I remember reading something here but I didn't needed it at the time and yes I've tried searching but haven't been able to find the info that I need. My sunroof stops just before being completele flat with the car's roof, probably about 3/8 - 1/2" lower. You can hear the relay clicking so it sounds as a "normal" stop. If you leave it there it will make a lot of wind noise because is not completely closed so I have to push the switch again for it to close. Everyhting else works fine, the "venting" mode and closing from it, it just does this from a full open position. I remember somebody posted some kind of reset procedure but haven't found it so if anybody saved it or knows how to fix this I'll be more than happy (specially since my Saab moonroof is on its way!).
Thanks in advance!
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Resetting Sunroof
-
John in VA
- Posts: 5306
- Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
- Location: Leesburg, VA
Here's some stuff I saved:
E28 sunroof motor/switch synchronization
Posted by MikeL on November 28, 2000 at 09:30:59:
In Reply to: Sunroof motor/switch syncronization??? posted by Tom M. on November 27, 2000 at 23:43:32:
I recently went through this with my car. First I attached the motor to the cable housing, and ran it all the way forward to the "fully cracked open" position (closed in the front, rear of panel flipped open). Then I loosened (but did not remove) the 3 screws that attach the motor to the cable housing, and ran the motor through the full sequence of stops and starts until it was in the full rear position. As you run the motor forward from this position, it will stop (this is the sunroof closed position). Press the forward button again, and it will run for a few seconds and stop again. At this point, tighten the 3 screws, and try the sunroof. It should work perfectly, but if it doesn't you can see how to figure it out, right?
I hope my explanation wasn't too confusing.
Mike L.
--------------
The key here is that the automatic shutoff mechanism is part of the motor assembly; there are no electrical switches on the sunroof itself.
Work the overhead buttons until the sunroof is closed. Remove the motor, but don't unplug it. Work the buttons until the motor stops on its own in the "sunroof closed" position. Remount the motor. That should do it.
So now at least it closes properly, even though when the rear lifts up, it doesn't stop by itself, so I may not have the motor synched perfectly, but it opens and closes all the way w/ one press so I'm happy enough. Removing the trim pieces was just as described by Scottie and Ron: remove deflector (several screws), lift vinyl edge of headliner off, remove two screws which are under the vinyl - (all this is done from above the car w/ sunroof open), remove door seals enough to free edge of trim panel, remove visors, and the panel is free. Motor held in by three screws, easy to remove. You have to play with switch until sunroof closes fully, then remove motor and cycle it several times to try to figure out which stop=closed. Then reinstall motor and all the trim pieces. I had a tough time getting the sunroof headliner to slide forward enough to reattach it to sunroof, seemed to be catching on something, but finally got it. Took longer than it should have, a couple hours.
---------------------
E28 sunroof adjustment
There are no switches per se that are responsible for sunroof's travel. There's one blue micro switch that's located on the sunroof's motor:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jredovich/BMW/motor.jpg
Its cut-off position is not adjustable, as the white gear governs it.
Now for the adjustment. Open the sunroof as far as it goes and locate the metal plate (about 2" x 1") with 2 screws on either side. You should see 2 vertical ridges that form a groove on the plate. For now just note their position. Close the sunroof.
Next you'll have to remove the soft trim as outlined in Bentley. Remove the black trim that hides the motor (remove everything that's attached to it above and below, and don't forget the 2 screws under the wind deflector), drop the motor by removing its 3 screws, and use the switch to get it into
the closed position. It is ok to leave it hanging for now.
Now adjust the sunroof's closed position: move the sliders on either side so that the 5mm Allen wrench from your toolbox could fit into the correct round opening of the gate (the plastic part that's attached to the sunroof). Make sure that it goes thru the groove you've noted previously. When you succeed,
you'll be able to slide the wrench all the way in.
Now put the motor in and test the closing/opening positions (mainly closed and vent). That's it.
"Jan Redovich" yredovic@hotmail.com
-----------------------
After several requests to post responses, here's a summary:
The motor has some cams internally that mark where it thinks it is in its travels. Those cams move whenever the motor turns. Moving the motor by hand with the supplied emergency crank, or with a 4mm Allen wrench, turns the cams too. Any time you're turning the motor and cams with the motor installed, it's moving the sunroof too.
The method I've been advised to use is to
(1) Use either the motor or the crank to put the sunroof in a known spot, either fully open, fully closed, or fully popped up.
(2) Remove the inner visor supports and the emergency hatch to lower the headliner just enough to give access to the sunroof motor's mounting bolts.
(3) Remove the motor assembly so the motor/cams can turn independently of the sunroof's motion. I plan to loosen the motor's three mounting bolts so the motor will drop a bit and disengage its driving gear from the worm gears that move the sunroof.
(4) Cycle the motor electrically until its cam stops it, thinking it's at the same spot as the sunroof is in reality.
(5) Re-install the motor by tightening those three mounting bolts.
(6) Re-install the headliner and inner visor supports.
That's my plan anyway. We'll see if it really works. I hate messing with that headliner, it's fragile and the wiring is a mess up there. Someday I'll tidy up by trimming all the extra V1 cabling, but for now it's just bundled up with a wire tie.
--
Bob Sutterfield
The problem is almost certainly one of those two components. My guess is the relay. If you have a voltmeter you can figure it out easily once you remove the front headliner.
To remove the headliner, first open the sunroof, and then follow the advice in this thread from the archives.
Note that the micro switch has three wires: Red, Blue, and Black. Red should be shorted to either Blue or Black at all times. When the motor gets to the end of travel (closed, open, or tilted), Red should short to the whichever wire it wasn't shorted to, and the relay should click. If you're testing with a voltmeter while the motor is running, there should be 0V between Red and one wire, and 12V or so between Red and the other. The voltages should swap at any of the three points I've mentioned.
If the voltages don't swap, the micro switch is the problem.
If the voltages do swap, the relay is the problem.
The relay is expensive, but easy to replace. A bolt holds it on, and the wires are color-coded.
Ron W
-----------------
E28 sunroof adjustment
(Yes, Bentley is pretty accurate)
1) after undoing the clips on the front of the sliding portion of the sunroof, slide the 'headliner' piece back into the roof (yes it really will slide back.
2) once that is done you will need the T-20 star type automotive tool. You will see all three fasteners per side if you look way inside the sunroof panel. Also remember to use the 4mm Allen wrench to keep the position the side/roof.
3) now loosen all the fasteners (6) and adjust the front of the sunroof so it is 1mm down from the roofline and the rear 1mm above the roofline. I eyeballed this but once I was done I reversed the procedure and it worked great. I had one fastener missing and three very loose producing the wind noise I hated.
Thom
Thomcycle@hotmail.com
-------------
You need to put the sunroof back about 8" and then stick a screwdriver or panel-popping tool in between the sunroof panel and the sunshade itself. There are clips along the front edge that hold the panel to the sunroof. Pop them all off and then move the sunroof into the vent (flipped up) position. Then remove the 2 pole pieces at the back of the shade by carefully prying them out of place. Then slide the sunshade back into the tracks and out of sight. Now you can remove the 6 T25 Torx bolts to remove the panel. Then you will have access to everything you need.
E28 sunroof motor/switch synchronization
Posted by MikeL on November 28, 2000 at 09:30:59:
In Reply to: Sunroof motor/switch syncronization??? posted by Tom M. on November 27, 2000 at 23:43:32:
I recently went through this with my car. First I attached the motor to the cable housing, and ran it all the way forward to the "fully cracked open" position (closed in the front, rear of panel flipped open). Then I loosened (but did not remove) the 3 screws that attach the motor to the cable housing, and ran the motor through the full sequence of stops and starts until it was in the full rear position. As you run the motor forward from this position, it will stop (this is the sunroof closed position). Press the forward button again, and it will run for a few seconds and stop again. At this point, tighten the 3 screws, and try the sunroof. It should work perfectly, but if it doesn't you can see how to figure it out, right?
I hope my explanation wasn't too confusing.
Mike L.
--------------
The key here is that the automatic shutoff mechanism is part of the motor assembly; there are no electrical switches on the sunroof itself.
Work the overhead buttons until the sunroof is closed. Remove the motor, but don't unplug it. Work the buttons until the motor stops on its own in the "sunroof closed" position. Remount the motor. That should do it.
So now at least it closes properly, even though when the rear lifts up, it doesn't stop by itself, so I may not have the motor synched perfectly, but it opens and closes all the way w/ one press so I'm happy enough. Removing the trim pieces was just as described by Scottie and Ron: remove deflector (several screws), lift vinyl edge of headliner off, remove two screws which are under the vinyl - (all this is done from above the car w/ sunroof open), remove door seals enough to free edge of trim panel, remove visors, and the panel is free. Motor held in by three screws, easy to remove. You have to play with switch until sunroof closes fully, then remove motor and cycle it several times to try to figure out which stop=closed. Then reinstall motor and all the trim pieces. I had a tough time getting the sunroof headliner to slide forward enough to reattach it to sunroof, seemed to be catching on something, but finally got it. Took longer than it should have, a couple hours.
---------------------
E28 sunroof adjustment
There are no switches per se that are responsible for sunroof's travel. There's one blue micro switch that's located on the sunroof's motor:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jredovich/BMW/motor.jpg
Its cut-off position is not adjustable, as the white gear governs it.
Now for the adjustment. Open the sunroof as far as it goes and locate the metal plate (about 2" x 1") with 2 screws on either side. You should see 2 vertical ridges that form a groove on the plate. For now just note their position. Close the sunroof.
Next you'll have to remove the soft trim as outlined in Bentley. Remove the black trim that hides the motor (remove everything that's attached to it above and below, and don't forget the 2 screws under the wind deflector), drop the motor by removing its 3 screws, and use the switch to get it into
the closed position. It is ok to leave it hanging for now.
Now adjust the sunroof's closed position: move the sliders on either side so that the 5mm Allen wrench from your toolbox could fit into the correct round opening of the gate (the plastic part that's attached to the sunroof). Make sure that it goes thru the groove you've noted previously. When you succeed,
you'll be able to slide the wrench all the way in.
Now put the motor in and test the closing/opening positions (mainly closed and vent). That's it.
"Jan Redovich" yredovic@hotmail.com
-----------------------
After several requests to post responses, here's a summary:
The motor has some cams internally that mark where it thinks it is in its travels. Those cams move whenever the motor turns. Moving the motor by hand with the supplied emergency crank, or with a 4mm Allen wrench, turns the cams too. Any time you're turning the motor and cams with the motor installed, it's moving the sunroof too.
The method I've been advised to use is to
(1) Use either the motor or the crank to put the sunroof in a known spot, either fully open, fully closed, or fully popped up.
(2) Remove the inner visor supports and the emergency hatch to lower the headliner just enough to give access to the sunroof motor's mounting bolts.
(3) Remove the motor assembly so the motor/cams can turn independently of the sunroof's motion. I plan to loosen the motor's three mounting bolts so the motor will drop a bit and disengage its driving gear from the worm gears that move the sunroof.
(4) Cycle the motor electrically until its cam stops it, thinking it's at the same spot as the sunroof is in reality.
(5) Re-install the motor by tightening those three mounting bolts.
(6) Re-install the headliner and inner visor supports.
That's my plan anyway. We'll see if it really works. I hate messing with that headliner, it's fragile and the wiring is a mess up there. Someday I'll tidy up by trimming all the extra V1 cabling, but for now it's just bundled up with a wire tie.
--
Bob Sutterfield
The problem is almost certainly one of those two components. My guess is the relay. If you have a voltmeter you can figure it out easily once you remove the front headliner.
To remove the headliner, first open the sunroof, and then follow the advice in this thread from the archives.
Note that the micro switch has three wires: Red, Blue, and Black. Red should be shorted to either Blue or Black at all times. When the motor gets to the end of travel (closed, open, or tilted), Red should short to the whichever wire it wasn't shorted to, and the relay should click. If you're testing with a voltmeter while the motor is running, there should be 0V between Red and one wire, and 12V or so between Red and the other. The voltages should swap at any of the three points I've mentioned.
If the voltages don't swap, the micro switch is the problem.
If the voltages do swap, the relay is the problem.
The relay is expensive, but easy to replace. A bolt holds it on, and the wires are color-coded.
Ron W
-----------------
E28 sunroof adjustment
(Yes, Bentley is pretty accurate)
1) after undoing the clips on the front of the sliding portion of the sunroof, slide the 'headliner' piece back into the roof (yes it really will slide back.
2) once that is done you will need the T-20 star type automotive tool. You will see all three fasteners per side if you look way inside the sunroof panel. Also remember to use the 4mm Allen wrench to keep the position the side/roof.
3) now loosen all the fasteners (6) and adjust the front of the sunroof so it is 1mm down from the roofline and the rear 1mm above the roofline. I eyeballed this but once I was done I reversed the procedure and it worked great. I had one fastener missing and three very loose producing the wind noise I hated.
Thom
Thomcycle@hotmail.com
-------------
You need to put the sunroof back about 8" and then stick a screwdriver or panel-popping tool in between the sunroof panel and the sunshade itself. There are clips along the front edge that hold the panel to the sunroof. Pop them all off and then move the sunroof into the vent (flipped up) position. Then remove the 2 pole pieces at the back of the shade by carefully prying them out of place. Then slide the sunshade back into the tracks and out of sight. Now you can remove the 6 T25 Torx bolts to remove the panel. Then you will have access to everything you need.