Sunroof tilt not opening

[afnetman]

I have a 2004 X5 and just noticed that when I open the sunroof in the tilt possition that it does not open. I can hear the mechinisum moving but the sunroof does not open. I can push it open after the mechinisum has finished moving and I can prop it open, but it does not open on its own. There is no problem when I slide open the sunroof, that opens all the way as normal. Does anyone have any ideas why this would happen and if it is possible to fix (without too much difficulty or cost)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o:p></o:p>
Thanks for your help. Jay <o:p></o:p>

[binhly101]

you may need to reset the sunroof...

When resetting the panoramic sunroof, it cycles through two modes. The first is Normalisation, where the end positions are learnt. The second is Initialisation, where the characteristic curve is learnt.
The procedure takes 75 seconds. It begins by having the floating roofliner in the open position and the sunroof completely closed. The centre of the sunroof switch is then pressed and held in the Lift position. Note: the switch must be kept pushed for the whole procedure. The roof then moves to the lift position, the floating roofliner closes then opens, the sunroof then closes from the lifted position, then opens and closes fully, the floating roofliner then closes and the procedure is finished. If you release the switch before the procedure is finished, you must start again.

For non panoramic sunroof, after sunroof raises to the lift position, hold button for another 20 secs and until the sunroof "jiggles" at the open position, release switch for a maximum of 5 secs, then hold down the switch in the raising position until the sunroof has returned to the closed position after a complete opening movement. Release the switch.
Good Luck

[afnetman]

Thanks binhly101
I tried the resetting of the non panoramic sunroof. It went through all the cycles needed to reset, but still the sunroof does not go into the tilt possition. It opens all the way no problem but the only way I can get the sunroof to open in the tilt possition is to prop something in the roof to keep it open.

[binhly101]

Sorry, i was hoping it would have worked for you ..

[adnoid]

Originally Posted by afnetman

Thanks binhly101
I tried the resetting of the non panoramic sunroof. It went through all the cycles needed to reset, but still the sunroof does not go into the tilt possition. It opens all the way no problem but the only way I can get the sunroof to open in the tilt possition is to prop something in the roof to keep it open.

I am having the exact same problem. I always tilt it up, but my wife has been driving my X5 for a few weeks because her car was in the shop. I recovered it a few days ago, and the tilt does not work - her claim is that it was always that way.

The slide back works fine, I can hear the mechanism working, and after it stops I can hold the glass in the tilted position but it will not stay there.

I'll keep looking around...

[butundo]

My 01 did the same thing. Wouldn't open up. One day I tried it again, and it worked fine. No idea how it fixed itself.

[adnoid]

Originally Posted by butundo

My 01 did the same thing. Wouldn't open up. One day I tried it again, and it worked fine. No idea how it fixed itself.

Thanks for the follow up - but I took it apart and it's really broken.

Found these links which are very useful for this problem:

Ahhhh, finally got the new peices... - The BMW 5 Series (E39) Message Forum

Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum - View Single Post - e39: moonroof is dead, but sunroof works

I've got parts on the way. I did start to take the glass off yesterday but it started to rain so I thought better of it until I had parts in hand.

FYI parts I ordered:

54-12-8-202-295 Left side
54-12-8-202-296 Right side

[butundo]

That fix might be in my future...

[adnoid]

I got it pretty much done, with one exception: I could not for the life of me figure out how to get the parts that are actually driven by the cables out, so I left them in and reused them. I had also discovered that at some point before I started the repair the left and right sides had gotten out of sync, which required me to remove the drive motor to get them aligned again.

I've attached some pictures of the broken parts, and the parts I was unable to replace.

All in all not so bad, but I did run my battery down during the first inspection. I put a charger on it while doing the reassembly & testing (the sunroof motor seems to be a major draw) and no trouble during the actual repair. Also, before removing the rear screws I drew around the washers, so when I reassembled it I just matched the washers to the circles and all I had to work on aligning was the front end.

Now to find my oil leak...