Windscreen removal

[Barry.b]

Hi guys , I am just wondering if anyone knows what is the best method to take out the front and rear windscreen.
My roof skin is rusted as it is a sunroof car .
so I need to take out the glass and remove the headliner so that I can see what needs repairing in the roof.
I do have a roof with a sunroof from another e9 which is in good condition so I will try and remove the skin from that and maybe the sunroof support metalwork and use it to re skin my car .
I am not sure yet how to get it all done ....
Honestly it might be beyond me a little bit
But I won’t know that for sure until I at least try first
Also is it possible to carefully remove the headliner and reinstall later ?
Or am I looking at replacing the headliner with a new one No matter what ?
Also can windscreen seals be re used ???

 

[HB Chris]

Best to buy new seals. I bought a used headliner from Belgium, just take your time removing.

 

[Barry.b]

Okay
I will try save my old headliner so .
Thanks !

 

[mark99]

In a sense we reused a headliner, the 'pro' did a terrible job, we took it out and put it back in

 

[bavbob]

I think you can peel the headliner back from the front up to the C-pillar without glass removal and expose what you need to work on. The headliner goes to the A-pillar in the front and ends under the formed front part of the headliner that has the sunroof switch. The formed part of the headliner actually does not have a lip buried under the gasket. It can be removed without glass removal, just mind the two small rivets on each side holding it in. The back of the headliner does fit under the window gasket but you should have enough exposure without having to remove it.

 

[Barry.b]

In a sense we reused a headliner, the 'pro' did a terrible job, we took it out and put it back in

Oh dear, there is nothing worse than paying good money to a “pro” and ending up with bad work

 

[Barry.b]

I think you can peel the headliner back from the front up to the C-pillar without glass removal and expose what you need to work on. The headliner goes to the A-pillar in the front and ends under the formed front part of the headliner that has the sunroof switch. The formed part of the headliner actually does not have a lip buried under the gasket. It can be removed without glass removal, just mind the two small rivets on each side holding it in. The back of the headliner does fit under the window gasket but you should have enough exposure without having to remove it.

Okay, thanks for that, I hadn’t thought I could just partially remove it.
That should at least allow me to get in far enough to check how much metalwork is needed.
Thanks

 

[eriknetherlands]

Not sure if getting just the panel out will be enough to comfortably access the sunroof section & your potential rust areas.
Once you have the panel out, the worst part is over.
Unclipping a few baleens is actually quite easy and will provide much better access. You only need to re glue the edges, but I think you need to glue anyway when you remove the formed panel.
Consider that if you require to weld, you need to have the headliner out of the way anyway, as sparks fly everywhere.

Here's some pics that may help you from my car (which has no sunroof as you'll see.) Important hidden things are the 2*2 small rivets hidden under the roof trim. I also think that it requires the rubbers & alu trim to be pulled i think).

roof+A-pillar; just left of the middle are 2 rivits normally that are hidden. I think it is the same for sunroof cars. In my car it located the textile headliner and also the front headliner panel.

after removal of panel, sunvisor mounts and rearview mirror (no sunroof car):

pull glued textile

To unhook baleens, push them up in the middle; pull them out of the plastic guides. this actually is very easy, and creates much more access to the roof.

 

[Barry.b]

Brilliant.
Thanks for that.
A picture tells a thousand words as they say .
That’s a great start for me , as now I can sort of forsee what is ahead of me without doing anything unnecessary and maybe breaking or tearing something.
Thanks again !

 

[JFENG]

FWIW you can reuse a windshield gasket, if in good condition. And you can remove it all without damage if you go slowly and have a helper. But the quality of the new WN gasket I saw was nice and I think it would be false economy to not buy one.

 

[bavbob]

Still trying to figure out what a baleen is. Is it a locking clip? My car has an electric sunroof so those partitions in the pictures above do not exist.One solid piece with a hole for the sunroof. BTW, headliner wraps under the alum tracks on the sunroof, sure you knew but just in case.

Erik, thanks for the pictures which show what I was trying to say.

 

[HB Chris]

He means the metal rods that hold the headliner.

 

[Barry.b]

Okay , so I just got my headliner out .
It turns out that the sunroof cars don’t have baleens ( I have never previously heard that word before today ) they have a large board with foam glued to it ( all crumbled and turned to dust now ) and I think the headliner should have been glued to that foam .
Anyway I followed the advice so thanks again
my front headliner would not let go from inside the car , so eventually after discovering that my sunroof motor spins but does not turn the cable drive to the sunroof , I then managed to manually move it enough to remove the sunroof from the car and once you take out the aluminium guides you will find 1 last screw and it was the one preventing the front headliner from coming out . It screws down from above into the front headliner, I put a yellow pencil beside it in the photo to show where it is , just in case anyone else needs to find it some day.

 

[mark99]

Okay , so I just got my headliner out .
It turns out that the sunroof cars don’t have baleens ( I have never previously heard that word before today ) they have a large board with foam glued to it ( all crumbled and turned to dust now ) and I think the headliner should have been glued to that foam .
Anyway I followed the advice so thanks again
my front headliner would not let go from inside the car , so eventually after discovering that my sunroof motor spins but does not turn the cable drive to the sunroof , I then managed to manually move it enough to remove the sunroof from the car and once you take out the aluminium guides you will find 1 last screw and it was the one preventing the front headliner from coming out . It screws down from above into the front headliner, I put a yellow pencil beside it in the photo to show where it is , just in case anyone else needs to find it some day.

I am 99.99 % sure the headliner does NOT glue to the board

 

[mark99]

that is interesting, it looks like there was glue on the back of your headliner, so I guess I don't know
when we were doing mine I asked about this, not sure if I ever got a firm answer, but if it is glued to other than the edges I don't know how you would ever get it smooth, there would be a 'step' where it left the board to the outer edge

 

[bavbob]

Replaced mine with MDF, put poly on it to make it water resistant, glued foam to it. I did not glue any foam to the headliner. I believe if the headliner is tight, it won't contact the board or foam anyway. The foam is for sound, I contemplated a thin X-mat instead but was fearful of the weight.

So rear glass out, front glass still in I presume.

 

[arnie]

Just a note: If you can reuse the gasket (if it's obviously not toast), I'd recommend it. If you need a new one take this one for a third of the W&N price:https://shopware.bmw-oldtimerteile....scheibendichtung-bmw-e9-und-2000-coupe-pos.-2

since the quality of rubber parts coming from W&N wasn't really exceptionell, this can't be the wrong choice.

To your repair: Just remove both screens, try to seperate the good roof skin from the supporting rest and exchange the rotten one with it as a complete piece.
No other way to get it rust protected for the future.
Partial exchange is simply bull....

 

[Barry.b]

Replaced mine with MDF, put poly on it to make it water resistant, glued foam to it. I did not glue any foam to the headliner. I believe if the headliner is tight, it won't contact the board or foam anyway. The foam is for sound, I contemplated a thin X-mat instead but was fearful of the weight.

So rear glass out, front glass still in I presume.

Okay
Good advice !
Not glueing it would make putting it back in a lot easier too as it won’t be glued to the board slightly out of position .
I might have to remake my board too as it is well past it’s best before date.

 

[Barry.b]

Just a note: If you can reuse the gasket (if it's obviously not toast), I'd recommend it. If you need a new one take this one for a third of the W&N price:https://shopware.bmw-oldtimerteile....scheibendichtung-bmw-e9-und-2000-coupe-pos.-2

since the quality of rubber parts coming from W&N wasn't really exceptionell, this can't be the wrong choice.

To your repair: Just remove both screens, try to seperate the good roof skin from the supporting rest and exchange the rotten one with it as a complete piece.
No other way to get it rust protected for the future.
Partial exchange is simply bull....

Okay
Thanks for the advice on the front windscreen rubber , unfortunately it says they are currently not in stock .
Maybe they will have them in stock again by the time I need one.
Do you by any chance have photos of a roof skin being replaced ( that’s a long shot I know )
Thanks again

 

[bavbob]

Roof skin= that disintegrating thing that has wax paper on it? No matter the condition, you can still use it as a template. MDF was difficult to make the curves towards the c pillars. I had to score it and wet it and bend it so may not be the best choice.

Clean out your drainage tubes while all is exposed. If you are going to replace your headliner, start looking fo that zipper now, seems that that length and color were quite hard to find. I ended up finding one on Etsy believe it or not.

I used Stafan Reis for my window seals, my trunk(boot) and hood seals and both door seals. I bought all of it at one time and he was helpful with pricing and also shipping .