Replacing partition glass?
- Thread starter 18000rpm
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Difficult. You need to have an auto glass place do it. It's just like putting in a windshield and uses the same heated urethane sealant. The service manual has the instructions.
R&R of the dual pane glass starts on page 20-26 of the 1991 service manual and takes six pages. Removal is relatively simple. Most of the six pages is dedicated to installation of the new glass which is a non trivial exercise. I would not mess with the glass unless I really had to. However, the reinstallation process deals with the dual pane glass which has staggered edges which complicates things so may not be applicable to the R glass. Things like the de frost may also not apply. The R glass install may be simpler. The best thing to do would be to find a service manual applicable to the R and check it out.
Because of the staggered edges and the difference in overall thickness I expect that the moldings that the glass fits in will be different. You might want to check on the availability of those items.
Because of the staggered edges and the difference in overall thickness I expect that the moldings that the glass fits in will be different. You might want to check on the availability of those items.
Hmmm. I would get professionals to do it but even so I'm not sure if it is worth the potential issues.
Any idea how much weight it saves? Although to be honest I'm more interested in getting my car more similar to an R than the actual weight savings.
Any idea how much weight it saves? Although to be honest I'm more interested in getting my car more similar to an R than the actual weight savings.
About 4 lbs. I'm doing it because I won't get any more annoying condensation stains between the glass panels that I can't clean! You will have to fabricate a defroster harness since the R glass does not have it.
There are 3M urethane window sealant products that don't require any heating or special tools, just a caulk gun, if anyone is brave enough to DIY. I cut out and re-glued the small triangle windows on my 540i using that stuff and it worked out great. Definitely need a respirator while using it though if you want to keep your brain cells intact.
Thanks BMW for making a trim piece that falls apart and requires the window to be removed to replace it.
Thanks BMW for making a trim piece that falls apart and requires the window to be removed to replace it.
Why do you need to fabricate a harness since the R doesn't have it?
It's been so long now, but i remember it being very easy and i logged 4.2 lbs savings. Perhaps the thinner R glass was why my install went so easy, but i don't recall being worried about it being a "loose" fit. There may have been a distinct R gasket that i didn't bother to research. I'm sure MITA or perhaps SOS could advise on this. What i recall - the only tricky part is trying to save the old perimeter gasket as my car was so new at the time i didn't want to replace the gasket. I taped up both sides of the window with duct tape all over. You will want to remove the engine cover for access, lay a bedsheet over the engine taping up the edges. Tap/smack the window with a rubber hammer from the inside and keep at it sort of "folding" the broken window out the back. I think i did get a few pieces to clean up, but not much. I don't remember glueing the new window in - i think it was just like a normal non-windshield installation where you put the old rubber around the new window, slop the perimeter of the gasket with liquid dish soap. Put the bottom in first and then use a plastic pry tool to go around and tuck the rubber in. Clean up the soap and thats it. I'm sure you can u-tube the old "string trick" (you can buy a cheap kit), but i didn't need to do that as this window was so small. You will notice slightly more sound transmission from the engine compartment, especially if you have ditched the OE cover (you wanted an R sound track, right?) I love this as my audiophile interests remain in the house, but some may not. A plug for my favorite tape - PRO-GAFF brand "gaffers" tape. I love this stuff. You can stick in on a perfect paint job, leave it for months and it comes right off with zero residue. That said for this install i would recommend Gorrilla tape he-he. 3m "window weld" is fantastic stuff, but in this case the gasket goes both inside and outside the pane/body, so there is not even a place to use it. Of course you will lose the defroster, I don't recall what i did, but since this was not something i would ever want to "undo", i likely cut back the wiring, shrink wrapped the ends and removed a fuse. Hope this helps.
I should further mention that IF one had a new window rubber and wanted to save the old glass, I believe the correct procedure would be to take a razor knife cutting off the rubber "flange" on the engine side having a person in the cabin to catch the glass. That would eliminate the errant glass particle issue. I didn't consider this as it was a "never go back" issue for me. Even if the rubber perimeter strip is no longer available, i'm sure roll goods generic window "molding" is available. And then a tiny bit of butyl product like window weld would likely seal it up good.
Interesting account of replacing the partition glass (in Japanese but can easily translate with browser):
<title>NSX 軽量化プロジェクト リヤパーテーションガラス | Fancy Craft │ 02R NSX-R 1枚ガラス
プライベータのNSXチューニング&メンテナンス
fancy-craft.firebaseapp.com
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