Front engine bay rubber seal

C

ccmguy8

Member
Messages
34
Reaction score
1
Location
Kirkland, WA
I just bought a new front engine bay rubber seal as the car did not have one when I acquired it. I tried to install it today but it didn't want to stay in place because it's quite hard rubber. I"m guessing I need seal adhesive? Any particular brand? Do I need to warm it up to make it more pliable?

Thanks in advance.
 
Yes use contact adhesive and put seal over a warm engine to make it play ball!
 
-1
Nope, I think you got a wrong type of seal. Any kind of (new) similar seals would allowed to be bended in the minor radius.
 
If it looks white and you bought it from BMW then its the right seal, but the real seals are very flexible and will conform and stay in place without adhesive. You do need to use adhesive, a good weather strip adhesive not avail at Wally world. Go to an auto paint store. To get rid of the white the only thing I've found that works is spraying it with SEM carriage black, expensive but works on rubber, vinyl and leather. Its great stuff. I have tired everything else including lacquer thinner and only spraying them works. The white is talc that is used to remove it from the mold due to a lot of undercuts in the part, very hard to remove from the mold.

If its too stiff to take the contour its not correct, really. Unless I sold it of course ;]
 
I still think ccmguy8 means the front seal in the engine bay. If you buy from BMW you got the correct seals. If you bye from "others" you could get stuff that not match in quality but in dollars. :-)
I prefer buying from my local BMW dealer. Mostly the same prices as "pirate" products. Sometime even less :-)
 
just installed all 3

This is what I have found- for what it's worth. The 3 main seals in the engine compartment are the "chalky" soft rubber that goes closest to the windshield, which has 3 indentations in the back for clearance of the screws that cover the fresh air intake fan. That seal is easy to put in and my parts guy recommended Wurth glue, which is not cheap but seems to work really well. The next seal is the one that everyone seems to have trouble with because it makes some bends, I did not use glue on that, instead I measured carefully (for a change) and cut the hard plastic where it bends and holds the metal, it works pretty well so far but I think a heat gun could help avoid the slicing, just lots of trial and hopefully not too much error. The third seal at the front should fit on and is easy to form and I did not use any glue on that either, but if it starts to move around glue would be an easy fix. I believe all 3 seals are "BMW" but they are probably not NOS, so where they're made and by whom I could not say. The good news id that if you're at this stage in the project most of the hard work is done :-)
 
Do you have a pic of the middle one? I am interested in getting one of those but have heard bad things on fit. My original one is soft with metal clamps.

My thick seal by the windshield is not glued in so I can remove it for cleaning and drying any moisture.
 
Steve,

I replaced my middle one last summer, had a chunk of the seal missing. The new piece's shape was a little different than the original seal. It was a bear to get it to pop-in because of the two bends near the ends. It's a pretty stiff piece, but once it's in it hold pretty firm. See the last photo for the cross-section of the seal I got.

Dsc_0002_zps9d27db7e.jpg


Dsc_0003_zps88bc819e.jpg


Dsc_0005_zps861d3c75.jpg
 
Clip a small piece of rubber out at the inside of the V at the bend. Doesn't show when installed. It's the only way I could get it down over the metal flange.

Don
 
I've had this on order from BMW since last September. They haven't notified me that it's is discontinued, which seems to be the death knell of a part. Again, fingers crossed.
 
Kudos to Bill who pointed out to me that it was missing in the first place!
Thanks again for the heads up.
Hope yours shows up soon.
 
Hello all,

I am searching for this "S-type" seal.

Where can I buy it today?

Thanks Ulrich

ohio2800cs said:
Steve,

I replaced my middle one last summer, had a chunk of the seal missing. The new piece's shape was a little different than the original seal. It was a bear to get it to pop-in because of the two bends near the ends. It's a pretty stiff piece, but once it's in it hold pretty firm. See the last photo for the cross-section of the seal I got.

Dsc_0002_zps9d27db7e.jpg


Dsc_0003_zps88bc819e.jpg


Dsc_0005_zps861d3c75.jpg
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top