Overhead Panel-NIGHTMARE!

[Emm3]

I have a 'mlnt' panel complete WITH the bits the council type has ripped off in his haste to relieve you of dollars

Thanks i was minded to bin the thing at first but theres some hope.

Would you be willing to sell the handle & trim seperate? if not would it be possible to have a pic of the handle & trim just to compare and confirm there is a difference. Last thing i want now is to buy a handle & trim and then find that the sunroofs that came with this trim panel had extended shafts to where the handle mounts rather than the handle being different.... etc etc

[Emm3]

I've taken the handle off and had a look at the shaft it goes on to. Can somone confirm if all E30 sunroofs are the same (manual only) ?

[Emm3]

Anyone? I've searched the net and from what I've seen all the sunroof handles appear the same

[Emm3]

Help

[e30topless]

I am fairly certain they are all the same, I have a few in the unit, will check tommorow,

Emm3 arent you in yorkshire ?

[Brianmoooore]

Would spacing down the whole gearbox assembly for the winder solve the problem? I can't think of any reason why spacers couldn't be fitted behind the mounting plate.

[Emm3]

I am fairly certain they are all the same, I have a few in the unit, will check tommorow,

Emm3 arent you in yorkshire ?

Indeed iam troublesome Bradford they call it.

[e30topless]

my unit is just outside bradford, (low moor) bring it down and I could take a look ?

[Emm3]

Would spacing down the whole gearbox assembly for the winder solve the problem? I can't think of any reason why spacers couldn't be fitted behind the mounting plate.

Brian how easy is it to get to the gearbox?, how easy is it to remove the gearbox in order to space it out. So all manual sunroofs must not be the same, i know these panels come in the Lux edition cars but i've used the search and didnt find anyone mention a difference in the manual roofs.

[Emm3]

my unit is just outside bradford, (low moor) bring it down and I could take a look ?

Oh thats good news as they aint many E30 bits when you need them. Car is currently off road at the moment as i've had a radiator leak and taken it out waiting to be replaced, got the sunroof handle and trim off if thats any help for comparison. I had thought that it may be just the trim that may be different and maybe there is a deeper version but not found any info on different versions.

[Emm3]

Rite well i've some what got to the bottom of this, the handles and the trim are all the same so the sunroof or the gearbox must be lower on the cars that have this panel. Now as Brian has suggested i need to lower the gearbox but how simple will this be to get to. The roof lining is still on and i'm tempted to cut the area under the gearbox but one thing i dont want is for the roof lining to then loose its shape or sag if cut.Is the gearbox held on with bolts and are there just cables attached to it that will allow for some movement, i'm just thinking of taking the thing off now

[e30topless]

the sunroof gearbox bolts directly to the mechanism using 3 torx headed bolts, raising/lowering is out of the question
i think your roof panel isn't fitted right

[Emm3]

Is that because the cables will be too tight?
on a roof without the panel the handle and trim sit on the roof lining, if you look at the panel once fitted there is a gap between the panel and the roof lining.
I didn't think i could really go wrong with fitting the panel as its quite simple so what could i be doing wrong?
I think there must be a a difference of the gearbox for cars with this panel but would bmw really make another gearbox for the sake of some trim.
Or there is one other thing that maybe the simpler answer,

On the 316 lux that i had that came with this panel, before i sold the car i thought of removing this panel and fitting it to my i.s so i took off the sunroof handle visors etc and the could not find what it was held on with. Thinking it could be just door trim type clips i pulled the panel down slightly and it didnt pop off but what i noticed was that there was no roof lining under it. The roof lining only went upto the trim. At that time i thought i'm not going to sell the car with a quarter of the lining missing so best leave it on. now could it be that as my car has the full roof lining that is quite tight it is physically stops the panel from being closer to the roof thats causing the issue with the handle?

[Emm3]

Ive removed the panel and had another look at the original lining, from what i can see there is like a foam type material under where the sunvisors close. The panel has 2 raised sections where the sunvisors sit. I think if i remove the this foam the panel should sit closer to the roof and perhaps solve the problem for that though i need to cut the roof lining from the front not sure if i should chance this?

[Brianmoooore]

Looked at one of my E30s this afternoon. A saloon, which has donated its black panel to upgrade a touring.
The complete sunroof gearbox assembly is a steel plate that mounts on two bolts at the front, onto the front screen frame and three bolts at the rear, onto the sunroof opening frame.
The fabric head lining is completely missing from this area, in a rectangular area about 18" wide, so get stuck in with the Stanley knife, and see if this cures things.
With this fabric removed, the whole mechanism is completely exposed, and you should be able to bend the steel plate to lower the gearbox if still necessary.

[Emm3]

Many thanks Brian, just one thing can you tell me from the saloon you have how is the headlining towards the end? is it fixed in any way. I will take the plunge and cut mine but what i dont want to be left with is a saggy roof lining even if i re-fit the panel particularly in the areas where the panel has the flap on both sides that tucks under the door seal.

[Emm3]

Well I've cut the roof lining and there were 2 foam pads that came out beneath the visor area the panel sits much better but not perfect the sunroof panel is slightly angled on the crank area so I think the gearbox plate needs to be space prob 10mm or so I can see the pipes that come out of the gearbox and I presume cables run through them if I spaced the gearbox 10mm do you think this would strain the cables? Why do these simple things get so complicated

[Emm3]

Also got to see inside the roof and there's no rust, where do the roofs rust from

[cypriot_boy_2k7]

i wanted one of these for my touring, but alas my touring has no sunroof so may look stupid?

Nothing is impossible,but as these things were only supplied with cars that had sunroofs.....

I had one that was off a non sunroof, ill double check tomorrow whilst its still out, the only reason i say this is because it was from ebay, an non sunroof and no holes it was only for a check control system.

[Emm3]

Well its all done and all works, i wouldnt recomend this to anyone, the spacing the sunroof gear box too much time.