The outer seal for the sunroof that appears to be on the body is not keeping water out.

The seal is visibly slumped from where it should be on the body cut out and if I pull the seal up with the sunroof open, and then shut the sunroof water will be kept out for a while but it slumps again as I guess it's lost some elasticity over the years.

I have removed the headliner as we needed to have it re-covered since the leak caused it to pull away so getting at the mechanisms is easy.

Anyway, has anyone done a remove and replace on this seal? It will require removal and replacement of the entire sunroof mechanism, but this is not detailed in the Bentley manual, just removal of the mobile glass panel.

Also, looking that the realoem drawing, I'd guess it's part #7 (Gasket, roof cut-out) that I've seen as the problem, but I don't see where #6 goes and curious if that could use a replacement too?
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...90&hg=54&fg=05


Thanks in advance for any help.

Regards,
Sten

 

Having the same problem myself. I've got a local Mini tech I'm good with; he explained that I'm looking at removal of the whole system (as you stated). Evidently the seal comes with an adhesive on the inside that bonds it to the sheet metal and in place; once it goes, it goes, with no way to replace the piece without pulling the whole mechanism.

Great design Mini, great design.

If you have any luck, keep me posted. I'm looking at having to do this within the next few weeks myself. Side note: were you able to pull the headliner without pulling the A-B-C pillar panels? I saw this YouTube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Rrw_Vy6UE which shows the panels intact.

 

Pretty close. The headliner is a little bit flexible so I pulled the panels away partially. The B-pillars were slid out of the way and then re-attached after I took the headliner out. The B's come out without any damage, but you'll need a stubby phillips to get at the screws if you don't totally disassemble the interior panels as recommended.

Don't forget the plastic fastener in front of the rearview mirror. I tore the headliner panel a bit before I realized it wasn't removed.

I guess your contact can't hook you up with the inside scoop service manual procedure on removal/replacement eh?

I'll say that it looks totally straight-forward as there are just a bunch of torx bolts around the perimeter that should be able to come out and have it drop free, but it's worrisome going in blind.

At least maybe I can somehow fix the crappy rattle that's above the driver's head when I have it out.

 

I was disappointed with the response of no one having done the remove/replace so I got a copy of the TIS on ebay. Attached are PDFs of the pages you'll probably need.

 

Hi,

I'm replacing the roof cut-out gasket for the sunroof in a mini cooper S 2003, R53. I have the part (54107178716) which is a replacement for the original 54107039722.

The new gasket (seal) that attaches to the roof does not have a groove (as the the original did) to attach to the roof cut-out. the new part seems only to be a rounded felt with a flat self-adhesive edge to connect to the roof. does anyone have any instructions to connect to the roof. any prep work required to the painted metal surface. is there a specification for which side is pointed up? seems one side is more rounded than the other.

Thanks

 

Hi Sims,

I guess I should have updated this.
I wish I had taken photographs so I could show you but I'll just try to describe it well.

After repairing this, I can guarantee you that the #06 seal that you absolutely need to replace if your are having water leaks.

06Gasket, sliding roof frame PN: 54107039723 $63.76

This #6 gasket presses up against the bottom of the roof and makes the seal.

That plus the two seals that are beneath the glass are what keep the water out. I guess you could reason that the #7 seal deflects a portion of the water falling on the roof, but the other three seals keep everything in the 'gutter' of the sunroof. If the gutter gets full and the #4, #5, and #6 seals aren't working then it leaks.

I just changed the outer one as you need a special tool to do a reach-around on some invisible torx screws for removing the rear glass. The glass seals can be fixed without taking out the sunroof also, so it's won't hurt to leave them alone and if you need to repair later, you can get at them without nearly the same effort as removing the whole roof. Well, I assume that, anyway.

The #7 seal is just trim so to speak.

If yours is cracked and ugly then go ahead and replace, but I wish they hadn't changed the design as it IS difficult to get it lined up well.

Once the sunroof is out, I cleaned opening with a degreaser (simple green maybe?) and then with 90% isopropanol until it wiped spotlessly clean.

You will want to start applying the seal at the back of the cutout. The seal has the seam where it is joined to make a continuous piece there so you can use that as a guide. You will have to work slowly around the perimeter removing the backing and then pressing the seal in place.

To get a really clean appearance on close inspection, err slightly on the side of the seal being too low as it has a flange that will rise slightly to conceal errors in that direction. Too high and it will leave a small space. It is just cosmetic of course.

The other trick is getting the tension JUST RIGHT. If you don't stretch the piece a bit as you work around there won't be quite enough left when you get to the front of the car and the front corners will be under too much tension and will want to pull loose there. This is what happened for me.

All is not lost here, however, because if you started at the back, you have easy access to this part of the seal just by opening the sunroof vs removing it for the back part. I used some 3M double sided foam decal tape to give just enough extra (and I mean like <1mm) to make up the error.

I think that if I had it to do over I might have pulled it back off (which will screw up the pre-applied adhesive) and try the 3M tape over the full perimeter. I'm not sure if it would lay perfectly flat in this case, but the 3M tape saved me having to re-do the whole removal.

Good luck, and maybe take a photo!

 

Thanks anycheck.

I had to replace the sunroof and have dent fixed in roof. In the process of doing so, the roof cut-out seal fell away. Attempted original reuse of roof cut-out seal, no go.
Your description helps, and confirms the correct replacement part as well as you have already gone through this...

Your help is appreciated.

I'll try to attach a photo after the job is done. thanks for wishing me luck.

 

In my experience, the section of the seal that is usually a problem is at the front edge. As you're aware, it seems the OEM glue is just not good enough to hold it in place. Pick a dry, sunny day. Get a tube of RTV; I use the Ultra Black with metal grit. Get a small stick, such as a used incense stick or toothpick. Take small dabs of the RTV and spread it inside the groove that attaches to the roof. Press it up into place as best you can. Wipe off the excess as necessary. Leave your sunroof cracked just enough that the glass is not pressing against it so it can dry in its natural position. It should only take a day.

I had to do this to my old '02 MCS sunroof seal in three places within the first year of buying it (back on '05). I had no further problems until it was wrecked in November '09 (story for another day).

As for greasing, I use a compressed can of white lithium grease. Spray it into the tracks. Wheel bearing grease works, too; use the same small stick method to get it into the tracks. You also have to peek inside the corners at the front of the rear glass to get to the rear tracks. Slide the sunroof back and forth a few times to get the grease to spread as you apply it. Lubing once a year should suffice.

 

Hi Jack, did you have leaks or just the seal out of place? My impression after taking the whole thing down is that the trim gasket didn't seem to matter so much. Even when my new one pealed up because I didn't stretch it quite right, it didn't leak as it had before the replacement of the other seal.

Thanks for your input!

 

No leaks really. Just sagging in the seal itself along the front edge of the sunroof outer perimeter. The front half of the seal will see more wear and tear as the sunroof slides back and forth into its locked position. Any water that would leak into that area should be going down the drain tubes in the front and back. If memory serves, the front tubes drain behind the small panels in front of the doors. The rear tubes exit at the upper right and left corners under your boot gate. You should be able to easily see them when you open it.

The only thing that comes to mind at the moment is one or more of your drain tubes have become loose from the inlets in the sunroof. You have to take your A-pillars apart to get to them. That might be tedious considering they are airbags, too.

 

I just didn't know if you were indicating that fixing the sagging seal fixed a leak in your car. I didn't think that it had any effect after having looked at the sunroof out of the car.

When I replaced the sunroof, I added a ty-wrap to each connection of the drain tubes to make sure they stay put.

 

thanks for the pdfs - particularly the torque spec for the pan-to-body.

for anyone who may get into this in the future, a few notes:

The rear glass (r50/r53) is NOT removable - it's glued to the primary sunroof pan (and is one part on the diagrams). That means that the blind tracks under the glass are also not accessible. (you -could- cut the glass and re-bond it...but I think alignment would be a significant challenge)

Because of that, you CANNOT replace the glass-to-body gasket/seal with the sunroof installed - you have to drop the headliner and drop the whole unit. Removing the front glass in advance helps reduce the weight of that..

The new style glass-to-body seal is a 3m tape attached seal, instead of a pinchweld style seal like the original. I have no idea what mini was thinking on this redesign. No matter how careful you are, it will never look perfect. Additionally, you must be careful to compress only just enough seal back into itself - the seal is (by design) larger than the hole, but since it's taped on, its....challenging.

Mark the two centers (the seam goes to the rear), front and rear, and use a bunch of pieces of tape to get the new seal hanging in the hole in the right place - you should be able to see the bulge that the extra length causes (DO NOT cut it shorter...).... Anyway, generally, a pain in the ***.

If anyone has sourced an original style seal, I'd love to hear about it - when the corners of this taped seal pull away and I get fed up, I'll probably start chasing a proper replacement. Maybe I should go ahead and send it off to Steele to start the process now.


When you're ordering seals - there are 4. One on the (glued) rear glass, 54107039724. Replace this while you have the housing out, since it weathers. It MIGHT be possible to replace it in the car, but it's easy when it is out. Then the glass-to-body seal, 54107178716. These are the two obvious ones. There is also the visible seal in the sunroof opening where the front glass comes down on it when closed, 54107039721. And the invisible one - between the sunroof pan and the inside of the roof, 54107039723.

My advice would be to replace all 4 if you have it open - the last two are the -REAL- weather seals that keep the water out of the car when the drains can't (because they're clogged or just due to volume) keep up with the incoming water. They do a very good job at this. The other two - the ones you can see - are purely cosmetic. (the glass-to-body seal REDUCES the amount of water coming into the drain pan, but it is not designed to stop water)

After you replace these two, add a little talc to both of them so they slip and slide properly, especially that hidden seal - it has to wiggle into a channel in the roof during installation, and you don't want it binding up.

Oh, and dont forget to hook those drain tubes up on reassembly...

 

another note:

if you move the sunroof manually (with the manual crank handle in the tool kit, or an allen wrench), the electronics in the motor lose track of position. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT ever move any of the sliding components when the motor is not installed! You do not want to have to re-time the sides..

If you manually move it with the crank - after you get it back in the hole and the glass attached, go ahead and crank it all the way closed (down) to it's natural stopping point. Then disconnect the motor, and reconnect the motor. That seems to reinitialize the stopping point. (I hooked mine up at about 1/3 open, and the motor was convinced that was the closed position... hence discovering how to reset that). I also powercycled the ignition (off, disconnect, reconnect, on), but wouldn't expect that to have impacted it. but, just in case...