[scottp999]

*** News flash, this happens to all kinds of cars, not just our e90's. My sister just had it happen to her while renting a vehicle for a business trip. A rock hit the sunroof, it shatterd, the rock bounced right off it.

But as others have said the stealership sucks. Everytime you take your car in they see it as a way to drain your wallet, if they can't drain your wallet then magical damage shows up when you get the car back. I won't be taking mine in unntil the brakes need work.

[poiney]

Originally Posted by bimmerFUD

I feel for you. Yep, "trying another dealer" isn't always a reasonable option. My next closest dealer is 5 hours away.

It will blow out. At 65mph, the outward pressure is about 10 pounds per square foot. My bimmer hasn't been redelivered yet, so I don't know the sunroof dimensions. But say it's 3' by 2', that gives 60 pounds of force on it. Not much, so either the glass is defective, or maybe it was mounted incorrectly such that it was under a lot of stress.

I am very curious about your calculation. How did you arrive at 10 psf and what assumptions did you make on the position of the sunroof or vents, etc.

I can't tell from photos, but if the remaining glass appears to be elevated, another possibility maybe that the glass is stressed and warped in a convex shape such that when it fractures the remaining glass straightens and points upwards. So anything that might induce fracture, such as a rock, might give similar result even while parked. Dunno.

Anyway, I'm not up to my 7th reason I would like to have a delete-moonroof option.

[TiAg335i]

I am going to say it has to deal with temperature, not "outward pressure"...you had the AC running and the sunroof was probably hot from sitting in the sun, the temp diff caused it to shatter.......either that or the poor torsional rigidity when you hit a bump or something at that speed made it shatter....

[murellus]

ive never heard of exploding sunroofs til i got to this forum. now im paranoid

[likwidplastik]

I appreciate all the replies.

Let me clear the air by saying I'm not flaming "BMW" or changing my mind about the brand by any means. I love BMW's (hell, I own one right?) and I will continue to love them.

It's just unfortunate that my local dealer happens to absolutely suck. Driving an hour away to get service done to the car is simply inconvienent...for me at least.

[smellthebeans]

All I can say is WOW this is like the 4th or 5th one!

I would certainly look for another place to take your vehicle to.

Unfortunatly I dont believe that dealerships have much of a vested intrest representing the BMW brand. Essentillaly they are franchises of the BMW label.


Sorry to hear of your miserable experience, It is similar to mine with a particular Dealer in the DFW area. As true customers...you were not looking for a hand out, but rather a "Help" out.

[iatacs19]

Originally Posted by TiAg335i

I am going to say it has to deal with temperature, not "outward pressure"...you had the AC running and the sunroof was probably hot from sitting in the sun, the temp diff caused it to shatter.......either that or the poor torsional rigidity when you hit a bump or something at that speed made it shatter....

I highly doubt this, any cheap tempered glass can withstand that.

[noktekniq]

i think it had to do with the sudden heat change with the climate.

[Revlis]

Originally Posted by evo119

This is the 4th one now on e90post, and we only represent a small percentage of the e90 population. I wonder how many this has happened to so far.

Yes but the people that post up here are many times LOOKING for someplace to complain about how shitty this or that was or how this or that failed.

Many folks aren't here as enthusiasts at all but are just here because they had a problem and are doing google searches for BMW Sunroof etc. They are here because they are having some issues.

So, the folks posting posting here are hardly a worthwhile or representitive sample of the 3 series population. You figure the 3 series is a mass produced machine with tens of thousands of 2006-2007 Coupes, and Sedans out there.

Of this we see the enthusiasts here learning and tweeking, folks that just love BMWs, and the folks that have a "Horror" story, usually much embellished. VAST MAJORITY of folks have never even heard of a Web Board, let alone post on one.

Problems like sunroofs, fuel pumps, and the terrifying seat belt butlers are WAY over blown and over represented here on the web. Making this place and other forums the LAST place you want to go looking for a representative sample.

Not saying there aren't some decent issues to be worked out, just saying that giving the amount of attention issues get on this forum you may as well be driving a freaking Hyundai... Besides, they have a much better warranty.

[flipmde786]

Whatever the case, the sunroof should not randomly shatter like that. These cars (as well as others) are supposedly tested in the most extreme conditions to ensure things like this don't happen in our lives. Apparently someone isn't doing their job right. An exploding sunroof is ridiculous and should never happen, whatever the case (unless a huge rock hits it).

The weather conditions we experience are all "normal," and the car is supposed to be wind tested to high speeds so our driving speeds (and any impending pressure changes) are "normal" too. There is no excuse for exploding sunroofs.

[TheAcAvenger]

Virginia Beach? I cant think of any weather issues over the last week that could've caused anything like that. It was just hot hot hot all week

[Potty_Pants]

Originally Posted by Revlis

Not saying there aren't some decent issues to be worked out, just saying that giving the amount of attention issues get on this forum you may as well be driving a freaking Hyundai... Besides, they have a much better warranty.

hey i resent that remark ...

my 2006 hyundai sonata is running like a tank, w/o any problems currently at 27k

[Revlis]

Originally Posted by Potty_Pants

hey i resent that remark ...

my 2006 hyundai sonata is running like a tank, w/o any problems currently at 27k

No No, I was being serious... Hyundai has come a long way... Building some pretty nice cars now.

Hell the wifes Infiniti has over 100k miles on it and we haven't spent a red cent on repairs or downtime... Some new pads etc, but otherwise nothing. If reliability is the #1 priority, and a person isn't interested in ergonomics or driving dynamics there are a lot of more reliable choices out there. This is the point I was trying to make.

[1clean335i]

interesting stuff...

[noktekniq]

the ultimate explodin machine!

how about a class action lawsuit

[likwidplastik]

Originally Posted by Revlis

Yes but the people that post up here are many times LOOKING for someplace to complain about how shitty this or that was or how this or that failed.

Many folks aren't here as enthusiasts at all but are just here because they had a problem and are doing google searches for BMW Sunroof etc. They are here because they are having some issues.

So, the folks posting posting here are hardly a worthwhile or representitive sample of the 3 series population. You figure the 3 series is a mass produced machine with tens of thousands of 2006-2007 Coupes, and Sedans out there.

Of this we see the enthusiasts here learning and tweeking, folks that just love BMWs, and the folks that have a "Horror" story, usually much embellished. VAST MAJORITY of folks have never even heard of a Web Board, let alone post on one.

Problems like sunroofs, fuel pumps, and the terrifying seat belt butlers are WAY over blown and over represented here on the web. Making this place and other forums the LAST place you want to go looking for a representative sample.

Not saying there aren't some decent issues to be worked out, just saying that giving the amount of attention issues get on this forum you may as well be driving a freaking Hyundai... Besides, they have a much better warranty.

I've been "lurking" these boards ever since I bought the car, I just never had anything interesting to say, nor have I made any mods to the car "yet". With that being said, you're right...I can hardly classify myself as an "enthusiast".

For the record, I'm not here just looking for a place to complain. I just figured that I'd share my experience since I saw few others with the same problem.

Also, it looks as though we're going to keep the car. We test drove a few a cars, and I guess after you own a BMW, nothing else feels quite the same.

I'm just going to suck it up and deal with the hour trip to the other dealership, and keep my fingers crossed that they provide better service than my local one.

[poiney]

I agree with others who think that the stresses (thermal or mechanical) are probably no greater than the other windows in the car so if this is a real defect then something else is amok. I wonder if there is really an outward appearance of this is also simply result of intentionally curved or convex shaped glass.

BTW, how confident are the people with shattering sunroofs that it isn't mechanical damage from foreign object, such as a rock, etc. I don't know whether or not the rock has to land inside the car and do the damage if these occurred while driving.

[uhaulball]

Originally Posted by likwidplastik

I've been "lurking" these boards ever since I bought the car

i did that too when i was waiting for my car. the problem with ur statement is, you registered on June 2007. so unless u had ur car for 16 days i find it hard to believe.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by Revlis

Many folks aren't here as enthusiasts at all but are just here because they had a problem and are doing google searches for BMW Sunroof etc. They are here because they are having some issues.

So, the folks posting posting here are hardly a worthwhile or representitive sample of the 3 series population. You figure the 3 series is a mass produced machine with tens of thousands of 2006-2007 Coupes, and Sedans out there.

I am going to assume you are correct that this forum is a giant fly trap that attracts a lot of attentions, and I am going to tell you I read a lot of car forums, although this experience can not be taken as statistically unbiased figure, but I have yet to run across similar situation on another car. This can't be an accident as his SA claimed, because the possibility of a rock hitting the top of the roof while driving and breaking the sunroof is pretty small. Unless, it was a meteorite and the chance of 4 brand new bmw getting hit on the sunroof within a year period by meteorites is close to zero. It must be some manufacturing defect from the glass' sub-contractor. Just because the forum is a great place for people to discuss their problem it doesn't mean the problem has to bigger than it actually is. To compare apple to apple and orange to orange we need to check other forums for new cars that have similar sunroof explosion and normalize that by quantity of the car produced.

The guy is obviously venting because he was treated poorly by his dealer. I would be as well if my new car has a big gapping hole on the roof, which would ruin my interior if it rains. I consider myself an enthusiast but I won't be happy if I am to blame for something that's not my fault. I will have to be a fanatic to admit that. Consider yourself lucky that you don't have any problems, but if you ever do, would you want to be labeled as a whiner?

[LarrySinNJ]

likwidplastik:

This couldn't hurt:

Call, or better yet visit the service manager at the dealership. Tell him that when you get the survey, you cannot in all good conscience give him "all fives", and see how he reacts.

If he doesn't try to make good, then you can always make a stink w/BMWNA. It may not get you anything, but it just might make you feel better.

[bimmerFUD]

Originally Posted by poiney

I am very curious about your calculation. How did you arrive at 10 psf and what assumptions did you make on the position of the sunroof or vents, etc.

I just used d * v^2 / 2 (Bernoulli), where d is the air density and v the car speed. Thinking about it some more, this is probably a horrible estimate, but I can't think of anything better Since he said the windows and the sunroof were all shut, I assumed the car is like a big pitot tube, with the interior at total pressure, and the air moving past the car the static pressure. Again, I suspect this is a really bad estimate.

With all windows closed, I would bet the air pressure is lower outside a closed sunroof. I never tried this on my ED, but do your ears feel a pressure increase when you close your sunroof at highway speeds?

Your explanation is another possibility.

And regardless, I bet it's a defect, not rocks.

[murellus]

yes your ears feel a pressure change but it's very small, a couple psi at most. 10psi vacuum over the upper surface of the car at highway speeds would be bad bad bad.