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View Full Version : BMW E53 X5 Panoramic Sunroof FIXED!



Crickett
03-11-2011, 06:39 PM
I know there are a few others around here who have X5s so I'm betting there's a decent chance some of you have had the panoramic sunroof break on you. And if not, I hate you, you lucky bastid. :p

Like many, many others on the 'net, the back portion of my wife's sunroof would not close after opening to the vented position. After much searching, I found a guide on how to mechanically disconnect the rear glass to allow the rest of the sunroof to function as usual. The "fix" is actually an irreversible modification to a portion of the cable drive mechanism, but since the actual fix would cost thousands of dollars (replacing the entire cassette), & the sunroof was effectively inop as-is, I wasn't too concerned.

The procedure was surprisingly simple & straightforward: manually crank open the sunroof, remove a retaining spring & guide bar, use some sort of cutting tool (e.g. Dremel) to remove a triangular tab on the drive cable plate, repeat on the other side, then reinitialize the sunroof's range of motion.

EDIT: And here is the post (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1497999) with a link to the guide.

kayger12
03-11-2011, 07:05 PM
Great job.

It is unbelievable to me that BMW cannot make a frieken sun roof that doesn't suffer catastrophic failures from normal use.

Hoping mine craps out while under CPO.

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