Pano roof repair

[snrbrtsn]

For many cars I’ve owned, pano roof has been on the desired option list
However
We all know the problems they cause, “Open to Vent then the roof won’t close”

I like and use the vent function often, however on the X5 two roof are opened, this causes the age old problem dating back many years and carried through to the latest models (I believe) however this may have changed as my Previous F07 only functioned the front roof! (Same as post modification)

This modification/ repair prevents the rear roof from functioning & it remains closed!

Nevertheless with a bit of “old” bookmark searching today I tackled mine (in between rain showers, total time circa 12minutes), allbeit in my 14months of ownership my roof has been pretty much flawless with two, three at most “events” of roof not closing after vent.

So rather than leaving thoughts the below is my work, all I’ve done is linked several threads from various sources into one to allow ease of understanding! It’s a proven repair that will save the cost of roof replacement yet still allow 80% roof function

These two you tubes videos explain and tackle the problem the best allbeit it’s an E61 but same roof & mechanism

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqmmFf9gARM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wXpDcy8C56Y

Very well presented though I couldn’t quite make out the cutting requirements so found these pictures on Internet
Be assured my cutting is true and precise, leaving a very tidy modification, of the pictures I’d seen the mechanism has been hacked very roughly!

In addition to the basic hand tools, as described a dremel or similar with a cutting disc is required, £36 from Amazon.
It’s prudent to have a black touch up pen in the event you get too aggressive and score the roof rails, thereafter clean the rails of debris and reapply grease of choice!
Don’t try and skip the reinitialisation stage, it’s every bit as important!

[Kleynie]

Sean, did you do this to prevent problems or because you had a problem?  As you say the F07 only lets the front panel move, but mine does open with quite a bang sometimes.

[snrbrtsn]

Prevention is better than cure Ian..... spare time on hands so thought I’d make best use!
I’m happy with my loss of rear roof tilt as normally I only retract roof blind to the (off) centre bar.

[pcdee]

Mine won't even open....it tries but looks like it's jammed.
Was thinking of getting warranty direct cover as it's covered......any thoughts?

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[snrbrtsn]

This time of years probably not best to trouble shoot the roof, in case it jams open....
Have you tried both open & Vent ?

I’ve only had 3/4 events of failed to close from tilt position with no faults closing from full retract(as mentioned above) in the past 14months, but note each time a fault code was logged, reading the codes from Carly..

If car is garaged (mines too big to fit in) I’d be inclined to try initialising the roof first to see if the mechanism does work, press and hold the button as per video, takes about 90seconds to run through the cycle.

Umpteen possibilities from failed / loose mounting bolts on motor to blown fuses, though if it’s attempting to open it’s suggesting cable damage, rail damage or sensor issues, primarily my thoughts are of the rear roof!

Following the video on the first guide, ensure the rails are fully knocked back on either side, then try and open the roof all the way back to check the tilt mechanism slider, this may be fouled and the easiest method to resolve would be disabling the rear roof as per above, cleaning all the rails and reinitialise roof and check function.
If the roof doesn’t open by the button, I’d try mechanically winding the roof to fully open and checking the runners for debris 

Ps
It may be prudent to wait for warmer weather, my guide suggestion above was carried out to prevent roof failure I’ve never had failure as such!

[X5Sport]

[quote="pcdee"]
Mine won't even open....it tries but looks like it's jammed.
Was thinking of getting warranty direct cover as it's covered......any thoughts?

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
[/quote]

Probably worth it as a new unit is approx £2k plus installation.  Cassette failure is very common across all cars with pano roofs - which is why I no longer spec them - and it is usually the rear section that fails.

[Kleynie]

[quote="X5Sport"]
[quote="pcdee"]
Mine won't even open....it tries but looks like it's jammed.
Was thinking of getting warranty direct cover as it's covered......any thoughts?

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
[/quote]

Probably worth it as a new unit is approx £2k plus installation.  Cassette failure is very common across all cars with pano roofs - which is why I no longer spec them - and it is usually the rear section that fails.
[/quote]

The rear section doesn’t open on the newer models, mine certainly doesn’t. BMW have obviously realised their mistake!