Here's a real simple DIY; door egde protection replacement. Sounds pretty fancy. This is the strip of rubber/felt on the main body of the car that seals the door from the outside elements. Here's a pic of mine, and why it needed replacing.
Parts & tools needed:
1- edge protection , black, driver's door, 51-72-7-116-403, $51.75
2- rubber mallet
3- interior friendly pry bar. I used these and highly recommend them http://www.bojoinc.com/
4- two functioning hands, or the power of telekinesis.
Pry up the inner plastic proctection cover. There are 3 plastic thing-a-ma-bobs holding it in place.
The seal joins together under this panel. You probably never noticed it due to that fine German craftsmanship. Notice the small tube.
Pull it off. Note the felt position as it's pulled off.
Once the old seal is off. Put the new seal on. Remenber that little tube? That end goes down first! If for some reason things are gettin' hazey ther are three other doors to confirm questions on.
Next two things at the same time. As the seal is going on it may be necessary to lightly tap the seal on the felt side into postion. Also the felt has a habbit of curling under, so use a finger or one of the bojo tools to pop it out into place (or the telekinesis thing)
Now the seal maybe a few inches too long. Be very careful cutting it to size. Not because of the hard plastic on the inside. A 5th grader could cut that. The rubber part is the show peice of the joint. Cut it as straight, to size, and as clean as possible, if it's goofed let's hope super glue can save it, or else it's $50 down the drain.
Update: There has been a post that the seal does NOT get cut to size. In turn the corner may not be seat correctly. As of this moment I cannot confirm or deny this (DC politic DIY formality, please no philabusters). If the seal in this post does do something odd (like shrink, or lobby to be longer) The DIY will be immediatly updated in the appropriate color / font
Match up the plastic thing-a-ma-bobs for the plasctic cover, and tap into place.
FIN!
This is also a good time to replace the BMW logo door strip ($43), and the inner plastic part ($16) that was removed.
Last edited by Jackcat559; 04-01-2008 at 05:51 PM.
Thanks for the diy, where did you end up ordering your parts? Stealership quoted me $141.00 for the "edge protection" inner body seal piece that you have all the pictures of and local indy said $70, dealership claimed that the bottom door sill piece couldn't be separated from the plastic piece (I only need the rubber).
.
One caution/comment about cutting:
I did this project over Christmas break on my car. I also thought that cutting was required because when I got it on the first door it was too long. However, in every case it was actually that I did not get the strip on quite far enough in some place or another. The corners are an especially easy place for this to happen, and some places (near the B pillars especially IIRC) it is a bitch and a half to get the stripping on all the way. I found putting compressing pressure as I rolled on the new stripping worked it into place easier. Once it was on all the way all the way around (sometimes hard to spot, it might look like it is and not be) in every case on all 4 doors it did not need to be cut and fit perfectly. If you think you have to cut, you probably have a spot (or more) where it is not on all the way and you have to back it off and try again. Some fenegling may be required to get that last millimeter adjusted, but you can compress or stretch that amount by backing up a couple feet and get the perfect fit. The OEM seals should not need to be cut to size (unless I just got very lucky and got 4 that fit perfectly, but I think this is by design).
Just thought I'd share.
Well, this is a nice DIY. Will go in the Hall of Fame I think. James?
These are prices from the local dealer here in Baltimore, and are close to the price on the Real OEM site.. The rubber and felt are one peice.
Thanks for the warning on the length of the seal. There were no DIY's on this that I could find so, I did my best. If the seal does something odd (like shrink) the original post will be updated in order to be accurate.
Note: original post updated
Last edited by Jackcat559; 04-01-2008 at 05:51 PM.
Well, I'm glad I could contribute something useful to this forum for a change. I hope everything works out for you having cut the edges, it will probably be OK.
Honestly, I would have cut them if I had the right tools on me at the time to do it. I was borrowing a heated garage at the time and only brought a small set of tools with me. I'm sure if I had something that would have made a decent cut, I would have used it thinking it was the right thing to do. In fact I looked around the place I was at for a good 15 mins trying to figure out a way to cut it before I decided to play with the figment more. As it turns out, for once NOT having the right tool worked out for the better because it caused me to have to figure out the right way to do it :-) It was a pain in the ass, they will fight you going on there. In the end it took me over two hours to do all 4 doors, and I was tired/sore from fighting and beating the seals on. Good call on the rubber mallet BTW, best I came up with was a 2x4 and a hammer, haha.
WOW, all 4 doors had to be exhausting. Heck, 1 door was enough of a pain in the rear.
Here is the DIY from BMWTips.com explicitly stating that one should NOT cut the door seals. They use the same part number as you Jackcat559: 51 72 7 116 403
http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/door/molding.htm
Thanks, though, for the DIY. I've been wanting to do this repair.
Last edited by PJB; 04-03-2008 at 04:12 PM.
Interesting read.
I need to do this, thanks!
After thinking of thid DIY procedure. I may have to ammend it. LBMotoring Try this first. When putting the new molding on the car. Put the two ends together, and on the car first at the bottom of the door (with out cutting). Now put the rest of the molding in place. This technique may ensure the entire gasket is used.
Um, mine didn't come with instructions. That's why it's a "revelation" to me.
Where is the cheapest place to get these online or should I get dealer item?
Either http://www.bavauto.com/ or tischer bmw. Also check you local dealer, because by the time I factored in shipping and a BMWCCA discount they were the cheapest.
i need to do this
FS:NEW_BF_Goodrich_245/35/17
Jack, what happened with your pics on this DIY? could you re-post them or repair the photobucket links?
Thanks
Looking for a DIY? Parts? Check this out, it might be your ticket
Stable: e92is, e53 N62, e46M54B25, Tribby & e39 M54B30 R.I.P.
I'm sorry but I don't have the pics anymore. Somehow they were lost. Post #10 does have a link with a few pics. Did you have a specific question?
I need to do this. Where, exactly, did you buy your parts for this? The stealership, or online?
Dealer. I have one close that gives a good BMWCCA discount. Also the box is large and may cayse extra shipping.... maybe not
Protips:
- Use a small light plastic hammer to tap the entire seal all the way around instead of your hands. It will save them from hurting over the next few hours, and the seal goes into the edges real nice like.
- Connect the ends at the bottom of the door sill first, then work your way up, going toward the front of the car first (going around clockwise, facing the side of the car).
I got the seal on in about 10 minutes this way.
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