Tex735

I found a thread in the DIY section where they are saying that you can change these out yourself, however my SA told me that the window must be removed. Does anyone have personal experience replacing the rubber gaskets around the rear window and the one above the windshield? Mine are coming apart at the seams!!! They look HORRIBLE!!! I found them for cheap (about $15 to $20), but I don't want to go pulling the old ones off before I know FOR SURE that I can put the new ones on without a trip to a window shop. I know that the windows are bonded onto the frame and that these rubber pieces have nothing to do with sealing the window against water. They are just trip peices. I really can't imagine them mounting like the SA told me. He said that the seals are mounted between the glass and the metal mounting surface in some way. What he was saying is like the rubber is glued to the window and then that assembly is glued to the frame. That just doesn't make any sense at all to me. Anyone ever replaced them on your own car? If so, did you run into any problems?

Thanks for the help!!

Tex735

Anyone???

spacedemon

Can somebody answer this question i am in the same situation. I just purchased an 05 545 and the windhield rubber is cracked, I am going to try and get it taken care of under warranty but I am not sure if they will.

joojoobee

I had my rear window gasket replaced about 3 months ago at the dealer. Based on their procedure, the rear window does have to be removed. IIRC, the gaskets were around $100, and labor was $200. A little pricey, yes, but geez my gasket was so cracked and falling apart, it looked terrible.

I seem to remember reading a post somewhere about a guy who did this himself without removing the window. I wouldn't recommend that though, because even the dealer said it can be a difficult procedure to get it done so it looks like new.

Tex735

Alright... I guinea-pigged this one myself. My car is an '04, just so you know but they are all the same with that body style. I bought the parts from RealOEM.com... $10 for the front window and $25 for the rear. Now, ANYONE who tells you that the glass has to be removed is on crack!!! This procedure is so freaking easy that a Network Engineer (me, you know... computers...) can do it, and do a good job in 20 minutes out in the driveway!!!! The only tools that I used were paper towels, some glass cleaner and a Swiss Army knife. I'm not kidding, 20 minutes and problem solved. There is nothing special about it. All you do is grab one end of the old trim and work it up where you can get a grip on it and then carefully pull the stupid thing out. Clean the channel out with the glass cleaner and paper towels; I also rinsed it out with a paper towel soaked in water, and then dried the area with a dry paper towel. Then, put the new trim piece up there, get it pretty much centered, and then start at one end and press it into the channel with your fingers. There is a strip of adhesive on the trailing edge that has some backing on it. That stays on until you get the rubber pressed onto the glass and then you grab the tab and pull the backing out from under the trim. Press that down and you are done. The pressing is more of a "down and then forward" motion. You will understand this more when you do it. As for the rear window, everything is the same as the front except there are three sides. Line up one corner and work the top in first, then do the sides. The only snag, and this is where I needed the Swiss Army knife, was the very bottom on the sides of the rear glass. It makes a curve and my thumbs were too fat to fit in there to push the trim up on the edge of the glass. So, I got it pushed the trim down into the channel and then took the Swiss out and used the flat head screw driver blade to stick in there and seat the trim on the glass.

Again, this is so easy I really cannot believe that the SA wouldn't touch it. The glass simply does NOT have to be removed!!!

I hope this helps everyone and puts to rest the rumor that the SA's are spouting about the glass having to come out and then charging HUGE $$$ to do it for you. I spent a total of $45 for parts and shipping and did it myself in 20 minutes. Don't get taken to the BMW cleaners!!!

Good luck!