How To Fix Common BMW E46 Sunroof Problems! 

How much better would youtube videos be if they were as well put together as these are? This young man knows how to speak clearly and definitely knows his craft. it was a pleasure to listen to and learn from. Hope this continues and your followers grow and grow.

Thanks to you I was able to go to the salvage yard, get the parts I needed, and repair my own sunshade! We appreciate all you do!

Thank you Jason!!! I have been having withdrawals waiting for another great video!!! You Rock!!!

I'm buying a E46, the seller just told me that the sunroof sometimes doesn't open. I quickly looked up E46 sunroof fix. This vid gives me the confidence to fix that easily. Thanks a lot 🙌🙌🙌

Excellent trouble shooting tutorial. you start with the basics and move on to the other problems. Step by step instructions were very helpful. Thank you.

Thanks so much! I just bought one and the shade is out completely. I'll try to put it back in with this great video! 👍

I recently purchased two different BMW 328is' a 99" and 00" one with a blown trans and the other runs great however the interior had some kind of creature in it. I've been watching your videos all day and exchanging the best of one to the other and I have to say man I really appreciate it. Love how your videos are straight to the point and you don't use any gimmicky intro or any goofiness. Sincerely.

Man I want you to work on my car. You're so gentle with these ladies!!!!

Just finished fixing sunroof in 2003 E46 Compact One clip was broken, one from right side lost its plastic part and was bent. Managed to fix it with pliers and patience ;) Also, both back rollers were bent and were skipping over the part that drags the sunshade. Bent them with pliers too. Then a lot of cleaning and greasing... Now it works like a charm - thanks mate for great video! (only on this video I could see a proper position of this part that drags the sunshade)

Very informative and logically explained. Thank you.

It's been a minute since you uploaded. Good to see more content!

Great video! Thank you. The sunroof shade off the track is exactly what's wrong with my E46 M3 sunroof. Repair does not look too pricey according to your video. Thank goodness.

This was an outstanding presentation; clear and intelligent explanation and easy to understand. One of the best ones I have ever watched if not the best!

Thanks dude. The Manual over-ride was a top tip. You saved me a world of pain.

Can you make a video on aligning the tracks of the sunroof? You described my problem perfectly. How the sunroof was uneven and the motor can't do anything ,but you didn't show me how to fix it. A video on this would be much appreciated or even a reply would be appreciated too. Thanks

hey this video was really helpful thank you! it should help me on my repair to fix the clips back into place!

Great video, great presentation. Very professional , very helpful and informational. Keep up the great work

So glad you made this vid. Thank you so much! Keep up the good work! 👍

Great video. I didn’t know you could manually close sunroof on these cars. Saved the day and money too! Turned the bolt a few times and it broke it loose. Now the sunroof works fine. Thank you for sharing with us!

Great video, very helpful. Your dog randomly appearing under the sunroof made me chuckle too

Thanks for your videos! My Sunroof is working perfectly now :)

Dude, THANKS! I've been drivin' my 2004 323! for 15 years with a dicky sun-shade. Thanks to your video and the repair kit from Amazon, it's fixed!

You are great at these videos. Oh, and what a red velvety headliner!

Love your DIY's man, helps me a lot :)

Great video ... after watching you make it look easy I had confidence to change out my motor. The dealership wanted $1200 to fix my sunroof. I bought a $40 motor off Ebay. I had old panel so I tested two different switches,. Neither worked so then I pulled and inspected the #5 (7.5a) and the #12 (20a) fuses. Both looked fine but I replaced them both anyway and the sunroof started working. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Not sure if my old motor was bad or not (its still in there) but definitely the $2 fuses were part of the problem.

Thanks so much for this video, I needed it! The BMW part number for the sunshade slider which breaks is 54137134516, ECS tuning part number is 157562.

Your videos are extremely helpful, you are amazing!

Watching this in 2022 lol! Just got my e46 and this helped so much. Thanks dude!

I just bought a 2003 330i and the sunroof didn't open all the way. I followed your instructions and my clips were good so I greased the track and now it works. Thank you for showing how to take sunroof out.

So happy i found your page!

Good video and good info.. i just replaced the Sunroof Shade clips on my 04 E46///M3. It was easy after watching this video. When I was trying to level the Sunroof Glass I used a Bubble level. I was not using the bubble as leveling point but the straight edge of the Bubble Leveler I was using since I was doing this on my own and help from Casper the friendly Ghost. It was a way for me to make sure the glass and the body where on the same plane.. worked for me along with this great video. Thanks again Shop life. Keep up the good work.

You the man! Thank you for your videos brotha! 💪

great vids. my question is my sunroof is not closing properly, the back is not level front is fine. is this something I need to remove the motor or just loosen the three screws, put it back in place tighten them back down. thanks for your help.

Excellent video tutorial and sunroof trouble shooting tips, you gave me several suggestions on what to check why my sunroof is not opening.

Thank you bro. Very useful!!!

Great Video. MG Zt electric Sroof the same as BMW owned MGR back then. Read loads of forum posts about how to do this but nothing like seeing it done real easy. Legend

Thanks for the great videos man!

e46 god. thanks, you’ve help me so much bro 🤙🏻✨

I just watched this and fixed the sunroof shade very helpful video.

Literally the most helpful and easy to understand e46 channel on RU-vid. Helped this girl save tons on my 330xi! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and love for the e46 platform. Your contribution is huge to the preservation of the ultimate driving machine!💙🤍💙🤍

Very clear and precise. Thank you

Hey Jason, excellent video, but do you have a solution for the same problem with the e38 740i? I replaced the headliner with suade material and the sun shade will not go back or come forward on its own. if you have any suggestions please help. thanks

your videos are great..but will appreciate it a lot if you add e39 differences and for both metal and glass roof.... and not for this video only.. for all your videos coz i appreciate your videos.. thanks and thumbs up

@ShopLifeTV I have a question regarding my sunroof. When opening it in cool and cold weather, there's a loud creaking sound as I tilt it or even open it up. As you said in the video, I have noticed that the Shade kinda refuses to retract by hand so I'll be addressing those brackets and clips as soon as possible. However, that creaking sound, is it possible that you could put a cause as to why that's happening ? I feel as if the Sunroof Glass struggles to open. Possibly due to tracks needing to be greased ? After making that creaking sound, I find it doesn't close properly on one touch either.

Your videos have been a big help. I have a question. My E46 did not have a sunshade nor clips, I found a used shade at a salvage yard and picked up new chips, but I don't know if I need the clip that goes behind the back clip. What peace is that.

Very helpful video. Thanks shoplife

I had 3 broken clips on my sunroof shade. Thanks to your video it took me all of 15 minutes to replace all 4. Thank you so much for your videos.

great video! thank you for posting!

Great video. Question: the passenger side tabs are available as repair parts but you say best to replace sunscreen if they are broken. Are they not replaceable?

This is super hlepful. Thanks for the clear explanation for everything.

thank you for the video, it helps me a lot!👍

This was very helpful. Thank you.

Hey bro. Great video. I just bought an 02 325ci and the sunroof is stuck in the up position. The gear on the motor is stripped and just making a grinding noise. If I replace that gear or the whole motor do you think that will fix it?

Thanks for taking time to make very detailed videos. I removed the sunroof motor on my 03 325i and it appears the metal cog is worn in the middle of the teeth. When I tried to manually adjust, the passenger side slider moves a little, but the driver side does not. It makes that grinding sound everyone is dealing with. I found the metal cog as a replacement, but can't find any info about removal, and it fits on a metal shaft, that also has a plastic gear that connects to the worm gear from the actual motor. Was hoping to save a lot of money by replacing the metal cog, but unless someone knows how to do that, I'll have to buy the entire motor. Thanks for any help with this. Doug

I love and appreciate your post. It is super helpful, I am having some trouble finding a replacement sunroof shade though. Would you know where i could find one? I live in Florida, and my E46 was a gift from my brother, it needs some work, mostly interior stuff. Any information would be great. Thank you again for all your shop life videos.

Thank you for the amazing tutorial

Thank you this was a very informative video.

Wow!! It looks super easy to change the motor. Mine has been intermittent for a few months, and has now completely stopped working. I went on BMWs website and they have it at a "discount" price of $454.28 🤣. Then I went on ebay and found a used one for only $50. I can't wait to install it. Thanks shopLifeTv!!

Muchas Gracias Jason, gracias a tu video he podido poner en funcionamiento el techo solar de mi E46, muchas gracias desde España.

thank you , I appreciate you sharing the knowledge .

Very detailed. You are a BMW sunroof Guru. We just bought a 2003 325 xi and the sunroof does not open. I can hear it grinding.

With your video I managed to get the sunroof closed again by taking the motor out so thanks for that. I took the glass out and found that Only my (UK) driver side track is working. Any advice?

Hi, thank you for your video! I would be very grateful for your advice. I have problem with my sunroof. And this problem persist even after I made cleaning and greasing of sunroof tracks. It happens to me that when I try to open sunroof to the position in which is not pulling to the side but is tilted, the sunroof starts to move and then in some position/moment it starts to return back. It looks to me like there is some sensor making all this problem. And sometimes when I open the sunroof by pulling it to the side, it get stuck somewhere in the middle and then when I repeat pulling of the button it finishes its way and closes. Is it possible that I have problem with bad alignment of tracks? Thank you very much in advance.

Another awesome video

Sir great video. You got knowledge. Thank you boss. Much respect

Hey Nice video, do you know MIni Cooper S 2004(R53) has the same sunroof as the BMW E46? I Found the sunroof motor is the same, not sure about the rest of the sunroof... Asking to see if a sunroof repair kit from E46 will match the R53...

cool man , you reallly help alot !! Thanks :)

I’m so glad I found this video at the time I am grappling with sunroof wind noise when closed at high speed on my new G20 3 series. The rubber seal looks new and fine but wind noise is so apparent of a seal leak when doing 120+ kph. Can you advise what needs to be looked into to avert this issue? What is the correct level of the sunroof glass in relation to the body to solve the problem? Your advice is much appreciated. Thanks

I have 325i e46 2003 4door sedan and my sunroof one wont tilt down on left side. do you any advice? cause when i try open the sunroof i heard like something snap inside the motor when im pressing it.

I have a 2009 x5, do you know the fuse number for that? Thank you.

awesome bro! really taught me alot and im going to use your video to help me maintain my car. thx!

Hey I had a question about the sunroof. So today I decided to finally address my sunroof. To begin I heard a clanking noise so I went and took off the glass and sunshade. Once I did this I examined my tracks and noticed immediately that the drive side arm was stuck and isn't moving at all. It seems like its jammed in the tracts. The little pin inside the track does not slide or does not move at all along with the arm. It wont raise up or anything. The only thing it does is bend a little from the pin in the back. I was hoping you could give me a pointer since I'm not finding much on the web. Could it be the gears or what?

will it be a bad idea to move the sunroof frame electronic with the switch when the glass is removed? just so lube the parts good

Thanks for the great video.

there is a spring that came out of a plastic looking tube right on top of the sunroof motor.. inside the track .. is there a way to fix this? alot of like vibrating

I need to know how to align the tracks! One half moves back and forth, up and down completely fine but the other didn't move at all, as if it's stuck. Any solutions?

Im looking into a 2002 325i with a straight 6 n/a. And looking at e90 328i's. The 2002 is well kept and the owner says its reliable. This will be my first bmw. They're both automatic. Should i go with the e46? Im a mechanic, do you recommend one over the other?

Hello mate, when you was talking about keeping the tab infront at 10:30 i got confused, since mine is way left off stuck in the beginning of the tracks. Cant seem to remove it, so without it the sunroof is gonna keep on getting stuck?

So I ordered replacement clips and did the repair. Everything appears to fit great however the shade still gets stuck behind the sunroof. When you put on the 2 clips that use screws you said to make sure the rear one was behind the tab at 10:35 in your video. I notice that my car does not have that tab, and I'm wondering if that's why the shade gets pushed all the way back and hers stuck. Thoughts?

Very helpful. Thanks

Hey ShopLifeTV these videos are amazing! Thanks so much for all that you put out- SUPER helpful! Do you have an email or contact info that I could use in case I have questions?

i know mine is a 2005 x3 but i have water leaking from the drivers side a pillar i think the tube is partially disconnected as they are clear and water still comes out the bottom but its coming from the top of the a pillar as well i removed the a pillar trim thinking the tube could be accessed but only found the airbag please help

man your channel is a lifesaver. u helped me hook up the aux converter. now fixed my sunroof. i just took out the sunroof cover. what a cheap piece of shit. and bmw wants $35 a clip, even tho its like $1 worth of plastic if even that much

Thank you for the video ! 10:15 my sunshade driver (the grey piece) that push the sunshade bracket is missing anyway I can replace that?

Thanks for this very useful and detailed tutorial, I have just one question as one of my tracks (left) does not work at all, it does not move (BMW 325i 2002), so you said that you have to remove the motor (which I know how to do) and then manually get the tracks aligned properly ?, then my question is how do you do that with the glass on ?, just moving it back and forth ? slide it back and then forward ? I was trying to figure it out but it's hard to move the glass as it does not have anything to be grabbed, so if you can explain a little bit more to me, very much appreciated again !!!

My sunroof shade clips is damaged, when I tried to open the sunroof sound like motor is wprking but the sunroof is not moving at all like if it stuck with something

Hey what's up ShopLife I got a question about my E46 2004 Someone is breaking into my car but I don't know how because my car is always locked and I just don't know how they are doing it any tips ok thanks Vic...

I just replaced my e46 sunroof cassette. Is there any way to fix the broken one? The wiring from the cassette came out from the front.

Great video help a lot

Hi guys been enjoying your channel for a couple of years. Appreciate your in depth explanations. It's very accurate. @12:57 sunshade jammed back too far. I can't find a tool to grab it. Ugh. Can you shot me a photo of correct tool? Changed battery and did not reset sunroof. Should. I have done that or the clips just broke on passenger side as you indicated in video? Can't wait to see more house remodeling. Please keep doing e46 videos. I have 325i 2004 Alpine white like your wife's. Love this car. Great job ya'll. Let me know when you do another Texas stop for meets and greats. I was disappointed to have missed yours by 8 hours! Thank you

hey, my sunroof was broken because i did not change this faulty clips, and the sunroof was bloked by this sliding part....tell me if is a way to fix the sunroof without removeing the headliner ....the sunroof it makes loud noise...like cracking something and the left rail is stuck! pls help

I have a 2001 325i, when I open the sunroof it immediately closes back up, what can that be? thanks in advance

I was able to simply pull the sun guard from the inside as all clips were completely broken. I have the motor working, but as you mentioned it opens and closes on an extreme angle. I suppose I should remove the motor to your point, but wanted clarification on aligning the gears as youve mentioned. Thanks

Yooo id appreciate if you could guide me. When you wrapped the headliner did you pull the old one off and put padding(do you need the padding ) or just fabric ? Or did you wrap over the old one ?

Very informative.. Thanks..

Great video

thank you alot Jason for technic

I think there is a part missing from my sunroof. The tab that sits in front of the other tab in 10:30. Is this a metal tab or a plastic one? Where can I buy it?

Mine doesn’t open and it’s making a rattle noise when attempting to open with the touch of the button.. does that mean it’s time for a new one or can it still be revived

How do you remove the glass if the sunroof won't come forward? My shade clip broke and is stuck in the track which keeps the sunroof from closing.