I have an '01 325CiC with the power convertible top that developed a new
problem last week.  I checked thru the newsgroup, and haven't seen mention
of this before.   It's a longshot, but I thought I'd post it here to see if
anyone has seen this before...

One hot day, I got into my car and pushed the top 'down' button.  The car
behaved normally to a point - the windows dropped a couple inches, the front
latches disengaged, the rear of the top lifted to allow the storage cover to
rise.  Once the storage cover was open, the back of the top lowered like it
was getting ready to fold into the storage compartment.  But then nothing
happened, the motor strained for about 10-15 seconds, and there was a 'pop'
and then it stopped.  When I take out the key in this 'half way' condition,
I hear a clicking sound (like a solenoid) in the rear driver side (sounds
like in the storage compartment)

I can get the top to go back up, but someone has to hold the top 'up'
button, and I have to grab the top and push/lift the back to get the power
mechanism to engage and it then finishes raising and latching the top.

This is completely repeatable - have done it a few times to open the storage
compartment and look for clues...

A couple other facts (that may be red herrings)
- on the day this happened, the inside console door lock/unlock button
stopped working too.  The power door locks continue to work fine with the
key buttons though, as well as the door handles (manual).
- it was a hot and sunny day (90s), but no where near record heat
- I had a problem a couple months back with a mouse eating a few wires, but
that was fixed and has been fine since then

Anyone have any clues?  I have a clueless dealer in this town, so I think
I'm on my own...

Thanks for any help!