Gap in exterior window trim; water in door

[hipsterdufus]

Hi, I have noticed ever since I got my TI that there is a mighty large gap (about 1/4") in between both the front and rear of the door where the trim meets the window. I was just wondering if this is something BMW intentionally designed into the car or if there is actually something wrong with my car in particular. I got a car wash today and could hear the water dripping down into the doors.

This is what the rear of the passenger door looks like:



This is what the front of the passenger door looks like:



I would really appreciate anyone's input on their own cars. Thanks.

[tiFreak]

I've seen a couple of other ti's with the same problem, I think it's just a defect

[hipsterdufus]

Do you think it's anything I should be concerned about? It does disturb me that there might be rust forming inside the door if this is not how it is supposed to be.

[aceyx]

I replaced that strip earlier last year, even new it's pretty brittle rubber and near impossible to fit perfectly tight. The replacement process is pretty simple, and has more than you'd think to do with keeping the window on track.

When I pulled the door panel to work on the window, I noticed some rust in there I've meant to take care of.

[tybate]

My ti had that same problem. I don't recall any drainage holes inside the door.... Water does accumulate inside the door with this problem. Get a new strip or just keep an eye on it (rust) every time your diggin' inside the door to fix the regulator. Ha

[Hokie318]

Amen to that part about the regulator, that is the one thing other than routine stuff that I have done to my 318. My BMW guru told me that what you described is one of the more common issues with these models. He also talked about some gapping on the interior of the doors, almost like the door panels pull away from the windows.

I would worry about the fact that the water might make something else go wrong in there...like the regulator.

I also had a Mercedes M Class and the tubing that ran from the sunroof, through the door to the outside had gotten pulled loose and everytime it rained a puddle would form in my floor. That was fun to diagnose. Ha ha.

[mohaughn]

I can tell you that BMW does account for some water getting into the door. On the E39 5 series there is a problem where the door drains get clogged, and then over time that causes moisture to build up which can later cause the plastic door liner to come loose.

The end result is that water will slowly leak from the door through the inner door seal and down onto the carpet.

As long as your vapor barrier in the door is in good shape and completely sealed it should not be a problem. The door/window sill is not meant to be completely water tight and the door drains in such a way that the water is directed our of the car and not through the door seal.

I don't recall any drainage holes inside the door....

There is a small square hole at the back of the door. There are also two rubber grommets that block the larger drain holes. If you are getting so much water in there that it is overflowing the little drain, you can open up one or both of the other ones.

[hipsterdufus]

Awesome responses and very helpful. I will probably replace the rubber the next time I'm pulling the door apart, but I'm just going to leave it as is until then.

In theory, it seems like it would be a good thing to allow for some water accumulating in the door as long as you give it the chance to drain or evaporate. It seems like it would be impossible to completely seal against water in a window that moves up and down, so you're better off accepting that water will get in the doors and then trying to figure out what to do with that water afterwards.

[mohaughn]

If you do have rust in your door get some por15. You can use a brillo pad or even a high grit sandpaper to rough up the rust and remove as much of it from the surface as possible. Make sure to vacuum up any loose stuff, and then wipe everything down with a wet rag..

Once you have it cleaned up a little bit you can paint the por15 in there and it will neutralize any existing rust and give you a pretty tough barrier to keep any more rust from forming. This stuff was designed for boats and things like farm equipment that are constantly exposed to the elements or salt. It has also gotten to be pretty popular with automotive restorations where you don't want to take everything back down to bare metal.

[hipsterdufus]

Good call. My car was (luckily) a Maryland, then Texas car before it came to Michigan, so it's pretty sound as far as rust goes. I had the door panel off last summer and I didn't see any rust on the inside of the door, but I'll check again the next time I've got the panels off.

Man, 318ti.org > bimmerforums. No one ever responds to my questions over there.

[tiFreak]

Originally Posted by hipsterdufus

Man, 318ti.org > bimmerforums. No one ever responds to my questions over there.

+1, most of the people who respond to my threads there are also members here, might as well just post here

[amancuso]

Does anyone have any pictures or a how to on removing/replacing this part? I plan on getting my car repainted, so I want to remove as much as the trim as possible.

Thanks,
Al.