Series one sunroof question.

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olympia57
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Series one sunroof question.

Post by olympia57 »

Since I got the car (10 years ) the sunroof panel has just "kissed" the edge of the roof scuffing the paint but not scratching . I overcame the problem by pushing down on the panel as it opened .
I have a genuine series one BMW workshop manual and the adjustment of the roof panel is covered in three paragraphs .
Simple then ...
S'funny how I always had a strong inclination that this simple job would prove to be a lot more difficult than suggested ,so much so that I avoided it until yesterday .
Open the roof 50mm ,unclip the headlining pad , close the sunroof and slide the pad to the rear .
Three minutes work until step 3 .... :x
The pad would not move to the rear and only a few cm's forward , not even enough to allow me to get to the screws to adjust the leading edge of the sunroof by 1mm .
A further 20 minutes in the 30 degree heat of our single day of summer here in Ireland had the pad out of true and still refusing to move fora'd or aft .
TCALSS I eventually freed it with a combination of prayer [-o< , threats, forceful persuasion and gleefully and openly searching Ebay for a replacement used E24 suroof interior pad . :roll:
Roof adjustment made in 10 seconds .
Aligning and inserting the four spring clips at the front of the pad into the panel took another un quantifiable amount of time ,one of which threatend to pierce the headlining material but after wiping away my tears for the Nth time they all magically went in .
It was a moment much akin to getting four horses to piss at once .......
Quick check an all was good , full slide and full tilt , no untoward noises and no more kissing the Kaschmir ... . :wink:
One last visual when open and tilted and all looks goo....... Mmmm what's this ? 8-[
There are two long steel wire rods that extend the length of the pad that are sitting free and disconnected from whatever they were happily connected to before .
They are not interfering with operation and have not in the numerous times I've operated the roof today ,headlining pad is taught but I am , so far, unable to determine what they do and where they were attached to .
I'd like to say that they were like that before I started but I'd be a barefaced liar . :oops:
So my question to all Series one owners with electric sunroof ,when in full tilt position can you see these rods and where they go and what they are attached to and do ?
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1981 635 series 1
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olympia57
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Re: Series one sunroof question.

Post by olympia57 »

Well that was disappointing ......

Determined to get to the bottom of this I went out and re examined the sunroof as a whole this evening .
Looking inside the sunroof cartridge there is a raised rib that the ends of the rod align with .The rods are too loose to run on this rib so I concluded that there must be something else that that gives some sort of rigidity to the components .

A search on Real OEM seems to have provided the answer .

According to the exploded diagram these rods connect to a rain gutter that sits horizontally across the aperture under the SR panel to roof join and directs water to the drains..
This may be to collect rain if the roof is left in the open tilt or it may be to collect anything that passes through the seal when closed .
Item 28 , which the rod (item 9 ) is attached to , must have been pushed to the rear of the sunroof cartridge when the roof was opened and if one of the rods was disconnected when I was trying to follow the workshop manual instructions that would explain why the interior panel was out of alignment and seized when I attempted to move it .
I'll look at it again tomorrow and see if item 28 is at the rear of the SR cartridge and if so hook it and pull it back out .
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpa ... Id=54_0014
1981 635 series 1
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Ralph in Socal
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Re: Series one sunroof question.

Post by Ralph in Socal »

You've found the problem Don. It's the piece pictured below. The small plastic blocks (one clearly has number 7 on it) at the end of the rods slot into metal tangs on that gutter piece.

Ralph
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85 635csi Zinno Auto
84 528i Euro
83 635 Euro Arktik
81 528i Kastanien 5-speed
88 528e Bronzit (Granpa Car)
86 535i Auto (For Sale)
81 633 csi (retired)
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olympia57
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Re: Series one sunroof question.

Post by olympia57 »

Thank you Ralph .

I've located and retrieved the rain gutter and it's obvious that the problem was down to lack of lubrication on the LHS.
The next hurdle is to fit the plastic connector onto the tang on the underside of the rain gutter , it would seem to be impossible to do usless the rain gutter was unclipped from its guide .
There is a little slack but I'm not certain that there is enough to allow it to be prized off .
Any suggestions Ralph ?
Don.
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1981 635 series 1
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olympia57
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Re: Series one sunroof question.

Post by olympia57 »

All done .
Clipped in , greased and checked .
A little bit awkward but what isn't on these cars .

Thanks again Ralph.
Don.
1981 635 series 1
KINGJOHN808
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Re: Series one sunroof question.

Post by KINGJOHN808 »

Aloha!

On my 633CSi, I’m trying to remove the sunroof (interior panel). I have detached it from the sunroof panel, so I can slide it back into the headliner.

My question is, does the sunroof panel need to be removed to get the interior (headliner portion) of the sunroof panel off? I know there are the 6 screws that hold the sunroof panel to the car but I’m just trying to get the sunroof panel (interior) out for the time being.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Ewa Kai, Hawai’i
1984 633CSi
1983 633CSi (wreckers)

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KINGJOHN808
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Re: Series one sunroof question.

Post by KINGJOHN808 »

KINGJOHN808 wrote: Sun Nov 13, 2022 6:08 am Aloha!

On my 633CSi, I’m trying to remove the sunroof (interior panel). I have detached it from the sunroof panel, so I can slide it back into the headliner.

My question is, does the sunroof panel need to be removed to get the interior (headliner portion) of the sunroof panel off? I know there are the 6 screws that hold the sunroof panel to the car but I’m just trying to get the sunroof panel (interior) out for the time being.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Okay, was able to get the inner panel off. Realized that you must remove the outside (metal skinned panel) in order to get the upholstered panel out of the top.

Really easy to do actually. Now I’m in the hunt to find and replace the assembly that tilts the panel and retracts the panel into the roof. So far the part number is NLA. Hoping to locate one in a junkyard that’s in better shape than mine.
Ewa Kai, Hawai’i
1984 633CSi
1983 633CSi (wreckers)

“Aloha and have a great day!”
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