How to manually close the roof of an Audi R8 Spyder.

The manual closing procedure for the roof of an Audi R8 Spyder is very complex and always requires two people. It should only be done in case of a hydraulic system failure, as it is an emergency procedure.

We lower all the side windows, open the plastic cover of the glass housing, disengage the gear, and lower the rear window. We open the engine cover and press the roof closing button for 10 seconds to release the hydraulic pressure.

Now we unlock the roof housing cover. We find the two locking bolts in the engine compartment and unscrew them clockwise, close the hood, and manually push the housing cover back until it is parallel to the rest of the body.

We remove the bolts that secure the side flaps, as they cannot be bent, only removed. With assistance, we extract the hardtop panel from its housing and position it above the cabin, aligning it with the windshield pillar.

Now comes the most delicate part: we remove the plastic cap on each side of the pillar and insert the hex key into the slot, operating the locking fork. While one person pushes the roof forward towards the windshield, the other turns the hex key counterclockwise to close the fork and secure the roof.

We snap the housing cover forward until it clicks into the closed position, push its side flaps down, and tighten the hex head screw found in the roof housing to secure the flap and lock the rear cover. We manually raise the rear window and check that all components are locked and well aligned.