I thought I had lost my marbles on this, but another F56S driver happened to be at the gas pump next to mine so I asked him if his did this, and we took a look -- nope.

The sunroof switch on my F56S has suddenly "become very loose." If you push or pull the switch as far as it will go in either direction, it still controls the sunroof, but it shouldn't be flipping about as shown in the video. I think it started doing this today or yesterday.

Has this happened to you? How'd you fix it (or get it fixed)? Is it repairable or does that whole switchbox assembly have to be replaced?

Loose Sunroof Switch 20220811.mov

 

I have the exact same issue, and am in the same boat as you. As far as I know, the whole unit needs to be replaced in order to fix it.

 

First time i have seen that. Its an all in pone piece, can you get it apart to look at it?

 

May be a bit, but I will try to do so. My guess is that with regard to whatever spring/springs make that toggle return to center:

- the spring(s) has come off its anchor point(s)
- the anchor point(s) broke (plastic, yino)

I will definitely return to this thread and advise, though I haven't decided when I want to dare to try to remove that switch assembly. If there are some good instructions around that would motivate me, lol

 

any news about fixing loose switch?
thank you I have the same exact problem

 

No news. I have managed to figure out that it is more annoyance (though definitely ANNOYance) than anything else. The contact points when you push to the front and the rear to control the sunroof, in my case, still work. But the spring inside that makes that toggle switch stay centered instead of loosely moving about is clearly shot.

Give me a few days and I'll take a look. I have a coolant leak issue on the MINI so I may be putting it in temporary drydock while I work that issue, it's an opportunity for me to figure out how to get that headliner switch out of there (without doing aesthetic damage because first time woops oops yino)

 

Well, bad news and good news.

The good news: I got the switch off, I figured out how it works, and don't bother trying to take yours off to repair, not worth your trouble, but the switch will continue to function electrically.

The bad news: This is not repairable in practical terms. The sunroof toggle's centering action is not provided by a switch-controlling spring. Basically, the push-back from each toggle position (front/rear) -- and if you feel the way the toggle responds, this should not be a surprise -- is provided by two physical contacts. Yes, those are presumably spring-loaded. They're fine. The gotcha is that the toggle switch itself has to be held in physical contact with them. This is accomplished by making the toggle a rocker -- which "rocks" on a pair of plastic pins that engage the toggle on each side.

Think of it like pushing yourself into the air with your hands, via a couple of handles suspended by (whatever machine). No crossbar, just handles. You swing back and forth on the handles. That's what the toggle does.

So what happens if the handles are made of plastic and break? You know where this is going, right?

You probably know where this is going: the plastic pins are broken. And they're all of about 2mm in length (maybe 1mm) so there isn't much to do in the way of repairing this.

Some photos follow that should make it clear.

If you are angling to replace the part anyway, some things you need to know.

(1) You're going to have to get the large bezel/surround just behind the switches off first. Just hit me up if you want instructions, there aren't many out there and they aren't great but I can explain if needed. You'll need a plastic trim tool (or at least you're going to want one for sure).

(2) I figured out how to get the carrier (which is large and mostly under the bezel) out of the headliner with a little help from this thread over in the Mini F56 forum. But then you have to get the assembly, which is referred to on various BMW/MINI parts-sale locations as "Interior Light Front", out of the carrier. I took a photo and annotated it to show you its metal release tabs, which are located on its front (meaning facing the front of the vehicle and carrier).

Be careful -- the metal tabs are pretty strong; the plastic in the carrier that the metal tabs rest against is not. If you lever the tabs too hard you will likely snap the plastic in the carrier (which will make you mad, that's another not-cheap part to replace). I didn't damage my carrier but the risk was clear. I ended up using the smallest flathead screwdriver (about 3mm) in the toolbox to do it. Any bigger and the plastic would snap for sure, any smaller and there might be too much pinpoint pressure and again the plastic would snap.

Once you have the tabs released, you can tip (may require minor prying at each end for no-struggle removal) the front tips down (relative to vehicle roof) and once you have tipped it far enough the whole thing will then come right out. It has one electrical connector, it is long and has squeeze tabs on each side. You can handle those tabs with your fingers. Pop the connector and the "Interior Light Front" assembly will be in your hands free and clear.

(2) There are multiple versions of the assembly, depending upon whether you have (1) a sunroof (we obviously do) and (2) the "MINI Excitement Package" (which, if you have it, puts 2 of those ambient-lighting color LEDs in the assembly). You can find the part numbers at this link over at RealOEM.

(3) I have the MINI Excitement Package and therefore the LEDs -- BMW/MINI part number 63319365103. A couple of sites have this particular part listed as discontinued (!!). Lowest price I could find from one that does not show it discontinued was about $75. Pricing in other places can run as high as $175.

That's about all I've got, I may or may not pick up a replacement for this, not sure yet. But electrically and physically it still works -- just not as responsively and a little annoying.


Assembly with cover (which normally faces down) removed. Bottom = rear of vehicle. The tabs that normally hold the toggle switch in place are circled. Note that the other toggle switches are held in place by identical mechanism and are not loose. The sunroof toggle just fell right out because the tabs are broken.

The tabs that used to hold the sunroof toggle in place, circled, center. Note the light switch toggle above, held in place by undamaged similar mechanism -- these pinch tabs hold the switch in place.

The metal tabs you need to release to get this assembly out of the roof carrier assembly. To get this out of the roof carrier, use a screwdriver from below (meaning cabin-side) to get to each tab (note the hole below each) and pull (gently!!!) the front edge down, tipping this unit. The rear edge is not locked by clips/etc. You will have 2 electrical connectors to deal with, handle accordingly (hint -- one is in that green area, use a small screwdriver to gently loosen/unhook).

 

Thank you very much for your resourcefulness. I am sorry that the part is not repairable in any way. I don't think I'll take the ceiling light apart with the risk of breaking something and I don't even think it's worth spending money just for an aesthetic defect. Thanks again

 

Yeah I'm pretty much with you.

Since my pins were only partially snapped and I already have the assembly out of the car, I figured I'd take some epoxy to the pins and lever them back to original position. I don't think they'll keep, but even if they break again the assembly will still work at least as well as it did before I pulled it out of the car.

I guess the takeaway is that everyone should expect these things to partially break... until/unless BMW reingineers the part.

 

Thanks for in the info, first i have seen this issues. Wonder if the F56 platform has that same plastic wear?

Use us for pics as the switch cluster has different set ups for the version. Getting a used one, might have that same damage, yea i can see and its that nylon plastic that gets damaged with wear. They don't sell the inside of that switch. I dont know of any option work around part.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/63319365103/ Sunroof and MINI Excitement Package

 

Mine is an F56, so short version, yeah. Couldn't tell you about an R56 or R53.

I'm still letting the epoxy cure (probably fine, but since the tabs are load-bearing I want to be sure) but IMO this is just bad design. Any reasonable driver will put a good amount of load on that sunroof switch, and they won't be trying to perfectly align their push/pull to manage torque. Eventually the anchor pins that hold the switch in place will absolutely give. The only real good news is that the mechanism will still electrically function, just without the switch being particularly snappy and it won't auto-recenter.

 

Sorry meant the f54 and F60 platform,. Looks like yes and all those are shared, the F56 is just the first ones to see this.


So i wonder if some grease on those pivot joints helps and will prevent.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-american...cket/cp-1~ags/

 

Gotcha re F54/F60. realoem.com shows part 63319365103 as having application in specific F54 and F60 models alongside the F56.

Re the grease, probably not much. The plastic used for the toggle switch, which the enclosure pins "pinch" from either side in order to have it rock back/forth, is pretty solid. The pins themselves are part of the molded housing, and made from a softer plastic (or I guess nylon, since you mentioned it). In my case -- and you can see this if you zoom in close on the pics I took -- the pins got snapped and folded backwards by the toggle switch itself, almost sheared clean off from raw stress (and probably due to the toggle being stronger material). Those pins, btw, are a mere 1.5mm in diameter -- and interestingly, the same size as for the other toggles (despite the sunroof toggle being much larger).

I can't say grease is a bad idea, it wouldn't hurt, might help in terms of the plastic getting brittle with age. But my visual take on it is that the pins simply aren't big enough to take the wear and tear after a certain point.

One thing, the black part of the assembly pops off really easily (6 small, shallow tabs, 3 front 3 rear, a flathead jeweler's screwdriver is sufficient to pop either front or rear and then the whole cover can be tipped off). If you have a unit around popping that cover is all that's needed to get a firsthand look at how all the toggle switches sit in there/etc.

 

Thinking anything might help on that pivot and reduce the need to bend. I bet the factory had a little grease there or maybe they did not?

 

Nope, all 5 switches (sunroof toggle and 4 light controls) are dry as a bone. Not even a hint of lubrication ever having been on any of them, zero residue/color/you get the idea of any kind.

EDIT: PS the molded housing has "ABS" molded into it -- so it (and therefore the pins) are apparently ABS plastic.

 

Thanks for the info, i dont have one in stock here to check. I drove a bunch of F54s, F56s but they were demos and brand new at the dealer w/sunroof. So i did not see or feel the switch had a problem. But they were new.

Usually when you see all kinds of problem and MINI all of sudden supersedes the part number on our site = they updated the part and changed the design. Yes ABS.

I would hit t with some grease on the pivot.

 

Funny you mention the supersessions -- I noticed that too. That said, it looks like the last supersession was Feb 2015 (see realoem link in prior post)? If so I guess it isn't all that new. But in the time since all these MINIs have gotten older anyway... for reference, mine was manufactured 10/2016, and I think this thing broke sometime in early or mid-2022 -- pushing 6 years on the clock.

And in fairness, I'm pretty sure some drivers jab that sunroof switch harder than others, lol.

The grease isn't a terrible idea. A silicone-based grease is probably (one of the) best given that this is a plastic part -- I just Googled that, didn't realize dielectric grease is silicone based, so that's cool. I'll throw some on all 5 switches' pivot points since I have the whole thing taken apart.

 

Yes, glad to help, that grease is the same for BMW and MINI, they tend to use that on pivot points and plastic on plastic.

 

Final report — the epoxy was strong enough for the pins holding the toggle to handle reinstallation of the toggle switch, as well as about 4 back-forth pushes of the switch while reinitializing the sunroof (required if you disconnect the switch electrically, apparently).

But shortly after that, the toggle got loosey-goosey again, pretty much back to how it was before any repair work.

I did also lubricate the pins — for all 5 toggle switches — with a silicone grease (Syl-Glide, which I happened to have around).

I let the epoxy cure for 7 full days before attempting any reassembly, so that was about as strong as it was going to get. Net takeaway: the pins are not repairable. Not exactly surprising, given that the broken pins are 1.5mm ABS plastic.

With that said, the toggle is still electrically operable, as previously noted. So if one has this issue and gets annoyed enough by it to be done with it, one can replace the full part, either with a used (if cheap enough to give that a shot… maybe…) or new part.

Slightly disappointed in the final outcome but unsurprised, and hey, it was kinda interesting

 

Thanks for the repair attempt you made. I am sorry to hear that the epoxy resin has not held, so it means that it is just a mechanism born badly. I think I'll buy a second-hand toggle switch panel because it bothers me a lot that the sunroof button is so loose.

 

I'm thinking same. Not seeing much available out there on eBay in terms of second-hand units, but something is bound to turn up one of these days. Or if my local pull-a-part lands an F series MINI -- seems to never happen but I keep watch -- with the same unit, I'll snag one that way.