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Moon Roof Shade

November 2, 2002
By: Peter Bowers

For those of you who drive a Z3 Coupe, this is for you. I'm not sure if all Z3 Coupes are the same, but mine is a 1999 with the flip-up glass moon roof without a sliding interior cover. BMW did a noteworthy job of heavily tinting the glass panel that is a large portion of the roof. However, when the sun is high in the sky on a clear day, you get baked on even the shortest drives.

To remedy this, I stopped by the local Wal-Mart store and picked up a set of those collapsible sunshades with the suction cups for $4.97. I bought the smaller ones designed to go in a side window of a car to shade sleeping babies and other sun-sensitive passengers. The shades I found come in a set of two called "Suncutters Side Shade" made by a company called Axius (1-888-99-AXIUS). They are black, screen-like material with metal hoop-frames; rectangular in shape (each measures about 12"x16") and together they fit almost perfectly into the recess in the moon roof with some overlap in the middle. The suction cups even have small metal rings to pull the shades off when you don't need them. They go on easily, come off easily and fold up into a small, round pouch about 6" in diameter. Since the moon roof is tilt only, it is completely operable with the shades installed and the incoming air doesn't disturb them.

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