Rear door sun shade problem

Hi,

No photo, but I have a 99 540ia that has the retractable sunshades for the rear passengers installed in the quater windows of the rear doors, normaaly they retract (furl) into the window frame but one of them dosen't have the spring tension or whatever it has to retract it, its just hanging around and flapping in the breeze!

Appreciate anyones experience in how to dismantle the frame without destroying it b4 I rip into it and what the fix involves!!!

Cheers JW

gotta replace it.

Originally Posted by chivas

gotta replace it.

Chivas, is this still the case. Both of my rear quarter panel shades are shot. Are they fixable? If so, how do remove them?

Originally Posted by POof540i

Chivas, is this still the case. Both of my rear quarter panel shades are shot. Are they fixable? If so, how do remove them?

There is a little clip at the top of the sunshade that needs to be pulled up in order to release the mechanism. you need to insert a small screwdriver or blade and pull up on it. Then, you pull it away and up at the same time in order for the tab at the bottom to clear the door panel. you can see what I am talking about in the pic below. Also, i have included a link to the door panel sunshade as well if you need those pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mmm635/DoorPanelRear

Originally Posted by POof540i

Chivas, is this still the case. Both of my rear quarter panel shades are shot. Are they fixable? If so, how do remove them?

both has to be replaced.

Thanks mmm635 and chivas.

Same thing happened to my aunts 740il.. they just drive around with it hanging...I don't see how they do it... it would bother me

Originally Posted by mmm635

There is a little clip at the top of the sunshade that needs to be pulled up in order to release the mechanism. you need to insert a small screwdriver or blade and pull up on it. Then, you pull it away and up at the same time in order for the tab at the bottom to clear the door panel. you can see what I am talking about in the pic below. Also, i have included a link to the door panel sunshade as well if you need those pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mmm635/DoorPanelRear

How do you remove the black plastic strip/cover (between quarter window and main rear window) to get at that little clip? Does it just pop off somehow if you wiggle it enough or what? Does it just snap back on?

I don't have these shades on my e39...but I do have them on my e38. I would think they are basically the same.

I repaired one in my car...and also in my bro-in-law's e38. The clip pictured in the post above looks exactly like the one in the e38...and on the 7 series...there is a small cut-out at the top of the piece where the shade rolls up into. Look there, and that is were you would insert a small screwdriver...to lift up on the little metal clip...which allows the whole thing to be pulled away from the door.

Once you get the shade off the door...look at the bottom and you will more than likely see that the plastic has broken or cracked on the bottom where the rod that the shade rolls upon should be secured. What I did was re-roll the shade...gave it a few more turns to put tension on the roller...then melted a twist tie over the bottom of the rod to secure it and fix where the rod broke off the piece of plastic that used to hold it. That was back in 2003 and the shade is still working perfectly. In fact, it works better than the other shade because it has more tension.

Here's a few pics of what I did to repair my e38's shade by melting a plastic twist tie with my soldering iron. Although it is not "pretty"...no one would ever know because it is hidden between the door frame and the cover over the shade.



And here's some pics from a write up by DavidC on www.e38.org that shows how to stick the screw driver into the small cut-out at the top of the shade:



You can see the bottom of the shade in the pic below and how the plastic has broken off and allows the rod to spin freely thus there's no "tension" to retract the shade)

What are these rear door sunshades you speak of? My son currently bakes in the backseat cause I refuse to buy cheap suction cup ones..... Anyone know where to get them?

QSilver7 is right on the money, they most certainly can be repaired if the crappy little screw in the plastic breaks off. I broke one upon removal when re-sealing my vapor barriers & used JB weld after getting the tension back, working like a charm now.

They were an option one could order from the factory. If you look up the VEHICLE TRIM diagrams for the doors...you can find them...you can also add them but you'll need to change your rear door panels. The rear door panels for cars with the rear door window shades are different so that they can accommodate the shade that rolls down into it. I don't know what interior option you have so I'll let you look up the door panels you need. You get the choice of cloth/leatherette/leather...and then you scroll down to the part nbr that is the correct color for your interior AND indicates made for the cars optioned with the "roller shades".

Here's a link to the shades themselves: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...81&hg=51&fg=50



And here's a link to the (manual) rear window sunshade: http://www.bmwmobiletradition-online...82&hg=51&fg=95

^ Nice! Thanks! Yeah I have the auto rear sunshade, but need the sides.

Originally Posted by mmm635

There is a little clip at the top of the sunshade that needs to be pulled up in order to release the mechanism. you need to insert a small screwdriver or blade and pull up on it. Then, you pull it away and up at the same time in order for the tab at the bottom to clear the door panel. you can see what I am talking about in the pic below. Also, i have included a link to the door panel sunshade as well if you need those pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mmm635/DoorPanelRear

Hi,
I found your pictures on google mm635, I am now preparing to install the sun shades for rear door, but have some question about it.

How the low fix piece of the triangle sun shade fix to door pannel? As showed in your picture 5&6, but I can't see them clear enough!

Do you have more detail pictures about it? Thanks.

Subscribing, one of mine is sagging and I'd love to DIY.