Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

General conversations about BMW E28s and the people who own them.
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MRWagen
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Joined: Jun 02, 2008 9:18 PM
Location: Grand Haven, Michigan

Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by MRWagen »

Today I found a glass sunroof in a junkyard in a 528e. After some quick research I learned that apparently Saab sunroofs work in e28s? How do I know if this one is a Saab or a genuine BMW?

https://ibb.co/fCTLTd5
https://ibb.co/pjffJpC
https://ibb.co/LNKsDzg
1st 5er
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by 1st 5er »

It should be marked on the rear side of the glass.
Or, look at rear curvature.
If it matches the E28 lines, BMW.
If it's flat, SAAB.
Karl Grau
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by Karl Grau »

1st 5er wrote: May 26, 2022 12:42 PM It should be marked on the rear side of the glass.
To clarify, it's in the middle on the edge that's towards the rear of the car.



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MRWagen
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by MRWagen »

What are these things going for these days, that is if it's a BMW unit? If it's a Saab I may not bother.
1st 5er
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by 1st 5er »

Karl Grau wrote: May 26, 2022 2:22 PM
1st 5er wrote: May 26, 2022 12:42 PM It should be marked on the rear side of the glass.
To clarify, it's in the middle on the edge that's towards the rear of the car.



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Galahad
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by Galahad »

If it's Saab I'd buy it off you for a reasonable price, I haven't been able to find one locally.
MRWagen
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by MRWagen »

Anybody have tips on how to remove a glass sunroof? I know how to remove a normal one, but I'm stumped on how to deal with the plastic perimeter frame. The sunroof panel only wants to tilt, doesn't want to slide back.
1st 5er
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by 1st 5er »

I've swapped out the entire system
but it's too many beers ago
for my memory bank to recover.
1st 5er
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by 1st 5er »

1st 5er wrote: Jun 02, 2022 11:11 AM I've swapped out the entire system
but it's too many beers ago
for my memory bank to recover.
*years (maybe autocorrect ain't so stoopid after all)

P.S.
The manual crank should facilitate both slide and tilt function.
vinceg101
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by vinceg101 »

It sounds like you going to have move the panel back manually.
Option 1:
-There is supposed to be a tool in the tool kit that you can use to manually crank the motor to open. Pull the small access panel cover in the front Headliner Panel (the black cover panel on the roof). This exposes the motor and the hex bolt where this tool goes. If you can't find the tool, any hex driver will do.

-This is slow and tedious but it should work and once the panel is fully retracted, the frame rails will be exposed

Option 2: (For full removal of the Moon Roof and frame, you need to follow this regardless)
-Remove the front Headliner Panel (the black cover panel on the roof). Remove the screws holding the visors in place; remove the check panel; peel up the door gasket trims to free the headliner panel vinyl.

-Remove the 3-4 hex bolts that hold the sun/moon roof motor to the roof; disconnect the wire harness

-After you get the panel retracted, remove the top cover on the panel rails (a bunch of very small black screws). This exposes the cables and frees the cable trucks with the tilt-lift brackets.

-You need to remove the cables from the motor (one goes into each side of the motor). They go through the roof via a set of copper pipes (you might have to remove some of the headliner as it may be covering this whole area)
[*I'm a little fuzzy on how you do this without power to the motor, so some research is in order]

-Once the cables are free of the motor, you can pull them out of the tracks (wrap them in towels if you care about the interior since they will be covered with grease).

-Then grab the glass panel and pull forward as if you're closing the moon roof. As you pull, start to lift the front out of the tracks and then fully remove the panel. Lift out the shade panel at this time.

-Continue to remove the rest of the tracks and hardware (get all of it as some items are specific to the Moon Roof and most all of it is NLA; including all those tiny black screws).

I think that's it in general, I might have missed a few steps or glossed over some, but you get the idea.
MRWagen
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Re: Found a glass sunroof in a junkyard

Post by MRWagen »

It was fitted to a power sunroof car but eventually I was able to manually move it and pull the panel, the privacy shade, plastic frame, and the two cable covers. Unfortunately the plastic lifting lever arm things were cracked (but maybe salvageable) so I left them; hope those aren't specific to the glass roof but I can go back and get them yet if needed. Turned out it was a genuine BMW, might keep for my dad's future e28 that he always talks about getting or sell if somebody is interested in it.
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