sunroof fix (archive)

The complete automotive resource for buyers, sellers, and owners like you.

Mine got munched... shade cockeyed, brackets broke, messed up everything, like a lot of you have experienced. Here's a follow up, though.

Ordered all the parts I thought I'd need via the parts CD... top right and left guides for the shade, couple of clips and covers (that they didn't have in stock). I was going to have the dealer install them, but they can't until next week. Faced with a trip to Palm Springs this weekend, I did the unthinkable...

I pulled out the factory manual, went to the hood section (where the sunroof instructions are located), and took the whole thing apart... The lid comes of in all of two minutes. Read and reread those instructions... the diagrams get weird because its hard to tell which side you're looking at... or whether it is a side view versus from above.

Long story short... it works perfect now. It was only a bitch putting it back on and doing the "adjustment" procedure, which is overrated in difficulty once you understand what they're actually trying to tell you to do. Basically, you aling the notches on each side of the shade's brackets to the gear, push back the entire lifting unit until its in the locked position, use a "special tool" to lock it into this "perfectly aligned position", put the roof back on, and tighten the bolts to whatever height you want. Yes, that all the height is... loosen the screws, tighten the screw when its at the correct height. For the special tool, by the way, I used 2 alan wrenches... or however you spell alan.

It fits like it never has, moves perfectly... Because I didn't have to replace the cables or those assemblies, the cost was under $100.

BMW wanted to do the complete rebuild... just under a $1000. I think they say that to every sunroof fix. Funny, the only thing that detoured me from that was that they couldn't schedule it until next week. I'm glad now, of course. The whole thing took about 2 hours... mostly manual reading and squinting at the diagrams (Lez has posted that same page, but there are some other diagrams that go beyond the adjustment that also helped just to orient yourself... some 6 pages in all).

So, if you have the manual and some time, you might want to consider it. Not only did I fix it, but I made it fit correctly too. There's nothing like actually fixing your own 8, let me tell you. Best nights sleep in a long time...

Questions, comments, or problems, please visit the Roadfly help desk.