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Leaking sunroof

6K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  tedavis01 
#1 ·
Hi,

I own a 2018 630GT and the sunroof leaks water after spells of rain. When I open the roof the netting (wind break) that pops up at the front is usually wet or damp to the left and right corners and on dry days the smell of tepid water permeates the cabin.

The car has only done 6,000 miles and is under warranty BMW replaced the sunroof but after only two weeks the problem has re-occurred.

Second issue with the mechanism is that more often than not the glass roof fails to close as it hits the spring loaded bar of the wind break and returns back to open. Seems after some testing this happens less when the engine is running, possibly receiving more power?

Just wondered if any of my fellow 6 GT drivers have had anything similar?
 
#2 ·
Hi,

I own a 2018 630GT and the sunroof leaks water after spells of rain. When I open the roof the netting (wind break) that pops up at the front is usually wet or damp to the left and right corners and on dry days the smell of tepid water permeates the cabin.

The car has only done 6,000 miles and is under warranty BMW replaced the sunroof but after only two weeks the problem has re-occurred.

Second issue with the mechanism is that more often than not the glass roof fails to close as it hits the spring loaded bar of the wind break and returns back to open. Seems after some testing this happens less when the engine is running, possibly receiving more power?

Just wondered if any of my fellow 6 GT drivers have had anything similar?
It seems that BMW may have replaced your sunroof for nothing. I don't know exactly where they are but all sunroofs have drain holes in the body that allow water to drain away. Yours sound like they are blocked/plugged possibly by leaves or other debris. Hopefully they did get rid of the smell. I haven't experienced your problem. I believe some 5ers had issues with the way the car was parked. Mine sits on a slight slope with the front end low. Leaves are a constant problem.

Regarding your second issue, I had the same problem. As soon as the glass hit the wind deflector the glass would partially reverse. Holding the switch or putting my hand up to partially pull down the deflector did the trick.
I opened the roof and put a tiny amount of thin oil on the runner where the glass slides up onto the deflector. That partially solved the problem then with use it resolved itself. Only one of us uses the roof so it was infrequent (only 7500 km). I suspect the spring is over engineered and needs to be broken in with use. Works perfectly now.
Good luck
p.s. my sunroof was only closed when the car was running.

Did you have the same problem with both the old and new roofs?
 
#4 · (Edited)
Thank you both for taking time out to reply.

Gilgorm -

On this latest occasion my dealer contacted BMW Munich and they advised that the wind break should be replaced, to remove the smell of tepid water/damp. This has cleared the smell for now.

The engineer who performed the work advised me that he had camera inspected the drainage channels and there was a brown deposit blocking the driver side channel. Along with that the rubber outlets for the channels which exit near the forward door hinges had some issue. He has corrected these faults and asked me to see how it goes.

I park my car on a drive also which results in the front of the car being slightly higher than the rear - as I reverse onto the parking area. Interesting you mention leaves as there are none over or above the car but I have noticed leaves in the area at the top of the bonnet, below the windshield. I am wondering if this drainage channel is shared with the sunroof. Would explain the brown residue the engineer found in his inspection. Will try and keep that cleared out from now on.

Sophisto -

I had two 5 series tourings that had panoramic glass previous to the GT and never had an issue with those. I will keep this experience in mind with future purchases though.

Overall I love my 630GT it's a fantastic car and I am enjoying it, even the styling has grown on me! Only other issues I had have been squeaks and rattles. Glovebox persists with annoying rattle now and then. I guess the fact that it's a newly designed car means a lot of the niggles will be ironed out with revisions.

Thanks again for your feedback.
 
#5 · (Edited)
The engineer who performed the work advised me that he had camera inspected the drainage channels and there was a brown deposit blocking the driver side channel. Along with that the rubber outlets for the channels which exit near the forward door hinges had some issue. He has corrected these faults and asked me to see how it goes.

I BELIEVE MUD, SALT DEPOSITS AND EVEN FACTORY RUSTPROOFING CAN CLOG THESE OUTLETS.

I park my car on a drive also which results in the front of the car being slightly higher than the rear - as I reverse onto the parking area.

I ALSO BACK IN BUT END UP WITH FRONT LOWER THAN BACK. NEVER BEEN IN A GARAGE.

Interesting you mention leaves as there are none over or above the car but I have noticed leaves in the area at the top of the bonnet, below the windshield. I am wondering if this drainage channel is shared with the sunroof.

UNSURE IF THEY ARE SHARED BUT THEY EASILY CLOG. I OFTEN USE A VACUUM WITH A "SNOUT" TO EITHER CLEAR THEM OR BLOW THE LEAVES OUT. I TOO DO NOT HAVE ANY TREES ABOVE ME BUT THEY ALWAYS FIND ME.

I LOVE MY 640iX GT. CANADIAN CARS CAME FULLY EQUIPPED BUT COST A LOT. NO PROBLEMS OF ANY KIND SO FAR. JUST HAD A LONG TRIP AND FOUND IT TO BE INCREDIBLY COMFORTABLE. UNFORTUNATELY, SALES ARE LOW SO THEY HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED IN CANADA AND U.S. NOT SURE ABOUT EUROPE. CAR IS VERY RARE IN TORONTO.
Good luck with your problem.
 
#8 ·
Same issue here. Im on my second 630gt (the first got stolen). First one had the wind deflector replaced due to it being smelly after rain. Second one is goin gin for the same smelly issue (and the roof not closing properly without me pulling the wind deflector down) in Jan.

Im guessing that its some design fault.
 
#9 ·
Hi folks, I have the same issue with wind deflector not going down when trying to close the sunroof. I will look at this weekend but I would agree it appears over engineered and spring loaded. My guess is it needs to be broke in. Also I noticed when the wind deflector pops up that the spring really makes it pop up with force, you can hear it, so I am not surprised it is difficult to close.


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#10 · (Edited)
Thought I would give an update some months later.

Things have not changed much but I have found some tips for those suffering from either of these problems.

The issue of the panoramic sunroof failing to close due to the wind break sprung bar; was solved after three attempts by the dealer adjusting the amount of pressure that the safety system uses before it halts closing due to obstruction. This has not recurred since, but I don't fancy actually getting my hand in the way now. :D

Regarding the leak, as I informed they did replace the whole unit resulting in the same issues, then the dealer wrote to BMW Munich, they indicated they have never heard of this type of problem on any of their cars! :confused: Obviously they do not read these forums, particularly on other models.

Therefore I was left with trying to maintain the smell. This I did with Fabrese (fabric freshener) on the netting section of the wind break, then I regularly apply Mother's Protecterant for VLR to the rubber seal around the retracting sunroof. This also has the added bonus of getting rid of those annoying squeaks and rattles when the weather is cold.

Some takeaways:

Condition is worse in winter.

Rubber seals used around the windows seem to shrink and get harder during the winter, not sure they fully tested the type of rubber used.

If your car is parked on a slight incline with the front of the car being marginally higher than the rear then I think this causes the water to collect in the sunroof drainage area; which only drains from the front. Gravity prevails. My drive is literally a couple of degrees on incline but it's enough to cause the problem. Only solution here is to park the other way around, which may not always be possible. I did miss the warning for this in the car manual.... ;-)

Finally the use of a cloth mesh rather than a solid material will always cause smells as is it never completely dries in the enclosed space, that along with gnats and bugs getting caught in it at speed creates the odd smell, like damp.
 
#13 ·
Update - the issue returned but happens less often than before. So I took it back. I did learn that the service bulletin I reference above had multiple steps to take until the issue is resolved. I am through step 2 which was reprogramming - my guess is that it is the anti trap sensor pressure. More to come.


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