Sunroof creaking noise!

[Barrie P Driscoll]

I have a four year old SQ5 with a panoramic sunroof. It creaks like crazy, and despite it being under warranty from Audi they have told me that it’s not covered by warranty. I paid them £220 for a “sunroof service” which involved cleaning and special lubrication. Noise back back after two days! I’ve tried using foam tape etc. still creaks! Any suggestions as to likely areas to aim for? Thanks

[Steve Q]

How and why is this not covered under warranty? Whst excuse did they give. You should have some warranty with the work they've done on it. 

[Barrie P Driscoll]

Unfortunately this is not a unique problem. The service dept manager told me that the sunroof maintenance and lubrication service may not cure it. If it didn’t then they would need to take the roof out and strip down the mechanism. Approx cost of £1k inc VAT. The sunroof is specifically not covered within the Audi used car sales package. So…. I will need to find a local experienced mechanic who charges rates that are more reasonable than my local main dealer

[Steve Q]

On 12/8/2021 at 5:26 AM, Barrie P Driscoll said:

Unfortunately this is not a unique problem. The service dept manager told me that the sunroof maintenance and lubrication service may not cure it. If it didn’t then they would need to take the roof out and strip down the mechanism. Approx cost of £1k inc VAT. The sunroof is specifically not covered within the Audi used car sales package. So…. I will need to find a local experienced mechanic who charges rates that are more reasonable than my local main dealer

Please keep us posted on how you get on. It's very naughty it's not covered under warranty. If you bought the car recently on finance you might be able to contact the finance company to try and go down the "not fit for purpose" route. 

[steve parker]

hi barrie just wondering if you sorted the sunroof problems, i also have the same issues with my 2015 q5 which i have had for 6 months, the garage have had it back 3 times and failed to cure the creaking, any feedback would be appreciated thanks steve by the way i,m in devizes too

 

[Barrie Driscoll]

Hi Steve, it’s a small world! I’ve decided to use thick automotive grade 20mm width foam tape around the insides of the roof area where the glass meets the sides plus the rear of the roof area where it meets up with the rear glass roof section. It seems to have worked and the creaking noise has reduced by about 90%. Seems a design and/or installation build issue I used to have a BMW X5 with a panoramic roof. Never had a minute’s problem with that. In fairness though, the SQ5 is faster and handles better. 

[CamRochester]

On 3/6/2022 at 8:14 PM, Barrie Driscoll said:

Hi Steve, it’s a small world! I’ve decided to use thick automotive grade 20mm width foam tape around the insides of the roof area where the glass meets the sides plus the rear of the roof area where it meets up with the rear glass roof section. It seems to have worked and the creaking noise has reduced by about 90%. Seems a design and/or installation build issue I used to have a BMW X5 with a panoramic roof. Never had a minute’s problem with that. In fairness though, the SQ5 is faster and handles better. 

Would you mind taking a pic of what you’ve done? Want to do the same on my Q5. Thanks

[Jim Chester]

Hi..... I have a 2016 SQ5 & The creaking is driving me insane!! 

I'm having it serviced at the end of the month & I was planning on having the panoramic roof "cleaned" to try and stop it!! 

So glad I saw this first!! 

Have there been any further updates on how to solve this please? 

Jim

 

[Barrie Driscoll]

I would suggest that you look carefully at the internal plastic surround that the sunroof fits into. My roof on my SQ5 had cracks in it and it would creak as it was not retained tightly. I put it into an Audi main dealer and they charged around £220 for a “sunroof service” using special high priced grey lubricant. It was messy and made no difference. I was then told that it may require the whole sunroof plus internal guides etc plus the roof lining being taken out to check the whole mechanism. The cost would have been over £1k. I decided to use strong single sided foam tape that I placed around the internal edge of the hole in the roof, that the glass roof fitted into. It solved the problem by removing much of the creaking noise. Unfortunately the car was involved in a write off and I bought a 2020 SQ5 Vorsprung about 4 months ago which also has a two part glass sunroof. It has been absolutely fine. Good luck with the black single sided adhesive tape!

[Jim Chester]

Thanks Barrie, Top Man 👍