The sunroof: this year's must-have new car option?

[Dave Hedgehog]

DonkeyApple said:

Ghastly things if you are tall. Most cars are rendered undriveable by the fitting of them.

Bain of my life. If they are now being tied into 'packages' that contain options you might want but the manufacturer has determined its only profit maximising to force you to have a sunroof as well then it's just another reason to not bother with modern cars.

They are a good product for midgets but not normal people.

this x10

i would never buy a car with one fitted

[DJFish]

The roof on my E46 has a broken blind, it was rattling for years now it's knackered.

The roof on my Forester has a sick motor.

Neither are likely to see any use until I have the time or inclination to fix them.

[powerstroke]

Dave Hedgehog said:

DonkeyApple said:

Ghastly things if you are tall. Most cars are rendered undriveable by the fitting of them.

Bain of my life. If they are now being tied into 'packages' that contain options you might want but the manufacturer has determined its only profit maximising to force you to have a sunroof as well then it's just another reason to not bother with modern cars.

They are a good product for midgets but not normal people.

this x10

i would never buy a car with one fitted

Yes hateful things and how many classic cars had been ruined by then .
glass ones drip with condensation or just leak,
Rust, jamming and leaking steel ones..

[David87]

I don't much care for the ones that open, but the panoramic glass roofs that a lot of modern cars have are really lovely.

[Clivey]

Dave Hedgehog said:

DonkeyApple said:

Ghastly things if you are tall. Most cars are rendered undriveable by the fitting of them.

Bain of my life. If they are now being tied into 'packages' that contain options you might want but the manufacturer has determined its only profit maximising to force you to have a sunroof as well then it's just another reason to not bother with modern cars.

They are a good product for midgets but not normal people.

this x10

i would never buy a car with one fitted

Just how tall are you both? I'm 6'3" and the only cars I've had a problem with are ones the have been ergonomically crap/cramped regardless of whether they've had a sunroof of not.

[k-ink]

On a motorway barge they can be ok now and then. For anything sporty you do not want a great heavy slab of glass as high as possible screwing with the COG.

[f1nn]

The COG argument, whilst technically valid, is a irrelevant on 99% of heavy, comfortable! road cars.

I like sunroofs, both for the light they let in to the increasingly dark cabins of Msport/Sline/AMG spec cars, and the feeling of airiness they lend.

people suggesting why bother just get a convertible....is that not like saying I want an estate for the extra space so I may as well just by a van?

[DaveCWK]

I love my sunroof. It's nice having the shade open only with the ac on in this weather. Light and airy.

[Stedman]

They drive me nuts. No thank you.

[DonkeyApple]

Clivey said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

DonkeyApple said:

Ghastly things if you are tall. Most cars are rendered undriveable by the fitting of them.

Bain of my life. If they are now being tied into 'packages' that contain options you might want but the manufacturer has determined its only profit maximising to force you to have a sunroof as well then it's just another reason to not bother with modern cars.

They are a good product for midgets but not normal people.

this x10

i would never buy a car with one fitted

Just how tall are you both? I'm 6'3" and the only cars I've had a problem with are ones the have been ergonomically crap/cramped regardless of whether they've had a sunroof of not.

6'2" but I'm perfectly proportioned rather than shaped like a gibbon.

[Clivey]

DonkeyApple said:

6'2" but I'm perfectly proportioned rather than shaped like a gibbon.

Have you been stalking me or what?

[s m]

DJFish said:

The roof on my E46 has a broken blind, it was rattling for years now it's knackered.

The roof on my Forester has a sick motor.

Neither are likely to see any use until I have the time or inclination to fix them.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the passenger side slide clips that have broken on your E46

Just about to fix mine.....but then I do use the blind and sunroof a lot in this weather

[Clivey]

s m said:

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the passenger side slide clips that have broken on your E46

Just about to fix mine.....but then I do use the blind and sunroof a lot in this weather

Do the sunroofs eat into the headroom much? I can't say I've noticed in the cars I've driven (my 320i doesn't have one).

[s m]

Clivey said:

s m said:

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the passenger side slide clips that have broken on your E46

Just about to fix mine.....but then I do use the blind and sunroof a lot in this weather

Do the sunroofs eat into the headroom much? I can't say I've noticed in the cars I've driven (my 320i doesn't have one).

No idea really - I'm only 5'11 though so never been an issue for me in the cars I've had

sjabrown said:

Peugeot 205 sunroof: doesn't leak, lets plenty light in, and makes motorway journeys tolerable. Especially with the permanent heater that is the exhaust tunnel.
.

Had a 309Gti with the FFSR and it used to make a great noise from the roof seal when you shut it ( plus all the 205/309 gtis I knew made a great exhaust noise at low revs/wide throttle and had the same distinctive smeil when you got them really hot, regardless of which oil you used )

[DJFish]

s m said:

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the passenger side slide clips that have broken on your E46

Just about to fix mine.....but then I do use the blind and sunroof a lot in this weather

I expect so.
I'll pop the glass out and have a look the next time I have a few minutes to rub together.
I was at the BMW parts dept at sparrows fart this morning picking some suspension bits up (at least I was supposed to, only half arrived!) and was going to order some clips there and then but I thought I'd better see what's broken first.
Any idea how much the clips cost?

[anonymous-user]

The only cars I had with a sunroof were Opel Mantas. Both of them I had rusted around the aperture, scratching the paint on the sunroof itself, and you needed to push the things into place with both hands just to get the roof to fit flush. Never used to use the things as a result.

Never missed not having one on the Supra I had or on my current Focus ST.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 26th July 11:58

[anonymous-user]

The only cars I had with a sunroof were Opel Mantas. Both of them I had rusted around the aperture, scratching the paint on the sunroof itself, and you needed to push the things into place with both hands just to get the roof to fit flush. Never used to use the things as a result.

Never missed not having one on the Supra I had or on my current Focus ST.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 26th July 12:01

[s m]

DJFish said:

s m said:

I wouldn't be surprised if it's the passenger side slide clips that have broken on your E46

Just about to fix mine.....but then I do use the blind and sunroof a lot in this weather

I expect so.
I'll pop the glass out and have a look the next time I have a few minutes to rub together.
I was at the BMW parts dept at sparrows fart this morning picking some suspension bits up (at least I was supposed to, only half arrived!) and was going to order some clips there and then but I thought I'd better see what's broken first.
Any idea how much the clips cost?

They're about £9 roughly - sometimes cheaper on EBay



Doing mine this afternoon - the bottom ones break with heat fatigue/poor design

[Big Pants]

I've never really used the sunroof on any car I've had in the past. Briefly on the Rover 220 turbo (glass panels to stash behind the seats or in the boot iirc) until the Legacy Spec B.



Now it's open pretty much every journey. Particularly demanded by my 13 year old and her friends on any trip, short or long, day or night. And I don't mind, it's panoramic and gives a whole load of light without being too noisy at speed. Well, some speeds.

And as above, sunroof fully open and aircon on full blast is the way forward. It's not as though I could make my fuel consumption drop any lower anyway.

[sparks_E39]

I wish my E39 had one... I'm sure a few of them do.