[SteveAus]

Just experienced a sunroof failure...
I opened the sunroof on the tail end of a 100 km drive and noticed that the sunroof would not close when I pulled into my garage.
I checked the InterWeb for similar problems, and the main fix was to push up on the sunroof tilt button for about 15-20 seconds to "Initialise the Sunroof".
I tried this several times with the ignition on and engine off, and also with the engine on. Alas....no luck. All I can hear are a couple of clicks of a relay switch....but no action of the sunroof.
Does anyone have experience with this issue and do you have any magic fixes for it?
Failing a miracle cure, I guess it will be a trip to the dreaded dealer (on a fine and non-raining day!).

[Bmwphile]

Had a similar issue with my sunroof recently. It started with the internal blind not closing. Then over the next few days, the sunroof itself would not open. A trip to the dealer found that the FZD control unit had failed. Fortunately, it was replaced under warranty.

Sunroof internal cover not closing https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1838296

[SteveAus]

Had my sunroof fixed yesterday and was surprised that the problem was not as onerous as I had imagined.
Essentially, the dealer removed the trim panel where the sunroof switch is located (the FZD module) and manually wound the sunroof closed, via the hex nut that is located there. Once closed, they re-initialized the sunroof and, after testing, that was it…….all done.

What was the problem in the first place? That is still a bit of a mystery. Basically, the theory is that the sunroof electronics had a “hissy fit” and decided to shut itself down, believing there was an obstruction.

The dealer was very good arranging for me to get the car in within an hour of calling and speaking to the service Dept. They kept the car undercover until a slot was available to inspect the problem in the workshop. The car was ready to be collected not long after lunch. Great service.

[erawamai]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

Had my sunroof fixed yesterday and was surprised that the problem was not as onerous as I had imagined.
Essentially, the dealer removed the trim panel where the sunroof switch is located (the FZD module) and manually wound the sunroof closed, via the hex nut that is located there. Once closed, they re-initialized the sunroof and, after testing, that was it…….all done.

What was the problem in the first place? That is still a bit of a mystery. Basically, the theory is that the sunroof electronics had a “hissy fit” and decided to shut itself down, believing there was an obstruction.

The dealer was very good arranging for me to get the car in within an hour of calling and speaking to the service Dept. They kept the car undercover until a slot was available to inspect the problem in the workshop. The car was ready to be collected not long after lunch. Great service.

I only just noticed recently that there is a smaller sunroof (with no tilt) that I have on my 330i and a tilting one that others had.

Glad yours is fixed.

[erawamai]

Originally Posted by erawamai

I only just noticed recently that there is a smaller sunroof (with no tilt) that I have on my 330i and a tilting one that others had.

Glad yours is fixed.

I feel a bit dumb today.

I went 18 months owning this car not knowing you can tilt the sunroof. I thought I just had a slide roof.

[SteveAus]

Another similar problem with my sunroof. This is the second time in two years.
I opened the sunroof on a short drive to the park, and closed it when I got to the park.
I wanted to open the tilt roof and close the sunshade…….nothing!
The roof is stuck. Fortunately, it is stuck in the closed position, even though the car tells me that rain guard is non operational.

Another fortunate thing is that the car is booked in for a service in two days. At least this will save an additional trip to the dreaded dealership.

[GTR33R]

I have the same problem as you Steve. Sunroof stopped tilted up and sunshade half way open. When I tried to tilt it down and or close the sunshade nothing would happen. I did get "Initialise the Sunroof" message. I did that as per instructions and the tilt works fine now but the sunshade and slide won't work.
Looks like I have to either call BMW support or visit my dealer.
Let us know how you go with yours.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by GTR33R

I have the same problem as you Steve. Sunroof stopped tilted up and sunshade half way open. When I tried to tilt it down and or close the sunshade nothing would happen. I did get "Initialise the Sunroof" message. I did that as per instructions and the tilt works fine now but the sunshade and slide won't work.
Looks like I have to either call BMW support or visit my dealer.
Let us know how you go with yours.

In my case I could not initialize the sunroof. After 15-20 secs of pressing the tilt button, all I could hear was the clicking of a relay switch. This is the same problem I had with the first failure of the sunroof.
At the dealer, the mechanics pulled the roof centre console and the FZD module contained within. They then did a manual reset, and were then able to initialise the sunroof mechanism.
The sunroof is working properly now, but I’m concerned that it will become faulty again. This is because the “fix” is the same as the one the dealer did 9 months ago. To me, this is not good enough.
I see this as a temporary fix and have asked the dealer to contact BMW for a permanent fix. My suspicion is that the FZD is dodgy and needs to be replaced. My worry is that the problem reoccurs when I’m 100 km from home on a wet winter day.
As this sunroof problem is a known issue worldwide, I would like BMW to find a permanent solution.

[Bmwphile]

Totally agree with you SteveAus. I had a similar issue to yours & they replaced the FZD unit straight away. I would insist on a replacement.

[GTR33R]

I got mine working yesterday. Slide and tilt working as it should but not the sunshade. A couple of hours later the slide or shade wouldn't work but the tilt still does.
I dropped her at the dealer this morning, I will post on the outcome.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by Bmwphile

Totally agree with you SteveAus. I had a similar issue to yours & they replaced the FZD unit straight away. I would insist on a replacement.

Just received some feed back from the dreaded dealer.
They have asked to have my car for two days to sort out the sunroof problem……….yes…….two furken days!!!
Seems a bit OTT to me but I have been told that they will remove the FZD and the two motors to do “extensive electrical checks”. In order to remove the motors, they have to drop the headliner.
Obviously, I’m not very happy about this and have insisted the headliner is re-installed in a “factory-perfect” manner.

The dealer has offered a loan car for two days.
I asked for an M3 or M4 or i4. Surprisingly, they do not have any for loan!
I’ll probably end up with a bloody X1, or something similar equally powerful, that would not pull you out of bed in the morning!!

[GTR33R]

I was told mine needs a new motor for the sunshade. They need to order the part from BMW. They will have the parts next week. They need the car for a full day, head liner will have to come off to replace the motor. I will be checking to insure they use all new clips.
I can't believe the motor stuffed up so quick. All my life owning cars I can't remember ever having a problem with sunroofs.
I will not be around for a few weeks so it is booked in May 23rd .

I will advice when she is done.

Steve, I always get a car when I have her serviced.

[Bmwphile]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

Just received some feed back from the dreaded dealer.
They have asked to have my car for two days to sort out the sunroof problem……….yes…….two furken days!!!
Seems a bit OTT to me but I have been told that they will remove the FZD and the two motors to do “extensive electrical checks”. In order to remove the motors, they have to drop the headliner.
Obviously, I’m not very happy about this and have insisted the headliner is re-installed in a “factory-perfect” manner.

The dealer has offered a loan car for two days.
I asked for an M3 or M4 or i4. Surprisingly, they do not have any for loan!
I’ll probably end up with a bloody X1, or something similar equally powerful, that would not pull you out of bed in the morning!!

I can sense your frustration. My FZD was changed over in a day FWIW.

[francton]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

Just received some feed back from the dreaded dealer.
They have asked to have my car for two days to sort out the sunroof problem……….yes…….two furken days!!!
Seems a bit OTT to me but I have been told that they will remove the FZD and the two motors to do “extensive electrical checks”. In order to remove the motors, they have to drop the headliner.
Obviously, I’m not very happy about this and have insisted the headliner is re-installed in a “factory-perfect” manner.

The dealer has offered a loan car for two days.
I asked for an M3 or M4 or i4. Surprisingly, they do not have any for loan!
I’ll probably end up with a bloody X1, or something similar equally powerful, that would not pull you out of bed in the morning!!

I was once given a 118i as a emergency car when my car floor got wet through some unknown leakage. I whinged and they then have me a 320i after a couple of days.. now the leakage problem has occurred again, car is at the dealer, they don't have a loan car available but will give me one tomorrow. Hoping for an M3/M5

[GTR33R]

Sunroof motor replaced , working normal again.
Water pump needs replacing. You guessed right has to come from Germany, around 2 weeks I was told . Not in any hurry, very slight leak, not even dropping on the floor yet.
Car has travelled 20k k's and assembled in Germany. Poor effort from BMW i would say.
I can't remember the last time I had to replace a water pump on any car.

[erawamai]

Originally Posted by GTR33R

Sunroof motor replaced , working normal again.
Water pump needs replacing. You guessed right has to come from Germany, around 2 weeks I was told . Not in any hurry, very slight leak, not even dropping on the floor yet.
Car has travelled 20k k's and assembled in Germany. Poor effort from BMW i would say.
I can't remember the last time I had to replace a water pump on any car.

Interesting - how did you know the water pump had failed?

Weird noises or engine light?

[GTR33R]

I didn't know . BMW dealer checked everything when it was in for the sunroof as they had the car all day. They checked and reported on brake pad wear, tyre wear etc. The mechanic must have noticed some leak from the pump . I don't even know if they are electric or belt driven, I would think electric these days. It must be just seepage because I haven't seen any on the garage floor, I have epoxy coating on the floor so it won't absorb anything. I still drive the car ans still nothing on the floor. They should have the pump sometime next week.

[erawamai]

Originally Posted by GTR33R

I didn't know . BMW dealer checked everything when it was in for the sunroof as they had the car all day. They checked and reported on brake pad wear, tyre wear etc. The mechanic must have noticed some leak from the pump . I don't even know if they are electric or belt driven, I would think electric these days. It must be just seepage because I haven't seen any on the garage floor, I have epoxy coating on the floor so it won't absorb anything. I still drive the car ans still nothing on the floor. They should have the pump sometime next week.

That's good. What Sydney dealer? Most are completely loath to replace anything unless the car can't be driven.

[GTR33R]

Castle Hill. Still no sign of coolant on the garage floor.

The guys there are good to me , always get a car and they always wash it and clean it inside.
I have a free 5 year service.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by SteveAus

Just received some feed back from the dreaded dealer.
They have asked to have my car for two days to sort out the sunroof problem……….yes…….two furken days!!!
Seems a bit OTT to me but I have been told that they will remove the FZD and the two motors to do “extensive electrical checks”. In order to remove the motors, they have to drop the headliner.
Obviously, I’m not very happy about this and have insisted the headliner is re-installed in a “factory-perfect” manner.

The dealer has offered a loan car for two days.
I asked for an M3 or M4 or i4. Surprisingly, they do not have any for loan!
I’ll probably end up with a bloody X1, or something similar equally powerful, that would not pull you out of bed in the morning!!

The continuing saga of the sunroof...apologies for the length of the post...

The dealership wanted my car for two days and essentially did a long and protracted electrical test (more than 12 hrs) of the car's systems which spanned a few weeks of the car's life.
An added part of this story is that my car is often left in a garage for two or so weeks at a time...parked and locked.
The results of the prolonged electrical test pointed to my battery discharging itself to very low levels due to various unexplained "wake up" calls of the electrical system.
I was told that the extremely low battery levels, caused the sunroof to loose its "set points" and therefore caused the sunroof to have a hissy fit and remain either open or closed.

To cut a long story short, they told me that they thought that the BlackVue dash cam had caused this problem as it is the only thing on the car that is non-BMW. I'm not sure I believe this, as the power for the Neo dashcam battery comes from the 12v supply which is non-operative when the car ignition is turned off.
In truth, a CTEK battery monitor was also fitted across the battery terminals, but the Dealer did not seem to notice this. I secretly suspect this "might" have contributed to the problem.

Each time the sunroof failed seemed to be around the time the car's software was updated and various items were coded with BimmerCode. I suspect this is the real reason for the very low charge level of the battery, even though I made sure my battery had been charged overnight for the BMW software upgrade and charged overnight again for the coding. I now fear that my battery may be a little degraded.

The bottom line for me is that I have bitten the bullet and removed the CTEK Battery Monitor and also the BlackVue dashcams (I had planned to install dashcams in the Golf after almost having the front end of the car ripped off by a 4WD turning directly across my path a few weeks ago).

Thus, I have arranged to have the BMW ACE 2.0 dashcams installed in the car tomorrow. I would have liked to wait for ACE 3.0, but they seem to be a long way from Australia at the moment as they have only just been released in Europe and USA. In fact, both dealerships here had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned ACE 3.0!
The ACE 2.0 dashcams are large and ugly but I feel naked and vulnerable without dashcams.
I DO have Drive Recorder installed, but feel much more comfortable having dashcams as well.

As an addendum, if you plan to update the software in your car, I suggest a full battery charge is required. Furthermore, if you plan to re-code your car with BimmerCode, do so only with a full battery charge, or do it incrementally over several trips/days.

[buffaloalan]

I did a search and found this thread - I have a different sunroof issue. Last week, I opened it without a problem but when I went to close it, it recoiled as it would if it detected, say, a finger in the way. I held the button closed to force it to bypass the recoil and something audibly snapped or cracked, but it did close. Now there is a loose piece of plastic trim towards the back.

I took it to the dealership last week and they fixed it, stating that the mechanism was off-track.

It happened again literally the same way last night.

[SteveAus]

Originally Posted by buffaloalan

I did a search and found this thread - I have a different sunroof issue. Last week, I opened it without a problem but when I went to close it, it recoiled as it would if it detected, say, a finger in the way. I held the button closed to force it to bypass the recoil and something audibly snapped or cracked, but it did close. Now there is a loose piece of plastic trim towards the back.

I took it to the dealership last week and they fixed it, stating that the mechanism was off-track.

It happened again literally the same way last night.

Hearing a snapping sound would have been a real concern.
Looks like you may have to have the whole sunroof mechanism replaced.
I’ve had sunroofs in cars for decades, including in BMWs over the last 25 years, and have never had a problem until this one, the G20.
Are cars becoming just too complicated, I wonder.