I found the cause of my door rattle: NOW WHAT?

[cyberman]

Not all Z3's are ragtops though

But only ragtops are real Zs. Oooh, them's fighting words here.

[Vintage42]

Yes, except it's not solidly mounted to anything except the rail channel...

Does your plate have the rubber bumper shown here?

[IndianaRoadster]

But only ragtops are real Zs. Oooh, them's fighting words here.

You don't think those station wagons...er, I mean coupes are Z's?

[cyberman]

You don't think those station wagons...er, I mean coups are Z's?

Children of a lessor god.

[cyberman]

Does your plate have the rubber bumper shown here?

The larger form piece had, for a large part, disintegrated and fallen off. There were remnants of a thin butyl bead were the long strips of foam should have been. Funny, nobody present on the forum mentioned the problem and I couldn't find any past threads about it. I think my car baked in the Florida sun too much, accelerating the deterioration. But I suspect the problem will show up in other Zs as time goes by. And I wonder what other issues will rear their ugly heads. If I'm still kicking in five years and the cost of electric/battery (EV) conversion drops I'll be considering that option.

[solimans]

You don't think those station wagons...er, I mean coupes are Z's?

Haha...we’ll keep laughing all the way to the bank


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[z3forlife]

But that means you have to sell your Z. Incomprehensible !

[solimans]

But that means you have to sell your Z. Incomprehensible !

well I have no comeback for this

[z3forlife]

You end up like mpire with a plethora of Z’s

[cyberman]

So, just to finish this off, passenger side done. Took me a couple of hours and that included completely stripping things down (both front and rear guides), replacing the window sliders and grinding off the rattling plate. Just as with the driver's side, I found the little corner foam piece that was once attached to the rattle plate and the foam "box" that once covered the door lock sitting on the bottom of the door.

Couple of tricks:

1. To remove the rattle plate, just grind off the bent edge where it wraps around the rail. That rear guide was the last thing I removed and the first thing I installed.
2. I found the easiest way to get the window back in was to pop both sliders on to their balls, then raise the window mechanism almost all the way. Then angle the window up at the front to get the rear slider (long channel) in and far enough back to clear the front slider and then push the window forward to engage the front slider into its channel. It's tight, but you can just make it.

I noted that there was a little binding about mid-way raising and lowering the window until I got both top seals installed.

Reward: A pleasing, no rattle thunk when the door is closed and a step upward from the jalopy sound that was killing me.

Next: Fogg the airbox (four inch heater duct) and found the best "flange" to bolt to the bottom of airbox was over in the plumbing (a closet flange). It has a flat section I plan to drill holes in for bolts and the round protrusion fits perfectly on the 4" heat resistant (foiled steel) flex pipe (dryer vent). The stuff I got was not very flexible, but the kit included a right-angle plastic fitting I can use to terminate into the zone behind the fog light on the driver's side.