Rear Windshield Lockstrip Q?

[wickstad]

I have the rear windshield out of my car. It's inside my house with the seal and lockstrip installed. The lockstrip is not cut so some extra is hanging off.

Is there a reason to leave the lockstrip uncut until after I re-install the window in the car?

I have seen this recommended but I can't figure out the reason.

[John_in_VA]

that the clip doesn't cover both ends.

[c.d.iesel]

wait till it's installed and everything is seated -

cut so very little gap is left. The strip will shrink

in time and may come exposed from your gap cover.

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[Inka114]

Hmm, it sounds like you've got the glass out of the car, and the seal installed on the glass, and the lock strip installed in the seal.

In my experience you need to leave the lock strip out until the glass and seal are properly seated in the car, and then install the lock strip. Once that's done you trim the end off the lock strip and pop the clip on. There is a glass installer's tool for installing the lock strip that changes the job from "nightmare" to "cake".

Oh, and hopefully you've got a genuine BMW seal. I have used aftermarket seals, and they were so much hassle I'd recommend not using them. Maybe I was just unlucky, but the correct BMW seal went right in, and looked far better. But, beware, I bought seals from a Mobile Tradition dealer, ASSumed they'd be genuine BMW, and they were not.

[TobyB]

Yeah, leave the excess hanging out-

if you install the glass this way,

the gasket grows, shrinks, and moves around as

the glass goes in.

And then it changes shape a bit more as the glass

gets really settled into place. That can take weeks,

but if you give it a day or 2, it'll probably be close enough

for the clip to cover the gap.

And I like this method- the 'lockstrip' has no effect on the inner lip of the

gasket, and that's what I deform to install it.

t