Dodgy seals, and misted fogs

[tee.gilding]

Hey all, only recently bought my coupe, but cleaning it last night I noticed a couple of things I need to get an opinion on.

First thing I noticed was the seal around the windscreen. Underneath the passenger side wiper blade the seal has actually lifted, so water can just run straight in there. Along the top edge, the seal is easily moved by finger force. Is this something common or serious? How do I fix it??

The next thing I noticed is the fog lights are completely misted over. How do I get them off and where do I find new ones??

Thanks guys!

 

[philbo909]

Drill some holes in your fog lights to let the moisture out, should be a thread on it somewhere, new ones are expensive!

 

[Z4 COUPSTER]

Fogs common loads of help on here with the search. The screen do you have a photo? I think it's a cosmetic seal as they are bonded I believe.
D

 

[tee.gilding]

Drill some holes in your fog lights to let the moisture out, should be a thread on it somewhere, new ones are expensive!

What is "expensive"?

 

[tee.gilding]

Fogs common loads of help on here with the search. The screen do you have a photo? I think it's a cosmetic seal as they are bonded I believe.
D

Just took a couple photos. First one shows the area around the wipers. You can see (if you look closely) how it's lifting through the middle of the picture.

Then this is the top of the windscreen. Toward the drivers side it's easily moved, but as you move over to the passenger side the seal looks fine and it's pretty firmly in place.


Anything to worry about?

 

[z4pilot]

Have a look in the lower corner of the screen and see whether it's marked as an original screen (should have the BMW roundel on it) If not, it's had a replacement screen and it's likely that the fitter didn't use OE seals. The pattern parts are notorious for poor fitting. A replacement screen in itself isn't an issue - these cars seem to suffer from cracked screens more than most, due to the low front and aerodynamics. As far as I know, the trim is aesthetic - the screens are bonded in as mentioned earlier. Any suggestion of damp carpets indicating water getting into the cabin?

 

[tee.gilding]

Any suggestion of damp carpets indicating water getting into the cabin?

No all seems watertight inside the cabin, from what I can tell.

 

[patriot66]

The windscreen is bonded in. The scuttle cowl under the wipers and the surrounding rubber trims are just cosmetic. I removed my scuttle cowl a couple of years ago as it was a bit weather beaten and had gone wobbly. It's easy to remove once you've taken the wipers off. It's held on with several trim clips underneath so just pulls off. The clips break easily so buy 6 or so spares before starting the job. I then heated the 'wobbly' bits with a heat gun and manipulated it straight again, gave it a couple of coats of black Plastidip and it's still looking good now. Doing this job also gives you a chance to clean all the detritus out from under the cowl, clean and wax everything and also check/lubricate the wiper mechanism

 

[tee.gilding]

The windscreen is bonded in. The scuttle cowl under the wipers and the surrounding rubber trims are just cosmetic. I removed my scuttle cowl a couple of years ago as it was a bit weather beaten and had gone wobbly. It's easy to remove once you've taken the wipers off. It's held on with several trim clips underneath so just pulls off. The clips break easily so buy 6 or so spares before starting the job. I then heated the 'wobbly' bits with a heat gun and manipulated it straight again, gave it a couple of coats of black Plastidip and it's still looking good now. Doing this job also gives you a chance to clean all the detritus out from under the cowl, clean and wax everything and also check/lubricate the wiper mechanism

This sounds like something I need to do. Noticed a little squeak from the wipers the other day,so could well need lubricant. Do you remember what type of clips they were? I know there's about 4 or 5 different ones BMW used around the time they made these.

 

[Mr Tidy]

The wiper arms are those irritating ones that curve through 180 degrees and you have to slide the plastic fitting into the loop - I always struggle fitting those! :roll:

I can't remember what the fog lights cost, but I just drilled three 3mm holes in the bottom of mine a few months ago and they are dry now. As my reflectors haven't deteriorated that works for me - you can only see the holes if you lie on the ground under the car!

 

[patriot66]

The windscreen is bonded in. The scuttle cowl under the wipers and the surrounding rubber trims are just cosmetic. I removed my scuttle cowl a couple of years ago as it was a bit weather beaten and had gone wobbly. It's easy to remove once you've taken the wipers off. It's held on with several trim clips underneath so just pulls off. The clips break easily so buy 6 or so spares before starting the job. I then heated the 'wobbly' bits with a heat gun and manipulated it straight again, gave it a couple of coats of black Plastidip and it's still looking good now. Doing this job also gives you a chance to clean all the detritus out from under the cowl, clean and wax everything and also check/lubricate the wiper mechanism

This sounds like something I need to do. Noticed a little squeak from the wipers the other day,so could well need lubricant. Do you remember what type of clips they were? I know there's about 4 or 5 different ones BMW used around the time they made these.

There are 8 x clips (part no.51718234698) that secure the scuttle cowl. Number 28 on this diagram :
They look like this.

 

[tee.gilding]

Cool, thanks I'll have to give that a go.

Still no feedback on cost of new foglights... ?

 

[patriot66]

The windscreen is bonded in. The scuttle cowl under the wipers and the surrounding rubber trims are just cosmetic. I removed my scuttle cowl a couple of years ago as it was a bit weather beaten and had gone wobbly. It's easy to remove once you've taken the wipers off. It's held on with several trim clips underneath so just pulls off. The clips break easily so buy 6 or so spares before starting the job. I then heated the 'wobbly' bits with a heat gun and manipulated it straight again, gave it a couple of coats of black Plastidip and it's still looking good now. Doing this job also gives you a chance to clean all the detritus out from under the cowl, clean and wax everything and also check/lubricate the wiper mechanism

This sounds like something I need to do. Noticed a little squeak from the wipers the other day,so could well need lubricant. Do you remember what type of clips they were? I know there's about 4 or 5 different ones BMW used around the time they made these.

There are 8 x clips (part no.51718234698) that secure the scuttle cowl. Number 28 on this diagram :20180616_113119.png
They look like this.20180616_113740.png

Pack of 10 for £5.25 on Ebay https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F400715616057