Sunroof seal
 

The seal on the back of my sunroof keeps coming off. It usually starts peeling off from the passenger side when I open and close it. Then I have to tilt the sunroof open to press the seal back down.

I attached a picture to this post looking from front to back. The corner of the passenger rear door is on the far left of the picture.

An indy shop that I took it too for an oil change suggested some rubbing alcohol would make the rubber tacky again. And also said super glue might work too.

I'm hesitant to use alcohol since I know it can be hard on rubber. And I don't want to do anything with super glue that I regret. I can't seem to find this part on RealOEM so I feel like I've only got one shot at this.

Do any of you have any suggestions on how to keep this seal in place?

Replace it. The piece is in expensive and can be easily swapped out. Part # is 54137064664 and can be found under the "sliding roof/folding top" section on realoem.

Thanks for the info. I saw that part when I was searching and it looks like it goes all the way around the sunroof glass. The problematic seal on my car is just a single piece of rubber that goes across the back.

Is this a part that's not pictured in the diagram but included?

Nvm, that's not the right part. The one I referenced previously is for the standard roof. Looking at your pic I'm going to suspect you in fact have the pano roof....I don't have time to mush through diagrams right now, so perhaps someone who is familiar with the pano roof can chime in here. Good luck!

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I do have the pano roof. I should have clarified in my OP.

Here's the diagram for the pano roof. I don't even really see the piece which the seal fits onto called out.

RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.4i SLID.LIFT. ROOF-COVER/CEILING FRAME

probably do not use rubbing alcohol on the rubber. But you could use it on the metal.
Also, if it falls off, keep it somewhere safe till we can figure out a way to re-use it.
I'm not sure what the seal does (wind noise/water protection/vibration dampner) but one possibility is to get THIN 2 way tape and re-stick it that way. removable in future if needed and cheap fix. But again not sure now the seal performs and if the extra thickness of the added 2 way tape will impair the movement of the rear glass sheet.
PS: remove the two hex screws (one per side) on the rear window too and you'll perhaps be saved from grief like a lot of us owners have/had with the rear window opening. With the 2 screws out, the rear window will still open (and close perfectly) but not "pop" open if that ever occurs to you.

I have some double sided scotch tape. That's not a bad idea. The seal has fallen off several times (one more time today, in fact).



Not sure what you mean about removing the hex screws. Do you have a link with more info or photos? I have an extended warranty which covers the sunroof mechanism so I'm not terribly worried right now. But will become worried once that warranty runs out. :)

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I would try a product called Sikaflex. It's used for windscreen sealant and for securing body moulds. Throw a bit on and the tape it in place to secure while it dries. Once it cures it will hold that no worries.

http://www.xoutpost.com/928424-post12.html

this should have been done from day 1.
I'm not seven sur why the two torx screws are there, since the back glass plate still opens and closes exactly as it did with the screws in BUT with no binding up between the two glass sheets as they are being vented open

This is the part number
54107199533

RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.8is SLIDING LIFTING ROOF FRAME

This is where you can buy.
Search SiteSearch 54107199533 - ECS Tuning

Thanks! I'll order that up.

This looks a lot longer than the piece which is coming off of my sunroof. My piece is maybe 24" - 30" long. Maybe they just cut it to fit or something?

This goes all the way around. Front to back. You cut it to size at the back. This is the updated seal as well.

Wait, are we all talking about the same seal. This is the seal that is attached to the body, And the glass closes against this. That is the link I gave you.

There's a little thin piece of metal that the seal attaches to. This piece of metal seems to pivot up and down a little bit when the pano sunroof is tilted open and closed.

The seal that's falling off looks a lot like the seal you posted - only mine doesn't have any orange on it.

I can try to get a better picture later today if that helps.

The orange is what you peel to reveal the adhesive. lol.

Yea get a better pic, I am confused what you are talking about that flips up. Take pics with it open and point to it with something.

Upon a closer and better look, that metal piece doesn't actually flip up. It looks like it's just a place to mount a seal for the back part of the window.

Here are a couple more pictures showcasing my amazing Windows Paint skills to point things out. :)

I'm thinking that part you linked to is probably the right one. Makes sense that the orange is adhesive backing. I didn't know if there was some sort of adhesive on the seal since mine is pretty dried out and falling off.

ETA: The first picture has the pano roof tilted open. The second picture has it closed. And it's looking toward the rear of the car above the back seat.

I have to look at my car tonight. The seal I linked is supposed to go around the entire pano, and yes, it should go where the first pic is.

I'll get back to you.

Bumping to see if you have more info yet. I'd like to get the seal ordered this week.

Bumping...I haven't ordered the seal yet because I want to make sure I get the right one. Any more suggestions?

Bumping after wanting to order the seal "this week" nearly a year ago?

The only seal on my pano roof is the perimeter seal. Which I replaced.

Yeah, well...life got in the way and this took a back burner. Then the weather got crummy and I forgot about it.

Now that the weather is getting better, I want to open up the sunroof and the seal keeps falling off. So it's back on the radar to get fixed.

Lol, sorry, been busy as hell. I will try to take a look at it and not forget. I'll be back home in two weeks.

Stopped at the local BMW dealer today to check in with the parts counter. The parts guy had never been asked about this particular seal. Just the seals around the glass.

After a look at my X and scouring the parts diagrams, he identified the part to which the seal is mounted as a rain gutter (part #54137127568) and it doesn't look like the seal is available separately. And disassembling the sunroof to replace the gutter, is probably a huge amount of work. So I'm thinking that replacing the seal might be a fool's errand. :dunno:

Here's a link to the diagram - the part is #7. RealOEM.com - Online BMW Parts Catalog

The funny part is that the dealer wanted $130 for the part. Which I've found for about $50-70 online. Sheesh...