It seems like a hard job for sure, anyone with experience.
Does anyone make a carbon fiber insert?
Would be great to know.
Thanks

 

From seeing what they have done at the dealer, you have to remove the headliner to get the sunroof out. To get the headliner out, you need to basically pull all the interior panels, etc.

have not seen a carbon fiber insert for the sun roof.

 

yes, it has been done. http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/pr...mini_cooper_s/

it turned out to be difficult (read expensive).

a little more discussion on rhis topic in Carbonized's recent thread.

 

I removed mine one time trying to have some fun in the mini with my girlfriend..She hopped on top and got to carried away. She crashed right throught it.. Still hasnt recovered all the way...

 

the dealer removed my sun roof to replace the whole cassette because of sun roof rattles and the seats ,rear side panels, air bag covers , headliner and more had to come out. big job

 

i wonder how much weight you save just by removing the motor... i like how it feels less claustiphobic but i barely even open the sunroof...

 

according to that sport compact car article it's 53 pounds lost from removing the sunroof assembly. there's glass, rails, and then the motor. my guess is it'd be difficult to remove the motor without wrecking the rails.

here's what realoem has to show... part #17 in the diagram is the motor:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...91&hg=54&fg=05

there's even a pop and slide version of the sunroof. no motor, just glass:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...90&hg=54&fg=05

i've always been interested in the folding top:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...21&hg=54&fg=95
probably not track worthy as you'll be removing the center support beam losing rigidity.

ac schnitzer used to offer the folding top too but i cant find it anymore and i asked the dealer long ago about this but they said it wasnt offered in North America.
but i've heard reports that people have seen them on the streets

edit: found a pic of the AC Schnitzer piece

 

thats really cool, i never knew about that pop and slide version. but the motor doesn't look that big of a weight savings in the diagram

 

I tried searching old threads for a CF sunroof lid but the link was dead. Will keep looking.

 

That's interesting. Most times here on NAM when people talk about the weight penalty from the sunroof, the number that gets thrown around is ~75 pounds. I guess it's really closer to 30 pounds, when you consider that the sunroof assembly adds 39 pounds, but it also removes a section of the roof and headliner that would otherwise be present on a solid-roof car.

 

i just reread the section of the article that covers the sunroof removal...

my mistake, it's 53 pounds for that assembly + glass.
when they replaced the CF it weighed 14 lbs so that factored in to get to 39 lbs.