BMW 635csi E24 door seal installation THE RIGHT WAY

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Austintatious
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:14 pm
Location: Fort Worth

BMW 635csi E24 door seal installation THE RIGHT WAY

Post by Austintatious »

I just got done installing a new drivers door seal. I read up on the procedure and from what I read everywhere was that people doing this job are sliding the door trim into a channel from the forward lower portion of the door. Cursing and moaning as they spend several hours at the job.

Well, I tried that route. I thoroughly cleaned the channel, lubed it up with some of my wife's... well, lets just say I lubed it really good. And went to town. The best I was able to do was to get it about halfway in (giggidy). I kept trying but by tuggin on the seal I tore it at one of the bonded joints. OOOF.

It was at this point I said to myself " Austin, there is no F%$#ing way anyone at the factory went through this, For a few reasons. 1- too much time and risk of tearing the seal. 2- There are screw heads in the channel that cause friction. 3- even with a clean channel and good lube the friction is very high. 4. The ends of the channel are sharp 90 degree cuts, which would catch a rubber seal and tear or impeded it. I grinded mine to a smooth round shape and it still didn't help.

I concluded that working the seal into the channel has got to be the WRONG way and there has to be a RIGHT WAY

So I began experimenting and I quickly figured it out. Now, I am reluctant to share this... these door seals are already quite expensive and I have 2 more to purchase (for my other 635) and I don't want to cause a spike in prices by letting you know how easy this really is and cause a run on FCP euro for new seals. So, feel free to keep putting off this job. That being said, I feel like this is important information.

So, before I share this method, I will tell you that by doing it the RIGHT way, changing out a door seal is quite literally a 30 min job, so long as the previous idiot, I mean OWNER, didn't use a bunch of glue in the channel. If they did, you should probably clean that out and I have no idea how long that will take you.

Step 1. Remove lower chrome trim. (5 screws across entry door threshold)
Step 2. Remove seat belt and its fairing (2 screws up top, 2 screws on bottom and 1 bolt for seat belt anchor)
Step 3. Pull out old door seal (it comes right out if it was not glued in place.
Step 4. Make sure there are no big globs of glue in your channel.
Step 5. Lube up your channel REALLY GOOD... and Even the seal ( I used seggs lubs with a detailing brush)

OK, now it is time to put in the new seal the RIGHT WAY. You will start at the UPPERMOST and AFT MOST position. You begin by putting the door seals lower/inboard flange into the lower portion of the channel. Get about 4 inches in place to start. From there, you will take your thumb and push HARD onto the top portion of the new seal. As if you are trying to drive at a 45 degree angle to the channel. You will hear and feel a small "click" as the seals other side pops into the channel. Now you just keep doing that and as you move forward, push and slide your thumb from a section that has already clicked into place FORWARD to drive the next sections into the channel. Do this until you get about 2 inches from the forwarwardmost lower part of the seal.

This part is slightly tricky, but still very easy... The tricky part is that part of the seal has to go into the channel, and a part of it that goes vertically has to go over the sheetmetal flange. And these two areas overlap. The trick for me was to drive the channel part in first as above and then work the thinner part that goes over the thin flange.

Once you have that in place, the rest is cake. Be sure to lube your thumb or a smooth thumb like tool and go over the seal a few times. I had a few places that were not quite fully snapped into place. you can see them because the seal will not be straight. After pushing on those areas HARD and feeling the click, she was full seated and ready to go.

easy job, I will not hesitate to replace the seals on my other car.
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Coupe633
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2019 5:56 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC

Re: BMW 635csi E24 door seal installation THE RIGHT WAY

Post by Coupe633 »

Thanks for your helpful information. Two years ago I obtained the passenger side door weather seal and suffered putting that thing on and finally the drivers side door weather seal after being on back order for about two years arrived UPS. Seems they have them in stock now finally. Well I suffered again and came in and looked up and found your post here. Yea, you really can't feed the seal up the channel. It's like a full body workout at the gym. I had purchased a Bone Assembly and Trim or Weatherstripping Tool when I did the first one. It is plastic and looks like a large carpenters pencil but tapered at both ends but not sharp. It allows you to stick it in and push the seal into the channel so your numbs don't get thumb. I used silicone spray on the track and the back of the seal. It will get everywhere and you will probably have to wash your car afterward anyway. I started at the front up where the track starts and slide it partway up the track until the seal changed direction and headed to the floor since that is real hard to keep on the track at that area due to all the changes in the shape of the seal. I then did your method but working back to the pillar where it drops 90° to the floor. I found inserting from the outside of the car side of the seal to get that into the channel then using my tool pushing in on the inside of the car side of the seal worked well because there is less seal to deal with on the inside of the car side of the seal. The door shuts hard but the other side did the same thing and I think a little time in the sun will help soften up the seal. This sure was a pain to do and much much harder than putting on a condom but after following your method I was done in about 40 min. Thanks for the superb instructions and I hope I never have to do this again.
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RossDinan6
Posts: 295
Joined: Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:35 am
Location: SW FL, USA

Re: BMW 635csi E24 door seal installation THE RIGHT WAY

Post by RossDinan6 »

I just did my driver side. Took a bit longer than 30 minutes. Maybe 45. Had a tough time at the top of the B pillar. The bottom of the A pillar at the transition from the track to the standing seam was a bit fiddly as well. The door shuts tight. Slam it hard tight. I suspect it will take a set over time and close easier. With the 40 year old seal it still took a bit of effort to close with the window up.

This project naturally opens up a new can of worms. Now I need to readjust the window to the new seal. It closed reasonably well on the old, but it was adjusted to the old and it was getting pretty rough. I have plans for GT racing at Sebring two weekends from now so plan to have the wind noise and water leaks handled by then.
Ross
'84 633 Dinan turbo
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