have 2003 325xi that needs new sunroof. the factory installed sunroof needs to be replaced and the dealer wants to charge $1,600. Any thoughts???
It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive job. Also, if not done right problems will recur. (Not might. Will.) You will pay less at an independent shop but perhaps not enough to take the sting out...it's just a ton of work. If you go that route, pick a good one that specializes in BMWs. This is not a job to hand to just any average mechanic, if you want to have it done once and never worry again. Mine was replaced once under warranty...I'll dig up the invoice later to give you an idea of the labor hours involved, if it's on there (my cost was zero but they might have reported the flat-rate hours).
I was able to find a used sunroof assembly from bavarian auto recycling for $373 including shipping, so hopefully I can get it installed somewhere. this will save some bucks. I think this might be a happy ending, let's hope.
good points - it's a factory part and most places won't touch it. the recycling company - i've used them before, if you get a good part (6 month warranty) -they send the entire unit/assembly, including the shade, so if that doesn't match, then I'll swap with existing one. I don't know I like this route at a quarter of price. it's worth a try.
I checked my records and found my memory was off. They never replaced my entire sunroof cassette, it was a recurring problem with the sunroof motor and control module, eventually solved when BMW released & covered retrofit of an improved motor. Sorry for the mixup. The recycled roof is not an altogether bad idea if the supplier is offering a warranty and you find a good shop to install it. I keep forgetting that these cars are old enough now that the salvage/recycled parts market is no longer insignificant. Whatever you decide, clean and lightly lubricate the tracks once or twice a year and you will avoid a lot of common headaches.
if you're going to replace the sunroof panel with a used one.. ..........replace the sunroof seals. They're not that expensive, and it could save your interior from leaking if the old ones were already marginal.
thanks for your helpful thoughts. we've decided to go with a recycled sunroof and the dealer is agreeing to install it, so we only pay labor. the parts are warranteed for 6 mos., so hopefully we'll see right away if any good. we also asked about the torque converter we replaced last year and still getting vibrations, which was still under warrantee. The dealer went out of the way here...contacted BMW and discovered that the car needs new transmission to resolve recurring issue with torque converter, and agreed to replace parts for free, so we pay only labor estimated at $1300. The cars been in shop now for 3 weeks, and the sunroof should arrive within next 5 days. I also talked the dealer service into using my brake parts (cool pads and OEM routers) to do brake job while it's in there. We're looking at $2000 bill but figure it's worth all this. there's hope.
