Sunroof woes

[mattmannz]

Recently acquired 2001 525. Sunroof was sticky when opened once and now is partially up at the rear and not fully closed at the front.

Is a glass roof. Pressing the switch in any direction results in some load going against the roof panel but no movement. I removed the roof switch panel and tried to manually actuate the assembly via a hex key into the drive. Same thing. Roof panel is stuck.

Can't remove the accordian side panels as the roof is mostly down. Can't access the screws to remove the glass panel. I suspect the way forward is to remove the headlining and remove the cassette.

Anyone have a less obtrusive method of sorting this. Currently parked outside and about to lose weather tightness lol.

Cheers
Matt

[14W]

Do you think something broke loose and jammed the sunroof mechanism? If you can't access the mechanism or manually/force it to close, I think that removing the headliner is the only way to aces it. Maybe you can try to get a compressed air (you can get it in cans if you don't have a compressor with gun) in there to blow out whatever is stuck in the mechanism. That might work if it's something small and not stuck too badly. On the e39 the sunroof is problematic as it tend to leak down the A-pillar and soaking the modules and electronics under the dash,causing all sorts of issues.

May i just add how much i hate the sunroofs just bcs of issues like that. My e39 doesn't have it, but i have a spare junker Toyota micro van with the worst possible sunroof : A full panoramic roof. Last time i tried to open it ,it got stuck in fully open position and it was getting ready to rain outside as i was checking the fuses and switch. I am so glad that it closed after few attempts bcs i dread to think what would happen if the rain would get all over the interior. I will never ever press that button again.

[jicaino]

sidetracking the thread, is there any source for a nice sunroof delete panel like there's been made for the E46?

[E39 Newbie]

Recently acquired 2001 525. Sunroof was sticky when opened once and now is partially up at the rear and not fully closed at the front.

Is a glass roof. Pressing the switch in any direction results in some load going against the roof panel but no movement. I removed the roof switch panel and tried to manually actuate the assembly via a hex key into the drive. Same thing. Roof panel is stuck.

Can't remove the accordian side panels as the roof is mostly down. Can't access the screws to remove the glass panel. I suspect the way forward is to remove the headlining and remove the cassette.

Anyone have a less obtrusive method of sorting this. Currently parked outside and about to lose weather tightness lol.

Cheers
Matt

I'm going through my own sunroof problems, too! This sunroof is the biggest piece of crap I can imagine. Every freaking thing that could possibly break is, you guessed it, plastic.

If you can't remove the glass, you're stuck. You're probably stuck, even if you could remove the glass. The only thing remotely serviceable with the cassette in, glass out, are the plastic sliders on the rear support arms, and the sliders on the front support "arms." Anything else will require pulling the headliner and the cassette. I hate sunroofs in general, and I wish mine didn't have one.

[14W]

I have a cheap idea ,how to delete it ,but i don't know if it would work ,so give your thoughts... What i would do is to degrease the whole assembly ,and after that i would just apply a loooot of silicone all over the closing surfaces and close the roof while the silicone is still soft. That way the water couldn't get in once the silicone would harden. The sunroof would stay where it is but it wouldn't be possible to open it anymore and since the silicone is quite of an effective sealant i think the water wouldn't get in anymore.

Or you could do it properly via welding the piece of metal over it , and fill the gaps with filler and then respray the whole roof and also change the headliner . But that's expensive unless you know how to DIY weld and paint cars.

[Jaaap]

If you weld it, remove the windscreen first or it will crack.

[jicaino]

If you weld it, remove the windscreen first or it will crack.

Best advice you'll read on this thread. I won't ask how you know.