Adjusting Drivers Sider Door

neon

neon

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A question for E9ers:
I am having some difficulty getting the passenger side door adjusted, resulting in no contact between the windows and the seal with an annoying whistle above 45 mph. The door is rotated slightly outward, and perhpaps a bit too low. I have tried adjusting the hinge held to the body with the allen head bolts, but cannot quite acheive correct position. One of the problems is using a car jack, protecting the door with a small 2 x 4 between door and jack, which imparts a rotational force, twisting the door counterclockwise when facing front.
Any tips on how best to accomplish ?

Also, inside the door is the door mounted attachment, on my car there is the "triple square" bolt used to secure the "tab" to the door. If I have to use that adjustment, does anyone know if it is an 8 mm or 7 mm triple square ? I tried the 8 but it seemed too large (?paint on the bolt) but 7 mm seems not to be widely available, per NAPA

Thanks
Dana
 
deQuincey said:
http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13485&highlight=door

btw, what is a triple square ?
Click to expand...

Triple square is how one would refer to the special type of 12 point socket with 90 degree points. As found on the upper door hinge. Three offset squares, totaling 12 points. The other 12 point bit is made of two offset hexagons. With that said, I've only ever dealt with triple squares on German cars. They are used on VW cylinder heads and axle shafts.

TripleSq-vs-12Pt.jpg
 
neon said:
A question for E9ers:
If I have to use that adjustment, does anyone know if it is an 8 mm or 7 mm triple square ? I tried the 8 but it seemed too large (?paint on the bolt) but 7 mm seems not to be widely available, per NAPA

Thanks
Dana
Click to expand...

Dana,

I just snapped a pic of this a few weeks ago, but it didn't capture the size. I'll match up the rust on my bits and identify the right size :) My larger sizes are snap-on, like the one for a VW head, but they are about $25 a bit. I think I got the one below from a set sold at advanced auto parts - about 15 years ago. They just fit into a six point metric socket.

25831559921_1bafe15ca5_b.jpg
 
Markos said:
Triple square is how one would refer to the special type of 12 point socket with 90 degree points. As found on the upper door hinge. Three offset squares, totaling 12 points. The other 12 point bit is made of two offset hexagons. With that said, I've only ever dealt with triple squares on German cars. They are used on VW cylinder heads and axle shafts.

TripleSq-vs-12Pt.jpg
Click to expand...

thanks for explanation, but i have never seen such a thing in my e9
 
Markos said:
See the pic above, that is from my car. It's the third bolt on the upper hinge - the one closest to the front of the door.
Click to expand...

I'm (was) pretty sure this kind of 12-teeth bolt was post 1970.
I have never seen them on E9 or E3 and had not expected it either.

But here we got them in two different cars?
Happy coincidence with the replacement bolts? :-)
 
Stefan said:
I'm (was) pretty sure this kind of 12-teeth bolt was post 1970.
I have never seen them on E9 or E3 and had not expected it either.

But here we got them in two different cars?
Click to expand...

My CSI I a '72 build year. I'm not sure if they are on the '70 build year 2800cs since I haven't removed the door panels yet.
 
I have never looked to see what these bolts look like but BMW sells a simple hex/allen bolt now, 16 of them plus 2 philister head screws. They were called Senkschraube mit Spitze, countersunk tip.
 
Back to the topic at hand, my door suffers the same fate. I honestly don't see a lot of adjustability (inwards) with the hinges. They seem to handle door gap on the bottom and against the rear quarter. Does the frame side of the hinge, with the big Phillips screws float also?
 
Having just hung both doors on after a repaint, there is an amount of adjustability in both the hinges on the door( forward /back,diagonal and up/down) there is also scope for adjustability with the hinge at the body in terms of being able to set the door into the car, ie in/out. If the door needs to be twisted you can do this at the a pillar by adjusting the top and bottom hinges.

It took two of us about an hour each side to line them up until we got a good fit, then adjust the latch for the lock.

This was done before door rubbers went in, now one is perfect the other side needs a bit of tweeking.

Remember also you have adjustment with the window mechanism.

My 71 car had a 12 sided bolt each side, luckily the local servo down the road had the fitting, but easy enough to find on Amazon.

Good luck

John
 
neon said:
A question for E9ers:
Also, inside the door is the door mounted attachment, on my car there is the "triple square" bolt used to secure the "tab" to the door. If I have to use that adjustment, does anyone know if it is an 8 mm or 7 mm triple square ? I tried the 8 but it seemed too large (?paint on the bolt) but 7 mm seems not to be widely available, per NAPA

Thanks
Dana
Click to expand...

Dana,

Working on the CSI tonight - I verified that it's an M8 triple square. Make sure your bit is an actual triple square bit and not a regular 12 sided bit (see pic above).

The triple square bolt is behind the plastic cap, the only bolt accessible without removing the door panel.

26571289295_b060394af5_b.jpg
 
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