[Tengocity]

I have the panoramic roof on our tourer and like the extra light and flexibility to slide or tilt, but it seems BMW sunroofs have been the same for decades, and look a bit old hat when compared to some other sunroofs I see on other cars.

For example my best mate has an Evoque and it's entire roof panel is glass and looks very cool. Similarly I spent a day with a colleague in their Mercedes C-class saloon, and he seemed to have a much larger glass area than mine.

As I drive along I see that quite a few of the other manufacturers have moved things on with roofs sliding out and over the outside rather than staying within the car. Sometimes looks odd, sometimes looks quite cool!

Has anyone looked at these other mechanisms? What are they like if so?

Are BMW behind the times, or are these new roofs gimmicky and bring other disadvantages?

[Kal101]

Can imagine the up and over playing havoc with your aerodynamics and always worry about them breaking off at speed.

Always like the look of the extended windscreen as well - used to be an option on one of the older Astras I think.

[SkyJawa]

Honestly haven't bothered with a sunroof since the 90's since most cars now have ac.

They cost silly money these days imho, only needed if your interior is all black....

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by SkyJawa

Honestly haven't bothered with a sunroof since the 90's since most cars now have ac.

They cost silly money these days imho, only needed if your interior is all black....

I don't really use it to cool the car down, so having AC is somewhat irrelevant. The extra light is nice, and even on the 330e we have with Oyster interior I do miss the sunroof.

Other folks like them for different reasons. My folks always liked a sunroof as they were smokers and it was better to blow the smoke out the roof than roll the window down!

My wife likes that when you drive through the countryside you can hear and smell what's going on. Sounds weird but she likes not feeling like she is in a hermetically sealed bubble. Less appealing in London!

[Watsey]

I've never been a fan of sunroofs and have never owned a car with one : something else to break, leak or create wind noise.

Fixed glass pano roof might be a different matter.

[Twenty2Three]

What sun?
I would not spec one but do not mind them at all.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Three28iman

What sun?
I would not spec one but do not mind them at all.

Maybe that's why they're called Moonroofs in the US?!

[JD6]

My last sunroof was the panoramic one on an E53 X5. From day 1 it rattled, and around 10 dealer visits, including rewelding the roof failed to solve it. Rattles above your head are particularly annoying I find.

That put me right off sunroofs. A friend has one in his F31 335d, and it feels like it begins too far back for those in the front to get the benefit of it.

Perhaps one day I'll have another, but I guess it will have to be a used car, so I can take an extended test drive first.

[teaston]

Don't see the point of them tbh, they mess your hair up, add extra weight in the worst place, cost too much, are hot when sun shines through, and I never even have the windows open so why have the roof open!?

[EvilDrPorkChop]

I've always been a fan of sunroofs, although never owned a car with one. My parents had one of the first odd style Meganes in 2003 which had a panoramic sunroof in which I think was one of the first on the market, they then had a Civic which had just a panoramic glass roof. So I've been used to them over the years - I think they need to open though. The civic one let in a lot of light but it's always good to get some fresh air in.

I think you need a decent area of glass to be worth it, the one on the 1 series and 3 series saloon aren't worth it. But to have a panoramic on a Mini or estate car is well worth the cost. I just hope BMW don't go down the route of having just a glass panel to let light in.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by teaston

Don't see the point of them tbh, they mess your hair up, add extra weight in the worst place, cost too much, are hot when sun shines through, and I never even have the windows open so why have the roof open!?

they don't mess your hair (a convertible does though), the weight is fairly inconsequential for a car that isn't on a track, and they have blinds to stop the sun, though it's darkened glass so not really needed. They are expensive though I guess.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by JD6

My last sunroof was the panoramic one on an E53 X5. From day 1 it rattled, and around 10 dealer visits, including rewelding the roof failed to solve it. Rattles above your head are particularly annoying I find.

That put me right off sunroofs. A friend has one in his F31 335d, and it feels like it begins too far back for those in the front to get the benefit of it.

Perhaps one day I'll have another, but I guess it will have to be a used car, so I can take an extended test drive first.

The potential for it to go wrong is a consideration, and is one of the reasons I extended my warranty.

The F31 is ok in the front, and you feel the extra light and airiness, but if you're sat in the back then it you really get a lot more from it I'd say.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

they don't mess your hair (a convertible does though), the weight is fairly inconsequential for a car that isn't on a track, and they have blinds to stop the sun, though it's darkened glass so not really needed. They are expensive though I guess.

I bet all that extra weight up top does make a difference to handling on the road!

[dopper99]

And they reduce the interior height, although prob not such a problem with the f3x.

Last car I had with a sunroof was a Vauxhall Calibra back in the 90s.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by dopper99

And they reduce the interior height, although prob not such a problem with the f3x.

Last car I had with a sunroof was a Vauxhall Calibra back in the 90s.

Good point, not too bad in F30/31, but F32 & F36 are low on head room as it is!

[....,,,,..,,..]

Wife's GTI has a pano roof with led lighting at night.

It's nice and light during day and great at night with the blue mood lighting and pano roof.

Next car will defo have a pano roof, not too worried about it opening tbh.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Brigand

Wife's GTI has a pano roof with led lighting at night.

It's nice and light during day and great at night with the blue mood lighting and pano roof.

Next car will defo have a pano roof, not too worried about it opening tbh.

Yea pano roof I get, looks smart with the whole roof being black.

[Soul_Glo]

Many of the large glass area roof's look good but are heavier than a traditional tin can roof. Much of that weight taken by the mechanism and extra reinforcement. People want to look good and forget about safety. A fire fighter friend was called to a motorway pile up last month. The driver and his family showered with glass from their panoramic roof. The injuries wouldn't have been too bad otherwise. The roof airbags pushed the glass out! So glass flies toward others! However, when the car turned and landed on it's tyres again much of the glass came back in.

Conclusion. Panny roof. Beautiful but dangerous and stupid idea by manufacturer.

Glass is no alternative to metal. Besides glass is more susceptible to defect and on some cars one day the owner has come back to find a huge crack in the glass - some unable to prove it was not vandalism left +£1200 out of pocket.

Sorry if I sound like the grim reaper.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Broken_Gearbox

...
Conclusion. Panny roof. Beautiful but dangerous and stupid idea by manufacturer.

Glass is no alternative to metal. Besides glass is more susceptible to defect and on some cars one day the owner has come back to find a huge crack in the glass - some unable to prove it was not vandalism left +£1200 out of pocket.

Sorry if I sound like the grim reaper.

You make good points. I thought about speccing a sunroof on mine, but spontaneous failure is a concern (and something had to be cut from the options budget anyway).

We had a glass shower screen explode in our previous house. Luckily no-one was in the bathroom or house at the time. It went with enough force to crack and chip tiles, so the consequences on human flesh wouldn't have been pretty.

I also read of a 6-series sunroof exploding in a similar manner at speed. That would have been much worse if it was panoramic.

Undoubtedly, these things are rare, but they do happen.

My wife's car has a pano roof and it really does bring lovely light to the car, but we do have spells of driving around with the blind closed since realising what can happen. I suspect that we might close it more often than not once we have a baby in the car too.

I wouldn't worry about a standard sunroof too much in an accident, but a pano roof would be a concern.

To my mind, BMW may actually have this right in sticking to the more old-fashioned and smaller openings. You get the light (and air), but don't sacrifice too much in terms of safety.

[Tengocity]

Wow! Lots of doom-mongers out there when it comes to sunroofs!

I'm pretty sure that a glass roof can't be that much more dangerous than having front, side a rear windows on a car. If we start making decisions based on very rare freak occurrences then you may as well stay in bed.

I'm sure it was Grant_7 who said that cars with a sunroof were actually more structurally rigid than cars without. Hopefully he can clarify that for us...

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Wow! Lots of doom-mongers out there when it comes to sunroofs!

I'm pretty sure that a glass roof can't be that much more dangerous than having front, side a rear windows on a car. If we start making decisions based on very rare freak occurrences then you may as well stay in bed.

I'm sure it was Grant_7 who said that cars with a sunroof were actually more structurally rigid than cars without. Hopefully he can clarify that for us...

Having seen the effects of failure, it naturally makes me more aware of the small risk. That's just how the brain works. I pretty much know that tyres below, say, 2.5 or 3mm will be fine 99.99% of the time, but that doesn't stop me changing them before they get to the legal limit.

Life's about understanding and balancing risks isn't it? Is it enough to make us sell my wife's car? Nope. Would it stop me buying another car with a pano roof? Probably not. Does it make me think "I'll close that blind 50% of the time to halve the very small risk" - seemingly so.

Is it a consideration that's worth thinking about? Definitely. Some manufacturers laminate the pano roof, which pretty much takes away the concern.

[Rbrown]

Im not a fan.

Had problems with 2 cars. Had a C class with pano roof. It rattled and creaked alot and even the technician at MB said it would annoy him! Was in about 10 times to get fixed.

Before that, I had a LR Freelander with sun roof. TBH that car was a total lemon as there was alot wrong with from the start, but the roof leaked. Thankfully it was a company car and the lease company took it back.