BMW Repair: 740 sunroof inop, tilt position, motordrive

Question
My '98 740 sunroof will not go back/retract, will raise and lower but sounds like motor is failing. Tried the 5-second hold on button when raising, no-luck. If motor is bad, can replacement be done easily? Thanks!

Answer
Bill, motor isn't hard to replace. You have to remove the roof panel that contains the buttons and the light fixture. Carefully pry them out. You will see the motor and the torx retaining bolts. There should be a small allen through the back of the motor. Get a metric allen socket or wrench and carefully turn the motor to get the sunroof to move through it's complete range of motion. If the sunroof cassette is physically capable of moving normally then you are correct in the assumption of a faulty motordrive. The motor has a brain in it (module). So a new one will have to be initialized (learn motion). Install it with sunroof in closed position. Press and hold tilt position until the glass twitches. Release button for a second and hold tilt position again until the sunroof completes it's range of movement and stops. All the one touch open and close features should work. If they don't then the motor must be dealer coded to the car.
-Evan