Turn signal lamp housing gasket trim replacement using window seal strip (some modification req'd)
When I bought my ZHP over two months ago, the passenger turn signal intermittently fast flashed, so I thought it was a bulb issue. Lo and behold, the turn signal housing was aftermarket and by fate, there was some electrical issue that caused the bulb to melt the threads of the housing and the contact ring inside was slightly melted over. This resulted in sporadic connection issues. I ended up buying a genuine BMW turn signal lamp housing from FCP (the only order they got right lol) and I was extremely unimpressed with the gasket. Not to mention, to have that gasket on the other side would cost me $120 again :( And to add insult to injury, this genuine trim is not even two months and it's torn already. WTH. See here:
https://i.imgur.com/xZuPdpql.jpg
On the driver's side, I still have the genuine turn signal lamp housing. But the gasket trim was either missing or in tatters. So I just removed it and cleaned the area. It took some time searching the internet to find something that might work, and I found this adhesive-backed window seal strip that was worth experimenting with. It was less than $15 with shipping, so why not? Pic of item:
https://i.imgur.com/KzhariSl.jpg
I removed the 2-month old housing to examine and measure the gasket height and it's about 1/4". Next, I took the aftermarket seal and cut the front part of it down to 1/4" and then on the back strip (the strip w/ the adhesive), I trimmed above the adhesive:
https://i.imgur.com/l65RRWnl.jpg
As you can see, my trimming skills with scissors is average at best. However, it is about 1/4" in height, so that's what mattered. There's a very small channel where the former trim sat in and I just wedged the adhesive backed portion into it until it stuck. I continued following the contours until it was well-seated:
https://i.imgur.com/ArF5jFpl.jpg
Here's a bigger zoomed in pic to see the detail:
https://i.imgur.com/URKSq3xh.jpg
I reinstalled both lamps and took some pics. As you can see here, the genuine trim on my passenger side is thin:
https://i.imgur.com/cAQh2OGh.jpg
Here's what the trimmed gasket trim I bought looks like:
https://i.imgur.com/u75F7yGh.jpg
It's much thicker and in my opinion, it looks better:
https://i.imgur.com/bNOsfeGh.jpg
I'm curious to see how long it'll stay on. I think my trimming job might not have been enough, but we'll see. I plan to install the new headlamp covers sometime soon and at that time, I'll see if the trim is sticking. But for now, I'm happy the way it turned out. And anytime I can achieve similar or better results at a fraction of the cost, it's always a W in the win column!
