Sunroof problems - United Bimmer Community

**Linds** · 03-31-2007, 06:15 PM

Hey there guys and gals!

As the thread titles says, my sunroof is pissing me off. It hasn't worked correctly since I got the car, but I didn't really care.

Over Spring Break I decided to redo my headliner (which is a whole other catastrophic tale, lol). Since I had that out, I figured I'd try to fix the sunroof, too. But, of course, I just made it worse.

I will be getting pics up later, but these are the basics:

1. The motor - always runs, but doesn't necessarily do what it's supposed to (ex: the one-touch open rarely opens with one touch)

2. The seal - the one on the outside that is glued (?) to the car itself is ripped but I'm not positive which seal it is on realoem, I went to the dealer but I'm pretty sure he told me the wrong one

3. The lifting blocks - I think these are the cause of the one corner of the sunroof toward the rear of the car not pushing up all the way when it is in the closed position

4. Leaking - it leaks, I covered the hole in the seal, it still leaks, I checked the drainage holes, they are clear

That's the gist of it so if anyone has any ideas before I get some pics up feel free to speak up!

**Linds** · 03-31-2007, 07:45 PM

Ok, here are the pics:

First is a pic of it closed, a view from the side of the front. I don't know if it's completely obvious but to me it looks like the sunroof sits a bit higher than it should.

Second is another pic of it closed. I guess it's hard to tell that it isn't sitting exactly right but that's the seal that I need.

This one is of the rear of the sunroof. You can see the slice in the seal here, it's right in the middle. I think that's where the two ends meet but they've eroded away a bit, making them about 1/4 inch away from each other.

This one is also a view of the problem seal, except from the inside. That little bit of light coming in in the middle is where the hole is, but like I said before, this isn't the cause (or at least the only cause) of the leak.

**Linds** · 03-31-2007, 07:51 PM

I guess I should figure out the seal problem first, since that's probably the easiest. The dealer told me that I needed #10 in this pic:

But I think I need #4 in this pic:

Can anyone confirm this?

witeshark · 03-31-2007, 07:53 PM

The seal doesn't need to be perfect cause the sunroofs are made with drains at all 4 corners (mine has a drip gutter under the back edge) So maybe the drains are clogged

**Linds** · 03-31-2007, 07:57 PM

And here are the remaining pics:

These two show how far the sunroof closes when I hold the button down. I have to release it and press it down again to get it to move forward any farther.

These last three are what happens when I push the button to close it all the way. The first is the whole thing, the second is a close up of the front driver's side corner, and the last is a close up of the rear pass. side corner.

**Linds** · 03-31-2007, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by witeshark

The seal doesn't need to be perfect cause the sunroofs are made with drains at all 4 corners (mine has a drip gutter under the back edge) So maybe the drains are clogged

I checked those, they're fine. Thanks, though!

**Linds** · 04-01-2007, 12:41 PM

Anyone?

**Linds** · 04-03-2007, 04:07 PM

Bueller?

**mullethunter3** · 04-03-2007, 06:17 PM

I might my reaching pretty far, but since your seals are probably not the fault, check the lifters. They might actually be the root of the problem.

I have no experience with this, just throwing out ideas.

**Linds** · 04-07-2007, 07:45 PM

Thanks, that's my next guess since when it is closed, I can still push it up about 1/2 an inch to an inch. I'll tackle it again when it gets warm, soooo probably another month, lol.