Information Sunroofs

swannymere

swannymere

Member
Hi, New to the forum, what sunroof options are available OE on an A2 and are they specific to trim levels and certain years?
 
There was only one option available which took the form of a retractable glass panelled panoramic roof. It's known as the open sky system (OSS) and was available to order across the model range throughout all the A2,s production years.
 
Last edited:
Any A2 could be ordered from new with the Open Sky System (OSS) - a full glass roof with a mid-section that retracts in two layers. However it can't be practically retrofitted - that's to say, it's been done, but it's about as far from easy as you can get. If you're thinking of buying an OSS car, check for signs of leakage around the headlining and make sure it retracts completely when fully open, so that the leading edge of the front panel sits slightly further back than the rear edge of the car's B-pillar. Any big delay in operation, any clicking noises, any unevenness in the motion, walk away or negotiate a discount for a complete unit refurb by @Kleynie. I'll leave you to research that cost. @depronman also manufactures uprated mounts for the OSS motor, which cure the inherent weaknesses of worn 20-year old mechanicals. Talking of the motor, there was a revision in later years which added a stop when the front panel reached a tilted position, a second press & hold of the button would then retract the roof the rest of the way. The two motor versions are interchangeable, the part number of the revised one is the same except with an A on the end..
 
Last edited:
It's a particularly large opening when it works, and even if it doesn't, it lets a lot of light into what can be a very dark interior (thinking mainly of the very common Soul Black colour scheme here), plus it makes the car look even more modern with a complete sweep of glass from windscreen to hatch. It's wonderful to watch in operation and you almost can't believe a small car like the A2 could have had such engineering marvels 20 years ago.

I've had an A2 with an OSS that worked properly, but I had no idea how long previously it had been fixed - it almost certainly wouldn't just have just kept on working from new! So I sometimes had that slight unease when I opened it, and when it rained. I would have had it serviced by @Kleynie, except I ended up selling the car on to make room for a campervan.

My user experience was that, while it was great at letting the heat out of the car, you had to drop the back windows a couple of inches to ensure airflow and thus avoid the 'helicopter' wuthering noise (this is a lot easier with electric rear windows, but the mechanisms for those are also prone to brittle plastic failure in their advanced age). Even then it was noisy at much over 50mph with the roof open, and you could feel some effect of the extra weight on the top of the car affecting its centre of gravity the whole time. Sometimes it was just perfect to cruise along gently with the roof open, more often I'd open it while in town and close it down to the tilt when I got out onto faster roads.
 
swannymere said:
So is it worth having or just a potential for disaster?
Click to expand...
One thing to bare in mind is that it's heavy, really heavy. If you like to press on when driving you can feel that extra, what, 25-30 kgs right where you least need it: at roof level. Exactly the opposite of what you want.

Personally ... it's a no from me. Too heavy, complicated, failure-prone and leaky. I did rebuild one and it worked very well but even so, I much prefer the lightness and 0% failure rate of a non-OSS car.

I like the look though, and still consider having a black roof wrap on my silver car as that expanse of dark glass from screen to screen does look fab :cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top