]

Hi all,
I have a 640d convertible. One of the chords holding in place the inner headling has become frayed to a point where I fear it will soon break. I have made enquiries at my local BMW dealership and the repair kit cost is £22.10 however fitting has a monumental cost of well over £700:00.
There are several chords on each side of the hood that all have different purposes, however the one that is frayed I can trace quite easily and have good access to sections in order to replace it.
Has anyone out there attempted to replace one of these chords?
Hopefully I have attached a jpeg of it.

[Opie55]

You have not attached a pic. I have not read of anybody doing that in the 5 and a half years I've been on here. But it is one of those things I would absolutely do myself. I'd bet that no person at your dealer has ever done it either. What matters is how it connects at each end, and your access.

[Gablelad]

Thanks for your reply.
The "technician" didn't appear to have a clue what he was doing. Guess he had never done it before or been sent on a BMW training course either.
Service Assistant took an age to get the quote to me and stated that the entire headliner needed to come off in order to replace the one chord.
I will let you know how I get on. The part will take over a week to get to me from Germany. Probably would be with me tomorrow if we hadn't left the E.U.

[Opie55]

Now I see the pic. I see which cord is frayed. I'll look at mine and see if I can offer any tips. I have always thought that the network of cables and straps on modern convertible tops seems unnecessarily complex. Just look at that cord in the foreground. It looks like that game you play with string on your fingers.

[Opie55]

OK, so I looked at this on my car today. I think those elastic cords that tension the headliner are more complex than overhauling a transmission. A couple of them I'm not sure how they could ever be replaced because they terminate within the headliner itself by a means that is not obvious. You can see that in your photo. Luckily, yours is not one of those. I highly recommend that you take numerous photos of how yours runs before removing it, taking particular note of how it crosses over (or not) other adjacent cords. Your cord starts at that obvious torx screw on the top frame as shown in your photo. Its other end is also visible in your photo, but just barely. I've attached a better photo. But in your photo, see that white paper bar code label on the headliner itself, and about two inches above that is a small silver rectangle? That silver rectangle is the other end of your cord. I assume the cord comes without that rectangle attached and you have to pinch it on the end of the cord with vice grips after you have it threaded through. The only real trick to this cord is that it runs through an eyelet on the rear top bar about 8 inches in from the edge. Since the headliner is pretty floppy when you have the top half open, I'd get your cell phone in there to get a pic so you can see how it goes. Once you know how it goes, I think you can probably thread it blind w/o too much trouble. It also threads through a cloth strap on the top, but that's visible. Honestly, if you take the time to study how it runs a bit, and you have good luck doing the blind threading through the eyelet, I think you could do this in 10 minutes - marginally less than you were going to be charged.

[Gablelad]

Hi,
Thanks for your input on the chord situation I have.
I have to say that my local BMW dealership has been as useless as an ashtray on a motorcycle!!!
Their initial identification of the part I required (cost £20.00) came back as two small plastic covers. Wrong!!!
Their second attempt (cost £40.00) came back as a slightly larger plastic cover and a few pins. Wrong !!!
The third attempt at a price of over £450.00 looked correct on their systems however along with a fitting charge in the region of £750.00 was politely declined by myself.
Therefore I went to a local home hardware shop and found the correct size chord that cost a mere £2.00 for ten meters. Bargain !!!

Off to work I went on the car.

Initially I had a good look at the problem, studying the path of the chord and taking photos as I went. To my delight I actually found the cause of the initial fraying problem and have attached a photo below to show (B.Jpg). In essence a nearby ring crimp was sticking out in the wrong direction and my the chord had, over time, frayed against it !!

https://www.6post.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3287234&stc=1&d=169590 9978

With the roof open to a suitable distance to work on I had to wedge the rear cover open with a piece of wood to stop the cover from closing as they tend to do.

Carefully removing the screw from the one end of the chord and attaching the new chord to the round crimp I then gently pulled the other end through its path and cut the new chord with a sufficient working length once in place.
I then removed the clasp holding the old chord in place and attached it to the new chord. After measuring the exact length of the existing chord I then pulled the new chord back through its path, attached the ring clamp onto it.
Prior to testing the roof operated I ensured both ends of the new chord and its fittings were secured (A.Jpg)

https://www.6post.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3287240&stc=1&d=169591 0435

After removing the wooden post, I then operated the roof mechanism and all turned out well with no problems.

That's one to the good guys and a saving of nearly £1200.00 !!!

[Opie55]

I wondered if those cords were available separately. I had looked on RealOEM.com at the time of your first post and did not see them. But good work on the fix.