away to swap roof linings from one car to another as mine is sagging at the rear.......... just wondered if its fairly easy job and if they are succesfully refitted after removing ?
cheers
touring roof lining?
Moderator: martauto
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Touring roof linings are mounted on a fibreglass frame, and are far more easily swapped than those in a saloon. The fabric is glued onto a thin layer of foam rubber, which is in turn glued to the fibreglass. The sagging occurs when the foam rubber disintegrates, and unfortunately, your replacement isn't likely to be that far behind your original.
Most of the fixings for the liner are obvious, except for two self tapping screws lurking under the 'gurney flap' at the front of the sunroof, and a couple of push in/pull straight out tabs in the middle of the rear half.
Most of the fixings for the liner are obvious, except for two self tapping screws lurking under the 'gurney flap' at the front of the sunroof, and a couple of push in/pull straight out tabs in the middle of the rear half.
The Venerable Mr Mooooooore is right; given 20 years or so the foam deteriorates on the linings and they all start to sag. And once they start to go, they give very quickly. What's more: unless you scrape off all the old foam first there is no easy fix. A mint replacement or New fabric glued to a cleaned board is your only hope
Once you unscrew the obvious "Through the Liner" fixings: Sun Visors; Grab Handles; Retractable Dog guard clips (if you have them), and release the obvious "Crimp points" like Door seals and the tops of the B, C, and rear Pillar trims, there are 4 interference clips at the rear that simply pull down either side of the tailgate hinges and a couple of forward facing prongs that clip into the hoop above the rear seats. The real difficult bits are all hidden around the sunroof opening ”“ if you have one.
Here you need to unclip the fabric panel from the front of the sunroof panel by prising it down at the front (simple spring clips obvious with the roof back a few inches and the leading edge pulled down a little); close the sunroof, unclip and slide the fabric panel all the way back into the sun roof carrier; unscrew the 6 Torx screws that hold the Sunroof panel to the frame and remove it; remove all the little screws you can see from above: the wind deflector at the front comes off easily enough; the black rear retaining strip is easy enough to work out; the side runners are easy enough to unscrew ”“ if a little more difficult to remove because they are sealed into place. The bit that defeats everyone is the 4 plastic posts that are glued to the fibre board front and back of the sunroof aperture and whose screws are hidden under the folded back and glued roof lining fabric. I broke these posts off my fibre board but they were easy enough to glue back on before refitting.
Refitting is simply a reversal of the above procedure ---- Not!
Getting the fabric around the sunroof opening right is a nightmare.
Good luck.
Once you unscrew the obvious "Through the Liner" fixings: Sun Visors; Grab Handles; Retractable Dog guard clips (if you have them), and release the obvious "Crimp points" like Door seals and the tops of the B, C, and rear Pillar trims, there are 4 interference clips at the rear that simply pull down either side of the tailgate hinges and a couple of forward facing prongs that clip into the hoop above the rear seats. The real difficult bits are all hidden around the sunroof opening ”“ if you have one.
Here you need to unclip the fabric panel from the front of the sunroof panel by prising it down at the front (simple spring clips obvious with the roof back a few inches and the leading edge pulled down a little); close the sunroof, unclip and slide the fabric panel all the way back into the sun roof carrier; unscrew the 6 Torx screws that hold the Sunroof panel to the frame and remove it; remove all the little screws you can see from above: the wind deflector at the front comes off easily enough; the black rear retaining strip is easy enough to work out; the side runners are easy enough to unscrew ”“ if a little more difficult to remove because they are sealed into place. The bit that defeats everyone is the 4 plastic posts that are glued to the fibre board front and back of the sunroof aperture and whose screws are hidden under the folded back and glued roof lining fabric. I broke these posts off my fibre board but they were easy enough to glue back on before refitting.
Refitting is simply a reversal of the above procedure ---- Not!
Getting the fabric around the sunroof opening right is a nightmare.
Good luck.
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
One word of warning: the stainless steel bits in the sunroof slides are razor edged. You won't even be aware of the cut until you become aware of blood everywhere!
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psychochild187
- E30 Zone Squatter
- Posts: 1857
- Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: brighton
i just removed one. a minter as well . not sure if i would want to re rit it to much
where are you anyway?
where are you anyway?
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Paul325ITouring
- E30 Zone Newbie
- Posts: 227
- Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:00 pm
- Location: Jersey c.I
Hi is there a place which will make a head lining up for a touring, which you can just fit in?