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535GT owners - Door Question

5K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  dmunz 
#1 ·
Hello All,

What's been your experience with closing the doors on your GT's, those without the softshut option? I stopped by the dealer today for something else and the service team noticed how they did not shut easily right away. Even said that "closing them twice will get old quick".

Do you find you have to slam your doors to close, and/or they are not closing easily?

Also - I used used the wiper cleaner for the first time today, and the headlights cleaner sprayed the whole car. Everyone else see this too? I probably would not have noticed it if it was raining, but it was a dry day, and I was just cleaning the window (next time I'll use a rag :D ). Note I found out, if the headlights are not on, the headlight wash will not spray....

Thanks in advance.

Wardman
 
#2 ·
After awhile, you'll get 'the touch', and be able to close them once without slamming. This is a symptom of any frameless windowed door. They help a little by lowering the window slightly, but it still requires a moderate push to close.

I'm not sure how many of the models have a frameless window. Many of those ordered probably have the comfort access package, which includes the soft-close doors, then you'd never notice. I resisted that package because it was yet another thing to go wrong in the long-term, and it adds weight, too - the GT is already heavy enough!
 
#4 ·
The whole point of the soft-close doors is that you shouldn't slam them...just bring them to the first contact, then let the motor close it completely. If it doesn't close properly, hopefully, the dealer can resolve it. I'm not sure what would happen if it was regularly slammed like a 'normal' door - it might mess it up.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Hello All,

What's been your experience with closing the doors on your GT's, those without the softshut option? I stopped by the dealer today for something else and the service team noticed how they did not shut easily right away. Even said that "closing them twice will get old quick".

Do you find you have to slam your doors to close, and/or they are not closing easily?

-snip-

Thanks in advance.

Wardman
I have an F10 and my driver's side door (no soft-close option) was difficult to close; i.e. often when I tried to swing it shut it wouldn't latch. Point being it's not just a frameless window issue. My other doors close fine. I was going to bring it back but was afraid that my dealer's crew would have to remove the door card and all the associated gimmickry and would, as a result, cause many more problems (e.g. leaks, switches not working). So I've left it and, frankly, it has loosened up considerably over the six months I've had the car. There are still times when, say, a parking attendant or other valet will try to swing the driver's door shut and it won't latch, but lately those times have been few and far between.

Just FYI.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for the longer term report. I also hear you about the "other" things that could come about from any tweaking but may let them look at it if they let me test out the 740i loaner they have over there :) The F07 is really in that category!

Wardman
 
#10 ·
Had the drivers' door not latch several times over 9 months, but then not again. I think the mechanism may get misaligned IF you press the lock or unlock buttons on the door handle accidentally while closing the door. I believe that is what I did and the door simply popped back open. I unlocked it using the inside dash button and it closed normally and pulled itself snug. One more occasion of the same thing several months later and I blame myself for doing the same thing, grabbing the entire handle while closing the door and confusing the mechanism. It seems all too easy to slightly pull the handle outward while unlocking it with the strip and pushing the door away from you to close, all in one motion.

I blame that on the frameless doors, as with the old framed glass, we simply gave the frame a shove and that was it. I think most of us are too conditioned to shove the glass, due to potential damage or breakage, and pushing at the beltline just doesn't seem natural if the window isn't down, or you're not in convertible!
 
#11 ·
My new GT is back at the dealer right now for the door issue. I found that I have trouble closing the driver's door both from the outside and inside. I really have to pull hard to get it to shut when I'm in the driver seat. The left rear door has the same problem.

I'll report back in when the service advisor tells me what they found/fixed.

FWIW
DLM
 
#12 · (Edited)
Anyone i know that has had soft close doors (and in some cases trunks) have inevitably had a problem at some point during ownership often repetitive! Soft close doors are NOT MEANT TO BE SLAMMED, unfortunately there is no one to train parking attendants or your non regular passengers...
Yes triggering the lock mechanism during the soft close process can damage the the mechanism...

My 550 came with soft close as part of one of the packages and i had to special order NO SOFT CLOSE DOORS! The doors are heavy and big and some passengers do not pull hard enough and the door needs to be reclosed...

Most convertibles have framelss design and have the same window drop down feature upon closing so I'm used to the "feel" of this..

If you have soft closed doors,
1)expect to need them "fine tuned" every so often, make it a practice to either complain or at least have them checked anytime you service the car...(by complaining they will really look at them and may notice a slight misalignment)
2)start remembering to notify your passengers "don't slam the door"!!!!!!!

mp
 
#13 ·
Update to my door issue

I picked up my car yesterday and the service advisor said they made some kind of adjustment to the catch mechanism on the driver's side door. Now it closes fine but it still doesn't have that solid feel to it that I expect. We will give it some time and see.

On the passenger side they side the latch was fine but the upper corner of the window (on the left as you look at the car) could be pushing against the seal. One closing, this could prevent the door from fully shutting without a firm push. They didn't want to mess with it as anything they changed would throw the rest of the door out of balance. The SA told me it should get better with time. Looking at the way the door it, I can accept that description of what is going on and that it may "wear in". We shall see.

FWIW
DLM
 
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