Rubber trim around the windscreen

[chanlon1]

Question about the rubber trim around the windscreen.
Its part 51317017021


I was wiping some muck off the windscreen today and managed to remove about an inch of this seal on the vertical part very close to the top.
It an E86 coupe.

Two questions:
1. The piece literally disintegrated. Obviously extremely brittle. Am I at risk of the screen leaking now?
2. If I replace it, can it be done with the windscreen still in place? I think I recall seeing a thread here or somewhere that stated it could be, but just want to check. Also, easy job??????

 

[pvr]

New one from BMW, cheapest place. Really need to clean the gunk from the old one as otherwise it won’t get in properly

 

[chanlon1]

New one from BMW, cheapest place. Really need to clean the gunk from the old one as otherwise it won’t get in properly

Thanks Paul. Is it just a push fit once the gunk has been cleaned out? Easy enough job?

 

[pvr]

It is push fit, but I needed to add some glass glue gunk as my glass was not bonded exactly straight on my car causing a wind whistle (not so much a problem for the sardine model :lol: )

If all is well, it just pushes in without issue

 

[chanlon1]

Another item to add to the pile of shame then!

Is there a risk of leaking occuring before I fix it?

 

[pvr]

No, the screen bonding should be enough

 

[Kenich]

If you attempt it, let us know how it goes?

Seen a few on here state the screen needs to really be removed on the E86 for proper fitment

 

[chanlon1]

If you attempt it, let us know how it goes?

Seen a few on here state the screen needs to really be removed on the E86 for proper fitment

Does that imply that the seal needs to be attached to the glass first, and then the screen bonded to the car?

 

[Kenich]

If you attempt it, let us know how it goes?

Seen a few on here state the screen needs to really be removed on the E86 for proper fitment

Does that imply that the seal needs to be attached to the glass first, and then the screen bonded to the car?

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1908216&hilit=E86+windscreen+trim#p1908216

 

[chanlon1]

If you attempt it, let us know how it goes?

Seen a few on here state the screen needs to really be removed on the E86 for proper fitment

Does that imply that the seal needs to be attached to the glass first, and then the screen bonded to the car?

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1908216&hilit=E86+windscreen+trim#p1908216

Yikes….thanks for the link though.

 

[tomaszmk]

Replaced it last year. Be in mind there is at least two models, so choose acordingly to vin.
Job? Easy. Just clean old one, and any gunk that is there between glass and frame. Needed some fitting, but easy job.

Before there was a lot of noise - especially when driving more than 100km/h, right now

 

[chanlon1]

Replaced it last year. Be in mind there is at least two models, so choose acordingly to vin.
Job? Easy. Just clean old one, and any gunk that is there between glass and frame. Needed some fitting, but easy job.

Before there was a lot of noise - especially when driving more than 100km/h, right now

Do you have an E85 or E86?
Did you do it yourself?

 

[tomaszmk]

E85, 2003.

Yeap, did it by myself. Around 30min to 1hour job.
No glue, just fitment.

 

[chanlon1]

E85, 2003.

Yeap, did it by myself. Around 30min to 1hour job.
No glue, just fitment.

Thanks for confirming
I’ve an E86 and reports seems to say that the screen has to come out, whereas the on the E85 it’s a straightforward job.

 

[darich]

I have E86....replaced mine a couple of months ago.
Picked out the old one, along with as much gunk as I could get.
New part is push fit...no clips required.
Start at one corner and work down.
Then across but pull the trim reasonably tight....not overly tight though. Otherwise, the second corner won't sit right and you'll need to remove and start again. (Don't ask me how I know :rofl: )
I used car shampoo as a lubricant to insert the new trim. Don't use a lot down the sides because the design of the trim makes it want to pop out. If you chuck in loads of lubricant, it can pop itself back out. (again, don't ask)

Only other thing I'd say is, most importantly, use proper trim removal tools. In my research before starting, I saw posts claiming cracked screens etc.....using proper tools and it's no issue. E85 part number ends in 11, Coupe ends in 21. No idea what the difference is. But I notice that some places, including where I bought it, have the E86 part ending in 11. I bought the part ending in 11. It fits just fine.

From start to finish, including removal to refit after not pulling tight enough, was around an hour.

 

[chanlon1]

I have E86....replaced mine a couple of months ago.
Picked out the old one, along with as much gunk as I could get.
New part is push fit...no clips required.
Start at one corner and work down.
Then across but pull the trim reasonably tight....not overly tight though. Otherwise, the second corner won't sit right and you'll need to remove and start again. (Don't ask me how I know :rofl: )
I used car shampoo as a lubricant to insert the new trim. Don't use a lot down the sides because the design of the trim makes it want to pop out. If you chuck in loads of lubricant, it can pop itself back out. (again, don't ask)

Only other thing I'd say is, most importantly, use proper trim removal tools. In my research before starting, I saw posts claiming cracked screens etc.....using proper tools and it's no issue. E85 part number ends in 11, Coupe ends in 21. No idea what the difference is. But I notice that some places, including where I bought it, have the E86 part ending in 11. I bought the part ending in 11. It fits just fine.

From start to finish, including removal to refit after not pulling tight enough, was around an hour.

Appreciate the detail. It sounds to me that the key is getting all the old gunk out first. Is that easy to do? Is it obvious what needs to be removed? As you pick the stuff out, is there a risk you could inadvertently cause a leak somewhere?

 

[pvr]

There is about 1.5-2 cm of gunk under the glass, that seals it to the car and makes it waterproof. The gunk to be removed is anything that is outside of the glass as well as almost 0.5 cm that is behing the glass. That was the most difficult part on my car as they had squirted the black stuff generously all over the place.

I replaced mine as it was whistling, not because the rubber had gone.

 

[darich]

In my case, the gunk was a black sticky adhesive that seemed to be holding the old trim in place. I used my fingers to pick out the worst of itand gave it a rinse out but I didn't spend much time chiselling it out. As PVR says, it may be that the gunk is the sealant. As long as the new one is seated properly, then you don't need to worry about removing the stuff that's stuck in there....it's just unnecessary work.

 

[Ed Doe]

If it helps at all, I managed to replace the seal without cutting/mucking about with the screen glass gunk/sealant. If any does need removing you need to carefully use a stanley knife but be careful not to score the paint/metal.

Obviously to spite me, the car decided to go and get a cracked windscreen 3 days after I fitted the new seal, so I had to get ANOTHER Seal to be fitted with the new glass. But that's beside the point.

It's a pain in the arse to fit, i recommend if you have access to a heat gun - it's useful as it's much easier to get the rubber to squish and sit in when it's warm. Again from painful experience I'd avoid doing oustide in direct sunlight when it's 30C+, as the rubber gets so hot it burns your hands. Which is also fun, and makes it totally hilarious when three days later, and with the blisters on your hands still a fresh reminder of your efforts, you get a cracked windscreen.... but I digress again...

 

[pvr]

It is all how the last glass fitter fitted the glass. He obviously put mine too high on the car which caused me all sort of grief with the wind noise as the rubber would sit proud with a gap of about 1 mm or less. Mighty noisy when driving though.

Wear gloves - where my gloves tore, I changed colour for about a week