Help, my passenger window trim is coming loose...

[2K328ci]

Hi all,

Has anyones interior felt trim come away from the black rubber around the main window openings? It looks like its just a glue joint, not a real connection - is this true? What kind of glue? How much would it be to have it re-installed? Do you suggest anyone? I'd probably get reamed at the dealer... but I want it looking perfect. Would Chris want to take a shot?

[J.D.]

I had mine done under warranty, although I heard the dealer charges around $800 to do both sides, I think that's to replace it.. what a joke I would get some strong glue and just do it yourself

[Yorgi]

[EDIT] SEE NEW PICTURES IN POST #19

What you want is 3m Super Weatherstrip Adhesive. $10 at Nappa Auto Parts. It is by far the most reliable method of gluing the trim back up. Most other glues will fail due to the heat inside the car.

1) Put a reasonable amount of the glue into the channel of the trim.
2) Push the trim up into place for a second to transfer some of the glue to the rubber seal.
3) Separate the trim and the seal to let the glue dry (contact cement needs to be tacky dry before final gluing). Don’t worry about a few fine-hair strands of glue that might occur between the trim and seal after separation.
4) After the glue is dry (3-4 minutes) push the trim up onto the rubber seal.
5) Wrap several 9" length pieces of green masking tape across the trim to hold it tight while it sets. (tape starts at the headliner inside the car and ends almost on the roof of your car) Say one piece of tape every 6".

Ta-da...problem solved for $10. woot

[Jeff 330CI]

I did the same no problem.

[audiophilia]

What you want is 3m Super Weatherstrip Adhesive. $10 at Nappa Auto Parts. It is by far the most reliable method of gluing the trim back up. Most other glues will fail due to the heat inside the car.

1) Put a reasonable amount of the glue into the channel of the trim.
2) Push the trim up into place for a second to transfer some of the glue to the rubber seal.
3) Separate the trim and the seal to let the glue dry (contact cement needs to be tacky dry before final gluing). Don’t worry about a few fine-hair strands of glue that might occur between the trim and seal after separation.
4) After the glue is dry (3-4 minutes) push the trim up onto the rubber seal.
5) Wrap several 9" length pieces of green masking tape across the trim to hold it tight while it sets. (tape starts at the headliner inside the car and ends almost on the roof of your car) Say one piece of tape every 6".

Ta-da...problem solved for $10. woot

Yorgi's solution works perfectly...still up after 2 years...
:yourmyido

[my0gr81]

Let's move this to DYI and put a sticky to it?

[audiophilia]

Done.

[2K328ci]

Wow! thanks so much! I will definitely try it out.

Any place in the east end with this 3M adhesive?

[2K328ci]

Found the Adhesive at the Auto Parts store at Brimley & Sheppard for $7.95 and did it this weekend - and it looks great!!

THANKS YORGI! :D

[Diesel Dud]

this is a very common problem with the 3-series

[audiophilia]

...and a $400.00 replacement at the dealership...or 8 bux of glue!

[RagingLamb]

happened to me at 40k. I think it's a really common problem.

[colombiano]

great info will be doing that tonight. taking advantage of this good weather.

[jabela]

hey, it looks like the previous owner did a bad job of gluing the weatherstripping in and now there's some yellow glue along the headliner near the stripping. Does anyone know of a good way to remove this crap?
Thanks!

[colombiano]

what colour is your car it looks awesome. I got some of that glue on mine too if you pick at it just comes off.

[jabela]

Thanks colo, I'll try picking it off.

Actually, I don't know what the colour is called. Anyone know what the blue was called in 2002? Is it Mystic Blue or Cobalt maybe?

[colombiano]

if you look at your driver side strut tower you will see it on there in german.

[jabela]

Fixed mine last summer with some 3M glue. I've been scratching off what the previous owner did slowly :sick:

Oh yea colombiano, my car is Topaz Blue.

[Yorgi]

This drooping door trim is one very annoying defect that is common with e46 coupes. My passenger side trim fell back in 2006 and now on Friday in the 30 degree weather my driver side fell down. Man did I feel ghetto driving back form the GO station with my trim hanging down.

I decided to take some pictures of the repair to help anyone who might need to fix this issue as summer wears on.

Napa still sells the 3M Super Weatherstrip glue for about $10. Call before you go though; I was lucky to get the last tube from the store on Dundas near Erin Mills Parkway. This 3M glue has a short shelf life, so don't buy it until you need it. When I tried using a 1-year-old tube on Ant's car it had started to thicken to the point that using my original "gluing only one half method" (post #3 above) did not work.

This time around I added glue to both the rubber gasket and the drooping trim. Spread the glue into a thin film on both sides with a wet finger immediately after applying it. This step is not shown in the pics below. I have found a thin layer lasts much longer than leaving a thick bead as shown in the pics. You let the glue set up for about 5 mins until its tacky. Then you press the 2 halves together, starting in the middle with tape, and moving towards each outer side taping as you go. I also close the door and let the window tighten the tape even more. Let it sit overnight. I would not leave a taped-up car in the sun as the masking tape glue will melt in the sun.

[Qreus George]

Thx for the pics Yorgi - esp for the "glue here" tip. Mine just fell this past weekend, but not completely.

I will tackle this over the coming week. :thumbsup:

[jabela]

Yup, I used Yorgi's method last summer and haven't had a problem since. Just be careful not to get any on your headliner as it's a real bitch to pick off. The previous owner attempted to fix the trim and it looks like he was sloppy when repositioning the trim after applying the glue. Anyhow, I've been picking the glue off ever since :( If anyone has any ideas for a better method to get it off I'd really appreciate it.

[Tutankhamon]

I just had this problem happen to me on the drive into work this morning. Noticed some flapping out of the corner of my eye and sure enough when i looked up and over, there was my door trim starting to flap in the wind. Looked ridiculous. Anyways as Yorgi suggested, I called up Nappa and put a tube of this stuff on hold. I went with the black one in case I screw up hopefully I won't make an unsightly mess. Will post up my results but hopefully I have as much success as all those who tried this method.

[Yorgi]

Just a note if you are trying this. The glue works better if you spread it out thinner than in my pics. I wet my finger and run it along the glue to thin it out right after applying it. If it's too thick it will not dry properly before you bond the two sides and this results in less than ideal sticking.

[audiophilia]

Yorgi I'll be back from London and Paris on Sunday. I'll need a little glue help...got a little sagging lol cheers

[951kid]

Yorgi I'll be back from London and Paris on Sunday. I'll need a little glue help...got a little sagging lol cheers


:1nono:
yorgi will be busy using his bmw what it was meant for on sunday

woot

[babyvantage]

Just a quick thanks - Great info!!

My trim starting coming off in the summer, ended up putting some heavy duty double sided tape . . .ahhh it's coming off. I'll have to try this when the weather improves.

Thks again.

[M3GA]

Driver's side just started drooping this weekend, damn heat!
You'd think BMW would make things of better quality? :Idunno:

[dutty_mark3]

arghh!

i've been trying to deal with this over the past couple of months using epoxy from canadian tire... didn't know there was a special product.
needless to say, it hasn't worked out too well. decided to finally search to see if i was the only one. wish i had seen this earlier!
going to deal with this immediately using the 3M stuff.