Doug427

My 2006 E55 Pano roof has more squeaks, groans and moans than the lunch conversation at the local Senior Citizen home. If I open it just a touch, they're almost all gone instantly. In doing a search here, I came up with the recommended lube and lube procedure. (attached here for some who haven't seen it).

I have the part numbers for both the M-B recommended grease and oil, both the special sliding compound A 000 989 36 60 and lubricant paste A 001 989 46 51, but I can't seem to have any luck finding it with on line M-B parts sources. I'd rather not go to the dealer if I don't have to, they're a real pain to get to from where I am. Did anyone find them on line? What's the cost if you have?

Has anyone done this? Any tips, etc for the procedure? Once you buy the two lubes, how many applications can you get from each typically?

Thanks to all for your help.

JoeNobody

Check ECSTuning. They offer a small size of the hard to find grease. I believe there's two different greases needed.

If you do clean up the tracks, take some photos as I also need to clean up my panoramic as well.

Rocman8

Yep just googled the part numbers and found a few sites selling them. I also agree with going to ecstuning since they have a small repackaged can available for the paste for about 1/10th the cost.

Skizz

I actually bought both. I bought the little vial of the liquid off ebay when I searched for the part number. A guy had one vial left and I took it. The can of paste I bought from mboemparts, I think. Yeah, the stuff is pricey. If ECStuning has it for a discount, go that route.

I'm sure I could have found substitutes for a whole lot less that would have done the same job, but I got the products that were suggested in the bulletin. The liquid, however, seemed to be a very nice lube product and stands up well against water and over time. The paste I applied with my finger and an ice cream-type stick (tongue depressor would work) and eyeliner pencil/sponge applicator thingys I swiped from an Ulta store while buying a present for my wife (they were in a little glass jar for sample use, so I sampled). The liquid is in a little plastic squeeze jar. Just cut the tip and apply as shown in the bulletin.

My pano roof was not squeaking very badly, but I'm OCD. One thing I noticed is that it wasn't a mechanical squeak. It sounded more like dry rubber rubbing on something. After paying very close attention and poking and prodding, I found that the rubber sunroof seal was rubbing on the glass panel of the roof, where it was meant to form a seal. So, I took the liquid and squeezed a little on my index finger and ran it around the rubber seal, all the way around it, and repeated for the whole seal. Really just lubed the whole rubber strip. Lo and behold, no more squeak. It was basically the rubber seal rubbing on the pano glass panel as the body flexed while driving. Of course, YMMV.

No tips other than that. I just followed the steps in the bulletin for health and maintenance of the pano system.

Doug427

Great reply, Skizz, and very informative. Mine is making more of a chirping squeaking sound. I'm thinking that it couldn't hurt to try lubing the rubber seal for the sunroof. I'm thinking a very, very light lubing with the stuff that is used on the rubber seals in a pool filter. It should be water resistant, and if it doesn't work, no harm and no foul.

I'll let you guys know if it works.

Skizz

I think pretty much any type of lube would initially work to see if it has any impact on what you are hearing. If it does, then you can look for a lube that is a long term solution, or, just do it occasionally when you start hearing it again.

If that's what it is, the rubber seal, then it may be worth trying to find that MB slider lube noted in the bulletin. I swear that stuff is really very good and it takes very little to do its thing. I did it once in September and haven't dealt with it since. I don't think I'd buy the paste again (I'd find an alternative), but I would buy the liquid again. I think I paid about $25 for it on ebay. Mboemparts.com has it listed as mold lubricant (WTF?) for $39. Ludicrous, I know, but like I said, I'd do it again.

Doug427

Lubed it up, took it for a short ride, and absolutely no change at all. It's squeaking and chirping loudly on bumps and uneven surfaces. I do think that it's somewhere on the back edge of the sliding panel, because if I just open the sunroof by raising the rear edge up of the movable panel (without even sliding it back), all noise stops. If I lower it back down, it starts all over again.

Given that, I don't see how lubing tracks as the bulletin says to do will help, but I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

Skizz

Oh man, sorry to hear that. Was hoping that just lubing the seal would help. You could be right that lubing the tracks may not help, but it will be good to lubricate the mechanisms anyway for smoother operation and to keep it healthy. Anything you can do to keep the pano healthy is time well spent.

With the roof closed, can you push (modulating pressure as you push) on the glass panel and replicate the noise while the car is still? If so, that can help you track it down. Try to replicate the sounds while you are not driving to get your ear close and pinpoint exactly what is causing it. That's how I found my issue. I have heard that in some instances, the bolts that hold the structure in place can work loose as the body torques and that can cause squeaking. If that happens, you're kind of screwed unless you need to get into the headliner for any reason. I don't know this for a fact, just something I came across while researching the subject.

You can also google the problem and see what comes up. Something like "W211 panoramic roof squeak/rattle". Scroll and click. Scroll and click. See what comes up.

Jelanib

Just throwing it out there, dealer told me they don't sell the grease alone as they get it in large volume. The service for it is $50 so after shipping for the grease when purchasing online, you're paying $20 for them to do it.

cetialpha5

The creaking from the pano is usually the bolts that need to be tightened up. Search in some of the other forums, a very common problem for the pano roof. There's even some DIY article out there about how to take it all apart. But it's somewhat complex and will take a while to remove things to get at the bolts to tighten it up. It's why some people passed on the pano roof because they didn't want to deal with the common complaint about the noise. Mine does it too, but only on tough bumps, on milder ones, it's quiet.

tubaprde

Yes, my dealer confirmed this exact method/reasoning. At this point i'm trying to find an independent shop that won't charge me a ton. Do you know how many hours of labor this fix takes?

cetialpha5

I don't recall, they're probably in the threads, I thought it was a $1000 or thereabouts, hours like 5-6 hours were thrown around. But it's one of those things where the dealer can make up numbers and someone experienced might take less time. I think it depends where the noise is and part of that charge is probably for a diagnosis. I'm just putting up with it, doesn't bother me that much.

Doug427

Just a heads up top all of you. I bought a can of DuPont silicone spray with teflon as a hail mary sort of try. It was cheap, about $7 for the can. I just about bathed the tracks, and everything mechanical I could see on the moving part of the sunroof. I operated it back and forth a few times. It made about a 75% improvement immediately. Now, a couple of days later it's gotten even better. I would say about a 90% improvement. Still some pops, clicks and groans, but much, much quieter.

I have the M-B "mold lubricant" and a small container of M-B "lubricant paste" on the way, hopefully that does the final trick and makes it silent. Even if it doesn't I can live with it the way it is now.

Hope this helps some of you trying to cope with the problem.

tubaprde

Hey thanks for the info! I wonder if your car was making the same noises as mine...so maybe my screws are not the culprit? It's probably worth a shot before I take it to an Indy.