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      05-04-2018, 04:58 PM   #1
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Rubber windshield surround cracked

Hi, the black rubber piece that surrounds the windshield on my Z4MC is cracked and brittle and needs to be replaced. Don't really know who could do such a job, would it be best to take it to the dealer or one of those windshield repair people? Recommendations are appreciated!
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      05-04-2018, 09:20 PM   #2
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It's incredibly easy to replace.



The trim is around $40 online, i.e. here.
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      05-05-2018, 07:44 AM   #3
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Very cool...thanks!
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      05-05-2018, 02:35 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ried View Post
It's incredibly easy to replace.



The trim is around $40 online, i.e. here.
I should replace mine. It's peeling up. I definitely wouldn't pry on glass with a metal chisel though.
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      05-05-2018, 06:51 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Punisher3.0si View Post
I should replace mine. It's peeling up. I definitely wouldn't pry on glass with a metal chisel though.
I don't see anyone doing that in the video. He's scraping off the old sealant, but doesn't seem to be prying against the glass. That would be idiotic.
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      05-05-2018, 10:58 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ried View Post
I don't see anyone doing that in the video. He's scraping off the old sealant, but doesn't seem to be prying against the glass. That would be idiotic.
View it again at 1:20. It sure looks like metal to me.
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      05-05-2018, 11:13 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Punisher3.0si View Post
View it again at 1:20. It sure looks like metal to me.
You must not have noticed his finger behind the chisel.
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      05-06-2018, 12:13 AM   #8
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He is no doubt prying on the glass
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      05-06-2018, 11:12 PM   #9
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It just pulls off. If there's any "sealant", it's just overrun from the goo that holds the windshield down.
Just dig one end out with a wooden or plastic stick and pull.
No sealant needed to replace. It's not the seal, just cosmetic trim.
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      05-07-2018, 12:21 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Punisher3.0si View Post
He is no doubt prying on the glass
Cool story, bro.
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      05-07-2018, 07:17 PM   #11
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I have the same problem. The molding is so brittle that it started breaking off when I touched it. Went to the dealer and got quoted $1200 and $2000 if the windshield breaks in the process.

Here's a couple more videos:





After watching the videos I felt confident that I could handle this. The molding is cheapest on Amazon from BMW/Mini of San Francisco: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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      05-08-2018, 11:45 AM   #12
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After I watched the videos, I went out and took a closer look at the molding and see if I could get it off. I started at the upper driver side which is where the worst deterioration was. It started breaking up into little pieces, so I decided to start at the bottom of the A pillar at the cowl and it all came off exactly like the first video I posted.

Definitely a good idea to wear rubber gloves to avoid getting the black tarry adhesive on your hands. Absolutely no reason to use a 1" wood chisel perpendicular to the molding channel. I used a plastic pry tool to lift up the bottom corner and it all came out pretty easily. If you need something more to get the molding out of the channel a flat head screwdriver inside the channel would be a far better choice than the chisel.

After I removed the molding I used a razor scraper to get residue off the glass and then I used Goo Gone on a rag to clean out the channel. Everything looks pretty clean at this point.

I ordered the molding from BMW/Mini of San Francisco through the Amazon link I provided for $38.04 with free shipping. It should arrive on Friday, so I'm looking forward to having the new molding on this weekend.

Here's what mine looked like before I decided to remove it. It wasn't this bad before I drove on the freeway, so it was at the point that the wind at freeway speeds was tearing it off:
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      05-10-2018, 07:36 PM   #13
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Very cool folks. My new stripping came today and will attempt to replace it next week. looks like starting at the end and working up and around is best. Wish me luck! *Starting at the ends to remove the old one to be clear.

Last edited by bfm01; 05-11-2018 at 06:23 PM..
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      05-10-2018, 08:12 PM   #14
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You want to make sure the corners are in the right place, so you may want to start at one corner and go down one side then across the top and down the other side.
It hooks in sort of in a "J" fashion, so you have to insert it at about a 45° angle.
No glue or sealant needed.
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      05-11-2018, 04:51 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bfm01 View Post
Very cool folks. My new stripping came today and will attempt to replace it next week. looks like starting at the end and working up and around is best. Wish me luck!
Mine also arrived today. I was hoping to lay it out in the sun on the driveway for an hour or so to get it nice and warm and soft before installing. But as you know, it's uncharacteristically cold (59*) and overcast today, so I'm going to wait for a sunny day before I proceed with installation.

Definitely lay it out across the top and get the corners matched up and then start from the top middle of the windshield. That's how all of the videos that I've watched have done it. If you start from the bottom the first corner may not line up and you'll just have to pull it out again. Or maybe you can just shift it up or down in the track.

There's a generic BMW windshield molding replacement video from BavAuto on YouTube where he uses Sonax window cleaner as a lubricant, so I'm going to try that with the window cleaner that I have. He starts installing the new trim on the driver side upper corner. He also uses plastic pry tools to get the old molding off, which is how I did it.

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Last edited by SD ///M4; 05-11-2018 at 04:58 PM..
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      05-11-2018, 05:24 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SD ///M4 View Post
After I watched the videos, I went out and took a closer look at the molding and see if I could get it off. I started at the upper driver side which is where the worst deterioration was. It started breaking up into little pieces, so I decided to start at the bottom of the A pillar at the cowl and it all came off exactly like the first video I posted.

Definitely a good idea to wear rubber gloves to avoid getting the black tarry adhesive on your hands. Absolutely no reason to use a 1" wood chisel perpendicular to the molding channel. I used a plastic pry tool to lift up the bottom corner and it all came out pretty easily. If you need something more to get the molding out of the channel a flat head screwdriver inside the channel would be a far better choice than the chisel.

After I removed the molding I used a razor scraper to get residue off the glass and then I used Goo Gone on a rag to clean out the channel. Everything looks pretty clean at this point.

I ordered the molding from BMW/Mini of San Francisco through the Amazon link I provided for $38.04 with free shipping. It should arrive on Friday, so I'm looking forward to having the new molding on this weekend.

Here's what mine looked like before I decided to remove it. It wasn't this bad before I drove on the freeway, so it was at the point that the wind at freeway speeds was tearing it off:
The photo of your windshield is excellent. Thanks for posting. With the upper corner removed you get a cutaway view of how it is mounted. This makes things a lot easier to understand as far as how it attaches to the frame.
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      05-11-2018, 07:27 PM   #17
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I did this about 2 years ago.. boy do they crack into little tiny pieces... i found it everywhere on the floor... now I see the bottom of the windshield one is cracking too.. someone had a diy here a while back
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      05-11-2018, 09:04 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsutoratosu View Post
I did this about 2 years ago.. boy do they crack into little tiny pieces... i found it everywhere on the floor... now I see the bottom of the windshield one is cracking too.. someone had a diy here a while back
That piece is called the cowl and mine is starting to deteriorate at the driver side corner. I considered replacing that as well, but that piece is about $245 at ECS Tuning, or for a few bucks more you can buy their "windshield cowl refresh kit": https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...51717017022kt/.

Replacement looks pretty straightforward but you have to remove some screws, clips, pins, and the windshield wiper arms. YouTuber Zed4M3, who's molding replacement video is linked to above (the chisel guy!), also has a cowl replacement video:



BavAuto also has a generic BMW cowl replacement video:


Mine is not that bad, so I'm going to wait and keep an eye on it, and see how quickly it deteriorates more.
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      05-11-2018, 10:46 PM   #19
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To do the cowl you'll want to have something like a battery terminal puller to get the wiper arms off.
Beyond that it's not too hard, but you'll be messing with little plastic rivet dooeys 'till your fingers bleed.
Remember to use some painter's tape to mark the position of your wipers before you pull them.
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      05-14-2018, 09:52 PM   #20
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Update: Sunday was reasonably warm and sunny, so I installed the new windshield molding.

I laid it out on the driveway in the sun for about an hour or so to get it soft and pliable. I used Windex to thoroughly clean the windshield and the track around the sides and top of the windshield. The track was already pretty clean and there was no tarry residue, so I didn't have to use Goo-Gone.

My first observation: it's not quite as easy to install the molding as the videos posted would indicate. If all they did was "pop it in", then the molding wasn't seated completely over the edge of the windshield and into the side tracks. I ended up using my plastic pry tools, particularly the wide "chisel" tool.

I sprayed the track and edge of the windshield with Windex for lubrication. I started with the upper corner on the driver side. That seemed to go in pretty easily and so did the driver side molding. You have to lift up the corner of the cowl and push the molding underneath. Then I started pushing the top of the molding onto the edge of the windshield. I found out that you really have to push the molding onto the edge of the windshield with your finger tips. If you don't get it completely seated I don't think that the upper part of the top molding fits completely into the track and fits flush with the top of the windshield frame. However, when I got to the passenger side, is was short by about 1/4" and the side molding wouldn't go in correctly on the passenger side. I ended up pulling everything out and starting again.

This time I fitted the driver side corner and then had my wife hold that in place while I stretched the top molding over to the passenger side and fitted the passenger side corner. Then I went pack and pushed the top molding onto the edge of the windshield with my fingertips as I had done before. Next, I pushed the driver side molding onto the driver side of the windshield and got it seated completely into the track. On the sides, the plastic chisel tool was particularly helpful to get the molding pushed into the edge of the windshield and seated completely into the track. The passenger side, for whatever reason, didn't seem to work as well as the driver side, but in the end, I was satisfied with the result.

Because I had installed the top part of the molding and then pulled it out again, I discovered that there's some of that black, tarry stuff inside the top of the molding. After I was done I had to clean some of it off the windshield with Goo-Gone. I gave the windshield a good cleaning to get rid of all of the fingerprints. Then I gave the new molding a good coat of Gummi Pflege Rubber Care Stick. I let that sit in the sun for awhile and then wiped off the excess. It now looks as good as new!
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      06-04-2018, 11:48 PM   #21
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I replaced my trim and cowl recently, as both were deteriorated. It wasn't too hard of a project and it removed an eyesore that was bugging me.

If you do the cowl, I do not recommend getting the ESC cowl refresh kit. Just order the cowl itself and then 4 of the of the push in type of rivets. The screw in type of plastic rivets are a pain to get the old ones out and to get the new ones in. The refresh kit comes with two push pins, but I didn't use them, as I didn't see a place for them to go.

There are two cable clamps that attach to the front edge of the cowl that I would like to replace, as they got a bit damaged removing from the old cowl, but I cannot find a part# on those. Maybe those pins are intended for these clamps, but it seems like the clamps had the pins molded into them.

The wiper arms were a bit tough to get off. I used a battery terminal/wiper arm removal tool and they finally gave way. Then I had to do a palm slap to the the forehead. I did not mark the location of the wiper blades. Fortunately, I found this guide which has measurements for arm placement.
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      06-26-2018, 09:28 AM   #22
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Finished this repair last night. I'm super happy that some folks on this forum found this easy to complete but mine was a total PITA.

The gap the top of my glass was SUPER tight (less than 5mm) and trying to get the molding to pop in there sideways and over the top of the glass while not destroying the molding or breaking anything was maddening.

I hate you windshield surround, but I hope you last a thousand years because I never want to deal with you again.
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