[daniel_c]

Hey everyone, long time reader, first time poster.

I've had my '22 30i for a few months now and have had a constant issue with annoying squeaking while the roof is up. It's a high-frequency squeak behind my head that sounds almost like radio static, if that makes sense.
It's a bigger issue for me than it sounds, as I'm in Sweden where we have very coarse asphalt almost everywhere (I guess for it to last longer as most people here use studded tires during winters), meaning the vibrations from the rough road cause the squeaks almost at all times.

Anyhow, I managed to track down the source of it, and surprisingly, it comes from the roof fabric/linning making contact with the rollbars and the flaps that open/close depending on whether the roof is up or down. I'm not sure about the terminology here but the image should explain it better.
I was surprised the roof made such a strong/tight contact with the bars and flaps, before I actually looked, I would have guessed there would be some space between them - that the roof cleared them - but that isn't the case.

In order to make sure this was it, I wedged a microfibre cloth between the roof and the bars/flaps on both sides, and sure enough, the squeaking completely disappeared. It was like I was in a different car!

But the question is, what the heck can be done about this? It seems like a design problem to me, that would affect all cars, but of course, not everyone seems to have the issue. This makes me wonder whether my roof is somehow misaligned and it's not actually supposed to make contact with those components?

I would really appreciate if someone could check and just confirm that your roof is also making contact here. But even if that is the case, and the fabric of my roof is such that it makes this rubbing noise, I really don't know what to do about it.

Any ideas? I would really appreciate some input on this, as it's really affecting my enjoyment of the car

[Westside Guy]

Why haven't you gone to your dealer to correct the issue?

[Smudge10]

I looked and in mine, the roof fabric was in contact with the entire rollbar. No noise whatsoever.

I see that you wedged the rag under the side flap. I am wondering if that is where the squeaking came from? My side flap is tight against the roof fabric, when up, but perhaps yours has more play/movement?

So, in my car, both parts are tight, but no noise. I suggest using the rag just against the rollbar and letting the sideflap go free. If you get noise there, at least it will be localized. One suggestion is to put the top almost all the way down and see if you can lubricate the sideflap mechanism. Perhaps a rub on some of the pivots there is receiving vibrations.

Just a thought... Good luck!

[daniel_c]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

Why haven't you gone to your dealer to correct the issue?

It feels like such a "defuse" problem and I'm kind of guessing the dealer will just say nothing is wrong and that's just the way it is, but I'll definitely give it a try if I don't manage to improve/fix it myself somehow.

I'd still want to at least narrow the issue down as much as possible before taking it to the dealer.

Originally Posted by Smudge10

My side flap is tight against the roof fabric, when up, but perhaps yours has more play/movement?

My flaps are tight against the roof as well. The roof is actually tighter against the flaps than against the rollbars.

Originally Posted by Smudge10

I suggest using the rag just against the rollbar and letting the sideflap go free. If you get noise there, at least it will be localized.

Yeah, that's a great suggestion. I feel like at this point, pinpointing the issue as closely as possible is half the battle.

Originally Posted by Smudge10

One suggestion is to put the top almost all the way down and see if you can lubricate the sideflap mechanism. Perhaps a rub on some of the pivots there is receiving vibrations.

Hmm, I don't think the pivots are actually the problem, as even with the wedged cloth, the pivots would have still moved/shifted.
I really do think that what I'm hearing is literally the roof microscopically moving over the rollbars and the flaps, and the tiny friction is creating the sound.

Thanks so much for your input man! I'll keep trying to narrow it down and post an update, incase anyone else happens to run into this.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by daniel_c

It feels like such a "defuse" problem and I'm kind of guessing the dealer will just say nothing is wrong and that's just the way it is, but I'll definitely give it a try if I don't manage to improve/fix it myself somehow.

I'd still want to at least narrow the issue down as much as possible before taking it to the dealer.

If it is as bad as you say just take a test ride with your SA at the dealer. If you can hear constant squeaking, so will he. Be really firm and don't let him BS you that the squeaking sound is normal.

[3ster]

I had this problem and it turned out to be the front and rear parts of the Roll Hoop plastic covers which were not clipped together properly. Simply push the front and Rear covers together firmly on both sides and this should stop the squeaking, if it persists a bit of lube may help!

[daniel_c]

I'm away on vacation so haven't had a lot of time to keep investigating this, but did narrow it down further.

Found a section of road that was particularly rough, where the squeaking was clearly present, that I could use for testing. So just to double-check, I removed the cloths between the flaps/rollbars and roof completely and drove it - squeak city! Put the cloths back, just like in the image I posted above, and the squeaks disappeared as expected. Then in order to figure out whether it is the flaps or the rollbars that is the problem, I wedged the cloths only between the rollbars and the roof - and the squeaking is gone.

So the problem is not the flaps but the rollbars.

The squeaking doesn't happen when the roof is down (maybe you could argue that the wind noise masks them out but I'm quite sure that isn't the case - the car is dead solid with no noise or creaks/squeaks/rattles with the roof down) which means the squeaks must come from the friction between the rollbars and the roof.

In a way, this is a good thing, since it seems like such a trivial issue, but on the other hand, if this is the case, I really don't know what to do about it, other than attaching pieces of cloth/felt to either the top of the rollbars or those particular areas of the roof itself, but that really feels like a low-rent solution for a car like this. And I also can't imagine what the dealer service could possibly do about this.

[stlcdr]

I had a look, today, at mine with the roof up. The side flaps definitely touch. The roll bar covers? I’m not sure.

Had a check: I definitely can’t get my fingers between the cloth and the roll bar cover, and tried a piece of paper: it slides in but I feel friction, and using a flashlight I’d does look like it touches. But I do not have any squeaking at all.