the main cause of this repair failing is reusing the original vapor seal. after 10yrs these seals become hard and less pliable. the new ones are redesigned as i just got a set yesterday and they're now a tan color opposed to the original black and much softer. use the factory sealant or variant, butyl tape. i fix these at work all the time and always use the 3m window weld with no issues or comebacks. also you want to do this in warm weather or a heated area...
Can anyone help me find the part numbers for the new tan colored barriers?
Tim, many thanks for repairing my vapor seals today. It's always a pleasure to stop by your house and chat. It was nice that Brian stopped by too with yet another wheel configuration!
I hope I got your track juices flowing by watching the Race School in-car videos....
Carp! I drove my car in some SERIOUS rain today and (thinking of this known issue) opened the back door. Saw some drips of water right where the inner door panel meets the painted door. Guess that means I'm afflicted eh?
I don't have any of the sealants at home mentioned here, but I do have re RTV. Would that be out of the question to use if I just found a few 'loose' spots or must it be silicone?
Ok, my turn for this repair -- I've had a leaky driver's side rear for a year now, and I'm just getting around to figuring out the problem..at least that part is solved here in this thread! (thanks to all contributors).
I have two questions:
1. How much Dow 732 do you need to repair one door? Amazon has a 3 oz tube and a 10 oz cartridge for a caulking gun. Is the 3oz tube enough for one door? Ebay has some 4.7oz tubes available for $9 each which is another option.
2. How long does it take to cure? I'll likely be doing this in the Northeast in December inside a garage.. so it will be 50-60 degrees inside the garage.
I would guess you will need the caulk gun tube if you plan on using this stuff. You will need a 1/4"- 5/16" bead around the entire perimeter of the door seal.
I used 5/16" Window Weld buytl that I ordered from Amazon for about $20? Used a hair dryer and a 2" wide roller to really seal the stuff to the door.
I ended up buy new vapor barriers as I had no idea if they had been cut for a window regulator repair. Mine turned out to be in good shape, but it was easier to install the new ones.
Only issue you need to sort out is if your car has rear airbags. You need to look closely at the rear door panel and see if it has the word Airbag embossed it the rear part of the door panel, if it does, you need the vapor seal with airbags. I think it is actually the cheaper of the 2 vapor barriers.
Another option might be to use the Dow Corning Gutter Sealant that Home Depot and other hardware/home stores sell. This is a cross between an RTV and buytl sealer. Comes in caulk tube for about $5-$7 as I recall?? This stuff takes longer to cure than RTV, but once it cures it is like a buytl/RTV combo?
Only problem about something other than the straight buytl, is if the vapor seal tries to pull away and/or the door panel does no hold the vapor seal tight to the door.
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I found this smaller diameter round buytl sealer to work very well. Single roll is enough for 2 doors
I then took a hair dryer an heated the vapor buytl then put the vapor barrier on and heated the vapor barrier and then pressed the vapor barrier down very firmly all over where the buytl sealer was. This seemed to really give a good, solid seal overall and made the sealing area much wider.
I decided to order and install new vapor barriers as I did not know if anyone had ever been in my rear door and cut or tore the vapor seals. At the end of the day I kept the original vapor barriers if I ever need them in the future, but I removed all the old buytl, not hard with a plastic putty knife and the hair dryer, then basically had a full new installation.
Rear door vapor seals looks like they are about $30 each? BMW part numbers -
51488230221- Left rear with airbag
51488230222 - Right rear with airbag
I believe the vapor barrier for airbag equipped cars will work in cars without airbags????
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