BMW Repair: 2001 740 il sunroof malfunction, mile car, subject car

Question
Hello Mr. Kingery,
        Thanks for taking the time to share your expertise. The subject car is a 40,000 mile car that has a sunroof that is malfunctioning. I have done the usual five second reset but I don't think that this is the issue. Last month we had snow and ice cover and my son hit the sunroof switch causing it to raise but the ice was obstructing it. One side of the sunroof, the passenger side I believe, raised and the drivers side did not. I lowered the glass and everything seemed ok but I could not check the full operation due to the ice. Fast forward one month (no operation in the interim), my wife calls me at work and tells me the sunroof won't work correctly. I get home and the left side of the glass is up and the right side is down. Tried to close and reset but the left side won't go down. Seems whatever causes the lift of the glass is not releasing on the left side. I have read a bunch of the threads on e38.org about the headliner removal and am starting to panic. Yes.... it is supposed to rain all weekend. Any ideas?

Answer
Ouch.  The sunroofs on BMW's are a pain.  Probably same with most cars, but I've dealt with 3 on BMW's, and none were straightforward.

First, have you tried manually cranking the sunroof closed?  I believe it calls it out in the manual.  Basically an allen wrench into a hex hole behind the cover where the switches and lights are.  This may allow you to get it closed.

Sounds like something either broke or broke free. The roof is complex and adjustments are many.  Suggest finding an expert on this after you get it closed.

Good luck