Sunroof fix. What kit to get and where to find fabric?

[EnderG60]

Ive been searching all weekend and cant find and exact info on this.

I have a 95 M3 and the inner sunroof liner slides freely on its own. There is a kit available here

http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E36-M3-...roof/ES157418/

but Im not sure if I need those parts or the ones listed here
http://www.bimmerdiy.com/diy/e36sunroof/

Which one do I need to fix the sliding issue? And can this be done without removing the headliner?

Also I want to recover the sunroof liner, but cant seem to find the cloth to do it. Anyone know where I can get some?

[EricP]

Mine slid back and forth freely for years until I removed the entire sunroof cartridge (actually it's pretty easy) when I was getting my headliner recovered. The little plastic follower arm had just gone past where it should and popped out somehow. I really doubt that it can be fixed without removing the cartridge from the car, but maybe it could be done somehow. Once you have it out you can get the sunroof to the 'drop' position just after you open it and then I think that is when you can get the arm in place. You will see a a metal guide thingy whizz by in the track that pulls the interior panel back. I am just remembering vague details from my fiddling with it, but seriously once it's out of the car it is so much easier to work on. You can then just turn the motor with a hex wrench and see things work and if you are remotely good at fiddling with things you'll figure out the interior panel

You mat not know if the white plastic arm is broken until you remove the cartridge. My initial repair to my sunroof was ordering the kit bimmerdiy suggests to fix the broken lifter blocks which caused the subsequent catstrophic failure of my sunroof... then years later I fixed it the rest of the way as the sliding panel had helped delaminate the headliner material and my headliner needed doing anyway. The guy I had recover it found some slightly thinner than normal headliner material which matches the stuff BMW used on the headliner and he also used it on the interior panel. This causes a couple parts to very slightly rub as it opens and make a faint sound, but it is just the very fringes of the fabric that touch. I believe the ideal situation would be to have near zero padding behind the material that goes on the interior panel, like stock.

[EnderG60]

Well mine started out where the inner liner just wouldnt go back when you tilted the sunroof up, but everything else worked fine. then it started sliding on its own.

I just want to make sure I get the right parts to fix it.

[pettybird]

nothing to add, but love the avatar.

[EricP]

Well mine started out where the inner liner just wouldnt go back when you tilted the sunroof up, but everything else worked fine. then it started sliding on its own.

I just want to make sure I get the right parts to fix it.

If the sunroof exterior panel still tilts and slides back properly, drops, etc... you may actually not need any parts. You won't know about the condition of the plastic arm on the interior panel until you pull it. So you could order everything if you can't suffer any downtime but you may not need it, or you can pull it and find out exactly what you need. Unless you have some sort of surgical robot that is 1cm high I don't see how you can fix the sliding interior panel without pulling the sunroof cartridge from the car. I think people have recovered the interior panel by removing it from the top by removing all the torx bolts and reinstalling, but the arm is at the very back of the panel and you still would be screwed trying to get that back in place if it's popped out or broken. Maybe you can start by removing the exterior panel then sliding the interior panel all the way forward and shining a light back there. IIRC the arm is on the drivers side.

I had never pulled my headliner (or any headliner) and never removed my full sunroof cartridge and I had it out in less than an hour, to be honest. And I'm not one of those guys who boasts about how easy things are to make myself sound like more of a badass. haha. You just have to go slow removing the headliner, then pull the sunroof exterior panel to get rid of the heavy weight and then the interior panel + cartridge comes out after removing the torx bolts that hold it to the roof. I think my biggest problem is I got sweaty doing it myself. The only thing I had practice with was the exterior panel, and if your interior panel is sliding around willy nilly it even makes THAT a sinch. Slide back, undo the 3 big nuts.. tilt up and remove the torx bolts in the front corners that hold it to the arms.

I think the most frustrating part of the entire job is aligning the tilting arms to the panel when reattaching it because they want to fall back down.

[EnderG60]

Ill probably just go ahead and order the rail parts. Just need to know where I can get the right fabric to recover the liner though.