DIY Sunroof panel reinstall

[strad]

Not covering the removal, since removal is the easy part and can be done by following Bentley.  I had my car resprayed, which is why it was necessary to r/r the sunroof.  I do not know if this procedure would work as easily if you have a power roof -- I don't have one.  

Reinstalling the panel itself is pretty easy.  Install panel, install all six bolts but do not tighten them.  Close sunroof -- adjust sunroof fit to roof -- then tighten the six bolts.  

Now the fun part, which is re-engaging the fabric panel.  After inventing a few new words trying to do it the Bentley way, I reasoned, "why not just put the sunroof in the vent position and re-engage the guide pins that way?"  This worked beautifully.  You can actually see what you're doing , there's plenty of room, and there's apparently still room at the front for all the clips that aren't fastened along the front edge.  Once both guide pins are re-engaged, just close the sunroof, then open (slide it back into the roof) far enough to snap all the front clips back into the channel.  Then test the sunroof to see that panel and roof stay together throughout the entire range of operations.

[hoevesruperd]

interesting, would you have pictures of the installation? how much did the respray cost you?

[D. Clay]

I left the sunroof in and removed the weatherstrip when I had my car painted. A really good way of painting around the windshield and backglass is to remove the lockstrip only and leave the glass and rubber gasket in the car. Pry up the rubber gasket and you can sand underneath it. When it's time to paint the car, put a piece of thin nylon cord under the rubber gasket as far as it will go. This leaves an unbroken film of paint that goes under the rubber gasket. Use a razor blade to cut the paint at the cord, pull it out, and replace the lockstrip.

[hoevesruperd]

D. Clay, thanks for this info it will soon be helpful. since its too cold to do anything on the car now, sometimes i stare at it wondering how i will make it look and feel good again. this is a step forward in my thinking!

although i thought the lockstrip was one H piece that could only be replaced at the same time as the windshield. i will count on your experience

[D. Clay]

There is a pic in Vehicle Trim>Glazing in realoem. The lockstrip goes in the gasket. My car is in the driveway with a blown head gasket. I looked at the timing gears and they are really pointed and would need to be replaced also. I got a 1995 318ti M42 with low miles to go in it for $500. Less than the parts cost to fix mine and I would still have 200,000 on the bearings, rings, valves, etc. Too cold here also, though I will admit to knowing nothing about cold compared to Canada, though.

[strad]

Naww, I didn't take pictures.  The front windshield was cracked, so we just removed that (actually the glass guy did).  Removed the lockstrip from the rear glass and roped it.  I wanted as few paint lines as possible, which is why I removed the sunroof.  Removal of the sunroof took about 20 minutes (or would have if one of the bolts hadn't stripped :mad:).  Putting it back in was about the same length of time.  I don't know how you'd remove the weatherstrip around the sunroof panel (much less reinstall it! without removing the panel from the car first.  

My $$ figure on the respray would not be realistic.  My brother-in-law owns the bodyshop and my father-in-law took care of the bodywork issues.  I did most of the prep.  The car still needs to be color-sanded, which I'm kinda afraid to do until I get some further instruction on it.