Roof Rail Covers

[Brian D. Barrett]

The small covers over the roof rails where the roof top carrier attatches are hinged on little plastic holders. I have one that is broken And the cover will not stay closed. I know how to remove the roof rail strip covers etc, but can the plastic part be changed and the cover re-installed without removing the interior panel and taking off the entire hinge assembly?

[Loren]

Removing

1 Unclipping roof joint strip

Lift at both ends using a plastic spatula -1- and unclip all the way along.

2 Pulling off roof joint seal

Pull the roof joint seal out of the groove of the roof joint strip -2-.

3 Unclipping roof joint clips

On the outside of the roof joint clip -3- and roof joint strip, insert a narrow crewdriver in the centre and press the screwdriver outward until the roof joint clip disengages.

4 Unclipping fold-out element

Insert a screwdriver beneath both ends of the fold-out element -4-, and lever out.

5 Detaching spreader

Insert a plastic spatula into the wedge piece of the spreader -5- and push. Remove the spreader.

6 Removing interior trim parts

Lift up the clothes hook bracket -6- at the bottom with a plastic spatula and pull off. Pull away the A-pillar trim -7- and C-pillar trim -8- towards the inside and remove.

7 Detaching the roof liner

Unclip the metal strut -9- of the roof liner from the plastic clips.

8 Detaching base plate of Roof Transport System.

Release stud -10- from hexagon socket head bushing a/f 8 (micro-encapsulated) -12-. Remove the base plate -11- from the roof channel.

Installing

1 Fitting base plate of Roof Transport System

The contact surface of the base plate -11- must be free from dirt and grease. Position base plate of Roof Transport System in and parallel to roof channel parallel. Screw stud bolt -10- into hexagon socket head bushing a/f 8 -12- micro-encapsulated).

2 Attaching roof liner

Push the metal strut -9- of the roof liner into the plastic clips.

3 Fitting interior trim parts

Position and clip in A-pillar trim -7- and C-pillar trim -8-. Fit the clothes hook bracket -6-. The clothes hook bracket must be inserted into the aluminium bracket without the use of force, otherwise the aluminium bracket will be deformed.

4 Fitting spreaders

Position spreaders -5- (5 per roof channel in the recesses, beginning at the front. Press the spreader right down into the roof channel, and push the wedge piece into the spreader until the latter is braced in the roof channel.

5 Fitting roof joint seal

Push the roof joint seal onto the roof joint strip -2- all the way round.

6 Clip in fold-out elements

Position the fold-out element -4- in the cut-out of the roof joint strip, and press in the lugs at the ends until they lock into place.

7 Clipping in roof joint clips

Insert the roof joint clips -3- narrow side first and press in until the lug in the centre locks into place.

8 Fitting roof joint strip

Position the roof joint strip -13- over the roof channel, and align the roof joint clips in the roof joint strip with the spreaders so that they lie directly above one another. Push on the roof joint strip.

[Richard Hamilton]

I had the same problem on mine, and changed the plastic holder. What shocked me was the price of this item - (from memory) it was about 20GBP - that's about 34USD! I thought at first that I would change both while I had the roof strip off, but soon changed my mind!

[JoeA]

Do you guys know where to get and how much the replacement for the entire roof strip is? It looks like the previous owner just tried to force something like a rack into the slots of the roof on my 99 996.

[Keggers]

Hi there

I just bought myself a roof transport system for my 98 coupe. Can't get the existing screws out from under the flaps no matter what I do though, and am slowly destroying the heads of the screws. Have noticed there is the bolt that can be seen from underneath, number 12 in the picture in the previous post above. Can I screw this out instead from underneath, which should be much easier than trying further with the screws from above? Appears the screws are screwed into the bolt?

Or will I damage something by doing this?

Cheers

Greg

[chris8382]

Hi there

I just bought myself a roof transport system for my 98 coupe. Can't get the existing screws out from under the flaps no matter what I do though, and am slowly destroying the heads of the screws. Have noticed there is the bolt that can be seen from underneath, number 12 in the picture in the previous post above. Can I screw this out instead from underneath, which should be much easier than trying further with the screws from above? Appears the screws are screwed into the bolt?

Or will I damage something by doing this?

Cheers

Greg

Good luck. I had the same problem and am now in the process of drilling out the bolts with their worthless little flat head slots. I am using a 6mm x 1.0 tap to make new threads. This is working well. Oh yeah, dont bother trying to use an extractor on these...I broke two before I figured out to go straight to the tap.

[auto-xr]

Hi there

I just bought myself a roof transport system for my 98 coupe. Can't get the existing screws out from under the flaps no matter what I do though, and am slowly destroying the heads of the screws. Have noticed there is the bolt that can be seen from underneath, number 12 in the picture in the previous post above. Can I screw this out instead from underneath, which should be much easier than trying further with the screws from above? Appears the screws are screwed into the bolt?

Or will I damage something by doing this?

Cheers

Greg

I ran into the same thing. Anyone have some advice on this? Using a easy out drill bit makes me uneasy.

[Keggers]

Hi there

I just bought myself a roof transport system for my 98 coupe. Can't get the existing screws out from under the flaps no matter what I do though, and am slowly destroying the heads of the screws. Have noticed there is the bolt that can be seen from underneath, number 12 in the picture in the previous post above. Can I screw this out instead from underneath, which should be much easier than trying further with the screws from above? Appears the screws are screwed into the bolt?

Or will I damage something by doing this?

Cheers

Greg

I ran into the same thing. Anyone have some advice on this? Using a easy out drill bit makes me uneasy.

See details here...

[Fritz996911]

Did anyone manage to get the screws out OK or did you all have to go down the bracket replacement route?

I'm looking at what to do and I am keen to see if anyone managed to get them out...

[Unluft]

Any activity on this?

 

[Adrian Lane]

I just ordered 4 new Roof Panel Plates. Cost $190 shipped. If I was more savvy with a drill, and had a shop, I might try to drill them out. In fact I might try after I get the new ones in, and sell the old ones.