458 458 Spider roof cycle reliability

No need to worry about the 458 roof. It is very reliable and trouble free. My 2014 spider is a daily driver with 120,000 miles. But then again, I operate my roof as well as all the other mechanical parts of the car. I suppose if you let the car sit idle for months and months, or years and years, things will malfunction.

 

I use mine at least twice per day. No issues yet.

 

7 years of no issues with my 458 spider roof.
I was told it was designed/made by Webasto the German company that does the BMW roof.
Unlike the California that uses fishing line and Jockey underwear elastic - and frequently has problems - this mechanism it is super solid.
Some caveats though:
First is that unlike the 360/430 "soft" roof, it does not retract into a sealed compartment. Meaning, if your roof is wet following a wash or rainfall, should you put roof down that water ends up on carpet in passenger compartment. Roof needs to be dry.
Second, the hinge points of roof - and there are many - really like to be lubricated. Your choice of lubricant. I like the spray type silicones/WD-40 that have the long plastic "needle" that keeps spray contained in a tight pattern. I also keep a rag under the area I am spraying so headliner or interior never get splattered. Really helps the smoothness of operation AND keeps squeaks away.
Lastly, I use a non-silicone rubber treatment on all the rubber seams. I use Griot's Vinyl and Rubber Dressing. Basically, you put roof in the half way position - it allows best access to all the rubber areas of roof and tray areas - and go to town using a sponge to apply it. Don't forget area around back window as well.
I hear - no pun intended - that people complain of roof squeaks or rattles. I have had zero doing these few things. Plus, I am trying to ward off EVER having to replace roof gaskets. Lord only knows the cost or if they will ever seal as well as these do.

Best

 

One of the cables snapped on my 2012 spider which connects to the black leather flap that goes up and down. You need to check it’s alignment once in a while to ensure it doesn’t fold onto itself due to misalignment. Otherwise trouble free. I use my folding top 4 times a day in my daily spider.


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My 2014 Spider's folding mechanism failed after 18 months and at around 4-5xxx miles. Dealer had to source a part from Italy which took around 1 month so put painter's tape over the folding switch so I wouldn't absent mindedly trigger it. Fixed under warranty.

2010 California 3.5 years old daily driver less than 10K miles no issue with hardtop.

 

120k Miles on your 458 spider. **** that’s awesome. I obviously believe you but can you please post a photo? Just need to see it. I’m looking at my 458’s odomoter and just trying to picture it


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Hi, I’m in the TOFM (The Official Ferrari Magazine) in issue 42, the cover has the F8 Tributo, and my article is in The Edit section just before the F8 article. You can see the car and the odometer reading which at that time read 100K miles

 

2012 458 Spider +30k miles. No problems.

 

Back to Ferrari folding roofs. I also owned the California. That roof design is heavy and complex. Some owners had some issues where panels didn’t work as reliably, sometimes resulting in dented panels. I personally had a few occasions where the roof malfunctioned and couldn’t complete the cycle, leaving me no other choice but to drive with the roof either stuck open or stuck closed.
With time, the Cali T and Portofino, I’m sure the bugs got sorted.

And yes I drove my Cali too—65,000 miles

 

Hi,
I am currently owning my 2nd 458 Spider.
On the one I had before (it was a 2012 with around 40'000km on) I had a roof issue consisting of alarming malfunction messages, when still the roof was working properly. The problem was solved by the dealer with half an hour of screwdriver job, I think it was a matter of re-adjusting the open position switch.
Nothing else.
Someway OT but I would recommend to always operate the roof withe the engine on, which helps the battery life, and possibly avoids electronic gremlins.