The BMW instructions for replacing the windshield trim are attached. The instructions include a cross-section of the the window trim, which shows how metal wraps around the edge of the glass. The instructions suggest removing a "tear-off lip" on the replacement trim, but I did not do that step (I was not clear to me what should be removed).

Round plastic clips at the bottom of the windshield must be removed, they simply slide off. Once removed, the bottom trim can be slightly lifted to remove the windshield trim.

Use plastic tools to scrap off the old trim to expose the internal metal part that wraps around the the glass. Push the metal part off the glass, again using plastic tools (to avoid scratching the glass or anything else).

Clean the edge of the glass and inside the exposed gap. There will be dirt and black rubber residue. I used window cleaner and old wags. Some of the old trim could remain under the windshield, so take your time to get everything removed.

 

Installing the trim is a little tricky. The trim fits tightly around the glass, and once installed it cannot be shifted.

Apply P80 to the edge of the glass and the inside of the rubber trim. The BMW instructions suggest using water, but I'm sure P80 works better.

The top part of the trim must be installed first. Try to get the 2 upper corners in position, then push the top edge into the gap above the glass. The metal channel in the trim must be pushed onto the edge of the glass. There is no easy way to do this, I just pushed by hand without tools.

The sides should be pushed into the gap, starting at the top. Using a wide plastic tool, push the metal channel onto the edge of the glass.

My trim ended up with a small ripple near the corner :confused3
Still it looks much better than the cracked old trim

 

Superior DIY Clyde. Hope I never have to. But you've sure made it easy

Thanks for these posts

 

Another awesome posts from Clyde!

Thank you Sir for sharing!

Dan

 

Very nice! Did this on my E39 M5, and will be doing it next weekend on my X5 (followed by 740). Now I'll be prepared for the M6 (which is slightly more complicated)!

 

This is great, and in my case very timely the dealer quoted me $500 to replace it when I enquired at my service visit last Saturday. I didn't have the time to wait so deferred it, good thing I did.

 

...the dealer quoted me $500 to replace it when I enquired at my service visit last Saturday.

The dealer must be charging 4x list price for the part and 2 hours of $150 labor.
It took me an hour to do the job, but someone experienced could do it in 15 minutes.

I wonder what BMWNA pays the dealer to replace the trim under warranty :confused2

 

Excellent DIY Clyde.

Oceans of gratitude for sharing.

 

I think I got quoted the "hello sucker" price, the service tech told me he thought the windshield had to come out. My car will not darken their doorstep after the warranty is up apart from oil changes.

 

I know from taking in my pre-BMW cars to Firestone or other mechanics they always charged "book-rate" for whatever your were doing. If they book says that an alternator is 2 hours but it only takes 1 hour they charge the 2. But if a repair is ugly and it takes 3 hours then that person gets a break, some win most lose. Car repair socialism :haha:

I am not sure if BMW does this, but I do know that when I take in my car my SA tells me "this is a 6.5 hour job". I think we all know that the chances of that being EXACTLY 6.5 hours every time is unlikely, yet the cost is not adjusted at the end.

 

You are exactly right. The BMW dealerships charge by the book rate (number of hours) for a job. This has the effect of BMWNA and the customer getting work done for a set price. How long it takes is almost secondary - unless you are expecting your car to be done at the end of the day that is ouich

Cheers

 

Knowledge is power, that is why I love forums like this and Rennlist--the tech info and the people on here make the ownership experience more cost efficient and much more rewarding.

They do call them "stealerships" for a reason...there are some good ones though. My wife's Escalade is from Sewell Cadillac and they have been great to deal with.

The assumption some dealer personnel make--that we are both wealthy and clueless bugs me sometimes. It reminds me of what my dad calls "Saddle River Tax", whenever a new contractor comes out to their house in NJ he looks at it and doubles his price, then he meets my dad who has already estimated the cost of the work based on the RS Means Construction Cost Guide and gets a rude awakening.

Thanks again Clyde!

Jim

 

You are correct, this is info that us 6 owners can use, so Thanks Clyde! But I can tell you from personal experience I would never have a dealer replace windshield trim, I have done it on other vehicles and the principal is the same. It is not particularly hard especially when you have someone like Clyde who is willing to give a roadmap.

With that said, I never agree with the characterization that they are "stealerships". No one forces people to go and pay those rates, there are choices. The dealers charge a rate, they have to pay enormous amounts of money to have the best equipment and the tech's who are factory qualified. Not to mention the infrastructure necessary to serve us, the consumer who purchased a BMW. Can you imagine if a dealer simply sold you the car and you had to figure out how or with who to repair it with? I have a friend with a CL55 AMG who has a great indie he uses since he is out of warranty. He had a problem that the indie could not figure out, finally he had to take it to the dealer who did figure it out. Sure it cost him, but that extra level of expertise was available...at a price. Stealing from him? He didn't think so!

Look at me go!!! :typing:

 

The stealership reference was not intended as a generalization which is why I made a point to mention that there are good ones. If anyone was offended that was not my intent.

While I agree that there is a tremendous amount of infrastructure and capital involved in running a modern dealership including a service department there is a "continuum of honesty" as there is in most businesses. In my time at Ford (spent 8 years at WHQ in Dearborn), I saw a lot of examples of the bad end of the spectrum in the form of dealers who would defraud the warranty system, dealers who would charge customers for services covered by warranty and then bill Ford as well, dealers who took advantage of customers with impaired mental facilities, and my personal favorite packing on additional unnecessary services (check your blinker fluid?) onto routine maintenance schedules. This has made me a bit suspicious of dealers despite the fact that my uncle is the principal/owner of a large Cadillac dealership, my brother is the dealer GM for another uncle who owns a dealership and they are both stand up guys whose dealerships have great reputations as is the Sewell Group (to name one in Dallas).

In the particular case of my getting the quote they tried to take advantage of what appeared to be a well heeled and busy person and by lying to me about what it involves and what it should cost that was an attempt to steal from me so they deserve the epithet in this case.

 

The stealership reference was not intended as a generalization which is why I made a point to mention that there are good ones. If anyone was offended that was not my intent.

Stealership is the correct tem :cheers:

...In my time at Ford (spent 8 years at WHQ in Dearborn), I saw a lot of examples of the bad end of the spectrum in the form of dealers who would defraud the warranty system, dealers who would charge customers for services covered by warranty and then bill Ford as well, dealers who took advantage of customers with impaired mental facilities, and my personal favorite packing on additional unnecessary services (check your blinker fluid?) onto routine maintenance schedules.

I met a Ford stealership mechanic who would simply skip performing some repairs ouich

 

i see this is old but on that molding that lil crimp will come out just use a heat gun with a paddle stick and work it out i ended up just cutting my windshield out to replace mines "safelite repair safelite replace"

 

Thanks Clyde for this DIY! I finally got around to replacing my trim, it was cracked and beyond ready to go. It took me about 30 minutes, most of the time was spend cleaning the channel around the windshield. Some paper towels soaked with Simply Green did a nice job of getting the gunk out.

After reading other posts from 3 and 5 series owners about trim replacement I just used some soapy water as lube. All I had to do was dip my hand into the bowl of solution, ran it along the trim that I was inserting, and it went in with no issue. That and my homemade trim tool (a retired plastic spatula that I had cut done for uses such as this) made it a quick and easy fix.

One small bit of advice for anyone doing this in the future, if your old trim is really cracked pull your car outside of your garage when you take out the old trim. As I peeled it off the windsheild it dropped tons of small sticky rubber bits on my garage floor, getting those up was a pain! They didn't sweep up well and while moving around I stepped on some which meant I had to scrap them up. I wish I had pulled off the trim out in the street in front of my house.