Moonroof and/or Sun Shield remove and replace

Anyone have technical manual instructions to remove and replace the moon roof and sun shield.

My panoramic sun shield will only close 3/4 of the way and only after hitting the close button like 20 times, Each time I hit the close button, the sun shield closes a couple of inches. If I hit the open button, the shield opens all the way

Anyone know where to get technical manuals for the X5

I'm working on the pano roof right now - are you still looking for help?

I could use some help with the roof, too. When I bought the. 2005 3.0i the dealer told me the roof was disabled

Since it was the first X5 I ever drove I did not know whether the roof is supposed to be completely covered by the ceiling panels when closed. They did not. One slides but is not driven. It can be moved by hand. The other does not move and is in the middle of the two roof windows.

Is that the way it is supposed be?

I did buy the repair kit but have been hesitant to tear everything down until I do not need my only transportation for awhile.

Thanks for any insight you can give me. I was able to mount the OEM trailer kit, so I am learning a lot about BMW design.

Maybe this video will bring a bit of enlightenment as to how the interior shade panel and glass roof panels are designed to operate (shade panel should fully retract):

Here's a link to the online BMW TIS. Since you provided model info...I was able to get you all the way to the TIS documents for the sunroof. You will see the TIS documents available for reading in the far right column. Since 10 SUNROOF is highlighted...you'll see the 5 TIS docs that are available to read. The links are live...and you can also click on the other 2 areas that will also have TIS documents you can read (12 mechanical & 13 electrical sunroof components): http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/e53/X5...e_top/sunroof/

I hope this provides you with the info you seek...good luck and report back if it helps or not.

I am overwhelmed. Thank you so much! I am sure theses resources will be helpful.

I'm in the middle of the pano repair - and based on what I've learned I'd budget 3 days to work on this. Here's some scoop on your concern, and some other general problems I've seen.

The 2 headliner panels are connected via a small knob that is the piece on the bottom of group 7 on the online ETK here:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...23&hg=54&fg=05

When retracted, the rear panel falls into a small channel on a piece located in the "headliner repair kit" that's not shown on here. That small "knob" glides in the channel on the rear panel, and that's how the top panel glides over the rear panel. These panels are controlled by the rear motor - and act independent of the front and rear glass mechanism components.
The cassette has to be removed from the car to be able to reach this - or in your case you might be able to get away with removing the rear bolts while still attached to the frame - and loosening the other bolts to the point that the rear portion of the cassette can be lowered enough to complete the work.


Rear Vent Issue - window stays up:
This problem is caused by a small tab that located on the "Front Glass Mechanism Drive Plate" which is represented by the top part in Group 6 on the ETK. There's torsional stress placed on that piece which causes the tab to ultimately fall out of alignment with a small channel located on the bottom on the first piece in group 7 (Rear Glass Mechanism Drive Plate). When this occurs (the piece is aluminum that coated with a veneer of plastic which separates and cracks) the Front Glass drive plate stops aligning with the Rear Glass Drive Plate - result : rear window won't close from vent position. This also accounts for how this can happen 1 side at a time - and will ultimately lead to the other side breaking as well. This problem can be corrected by placing a "brace" in the rear of the "U" channel of the front drive plate -so that the torsional stress isn't transferred to the tab causing it to crack and fail. I secured a plastic formed brace via JB Weld - and it appears to be doing the job. BTW, cutting off the small triangular piece described by many posts from our friend down under on the Rear Plate is why you can still have the function of the front window venting, as well as retracting all the way back. That small triangle tab is the piece that connects those drive plates together when the tab from the Front Mechanism aligns correctly.

Another BTW - while the TIS links that QSilver posted are good - they by no means tell the story of how to do the repair effectively. Even the advanced information I was able to obtain from a BMW tech doesn't tell the story - and I have made mistakes doing the repair following this guide word by word.

I need to post some stuff to youtube to be able to show the workings of the sunroof and help "uncover" the way the mechanisms interact. The fact that the tab on the front drive plate warps like it does - and can effectively be remedied by a brace - has to be a conscious decision to not modify how this piece is designed. I spent $565 procuring all of the kits from BMA - and the time to do this is the killer. But given this can be done by DIY'ers at 1/10 the cost of a "full Cassette" replacement by the dealership has to be a "wink wink" arrangement with the OEM to design the parts good, but not "too" good, to help keep the dealerships flush with $5k repairs on these out of warranty cars. Or in your case, let's just disconnect the sunroof and not be bothered with it. The other thing that absolutely drives me crazy is the use of cheap, stupid plastic components in places that have some pretty intense stress (engine timing chain guide, window regulators, the sunroof, etc,etc,etc). I swear this has to be another "arrangement" for the dealerships to keep them flush with repairs. While I will NEVER be in the primary market for a BMW, you'd think that some of those people that eat all of the depreciation would bitch a little bit more - even though these repairs are covered under warranty for them. Even if you do have $100k+ to spend on a car - I'd think a bit more of engineering excellence would be voiced by SOME of those people - if not for the inconvenience it presents to them of having to drive a loaner while the dealerships fix their cars.

Fantastic, detailed information! Keep it up. In my case, the rear window has not opened since I got the X5. However, one day I was just sitting in the car, hands off, when the front glass opened part way. That is when I learned about the manual crank. I also learned the non-BMW used car dealer had disabled the panorama switch but not the motors. I pulled the power to the front one. While trying to figure what was what I came across a couple of small, translucent white rectangular pieces that appear to be broken off from the rail system that are about 3-4 millimeters. From what else I have learned from the links you provided it looks like one of the sliding visors jumped the track and is jammed over the ventilation grille. The other one is loose and slid all the way back into the headliner. Since the tracks are black I wonder what the white pieces are for. Could they be the guides for the sliding visor?

Can you post a shot of the parts in question, and I can tell you what they are? I also posted a bunch of stuff on Xoutpost under the title "Panoramic Sunroof Deconstruct" that might also give some more info.

The vent grill piece is attached to the top panel on the rear.

The rear panel is the one that has some small plastic pieces that fit into a channel - the front one is connected to the innermost rail via the 2nd piece from the top in group #9
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...23&hg=54&fg=05

That piece connects the front panel via 6 small screws. That piece is also responsible for the action of cracking the 2 panels when the roof is in the vent position - it has a small slider system that makes that happen.

Here is a photo of the larger header panel that is lodged under the metal weather(?) strip. The smaller on is clear in the back.

I will have to find a better camera than my iPhone to take more detailed pictures of the tracks.

What actually drives the two panels back and forth? Is the larger one supposed to go to the front while the smaller one is in the back? I assume that is the cas because of the sizes of the roof windows. Until I accidentally slid the smaller one into the back it was under the front window about 10cm back.

I have more angles in the pictures if you need them. thanks!

The front panel is the one that is driven by the rear motor. The trailing panel is hooked to the front one via 2 small tabs that are attached to the "vent screen"
.

Perhaps the pieces that you see which are broken are these tabs? This is also why you are able to slide the rear panel on it's own - it's not connected to anything in terms of be driven forward or reverse.

The panels themselves are actually the same size, but only the front one is driven by the "headliner lock mechanism" and the rear panel is drug along by the tabs in the pictures above. this mechanism is also what the vent mesh panel locks into. As the panels are split apart when it vents, the small tab remains in the channel on the rear panel - and the pulley system allows the panels to split to show the vent mesh.

The channels that the vent screen slide into are located at the very end of the cassette. The front screen would have to be manually cranked to the rear (this would be the rear motor, the one located under the "bump" in the headliner panel in front of the hatchback), and there is also this "stop" piece that would have to be removed before it you could re-install/repair the vent screen piece.


I don't see anyway around having to remove the sunroof cassette to be able to repair this. Because the fact that the front panel isn't moving is to be expected - the motor would have to run for that panel to move.

From what I can see from the TIS the front section of the sliding visor is supposed to be under the vent grille and of the three tracks in back the small (trailing visor) drops to the bottom and the front visor goes to the middle still with the vent grille on top while the front sliding sunroof is on the top track under and behind the rear tilting glass roof. Is that correct?

I will have to feel the top of the rear sliding visor to see if there are any kind of hooks. If I can get it to come back out.

I did notice the the vent grille, or the front sliding visor are not square with each other. Tha could mean either one are jammed in the tracks. What keeps the vent grille attached to the front sliding visor?

I have reconciled myself to pulling down the header. I am retired, so I have the time. Any special tools necessary?

I have the sunroof repair kit. I was looking at it, today, and except for the springs with the fuzzy bristles the entire thing is plastic. From your pictures it looks to me as if those black tabs are metal, or is that just the way I saw the picture?

Please sent pictures of your progress. I will certainly benefit from your continued experience and expertise. Thanks again.

How about a video, to cover the ole' "picture is worth a 1000 words" mantra? Sounds like you must be a tech, given you've done so many of these.