Windshield cowl / rain tray question

[papa_g]

My rain tray has some cracks in the edge that seals the bottom of the windshield. It is brittle from the dry rot, but it hasn't started chipping off like other people have reported. Can anyone tell me how urgently i need to replace this? I live in Seattle, so needless to say it rains a lot here. More specifically, is water going to leak onto important, dry components beneath the tray? I read somewhere that there is a seal below the tray, and it is meant to keep water out. Basically i want to know if I should buy a new one stat, or if i can take my time while I look for a good local deal and work on other parts of the car.

[slater]

i would replace it... cheap insurance. buy a new one - any used replacements will most likely be old and brittle too.

[Vas]

Replace the main cowl and the 2 side pieces. ECStuning sells it as a kit.

[Newjack]

Just replace it. It's not that expensive and a fresh cowl makes your car look so much cleaner.

[Sockethead]

They are very brittle. Most of the attachment clips will break off when removing the old one so a used one isn't really an option. Even the new ones are pretty brittle. Several tabs broke off on my brand new one when they took it off to replace the windshield. Like Vas said the they sell a kit with the 2 side pieces if you want to freshen up everything but they aren't necessary.

[papa_g]

Hmm ok. Thanks for the input. I will take a look at those side pieces and see if I need to replace them as well. But can someone tell me if water getting under the cowl can damage anything, and what?

[Reasoned1]

The cowl is not a water-tight seal, so some cracking isn't going to hurt anything--your issues are just asthetic. Do spend the $70 to replace it--as mentioned, it'll look soooo much better.

[sillieidiot]

it's not an emergency. you can take your time. mines been broken forever. I have the replacement, but too lazy to replace lol

[Vas]

Keep in mind the cost of the cowl has been going up in price.

[papa_g]

The cowl is not a water-tight seal, so some cracking isn't going to hurt anything--your issues are just asthetic. Do spend the $70 to replace it--as mentioned, it'll look soooo much better.

Ok, this is the confirmation I needed. I will be replacing it, but I will just put it on the low priority list. Got more important problems to worry about rn

[papa_g]

Keep in mind the cost of the cowl has been going up in price.

Couldn't that be said about all e46 parts? I will make sure to buy it before long

[Reasoned1]

Some faster than others... I've purchased two in the last couple of years, and the cowl has gone up in price about $10/year (probably due to more demand from older cars).

[az3579]

Some faster than others... I've purchased two in the last couple of years, and the cowl has gone up in price about $10/year (probably due to more demand from older cars).

Buy it from FCP and you'll never had to "buy" one again.

[Reasoned1]

Excellent point!

[papa_g]

Buy it from FCP and you'll never had to "buy" one again.

I tend to be selective about what I buy from FCP. If I know it will need to be replaced again within 50-100k miles, I will purchase from FCP.
But if this cowl is well maintained and conditioned with gummi pflege, how long do you guys think it will last me?

[Newjack]

Buy it from FCP and you'll never had to "buy" one again.



I tend to be selective about what I buy from FCP. If I know it will need to be replaced again within 50-100k miles, I will purchase from FCP.
But if this cowl is well maintained and conditioned with gummi pflege, how long do you guys think it will last me?

FCP is trash. Their customer service is terrible and they ship you broken parts. Wasted way to much of my time and energy dealing with them. Never again.

Cowls will last a while.

[papa_g]

FCP is trash. Their customer service is terrible and they ship you broken parts. Wasted way to much of my time and energy dealing with them. Never again.

Cowls will last a while.

Man, I am sorry to hear that. I have had nothing but good experience with FCP, and I have bought close to $2000 worth of parts from them so far. I forgot to put an o-ring into my most recent order, so I contacted them, and they threw it in for free before my package shipped (it was $0.49, but still).
Yeah the cowl is a lot cheaper on ECS. And I keep my car garaged, so if I maintain it, it might last me as long as the car does...hopefully

[Reasoned1]

I've only had good experience with FCP (~$3k over a couple years and several transactions). Their prices are usually a little more than I'm willing to pay, as I'm not very susceptible to their warranty policy.

The cowl, if garaged and taken of, will last 100k miles.

[az3579]

The cowl, if garaged and taken of, will last 100k miles.

I don't know about you, but I can only park outside where I work. As a result, it has faded in only 2.5 years. These things get ugly very quickly. Why not get it replaced, no questions asked, for free? :)

[papa_g]

I don't know about you, but I can only park outside where I work. As a result, it has faded in only 2.5 years. These things get ugly very quickly. Why not get it replaced, no questions asked, for free? :)

you have a point.. and its only an extra $10 at FCP vs ECS. I think I'll do it :)

[Reasoned1]

I'd be interested in hearing stories from people who've utilized FCP Euro's return policy. I'm a little skeptical, but I haven't had occasion to try.

[papa_g]

I am planning on returning fluids as well. Oil, brake fluid. Can't wait to try it out :)

[Vas]

I been using the return policy and it has been pretty smooth. Shipping items back via UPS Ground has not been expensive either since it is a 2 day transit zone.

[Newjack]

I'd be interested in hearing stories from people who've utilized FCP Euro's return policy. I'm a little skeptical, but I haven't had occasion to try.

I've used it. They shipped me a radiator, except it was in a box that was way too big, and used two small pieces of packing paper to pack it. Go figure it showed up with bent fins and the plastic brackets that help mount the radiator broken. I also ordered valve cover beauty tabs, the small circle caps that sit on your valve cover that usually end up breaking a tab or two whenever you remove them. They packed them by throwing them in the same box as the radiator without a bag. Just loose inside the box rattling around. So of course most of the tabs on them were already broken when I got them.

I had the parts shipped to me Tuesday evening, ready to fix my radiator by the weekend. Emailed customer service that night explaining that I had received damaged items. FCP emailed me back the next morning, apologized and asked me to provide photos. I emailed photos to them and explained that I also ordered an extra manual radiator drain plug which I didn't need and wanted to return (this was my fault.) I also asked if I would have the shipping cost refunded since I paid an extra $10 to have the parts shipped to me in time for the weekend. I did not get a response back that day (Wednesday).

I got a response on Thursday, from another FCP employee saying the previous person handling my claim had fallen ill and now this guy was going to take care of everything. He said he would contact me by the end of the day to figure out how to move forward. I thanked him and waited. No reply that day.

I got an email back on Friday around 11:20am saying my order had been reshipped. I wasn't given a tracking number, or any indication of when my order would arrive. So I emailed back within a few minutes asking for some clarification. I didn't get a response back until 10pm that Friday night saying they didn't have a tracking number but orders are usually expedited. As soon as they have a tracking number they will send it to me.

So I don't get many days off. I work a lot. In particular, I work every weekend. So me taking time off on a weekend is like pulling teeth. It usually involves me asking my boss for a favor and getting a guilt trip. So not having the parts in time and trying to plan this repair around when the parts will get here (Still don't know at this point if they will show up on Saturday or not) is stressful. Not to mention, this coming weekend is supposed to be nice weather (and it was, like 60 degrees Saturday + Sunday)

Parts show up Monday evening. My weekend is shot and I never got a tracking number or any update from FCP (I wasn't expecting it at this point anyway)

Take one look at the package and there is a big hole in the box right where the radiator lower hose connects. My heart sank.

Thankfully it didn't seem to have any issues besides the hole in the box (thank you baby Jesus) but now I have to follow up with them about getting my drain plug returned and what to do with this other radiator, because they didn't follow up with me.

I emailed them the next day (Tuesday) and asked what the deal was with the drain plug and radiator. They emailed me a prepaid packing label and asked me to ship everything back to them. So that's fine, I'll pack this radiator back into the same busted box with the broken valve beauty tabs and go out of my way to drive into the city to mail your shit back.

Two days later I was refunded and that was the end of it.

So all in all I went from ordering parts to work on my car on a nice weekend. To getting parts later than I wanted, stressing out about not knowing when I could schedule time to work on my car, and traded a nice warm 60 degree weekend for a windy cold below freezing day to work on my car. Oh and another half gallon of coolant I needed to hold me over until the parts got there.

Here's the FCP Euro experience in a nutshell

https://im.ezgif.com/tmp/ezgif-1-be236aaecd.gif

[san]

I been using the return policy and it has been pretty smooth. Shipping items back via UPS Ground has not been expensive either since it is a 2 day transit zone.

Have you returned used oil using ups as well?


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[Vas]

Have you returned used oil using ups as well?


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Yes I have. Bought an oil change kit, ran it for 7500, bought another one and did the oil change. Sent back the original kit and fcpeuro gave a refund.