DIY: Cheap Rear Quarter Panel Window Stripping Replacement

All credits go to Jmsimmons1 from M3forum (site no longer exists). The entirety of this post was taking from a PDF of the M3forum post. I did, however, fixed all of his typos/misspelling as well as included a link to the part since his link didn't work for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmsimmons1

This is a DIY guide on how to replace the weather seal for the rear corner panel windows of the E46 M3. These
weather seals are prone to dry rotting along with the quarter panel glass trim (Mfg Part#: 5136819474 and
51368194742) that runs along the lower part of the side rear windows.

Attachment 38370

Unfortunately, while the quarter glass trim is replaceable as a stand-alone part, the weathers seal is NOT due to
the fact that it is connected to another part called the Finisher Side Frame, which is the long black rail that runs
front to back along the top portions of the side windows. Each Finisher Side Frame retails for over $260 each
and you will probably need two of them. Needless to say, this is not a cost efficient solution to the problem,
especially since they will only end up dry rotting again. I decided on a far cheaper solution ($20.00) that both
looks OEM and takes about 90 mins to do per side.

Tools needed:
1. Phillips screw driver, preferably with a magnetic head.
2. Large Flathead Screw driver
3. Box cutter blade or razor blade
4. Double-sided or colored tape
5. Possibly some interior trim adhesive

Skill Level:
If you think you could pass a high-school level Arts & Crafts class, you will be just fine. If you mess up, don't get
frustrated or pissed. Even in the WORST case scenario, you will be out $20.00 for the cost of the weather
stripping and the time it takes to re-do something. It is still a far cry cheaper than the $550+ you will spend on
2 Finisher Side Frames .

I would also like to apologize ahead of time about the quality of these pictures…to the point where I am actually
embarrassed. My digital camera basically started to crap out on me during the install and I didn’t realize the
pictures were this bad until hours after the install. I would ask that if anybody else does this install, that they
please take better quality photos and send them to me. I will insert them into this DIY in place of mine.

To begin, rather than re-explain the process on how to remove the trim, I will refer to another DIY that is
currently available.

https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/...w-trim.281593/

The very first picture of the aforementioned DIY shows the screws attaching the Finisher Side Frame (FSF) to the
roof of the car. These screws run along the entire rail, from front to back.

You can get to the screws in the rear window by the following steps:

Open the rear window
Unlatch the ball joint on the window (see above DIY). You will need the extra room for both head and hand room. There is also particularly difficult screw that is between the front and rear window divider.
Remove the inside window gasket. Pull the upper portion of the gasket straight down from around the window frame. Try to leave the lower half in place as to keep a screw from falling down into the door/side frame of the car.

The last 4 screws in the back are different from the other screws, so please make sure that when you re-install
them, you have them in back. The two very last screws are probably more easily accessible from outside the car.

Note - Do not be surprised if the inside upholstered trim on the rubber door seals around the door comes off.
Over time, the adhesive becomes brittle and it pretty much peels off. Mine did this and I simply got some
upholstery glue to put it back together. (I hear that Gorilla Glue works as well, but that requires you to hold the
pieces together whereas the adhesives for cars do not require such. You can find this type of adhesive in auto
parts stores, probably by the paint section)

Once you remove the screws from the FSF, you should be able to simply lift it off from the top. It is possible that
the rear portion might be a little stuck due to some type of tacky tape in that location, but it is not difficult.

When the FSF is off, you will notice the rubber weather seal is attached by double-sided tape.

Attachment 38371

Mark the location of where the rubber weathers starts on the FSF. This is important. You will need to know where
to cut the new weather seal so it be flush and won’t collide with weather seal on the door. I used a piece of
double-sided tape.

Attachment 38372

Once marked, you can now easily pull the old weather seal right off.

Attachment 38373

Note the double-sided tape underneath. Rather than trying to slowly peel this tape off, grab a simple box cutter
and neatly slice the tape right off. It cuts very easily and comes off pretty clean.

Attachment 38374

This is the old seal removed.

Next, time to install the new weather seal. You can purchase this weather stripping from Autozone. It is a
common part as I have found it at two different brick and mortar locations, however here is the online link.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=267100_0_0_

It is made my Metro Moulded Parts Inc.

Make SURE that you get the 7/8-3/4 diameter. There is a smaller diameter that will give you some fitment
problems.

So that link didn't go anywhere for me. I found the exact part from Metro Moulded Parts website themselves and ordered it there:
https://metrommp.com/adhesive_backed...tyle_mw_78348/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmsimmons1

Here comes the tricky part. The new weather stripping has some self adhesive along a ridge or spine on the
bottom. Do NOT remove the protective backing! If you do, it will be extremely difficult to do the next step. Just
past the elbow joint of the FSF, there is track that the old weather seal was wedged in. You are going to “pull”
your new weather stripping through that track using the ridge or spine as the rail or anchor. It might take a little
force to do so, but please be careful because the weather stripping WILL rip if forced too much. Another method
is to take a large flat head screw driver and push the spine into the track.

Attachment 38375

See the extra weather stripping I have at the end? I would suggest you do the same so it can be trimmed during
the re-installed. Better too long than too short.

Attachment 38376

Run the weather stripping down the length of the rail and cut it beyond the mark you made earlier…again, better
too long than too short. (the red part is the backing on the double-sided tape. The green and white square is the
double-sided tape I used to mark the end of the original weather seal).

Next, remove the tape backing down to where you wedged the weather stripping into the track. You do not have
to bother trying to remove the backing down in the track. The weather stripping should be in there very tightly
and will not need any form of adhesive. Tape the weather stripping spine parallel to the screw holes on the FSF.

Attachment 38377

The 3-4 screw holes near the end of the weather stripping (towards middle of FSF, not near the elbow joint) will
probably be covered by part a small part of the weather stripping’s spine. To avoid great difficulty trying to reinstall
the FSF, take a box cutter or a razor blade and cut out a small wedge to expose the holes. I found the
best method to be to take the corner of the blade and push part of the spine through the screw hole. A small cut
or incision will be in the spine which you can then gently pull away with your fingers. Once the weather stripping
is securely taped to the FSF, you can trim down the new weather stripping towards the center of the FSF.

From here, you ready to re-install the FSF back onto the car. This is pretty much a common-sense process at
this point, but the best process I found is as follows:

If you are also installing the quarter panel glass trim along the bottom of the window, DO THIS BEFORE RE-INSTALLNG THE FSF! You will thank me for this later. Once this is done (or if you are not doing this install)…
Set the FSF in place to see if the new weather stripping is the correct length relative to the front window trim. If not, remove, cut/adjust, then try again.
When satisfied, screw in a few of the screws (1 or 2) underneath the front windows
Screw in the rest of the screws moving to towards the front of the car
Adjust the trim underneath the rear window. Take care in getting the seal underneath the rear window. You can gently tuck into place by using a large flathead screw driver.

Attachment 38378

Finally, you need to trim the end piece past the elbow joint. This part is a little tricky to explain and my camera
was so jacked up at this point, it did not focus on what I wanted while the FSF was on the car. I tried again
using a small end piece of weather stripping and my iPhone. Hopefully you will get the jest of how you need to
do this last cut.

Trim the tube portion of the weather striping to the appropriate length you need.
Cut the spine off the end tip. You will be able to see how far back you can cut it, but at this point, the spine of the weather stripping is not necessary and will impair the fitment of the end a bit.
Cut away the lower half of the weather stripping tube facing the car. This will allow the weather stripping to fit nice and flush.

Attachment 38379

Attachment 38380

Attachment 38381

Screw in the final screws towards the rear of the windows and the final result should look pretty good.

Attachment 38382

I hope that this has been helpful. If there are any questions, please feel free to PM me or post your question. I
will be going through and editing this for spelling and grammar later as I have spent waaay too much time on
this for today.