Pano sunroof creaks driving me mad.

So I have done the re-adaptation probably 10x now (hold switch down until sunroof cycles halfway open then back closed) as well as cleaned all the perimeter seals with alcohol wipes. Still creaks like crazy and it drives me up the wall.

Anything else I can try to lubricate/quiet the seals? All I hear over bumps are creaks, clicks and pops. Find myself opening the roof more than typical because it is quieter to have it open than to keep it closed.

Here’s a thread that covers the topic of sunroof lubricants fairly well...

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=380368

You might need to lubricate the track the slider pins run in. There are two pins that stick into the extrusion on each side of the roof, left and right of each side. Also a track at the very front that leads the front of the roof down. If there is any crud buildup the front might not go down all the way and then it won’t adapt properly.

Lubrication is a pita. After five years I still haven’t figured out all the places to lube, or how to get to them easily.

They drive me crazy too. I don't know how anyone could stand to own a car with one of these.

Pops, creaks, rattles, squeaks, and the awful baking sun that the shade does little to lessen.

There are self adhesive felt strips they sell that can be strategically placed to help. I have also found some of them get the fasteners that hold the whole mess to the inside of the roof get loose and wiggle.

I'd be curious to take on a challenge of trying to isolate everything once the headliner is down. Often times you can loosen the screws on things, place the foam between the frame and the body, then tighten the screws back down tight, and eliminate any creaking.

It is a lousy design, but trust me, they are all like that. We fought them at Lexus, too, as the early RX330 got cursed with that very rare option. Lubing will help some issues, but not all of them.

Thanks y'all for the advice - looking online I found some BMW stuff called gummipfledge that seems to be highly touted as helping with seal creaks, going to order some and see how that goes. I'll let you guys know if that works.

For lubing the tracks I have service due in about 1.5 months or so, will check if that is something the dealer could do for me.

My 2011 pano roof has been consistently creaking for the past 1,5 years (the entire time I've owned it). It made a slight pop/creak on the passenger side when driving on uneven roads when the body flexes slightly. Drove me insane.
PS! It's pretty much quiet in the winter. Also the creaking stops when I tilt the sunroof.

I've tried cleaning and lubricating many times, including getting it greased by the dealer, also adding velcro, felt tape and calibrating it numerous times. Nothing seemed to help.

Two weeks ago I adjusted the front glass (the moving part) so that the rear edge sits as low as it would go, and the front edge sits relatively high. I also removed one of the washers from the rear glass bolts, the ones that hold it on to the crossbeam. I'm not sure if there should be one or two washers from the factory.
I also generously greased the inside of the rail with Valvoline lithium grease a couple weeks before that.
It might be too early to tell, but the creaking has almost completely stopped for now, and I'm hoping it stays like that.

Just sharing my experience, hope it helps.

Gummipfledge has always worked for me where rubber seals make contact with another surface and generate noise.

Happy my wife drives the car with the pano roof. I will never daily drive one again.

Krytox lube is a good product also.

So I finally got around to using the "gummipfleger" that I got off Amazon (see link below) on just the sunroof seal so far and it seems to have helped drastically and was incredibly easy to use - getting to the rear triple seal required me squeeze some on a rag and apply that way as even with the roof open past the comfort setting I could not get the applicator in the space.
I cleaned all the seals off with some Meguires quick detailer wipes and let dry, applied the rubber protectant and let it sit for about 5 minutes then wiped down the excess, had it done in about 10 minutes and plan to do every month or so for the time being. Was going to do the door seals too but it was 90 degrees out and I just didn't have it in me to continue to sweat up a storm, once fall rolls around I might tackle those.
Now I just need to tackle that noisy cargo shelf cover with some felt.
https://www.amazon.com/Sonax-03401000-Rubber-Protectant-GummiPfleger/dp/B01GS3EIIC

The gummiflege works quite well, if you can apply it regularly. I re-apply every 6-8 weeks, so as to not let it dry out during the months it's warm enough to operate. I generally leave it alone from November - March.

There's also a handy trick to get the roof into the maintenance position which is done by turning the pano roof knob all the way to the open position and holding it there until the roof has completely stopped moving. This get's the first piece of glass back far enough that you can access the rear weather stripping seals.

I also use a q-tip to help both clean and then apply the lube to the tracks/rails that the roof slides back and forth on. When I finish, I try and spread the lube out by running it through a couple of open/close cycles (all the way to the maintenance position).

Pharcyde145 said:

The gummiflege works quite well, if you can apply it regularly. I re-apply every 6-8 weeks, so as to not let it dry out during the months it's warm enough to operate. I generally leave it alone from November - March.

There's also a handy trick to get the roof into the maintenance position which is done by turning the pano roof knob all the way to the open position and holding it there until the roof has completely stopped moving. This get's the first piece of glass back far enough that you can access the rear weather stripping seals.

I also use a q-tip to help both clean and then apply the lube to the tracks/rails that the roof slides back and forth on. When I finish, I try and spread the lube out by running it through a couple of open/close cycles (all the way to the maintenance position).

Click to expand...

Oh yeah maintenance mode is where I had it - I think VW called the first stop comfort mode back in the MKIV days, even then the front of the roof still was directly above the rear seal.

I do need to figure out the lubrication situation for the roof and door hinges, I know its called out for VW service to do it every 10k but I would bet $50 that 99% of dealers don't lubricate any hinges or roof. Is there anything you recommend for this?

My guess is, not many think about the possible bad scenarios with having the pano until it happens all of a sudden. If you can get into the routine of doing it every so often, at least 3-4 times a year for the door seal and rear hatch weather stripping and maybe a minimum of 2-3 times or whenever is practical weather for the pano roof seals and slider tracks. So far the q-tip has been my weapon of choice for lubing the track.

Use the gummiflege on the door and hatch weather stripping, I use a small amount of penetrating oil for the door and hatch hinges with a rag to catch the excess.

It's a minor headache/inconvenience 2-4 times a year to hopefully prevent a raging migraine from coming on unexpectedly, like having to drop the headliner etc.

Pharcyde145 said:

My guess is, not many think about the possible bad scenarios with having the pano until it happens all of a sudden. If you can get into the routine of doing it every so often, at least 3-4 times a year for the door seal and rear hatch weather stripping and maybe a minimum of 2-3 times or whenever is practical weather for the pano roof seals and slider tracks. So far the q-tip has been my weapon of choice for lubing the track.
Use the gummiflege on the door and hatch weather stripping, I use a small amount of penetrating oil for the door and hatch hinges with a rag to catch the excess.
It's a minor headache/inconvenience 2-4 times a year to hopefully prevent a raging migraine from coming on unexpectedly, like having to drop the headliner etc.

Click to expand...

I agree 100%! It appears previously some white lithium was used on the door hinges (white crusty mess left behind) and some kind of vaseline like substance in the sunroof rail. Might try to get the rail cleaned up as there was a small amount of dirt gooped up in the lubrication. Might browse around at the dealer and the local parts store to see what kinda options are out there.

As a side note I was able to treat all the door and hatch seals with the Sonax yesterday and car sat overnight. This morning I removed the retractable cargo cover and laid it on the cargo floor - very happy to report I did not hear a single creak or rattle unless I was traversing the sharp speed bumps in the parking garage at work but that was only if I only hit them with only one wheel rolling over the bump at a time, guess you can only engineer so much structural rigidity into a big open wagon vs sedan.