Back from service, sunroof malfunctioning

My 2006 X3 3.0i (sport/manual/premium/xenons) had a dead battery on Friday. My friend with his 1997 323is jumped me and I took it to the dealer. Saturday I got it back with a new battery and the 15k mile service performed all covered under warranty. Great. BMW Seattle took me with no appointment, returned the car in <24 hours, and didn't charge a thing.

Now the problem, the sunshade on the panoramic sunroof doesn't work. When I go to close it, it closes 1/2 inch and then stops. If I'm really persistent I can close it by pushing the button 40+ times and closing it an inch at a time. Short of taking it back in for service again, is there anything I can do to fix/adjust this?

Also, the cause of the dead battery was inconclusive. They said it's possible I left a door partly ajar with a light on, or leaving my iPod plugged in 100% of the time may have finally drained the battery. Does the iPod explanation make sense? I would have thought that with the BMW iPod kit, it would not charge the iPod unless the car was running. Is that right?

Thanks everyone!
-james

Hey James: other people are having battery drain issues right now as well. look around just a few posts below this one.

My sunroof ALSO did that odd close behavior and it had to be reset. there is a procedure floating around here somewhere on how to do that.

kev

Originally Posted by iamthewalrus

My 2006 X3 3.0i (sport/manual/premium/xenons) had a dead battery on Friday. My friend with his 1997 323is jumped me and I took it to the dealer. Saturday I got it back with a new battery and the 15k mile service performed all covered under warranty. Great. BMW Seattle took me with no appointment, returned the car in <24 hours, and didn't charge a thing.

Now the problem, the sunshade on the panoramic sunroof doesn't work. When I go to close it, it closes 1/2 inch and then stops. If I'm really persistent I can close it by pushing the button 40+ times and closing it an inch at a time. Short of taking it back in for service again, is there anything I can do to fix/adjust this?

Also, the cause of the dead battery was inconclusive. They said it's possible I left a door partly ajar with a light on, or leaving my iPod plugged in 100% of the time may have finally drained the battery. Does the iPod explanation make sense? I would have thought that with the BMW iPod kit, it would not charge the iPod unless the car was running. Is that right?

Thanks everyone!
-james

Typically a USB port delivers about 5volts at 100ma max.

If BMW's iPod unit is drawing power while the vehicle is off then it's a design flaw or it's broken.

I have my iPod hooked up 24/7 on my previous X3. However, it was connected via my head unit which only drew power while the vehicle was on.

The new Alpine's that are designed for iPods do the same thing.

I know that there is a sunroof reset procedure which you can find by performing a search here. It involves holding the button and letting the thing cycle through. Maybe a call to service can get you the needed info as well. I'm sure they would rather have you 'fix' it, than have to come in again.

Have you tried opening the window all the way? I think that may calibrate the position sensor.

Push the button UP and HOLD. The sunroof will cycle through all positions and when it's finished let go of the button. Do not release the button until it's gone through the whole cycle.

Originally Posted by Ishniknork

Push the button UP and HOLD. The sunroof will cycle through all positions and when it's finished let go of the button. Do not release the button until it's gone through the whole cycle.

Yeah, that's what I shoulda said.

Originally Posted by x3ronnie

Yeah, that's what I shoulda said.

Yeah, it's a really simple procedure and will probably fix his issue. I had to do it one day when the roof just went haywire. First I freaked out , then I remembered that my sales rep showed it to me on the test drive while he was explaining the various features. I have to say he was up to speed on the X3.

Originally Posted by Ishniknork

Push the button UP and HOLD. The sunroof will cycle through all positions and when it's finished let go of the button. Do not release the button until it's gone through the whole cycle.

Thanks everyone, this worked perfectly. You spared me an unnecessary trip to the dealer. This board rocks! What did we do before the Internets?

-J

I'm having a problem with mine today. I'm going to try to reset it, when you mean up like to vent it?

Originally Posted by bjm442

I'm having a problem with mine today. I'm going to try to reset it, when you mean up like to vent it?

yes

That did not help mine. I hope it is covered under the CPO.

Originally Posted by bjm442

That did not help mine. I hope it is covered under the CPO.

Did you push it up and hold it there? It takes a while for it to cycle through all the positions.

Glad James' problem appears to have resolved with the recycle.

I had symptoms quite similar to those James describes two months ago, tried the recycle and while I was getting some changes on just where the various components might stall or hang up, end result was a sunroof that was not entirely closed at all points. Took it in and, after failed attempt to repair, dealer ended up ordering entire cassette replacement. Dianosis: bent guide not able to be replaced (my bet is all the guides were suffering at that point). Good luck!

Relating to my 2006 E83 I also had a battery issue. The vehicle has about 30K on it. Last year the battery failed. BMW replaced it but did not do diagnostics on why it failed. This year again the battery failed. Only this time BMW wanted to charge me for a new battery. They didn't do diagnostics again this time saying it was my phone charger. If you have a look at the manual its very non descriptive relating to battery problems. Relating to "odd" things which could drain the battery the BT module came up with the most hits. The BT module would "stay on" draining the battery. Many times a reset of the BT module would fix it. Other times the BT module would just be replaced. What's funny about this whole thing is I believe that BMW has trained its service managers to state that the "defect" is related to you as a consumer and not them as a provider of the vehicle. My sun roof has rattled since day one. There is a fix posted out there relating to the rattle. The dealers answer to the sunroof rattle was that "they all do that". My quick fix was just to crack one window, keep the shade closed (so I wouldn't hear it) and worry that the dealer could cause more harm than good "trying" to fix it.

I have two cars with sunroofs and don't use either one. They are a source of problems in virtually every car I have owned that had one, either leaks or rattles.

+1 (although I use the "sun roof" on the Z! )

Originally Posted by Ishniknork

Did you push it up and hold it there? It takes a while for it to cycle through all the positions.

+1, press and hold till it finishes the whole cycle, i.e. opening and then closing back entirely. FYI, CPO warranty doesn't cover sunroof. How do I know? My sunroof visor (shade) broke and got stuck inside, I took it in and the SA initially thought I was out of new car warranty and quoted me upwards of 3k to replace the whole cassette, I reminded her that even though I have CPO the new car warranty hasn't expired yet. Thankfully it was replaced under the new car warranty, to top it up, their technician left some smudges in the interior so they replaced the roof liner as well. Be very careful with those sun roof though.