Door window gaps different.

  • Thread starter Thread starter SameGuy
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SameGuy

SameGuy

Well-Known Member
Last night driving home I noticed some creaking noises, as we all know the sound in this car travels so they could be from anywhere; what sounds like it’s coming from the corner of the windshield or the A-pillar might actually be coming from above the door or the B-pillar. But I just walked around my car and noticed that the gap between the driver side window and the rear quarter glass is rather large, so I double checked the other side and it looks much narrower. My window drops and raises when I open the door as expected, so I’m truly wondering what the problem might be. Anybody else seen this? I thought the LCI/2 F5xes were noted for their panel alignment and QC (but this is something I never noticed).

Driver side:

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Passenger side:

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When I grasp the window pane on the driver side there is play, it can move up about a quarter inch at the front, and correspondingly towards the upper aft by about the same amount, the fulcrum seemingly somewhere near the middle. There’s no such play on the passenger side.
 
Mine must be a Wednesday build then, both sides are like your passenger side :)
 
The gap wasn’t there before. I guess I’m going back to my crappy dealership. Only thing I can think is that something came loose in the window mechanism.
 
Every trip to scheduled dealership service (multiple brands) over the past two years: “Hello and welcome to our dealership, we’re three days behind, and we have no loaners, but you can leave it here. Our phones must be broken because we should definitely have called you before you took time off and drove all the way here.”

or

“Software? What is that? Like on computers?”
 
The fact that I can get the window pane to jiggle at least confirms some of the creaking I’m hearing on rougher roads.
 
There's slop no matter what, for various reasons. When the regulator stalls up into the top header that's when you get your tight fit.

The Mini windows are frameless which looks cool but provides a lot of extra challenges. Usually the glass is clamped in and there's a lot of (required) adjustment you get from loosening the clamps and shifting the glass. That has to be done in a per-car basis at time of build.

Technically the B-pillar seal only contacts the inside of the window so the fore-aft position doesn't matter, but it does look like the glass is not quite sitting fully on the seal on your car.

I kinda doubt this would make a creak noise, more likely to make a whistle at speed, but you never know. To fix it, they'll have to shift the whole glass rearward. Due to geometry that also means your glass will either be able to go higher or you'll get a worse seal at the A pillar, depending on the current limiting factor.

To test your theory you can drive with the window down and see if that fixes the creak.
 
Well, I certainly want the uneven gap to get sorted, whether or not it’s causing noises. As I said, I’m fond of the car and I’ve been over it and over it in five months of ownership, this misalignment wasn’t present until now.
 
The window may have slipped, I'm sure dealer service can reposition the window. They were going to adjust mine when I first got my SE because the windows wouldn't recess completely into the door. But that turned out to be a "brand new" stiffness thing, they work fine now. They do stop slightly above the door and I have to open again to get it all the way into the door.
 
Puppethead said:
The window may have slipped, I'm sure dealer service can reposition the window. They were going to adjust mine when I first got my SE because the windows wouldn't recess completely into the door. But that turned out to be a "brand new" stiffness thing, they work fine now. They do stop slightly above the door and I have to open again to get it all the way into the door.
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After 2 years, I still have to hit the window switch a second time to get the window to disappear completely. Before the second push, the front-top edge sits about 1/8-inch above the door.
 
SameGuy said:
I guess I’m going back to my crappy dealership.
Click to expand...
I called Diane, my service advisor, and got her VM. It says she’s on vacation until the 16th, and to please call her colleague Jerry at such-and-such extension… So I called back and got Jerry’s VM, and it says he’s on vacation until the 23rd, and to please call his colleague Diane. :rolleyes:
 
insightman said:
After 2 years, I still have to hit the window switch a second time to get the window to disappear completely. Before the second push, the front-top edge sits about 1/8-inch above the door.
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Mine are the same way, I think that's normal behavior these days. When I first got my SE and pointed it out to my motoring advisor, we tried a bunch of new (2021) ICE cars that were in the showroom and they behaved the same way.
 
I’m not sure I understand. When I click my windows down, they both disappear. Are you saying that it stops a quarter inch short of disappearing? And a second press gets it to drop the last quarter inch?
 
SameGuy said:
I’m not sure I understand. When I click my windows down, they both disappear. Are you saying that it stops a quarter inch short of disappearing? And a second press gets it to drop the last quarter inch?
Click to expand...
1/8-inch, yes
 
I may question some of the design choices which led to some interesting (or puzzling/questionable) engineering solutions, but this little F56 is far and away the most solidly-built car I’ve driven or owned, including multiple Hondas, Toyotas, and Subarus (and a whole swack of Eurotrash).
 
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