Damn sunroof took a dump

[MooseX]

Yesterday all of sudden my sunroof took a dump and starting making this grinding noise. wth?..I immediately pulled the motor. It works fine..goes forward and backward like snap. I look at the gears and they 'appear' ok. The gear up in the headliner 'appears' to be ok as well. There is some shavings around them though. I slide the switch and all you hear is a terrible grinding....grrrrrrkltkkkk..yeah like that

Here's a question>

Is the gear in the motor designed to go first or the one in the roof? I'm hoping it's the motor 'cause that is the no brainer to replace (as far as I can see)

I'm driving around with the back edge up 2 inches. Makes washing the car a bit tricky plus I'm not a big sunroof guy. Rarely have I use them in any of my other beemers OR any other car. I can't take the sun with this baby smooth skin;)

[BavarianZHP]

I rarely use my sunroof as well, but these sunroof issues seem like a common occurrence (maybe check out E46f?). Every time I open and close mine, I cringe with trepidation. Sorry I can't help, I wish you luck.

[kayger12]

It's most likely not the motor but your sunshade and/or sunshade driver.

DO NOT use the sunroof until you fix it or you risk snapping a bowden cable. Ask me how I know...

http://www.lincomatic.com/e46sunroof/e46sunroof.html

[danewilson77]

Yeah. Pull the glass, and look at the track. It's fairly easy.

HTC DNA, Williamsburg, VA

[SoarinZHP]

I did this fix on my first BMW. On the ZHP I have only used the sunroof a handful of times. I only pop it up and down for ventilation purposes. I'm shocked a car that is so amazing to drive has such a shitty sunroof mechanism.

Between the window regulators and the sunroofs.... Praise the deity of your choice the vehicle has so many other merits...

[danewilson77]

I did this fix on my first BMW. On the ZHP I have only used the sunroof a handful of times. I only pop it up and down for ventilation purposes. I'm shocked a car that is so amazing to drive has such a shitty sunroof mechanism.

Between the window regulators and the sunroofs.... Praise the deity of your choice the vehicle has so many other merits...

Agree about all of this.

[MooseX]

well I believe the cable is fine. It was moving ok then the grinding started. It's gotta be the gears cause it still will move a tiny bit depite the grinding. Just to reiterate the motor is FINE. It's doing exactly what's is supposed to do. It's the gears...they seem a bit beat up. That's my take at this point. God help me if I have to tear into it.

I'll put the motor back in and try the manual crank method this morning. If it goes down it's stayin' down and I'll tape up the switch so nobody messes with it

[danewilson77]

Gears are beat up because something in the track "jumped track" or broke.

More than likely, the metal slide feet are jacked.

http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-330i-M54_3.0L/Search/Sunroof/ES156736/

[MooseX]

so if I keep cranking it's going to become a sh*t show up there...

I guess I'm goin in deep to fix this POS

[danewilson77]

so if I keep cranking it's going to become a sh*t show up there...

I guess I'm goin in deep to fix this POS

Yep. Better to go in deep now, than later.

HTC DNA, Williamsburg, VA

[danewilson77]

The sunroof on my son's zhp is an absolute mess. He doesn't use it as we haven't had time to properly fix. I felt lucky when we got the glass back in properly.

HTC DNA, Williamsburg, VA

[BimmerWill]

My sunshade drivers been screwed up for a few years now. Never have gotten around to fixing it. They really are a pain OB the butt. I would take the shade out but would probably get more pissed about the extra sunlight during the summer lol

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[MooseX]

I just want the glass down so I can close the darn shade. It's cocked open by 3 or 4 "...sun beats me down certain times of the day

How exactly do I pull the glass so I can see what's goin on in there?

[MrMaico]

I just want the glass down so I can close the darn shade. It's cocked open by 3 or 4 "...sun beats me down certain times of the day

How exactly do I pull the glass so I can see what's goin on in there?

Check out the link that Keith posted....Step 1. You probably don't need the whole kit that Dane linked from ECS. I just had to replace a couple of the pieces that guide the shade, parts 16 and 17. If you can feel up and down movement in the shade it probably is those pieces. Easy job, took maybe 1/2 hour. It helps to have an extra set of hands when reinstalling the glass. I ordered the parts before I ever took the glass out just to avoid having to do it twice.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BD53&mospid=47713&btnr=54_0205&hg=54&fg=05

http://www.lincomatic.com/e46sunroof/explodedview.png

EDIT: I should probably mention that mine wasn't making any nasty noises though and actually still worked ok so you may need more than just the shade drivers/clips.

Barry

[danewilson77]

But he can't get the window to seat properly. I think he needs to fix more than the shade. :dunno

Maybe not.

HTC DNA, Williamsburg, VA

[MooseX]

I'm not sure what's broken. I need a spare moment to dig in. I believe the shade won't close because the sunroof is part open. I think the shade is ok...just some jacked up part keeping the motor from pulling the cables

[MrMaico]

Gotcha, ya, it does sound like you have bigger problems. Hopefully it's just some plastic jammed in the tracks somewhere. You're right though, the shade won't close while the glass is tilted up.

[kayger12]

I'm not sure what's broken. I need a spare moment to dig in. I believe the shade won't close because the sunroof is part open. I think the shade is ok...just some jacked up part keeping the motor from pulling the cables

Above the headliner where the roof meets the windshield there is a curved plastic channel (one on each side of the car) at the front of the sunroof cassette that guides the bowden cables.

When the sunroof becomes jammed by an obstruction or faulty sunshade part, the motor is now pushing hard against a cable that has nowhere to go. This is when the plastic channel guide typically fails and cracks OR a cable snaps.

If it's a cracked channel, even if you resolve the original jam, the cable will no longer move the glass as it simply is forced out of the cracked channel.

Some have had success repairing the plastic channel with epoxy.

If you don't have a snapped cable or cracked plastic channel yet, you just need to remove the glass and locate the source of the jam.

If the cable is snapped you'll need a new sunroof cassette.

The sunroofs in these cars really suck.

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