On the subject of door seals.....

[02fanatic]

I have been very dissatisfied with the quality of the BMW seals that I installed on Hugo during his restoration...they are so FAT....I am still having to slam the doors to get them to shut proper, and then, then seem to stick out too far. They lined up fine until I installed the seals.

Has anyone else had this problem?

[K-Swiss]

Give them some time and they should normalize. On my daily driver they have gotten better but I think it's just a matter of life..

[TMK-001]

My mum has a brand new BMW Convertible that you have to close the door firmly on otherwise it wont close...

I hope it doesnt spoil my door lines too much!

Todd

[FL02]

I'm putting my old ones back in. What do you use? Contact Cement?

[TMK-001]

Sounds about right... check out your glue section of the hardware or automotive supplies store.

Todd

[Guest Anonymous]

the original seals on the 02 were thicker and there were reports of door closing problems. We have run into this at the shop and I spoke to the mobile traditions guys (cool people) at O-fest. They said they were not made thicker but to original specs, however the materal has changed and is slightly stiffer. We have on a few cars moved the seam in so that the seals meet properly with the door.

sam

LaValle's Import restorations

[jpcapoc]

I installed mine a couple of weeks ago, and yes, it seems you have to slam the door a bit harder, but it seems to be getting a little better as the seals slowly adjust themselves to the door. But then again, maybe I'm getting used to it!

[Guest Anonymous]

Not following you exactly, Sam. Can you detail "moving the seam inside", please?

[Mars]

Me too John.

I had my tii for several years and they never set. They remained 'too fat' and I always had to slam my doors which I hate to do. The new owner (I sold it in 7/05) is still having to slam the doors as well.

I'm grateful that BMW and MT still have these parts available but I have to admit that all of the MT parts that I bought for my Tii restoration never fit the way the originals do.

It kind of put me off a bit to tell you the truth. I was never happy with my resto knowing those parts didn't fit exactly right....

[Guest Anonymous]

OK, this mod should be made BEFORE PAINT. When you knock the seam in, you can VERY easly POP the paint. SO YOU ARE HEAR BY WARNED!!! Yes I have seen it done on new and old paint and it hasnt poped but the risk is there. WARM the metal in the sun before starting to heat the paint.

OK as seen in the first pic, Andy's original Turbo the door seal wraps around the door. this seal sits in a seam channel (pic 2). This seam needs to be knocked in to the cabin a hair. To move the seam take a 2X4 so that the 2x4 end is resting on the seam. Take the BFH (Big hammer) and smack the seam a few times. do this with the same pressure all the way down the seam. DONT move it very far, keep the pressure and movement even. Channel locks will move the metal in too small a section. REMEMBER to test fit the seals its easier to push a little more in then to push it back out. Moving the metal multiple times MAY cause failure and we dont want that, but since its metal its easly undone. NOTE: some cars dont need the top seam done others do, test fit for your aplication, the seals do need to make a tight seal or you MAY get a wistle. I have driven the cars after they have been done and there is no wistle or leaks.

Good luck

Sam Schultz

LaValle's Import Restorations

Oak Ridge, NC

merlin_m3_racing (AT) yahoo.com NOTE THE UNDERSCORES

pic 1.

Pic 2.

[mikem]

For my old car. I'd hate to have spent $150 on seals that were a source of frustration.

Since my car is not pretty at all, I've always wondered about trying generic JCWhitney seals, or peel-n-stick super weatherstripping from Home Depot.

[Guest Anonymous]

I run that peal and stick stuff on my RV and tool boxs. It fails very fast.