Door Seals - Too Thick / Hard

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RohJay

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Just fitted new Door Seals on my freshly painted car.
But sadly the new seal does not allow the door to shut.
I haven't forced it shut fearing damage to the Alu doors.

Its the lower portion that is problematic., especially at the point where the door post meets the A-Pillar
Upon comparison with old part, the outer part does seem a lot thicker.

Has anyone experienced this and is there some way to sort it out?.
 
I had the same problem, and my father has had the same problem with his fixed-up E24. It seems like the older (original) door seals were either thinner or much more flexible / compressible. I've tried using a heat gun, re-compressing the gasket, and a host of other things, but nobody I've been to seems to be able to get the dang seals to work right.

After about 3 years of constantly being closed mine have finally started to close correctly, but you still have to give it a good shove.
 
I've experienced new seals that because of the thickness they were a problem on a Porsche and other makes.

Usually you have to do a series of small adjustments to the doors, window frames, etc. Some frames like the vent and window are actually shimmed with washers on the inside face of the door frame to each mechanism or attachment point. Hard to see if you were in a hurry on disassembly. So check that first on the mounting bolts/ screws to make sure you put them back. There is a procedure of sorts in the bluebooks. For instance you can loosen the bottom bolts on the door frame for the side glass frame to move in or out. I could see how a BFH and block of wood on the bottom could move the flange at the rocker area.

Gaps are sometimes hard to control.

Otherwise, you can adjust the door to be slightly out, wait for the seals to set some, and readjust a month or so later.

It all depends on how much you're out. Were they OEM, meaning had the BMW parts sticker on them?
 
This has always been a problem for body men doing paint jobs / semi restorations on just about any car. The car needs to sit for a while with the doors shut so the rubber takes a set to that closed position.

The newer cars have hollow door gaskets so the gaskets collapse easily allowing the doors to close very nicely. Older cars can be a problem especially if you’re using reproduction gaskets which most times differ slightly from OEM. Some times you can carefully grind away some of the backside of the gasket with a 3” right angle grinder for a better / easier door fit, other than that time with the doors closed may be your only help. Keeping the gaskets covered with silicone will also help the doors close a bit easier.

I know it’s not the answer people want to hear but that’s all I’ve got, I’d like to hear any other suggestions. It’s very disheartening for a body man to deliver a car he may have put his best into and then have the customer complaining about the doors closing hard. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
This has always been an issue with the BMW seals. I know about a dozen coupe owners who went through the expense of buying the seals through BMW (about $450 a side or so) and had this issue.

I got my seals through a seller on ebay and he bought them through Jaymic. This was about 5 years ago.

They are supple and fit great. The doors seal beautifully. Other coupe owners always comment.

Thanks again.

Shawn Hanson
 
Vent window seals

I have changed these on all my coupes. The fit is perfect (which is not the case on my old Jaguars), BUT they need to stay in the locked/closed position for a good 3-4 months for the vertical section to settle or bed in. In fact I use sprung clamps for the first couple of days. It is important to get this vertical section to settle , or else it will come out of its grove and never allow the window to close properly (and the feeble opening mechanism will brake when you turn the know too hard).
 
Door seals

I'm running without any seals on the door. There are already inner seals for the door.

Maximum noise will still be from the seal of windows.
 
Shawn said:
This has always been an issue with the BMW seals. I know about a dozen coupe owners who went through the expense of buying the seals through BMW (about $450 a side or so) and had this issue.

I got my seals through a seller on ebay and he bought them through Jaymic. This was about 5 years ago.

They are supple and fit great. The doors seal beautifully. Other coupe owners always comment.

Thanks again.

Shawn Hanson
Click to expand...

Now that is surprising that reproduction door gaskets work better than OEM but certainly not impossible. Did you by chance happen to notice :confused: if the Jaymic gaskets were hollow ? If so, then there certainly would be a big difference in the closing pressure. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
I don't think one replacement seal on my car fits right. Windows, trunk, lower rockers etc. They are not the same as the old OEM parts from back in the day. Put them side by side and you will see. I think many of the were reproduced from scratch by BMW's suppliers because the original methods and tools are gone.
 
It was very surprising to me that aftermarket seals were more supple and fit better than OEM. They are only hollow where they need to be, as per OEM. I am not sure if Jaymic even produces these anymore. Either way they are very supple and compress perfectly.

You might want to give them a call and inquire.

I do know that most, if not all, BMW owners that installed the OEM seals have had the same issues with door fitment and noted the seals are hard.

Thanks again and good luck.

Thanks,
 
alternatives to OEM

I am just completing my taiga csl restoration...whatever it should be called....and my new door seals are preventing closing without huge shove. My body guys said he had this problem once w a lambo and tried a later BMW seal and it fit perfectly. These are now on the door and the door closing is perfect! Feels like it's right off the showroom floor. I'm tempted to use these even though it might take a little fabricating and won't be 100% correct etc. Any thoughts...the thicker newer seals don't seem to be worth the poor fitment.
chuck
 
I've had my OEM door seals on a few months now, and the doors definitely "seat" better than when the seals were first put on. However, it does take quite a bit more force to close my doors than it does to close, say, the doors on my new BMW or most new cars. I've heard that this will continue to improve as the seals age.
 
I was about to buy a new set of these but now Im not so sure. What are the aftermarket alternatives? I know JC whitney sells various shapes of weatherseal by the foot-anyone ever tried any of these?
 
alternatives

I'll let you all know when I get the part number but the body shop guys had a piece that was from some later bmw and the put it in partially and it really closed nicely. Just didn't have the same texture on the inner showing side...hex pattern? but anyway a big improvement. and yes it's the long expensive piece that goes up and around the door frame/window.
ccr
 
Shawn said:
It was very surprising to me that aftermarket seals were more supple and fit better than OEM. They are only hollow where they need to be, as per OEM. I am not sure if Jaymic even produces these anymore. Either way they are very supple and compress perfectly.

You might want to give them a call and inquire.

I do know that most, if not all, BMW owners that installed the OEM seals have had the same issues with door fitment and noted the seals are hard.

Thanks again and good luck.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

It’s kind of surprising that no one has installed these Jaymic seals more recently and given us a more recent update on their results with them. Maybe the shipping to the states is unbelievably high ? ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
HB Chris said:
Buying from them is simple, affordable and very quick, have no fear.
Click to expand...

Yes OK, but the big question is do the current Jaymic seals still fit as well as Shawn’s do ? He admittedly bought his 5 years ago from someone that may have had them for a few years too. Maybe Jaymic uses a different supplier now, possibly even the same supplier as BMW, who knows ??? A recent purchaser update on the seals would be a big confidence builder on a somewhat pricey purchase. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
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