glass sunroof E24 factory equipment

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PV-ALPINA
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glass sunroof E24 factory equipment

Post by PV-ALPINA »

I have seen E24 with electrically adjustable glass sunroof. I wonder if that was a factory option or something which is installed afterwards?
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Post by DC »

factory made it for e28 but not sure about e24
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Re: glass sunroof E24 factory equipment

Post by MöchteWeiß »

PV-ALPINA wrote:I have seen E24 with electrically adjustable glass sunroof. I wonder if that was a factory option or something which is installed afterwards?
RealOEM shows the "Glass cover" for the E28. Nothing for the E24 - and they are not even close to the same size. Several years ago, someone discovered that the E28 glass panel is essentially the same as the one on the contemporary late '80s Saab (of which many populate US salvage yards). They also cost less than half as much if you don't mind the tiny little "Saab" logos and no BMW roundel on them (you have to look pretty closely to see these differences).

It's quite possible that Webasto (the manufacturer of those panels) did a glass roof for some car with the same size opening as the E24 - but no one's yet discovered that. It starts with some measurements ...
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Post by tschultz »

Was the E23 glass moonroof the same as the E28 or E24?
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glass sunroof

Post by PV-ALPINA »

I just happen to buy a E24 with electrical glass sunroof which seems to be original, so I am just fishing for information.

E28 and E24 sunroof are not the same.

/Johan
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Post by MöchteWeiß »

tschultz wrote:Was the E23 glass moonroof the same as the E28 or E24?
If either, I would guess the E28; because the roof opening on the E28 is huge compared to the Six. However, I don't think they're the same.
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Post by winfred »

i've seen one or two around here on the board but they seem to be the most rare
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Post by PV-ALPINA »

Yes, E24 with glass sunroof seems to be as rare as hen's teeth.
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Post by ron »

PV-ALPINA wrote:Yes, E24 with glass sunroof seems to be as rare as hen's teeth.
Here is one in Hawaii.

Image[/quote]
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Post by PV-ALPINA »

Which year of manufacture is that one in Hawaii?
Is it possible to get the factory option list for that car?
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Post by ron »

PV-ALPINA wrote:Which year of manufacture is that one in Hawaii?
Is it possible to get the factory option list for that car?
I think it is an '85 M635. Try sending a PM to "lawsco". He came back on the forum recently after a while away.
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Post by ericono »

Johan,

Can you post some pictures of your glass sunroof? One shot with a close up of any text printed on the glass would be nice, and might help us track down a source for replacement glass.

Thanks,

Eric
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Post by MöchteWeiß »

ron wrote:
PV-ALPINA wrote:Yes, E24 with glass sunroof seems to be as rare as hen's teeth.
Here is one in Hawaii.

Image
I'm going to say that's an aftermarket roof panel because of the gasket around the edge. I doubt that it has the same full functionality as the steel panel we have on most of our cars.

If you look at a glass panel installation on an E28, you'll see that it's exactly like the steel panel except you can see through it - and it functions exactly the same way. IOW, you can either pop it open at the back or retract it into the roof. If BMW offered it as an option, that's the way they would have done it.
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Post by Chris Wright »

PV-ALPINA wrote:Which year of manufacture is that one in Hawaii?
Is it possible to get the factory option list for that car?
Have you got an option list for your car with the glass panel? You might try one of these:

Online Vin Decoders:
http://www.bmwvin.com/ (New-shows Options)
http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi
http://www.rubmw.ru/vincode/eng/ (Alt-shows Options)
________

BTW, have you seen the "Goodies Page"? It has links to Online (or PDF Downloads) of the Factory Workshop Manuals, Wiring Diagrams (ETM's), Parts Manuals, Online Suppliers, etc.:
viewtopic.php?t=10410
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Post by markh »

+1 C. R. Looking just like an 80/90's aftermarket pop-up sunroof.
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Post by PV-ALPINA »

I have tried all the links without success, simply because the car is too old... If I would have the factory option list why would I ask around? The glass sunroof on the Hawaii car seems to be aftermarket, I agree. The car on Hawaii is also new enough to use someone of the links above to find out the factory option list, however I do not know the VIN of that car.
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Picture

Post by PV-ALPINA »

Here is a picture of the glass sunroof. It looks truly original. It is electrical. It slides back and pops up exactly as the ordinary sunroof. It has also a manual sliding back cover inside. Manufacturer is Delochrom.
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E24 Glass sunroof.jpg
E24 Glass sunroof.jpg (1.99 MiB) Viewed 15957 times
Johan Nordkvist
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Post by MöchteWeiß »

Well, a quick minute with Google reveals Delachrom as a Pilkington subsidiary. So you might want to contact them. Start from Pilkington.com and choose your country from that.

I would still bet that it is an aftermarket accessory for a number of reasons. First, all of the contemporary BMW glass roof panels I've seen were Webasto brand.

Second, Webasto is still in business, so it's not a case of the company having been absorbed or bought by Pilkington and having its products rebranded.

Third, this panel has a metal edge around the glass while the Webastos don't. They are glass right out to the gasket. This also suggests the possibility that a slightly smaller glass panel was adapted to fit the E24 opening. It could have been installed into a cut-out E24 metal panel.

Finally, the E24 was a 'flagship' model for BMW. You'd think they would have sold a lot more glass panels than they did for the E23 and E28, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

We know that BMW had a bunch of authorized accessories for its cars that were available through the dealer network and, although this may have been one of them, I think its rarity says that it's not. It's also possible that it came out of the factory on an 'Individual' car, but that, too, would suggest that it was a special order one-off piece of some kind.
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Post by PV-ALPINA »

Yes, I agree to all what you are saying. If it is aftermarket it is a hell if a good job. The car was sold new in Germany. It has AC, Automatic gearbox, 4 electric windows, LSD and a black leather/textile interior with rear headrest (not aftermarket). What is aftermarket is the 80 liter gas tank in the luggage compartment making the e24 a bifuel car. It was installed 1988 in Sweden.

Johan
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Delochrom

Post by PV-ALPINA »

At a BMW meeting a feew days ago I saw a E28 M535i with glass sunroof. Manufacturer was Delochrom... It was visually an exakt copy of my E24 glass sunroof besides that it was bigger and for E28. That car was 10 years newer than mine. Mine is missing the BMW logo, the E28 had the BMW logo. So, Delochrom made sunroofs for BMW, that's for sure. Mine has a Delochrom part number which was almost the same as the E28 Delochrom part No, the last digit was different.
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Post by markh »

So I was at a meet with a bunch of oder European cars last October when a stranger took a particular interest in my car. Turns out he had a few 6ers over the years. The subject of the sunroof came up and he started talking about a glass sunroof for the E24. He claims to have experience swapping the metal sunroof out with a glass panel from the same manufacturerer who was the OEM to both BMW and to Volvo (possibly others) at the same time and the Volvo sunroof was glass versus metal per Volvo's specs. He said the swap was pretty straightforward and a perfect fit. He told me the Volvo year range and model, but I don't recall what it was. He seemed confident in what he was saying, but again - a complete stranger.

A possible lead?
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Glass sunroof

Post by PV-ALPINA »

The only one I have heared of is volvo 780, produced between 87-91. It could be that a new such glass was fitted to my car, since it came to Sweden in 87 with the glass sunroof, likely or not I cannot say.

I do not know the measures of the 780 sunroof nor its brand, anyone here who knows?
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M635CSI 1984 Bronzit Beige
635CSI 1985 Black
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Post by german performance inc »

after looking and bidding for years on ebay and missing a couple of chances on various sites i did score one for my 6er it is not installed yet because i have had so many more important things ahead of it ,it is in storage and i will try to pull some info from it ,i did measure it before i bought it and when i got it ,i thought also it was for a volvo ,i had a cheat sheet with webastro glass roof sizes and it is on an older laptop of mine with a couple of issues ,i will try to recover the info,i paid a small fortune for the one for my 6er .

i just bought one today on ebay for my e28 535i and it is webastro and for a saab,originally the rumors years ago were that they were both the same as various saabs,the one i bought today was a hell of a bargain compared to the one i bought for the 6er .

i will try to find that info soon for you ,it has taken me many years to come up with these ,i need to get off my ass and install them now !!!

i have been devoting time lately to my porsches and not my beloved bmws .....so much work ...so little energy and time to do it !
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Post by Alpinacsi »

I have one of the Saab ones in my e28 B9 sedan and I can't wait to remove it. I guess you could say it fits but I guess it depends on what you consider as acceptable. It is the same size and fits the opening but it is flat compared to the roof. The front corners are high and the center is low. Not what I consider as acceptable. I have a factory one but will most likely install the steel one as it came.

Can not say anything about one for the e24 but check all aspects of your donor part.
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Post by PV-ALPINA »

The glass sunroof on my E24 fits perfectly, just as good as the delochrom glass sunroof for E28 which is OEM.

I have not seen any saab glass sunroof yet in reality on a E28 so I cannot say if it is a bad fit or not.

Johan
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M635CSI 1984 Bronzit Beige
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