A word on URO door seals

[jgerry2002]

The best thing you could do is get a set of the new seals and compare side by side. I'm guessing the last time you went through the exercise you probably borrowed a set from BMW that was also screwed up. The door seal issue should be quite obvious. The rubber is too thick which pushes the quarter light window outward. Also check by the door, if its too thick the door wont close.

[jerry]

I'd like to express my gratitude to the URO vendor for reaching out.

 

It's been my experience with many 02's in various states of disrepair, that the primary failure point is the aft end of the seal where the rubber is more pliable and sun bleached and the window glass rests against it.  the forward and top portions, after decades of use, tend to endure and remain pliable. 

 

Perhaps, a truncated repair piece at a reduced price could be a potential 'hot-seller' rather than replacing the entire seal.  if you look closely, the original seal is actually an assembly of parts glued together.

['76mintgrün'02]

That is where my seal is failing as well.  The little flap that the glass rests against is wearing thin and looks to be very brittle.  I have considered 'kluging-in' a flap of neoprene, when it eventually fails.  Neoprene is available in rolls of a variety of 'hardness', width and thickness.  

 

If a 'real' seal patch piece was available, that might be preferable.  

[FunkyLaneO]

The big issues I had with the door seals is that they are:

 

A. Too stiff! you really have to slam the door to get it shut all the way, it does get a bit better over time but only a tiny bit, softer seals would be much better.

 

B. The seal does not fill the gap on the leading edge of the window frame which causes a great deal of wind noise, the BMW seals I removed did fill that gap and the URO's have a different profile and while they do seal the window from water intrusion they are incredibly noisier than my previous seals.

 

Unfortunately I did not take pictures of my old seals but I do still have them if you would like pictures of them off of the car (they are 40 years old) PM me if you do and I will post them up.

[bento]

This thread makes me wonder if my new BMW and the Uro seals aren't one in the same. I have exactly the same fit issues as described above but with the much more expensive BMW door seals.

[peterschop]

This thread makes me wonder if my new BMW and the Uro seals aren't one in the same. I have exactly the same fit issues as described above but with the much more expensive BMW door seals.

 

How long ago did you buy your BMW seals? I thought I read that the new BMW seals fit properly. I am getting ready to pull the trigger on new seals.

[bento]

How long ago did you buy your BMW seals? I thought I read that the new BMW seals fit properly. I am getting ready to pull the trigger on new seals.

I bought them in October. They don't seal at the lower front corner of the wing window and I have been messing with the latch adjustment trying to get the right compromise of reasonable force to close the door and flush door to quarter/sealed windows.

I do not seem to have the issue with the tops of the wing windows getting pushed out as some photos have shown.

That door trailing edge seal patch would've been great for me as the only issue I had was dry rot along the rear vertical edge of the door glass.

In hindsight, I wish I had followed Esty's advice I found in an old thread and just replaced that section with generic seal material.

Then I could've lit a small pile of 20s on fire and still had a few in my pocket.

[URO_Jeff]

^^ thats excellent that the vendor is here to help.

 

We're always watching.

[URO_Jeff]

Yes, very nice whenever you see a vendor on a forum.

 

I have a set of URO door seals still in the box. Had them for a while now. This thread (and a recent trip to a touchless car wash that resulted in wet pants) might be the motivation I need to install them.

 

Jeff, I'll PM you if I have any issues.

 

Sounds great! Take a lot of before and after pictures as you install and send them to me so I can see what everyone is talking about. It's easy to understand what the issue is but it's hard to visualize since I, personally, am not 100% familiar with the vehicle (I've never owned one).

[FunkyLaneO]

Where are you located Jeff? I am sure there is somebody on this board that is near you that would let you take a look at their car, maybe even let you do some testing of new seal designs with their car.

[URO_Jeff]

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for replying to me. It is very helpful to have first hand customer feedback.

 

I'm not entirely sure how you guys like to run this forum since every forum is a little different but I am going to try to reply to as many of you as I can. That may mean posts like this with multiquotes or individual replies. I'm basing the formatting on the information I will be putting into the post. I read every post and I hope everyone in this thread reads mine.

 

The best thing you could do is get a set of the new seals and compare side by side. I'm guessing the last time you went through the exercise you probably borrowed a set from BMW that was also screwed up. The door seal issue should be quite obvious. The rubber is too thick which pushes the quarter light window outward. Also check by the door, if its too thick the door wont close.

 

I see exactly what you are talking about. That was one of the first things I noticed comparing a new seal I pulled from the stock shelves to the OE sample we have catalogued. I wish I could tell you the date when the OE sample was first purchased but I don't have that information. From my understanding, BMW changed the design of the seal where the window glass rests against it at the top to be hollow. It would be very helpful if I could have a link to where I can get a sample of the new, hollow door seal for the driver and passenger doors of the vehicle. Since we manufacture OE replacement parts, our parts are modeled after the OE and if I can get a sample of the hollow OE part it will be much easier to convince my supervisor that that is the route we should go.

 

I'd like to express my gratitude to the URO vendor for reaching out.

 

It's been my experience with many 02's in various states of disrepair, that the primary failure point is the aft end of the seal where the rubber is more pliable and sun bleached and the window glass rests against it.  the forward and top portions, after decades of use, tend to endure and remain pliable. 

 

Perhaps, a truncated repair piece at a reduced price could be a potential 'hot-seller' rather than replacing the entire seal.  if you look closely, the original seal is actually an assembly of parts glued together.

 

Thank you, we are always eager to satisfy our customers with our parts and our service.

 

I have taken apart these seals and assembled them but we do not expect our customer to have the knowledge or patience to correctly assemble the pieces. Although the members of this forum may have the knowledge and patience to do it correctly, other customers of ours may not. That is why we only sell it as an assembly. It also allows us to take returns more readily whereas if you were to assemble the seal there is no way for us to tell if it was a manufacturing defect or user error which caused an issue with the part.

 

The big issues I had with the door seals is that they are:

 

A. Too stiff! you really have to slam the door to get it shut all the way, it does get a bit better over time but only a tiny bit, softer seals would be much better.

 

B. The seal does not fill the gap on the leading edge of the window frame which causes a great deal of wind noise, the BMW seals I removed did fill that gap and the URO's have a different profile and while they do seal the window from water intrusion they are incredibly noisier than my previous seals.

 

Unfortunately I did not take pictures of my old seals but I do still have them if you would like pictures of them off of the car (they are 40 years old) PM me if you do and I will post them up.

 

If nothing else, I will tell my supervisor we absolutely have to soften the rubber compound used in the seals. As I stated earlier in this post, I really want to get my hands on the redesigned, hollow door seals. Those will be the fastest and easiest way to fix the design problem with the part and get the '02 community a part which is not only softer but solves the issues that are being had.

 

I would like if you could explain exactly how it does not fill the gap and what your reasoning is. It's hard to understand through a forum what you are specifically talking about. Please post pictures as that would be very helpful in my understanding.

 

Forgive me if there is a bit of time between my replies as I do have other projects to work on while I am working on this one. I want to thank everyone again for replying. As an automotive enthusiast myself (I may get chastised by you guys if I said what I drive), I am always glad to see all communities taking part in making the motoring world a better place.

 

Happy and safe motoring,

Jeff

Edited January 23, 2015 by URO_Jeff

[URO_Jeff]

Where are you located Jeff? I am sure there is somebody on this board that is near you that would let you take a look at their car, maybe even let you do some testing of new seal designs with their car.

 

PM'd.

[Malagatii]

I just installed some older OEM seals a couple moths back and I'm having the same issues as stated earlier in this post:  Hard to have the door close all the way (or lock), gap on the top half off the vent window as well as leaking around the top & rear of the window.  After I worked on them for a couple weeks, I took it to a body shop where I had to shell out another $300 for them to work on it and still not satisfied.

 

I'm having a hard time getting good pictures, but would be happy to drive the car to you if you happen to be local.  

 

Thanks working to address this problem.  I will be in line for what ever new design you come up with.  I wish I had stayed with my original crumbling seals.  So much more quite and dry....  

[adawil2002]

I installed Uro door seals in 2011 to replace the originals. People will put on new seals whether Uro or OEM BMW and expect the door to close the same as with the old rubber, which in my experience does not happen. 

 

I wrote an article about how to adjust the vent window frame, window regulator and pitch of the window to accomodate the new seals. 

 

The article can be found here: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/_/technical-articles/body-and-interior/window-height-and-vent-window-adjustments-r73

 

There is a lot of information on the FAQ about door seal fitment issues, this article offers the solutions to most if not all the problems, yet few people seem to access it or even know it's available.

Edited January 23, 2015 by adawil2002

[URO_Jeff]

I just installed some older OEM seals a couple moths back and I'm having the same issues as stated earlier in this post:  Hard to have the door close all the way (or lock), gap on the top half off the vent window as well as leaking around the top & rear of the window.  After I worked on them for a couple weeks, I took it to a body shop where I had to shell out another $300 for them to work on it and still not satisfied.

 

I'm having a hard time getting good pictures, but would be happy to drive the car to you if you happen to be local.  

 

Thanks working to address this problem.  I will be in line for what ever new design you come up with.  I wish I had stayed with my original crumbling seals.  So much more quite and dry....  

 

I'm sorry you had that experience. It reminds me of when some girl plowed into my parked car in front of me in a parking lot. What was supposed to be a $1500/1week repair turned into $4700/month long repair.

 

If you are in San Rafael, you would be very close to my parents house. I'm from the Walnut Creek area but I am currently located in Simi Valley since that is where our office is. Thank you for the offer but I wouldn't want to have you drive down here for a door seal, it's too far.

 

I'll be sure to let everyone know when I have come up with a change (whatever it may be) and when it could be available.

 

I installed Uro door seals in 2011 to replace the originals. People will put on new seals whether Uro or OEM BMW and expect the door to close the same as with the old rubber, which in my experience does not happen. 

 

I wrote an article about how to adjust the vent window frame, window regulator and pitch of the window to accomodate the new seals. 

 

The article can be found here: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/_/technical-articles/body-and-interior/window-height-and-vent-window-adjustments-r73

 

There is a lot of information on the FAQ about door seal fitment issues, this article offers the solutions to most if not all the problems, yet few people seem to access it or even know it's available.

 

What you're describing is the other side of the argument with changing this seal. There are two different viewpoints here where it is either user error or there is a change that could be made to the part to better suit the application. I like to believe the latter which is why I'm reaching out to this community for a little help on the issue. Either way, thank you for the information. I will be sure to read through it and see what kind of information I can extract to help my final analysis of the part.

 

 

This will be my last post until Monday so I hope everyone has a good weekend and I look forward to reading the new posts when I get back into the office on Monday.

 

Happy and safe motoring,

Jeff

Edited January 24, 2015 by URO_Jeff