Quality of door handle and mirror gaskets

[doog]

Four months ago, I replaced with parts I bought from Mobile Tradition the door handle and mirror gaskets on my '02. I noticed yesterday that they're already cracking around the edges. When I haven't been driving it, my car has either been garaged or under a (supposedly) breathable and UV-resistant cover. Is the gasket material just poor quality? Is there a better alternative?

[schwarz75]

Many of the remanufacuted BMW Classic parts are of poor quality. If the hardward is tightened correctly the gaskets are compressed quite a bit, which leads to the cracking. Mine have done the same thing.

[Guest Anonymous]

edges removed (what is left anyway) and putting it on top of the new gasket so that the door handle can't pinch off the edges of the new gasket (even though the new gasket should be good enough to prevent this!).

shermanmartinez@hotmail.com

[John_in_VA]

gaskets.

I have had the same experience with door handle gaskets over the past 15-20 years.

A trick is to cut the raised edge off the old gaskets, and place the main piece of the old gasket under the new gaskets before screwing the handle tight. This helps to prevent compressing the new gasket too much, and can add a bit of longevity to the "new" gaskets.

EDIT - Just got in under Sherman's post. Great minds...!