Panoramic Sunroofs - are they problematic?

M@r]{ · Post by **M@r]{** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:11 pm

Hey Guys

You may have seen my wanted ad for an X5? Anyway one of my girlfriends 'must haves' is a panoramic sunroof. I've been ringing around places today and one guy informed me that I should reconsider one of those as the plastic clips go, the whole 'cartridge' needs replacing costing Â£3200. He said it is due to the weight of the glass, the under specced retaining clips and that it is a common problem and a case of when not if?

Is this correct? I'm a little sceptical as I had just rung up to ask if the X5 he was selling had a sunroof, it didnt

Any thoughts of opinions?

Sanj · Post by **Sanj** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:23 pm

Welcome Mark,

Yes he's right they are a common failure but it is possible to do the fix (with upgraded parts). Or take a warranty out and hope it fails and gets covered...

Some links you can read up on:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2477&hilit=sunroof&start=15#p24492

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1666&p=17839&hilit=sunroof#p17763

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1344&p=14758&hilit=sunroof#p14633

cognac · Post by **cognac** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 4:01 pm

Hello and welcome Mark,

I purchased my X5 around three weeks ago and like you my must have was the panoramic roof, I also knew full well the problems that went with it!
I found the car I wanted loaded with all the toys I was looking for but the rear section of the pan roof was stuck in the vent postion thus disabling the front section from venting and opening although not disabling the blind which of course was closed!
The trader agreed to have it repaired at the main dealers which was Coopers BMW where it was not repaired they just renew the whole cartridge along with a nice BMW warranty
I had to wait over a week because Cooper already had another two X5 in the workshop having replacement pan roof fitted!

We love the light and airy cabin plus having it open of course.

Get a warranty or take your chances I guess

pvr · Post by **pvr** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 5:18 pm

I have it and I love it, also for me it was Mrs PVR who really wanted it, but I must say I do like the light.

As with all things car based, I strongly believe the lifetime of these components are directly related to whether a car is garaged or not, i.e. the heat and cold would damage the clips / rubbers and whever else can dry out or become brittle.

M@r]{ · Post by **M@r]{** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:12 pm

Thanks for the info guys. Based on this I think we'll move the sunroof to the "Nice to have" list. And if we do find one with it I'm going to sit there for 20minutes opening and shutting it

Neil48is · Post by **Neil48is** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:42 pm

Hi mate don't be put off by the sunroof and its problems. I have a 4.8 with the pano roof and true to form mine went up the wall. After reading the horror stories of the Â£2K repair bills i found a very easy fix that literally took me 10 minutes to sort. The only downside is that the rear pointless section no longer tilts. The front part tilts,slides and the blind is fully functional. A sunroof is top of my list of options when looking at cars but thats just me !!

535dboy · Post by **535dboy** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:54 pm

Never had a problem on my old 535 but lots of trouble on my e70

cognac · Post by **cognac** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 7:25 am

[quote=""Neil48is""]Hi mate don't be put off by the sunroof and its problems. I have a 4.8 with the pano roof and true to form mine went up the wall. After reading the horror stories of the Â£2K repair bills i found a very easy fix that literally took me 10 minutes to sort. The only downside is that the rear pointless section no longer tilts. The front part tilts,slides and the blind is fully functional. A sunroof is top of my list of options when looking at cars but thats just me !!

[/quote]

I agree with Neil48is as I was happy to go down the same route to have the panoramic roof repaired ok the rear section no longer tilts but I think I can live with that

Test drive one with the pano roof and one without before you make a decision

5hep · Post by **5hep** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:30 pm

Another vote for the panny roof.

Had my X for 2.5 years and use the roof alot.

dirtymonkey29 · Post by **dirtymonkey29** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:36 pm

Panoramic roof is a must if you dont want footprints on your headlining

cognac · Post by **cognac** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:34 pm

[quote=""dirtymonkey29""]Panoramic roof is a must if you dont want footprints on your headlining[/quote]

Excellent

5hep · Post by **5hep** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:06 pm

[quote=""cognac""][quote=""dirtymonkey29""]Panoramic roof is a must if you dont want footprints on your headlining[/quote]

Excellent

[/quote]

Really should date taller girls

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:21 am

[quote=""5hep""][quote=""cognac""][quote=""dirtymonkey29""]Panoramic roof is a must if you dont want footprints on your headlining[/quote]

Excellent

[/quote]

Really should date taller girls

[/quote]

But wouldn't that make you feel small(er)??????

Sent from my iPod device using Tapatalk

tombs · Post by **tombs** » Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:11 pm

[quote=""Neil48is""]Hi mate don't be put off by the sunroof and its problems. I have a 4.8 with the pano roof and true to form mine went up the wall. After reading the horror stories of the Â£2K repair bills i found a very easy fix that literally took me 10 minutes to sort. The only downside is that the rear pointless section no longer tilts. The front part tilts,slides and the blind is fully functional. A sunroof is top of my list of options when looking at cars but thats just me !!

[/quote]

Like most on here I love the Pano roof on the X5 but the rear panel sticks so only use the slide option when I open it. Neil how did you fix the sunroof so the rear panel is disengaged?

Cheers

Tom

Neil48is · Post by **Neil48is** » Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:34 am

[quote=""tombs""][quote=""Neil48is""]Hi mate don't be put off by the sunroof and its problems. I have a 4.8 with the pano roof and true to form mine went up the wall. After reading the horror stories of the Â£2K repair bills i found a very easy fix that literally took me 10 minutes to sort. The only downside is that the rear pointless section no longer tilts. The front part tilts,slides and the blind is fully functional. A sunroof is top of my list of options when looking at cars but thats just me !!

[/quote][/quote]

Like most on here I love the Pano roof on the X5 but the rear panel sticks so only use the slide option when I open it. Neil how did you fix the sunroof so the rear panel is disengaged?

Cheers

Tom[/quote}

Hi Tom

The fix is very simple and only takes around 10 mins if that. However it is permanent. As far as i know it is the only way to retain full functionality of the front section. After all the tiny rear piece is practically useless anyway !!

Here is the link that i followed.

http://www.usedx5.net/blog/wp-content/u ... fixing.pdf

Its a little confusing due to the picture showing a roof that has already been removed but you'll get the idea.

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