Self replacement part

Hello,

I finally got my first EV 2019 i3s BEV, but it came as a side panel joint broke.
It's a small rubber molding connection between panels and about $10 US I ordered myself.

Anyone could possibly tell this is easy to replace by myself? (Photo attached) :?

I probably have to bring it to the dealership with a labor fee... if this is something I have to take any parts out.
Thanks for the inputs!

Hi Tearless,

The improperly fitted rubber joint on your 2019 i3 will be covered by a new car warranty unless the car has been driven more than 50k miles or misused in some way (like improper installation of a roof rack, for example).

Have you tried reseating the strip with gentle pressure and re-hooking the u-shaped end over the roof rail?

sheinr4143 said:

Hi Tearless,

The improperly fitted rubber joint on your 2019 i3 will be covered by a new car warranty unless the car has been driven more than 50k miles or misused in some way (like improper installation of a roof rack, for example).

Have you tried reseating the strip with gentle pressure and re-hooking the u-shaped end over the roof rail?

Click to expand...

I just got a used one. It's only 8k mileage on.
It looks like the u-shaped end got cut off and pressure with my fingers wouldn't make it stay.
I checked the Driver's Side, and this molding looks like a "ring" shape wrapped around.

Just ordered a part to home to see how the original parts look like.
I will try to fit in myself but might have to bring it to the dealership. Got to make an appointment for the first year/10k service anyway.
Hope they can do it for free during the maintenance. :roll:

Probably was overlooked during a windshield replacement. Here's how to get at it.

https://youtu.be/dSkxHLLhphs

Wow, Thank you so much eNate!
This is really helpful!! I am not sure if I can pop that front panel out by myself tho lol.
The part is coming tomorrow, and I think I am just gonna bring it to the dealership to do it for me.. peace of mind plus I do not have all the tools the guy has in the video.

But I really appreciate you for sharing this!!

I will be interested to hear if the Dealer will install this for you as, even though it may be an official BMW part, it was not something THEY ordered.
Dealers tend to be reluctant to installing parts they did not procure.

For what it's worth, you can walk into any auto parts store and buy a pack of plastic "panel pullers" similar to what the guy in the video used, for about $10.

An independent window installer might charge a couple of bucks. BMW will probably charge an hour labor, and might proactively charge for replacement clips, since they expect them to break. The guy in the video was proceeding carefully so as to salvage the clips for reuse.

So, I got the part today. Based on the windshield replacement video, I really don't think I have to pull the entire panel off.
I just need to pull 2 clips carefully, and pop out the molding part up, and put this part in... (At least in my opinion) and don't have to deal with that tricky part with risks.

My BEV just got a tint installed, and waiting to dry up for the next few days. 1st-year service maybe happens sometime next week with dealership.
Meanwhile, I will try to do this with my theory.. and see what happens.



Just bought a trim toolset for 4,99 from Autozone. If this works, All the cost is about $20 in total.
I will keep this updated for fellow i3 owners this weekend.

Just take it to a body shop, they'll figure out where that thing goes and make sure it's secured properly. Probably won't cost much.

Just take it to a body shop, they'll figure out where that thing goes and make sure it's secured properly. Probably won't cost much.

Same thing on my driver side. The rubber is just dangling and won’t reseat. You think this may be covered under the CPO warranty?