door rattle! Going back to BMW!

So both my nearside doors have begin to rattle, and they are getting worse all the time, (stops when the window/s is opened).

I have decided to book it in to my local BMW dealer and get them to dismantle both doors and reasemble them with new clips and tightening any screws/nut that have come loose, hopefully this will cure the rattling.

However, my question is, is how long (labour) should it take to dismantle and reasemble a front and rear door on a 1996 e39 540i...?

cheers guys

Dan

The issue with early E39's is the door seals.

The rattling you are most likely hearing is the rubber seal drying out and rubbing against the glass.

When I had my E39 I thought the same thing, that something in the door was loose.

BMW replaced doors seals for a new type in 2000/2001.

In a lot of cases, the BMW door seal lubricant will solve the issue.

take it to bodyshop it might be alot cheaper if you don't care to fix it yourself, i do agree with chuck92103,

Get a bottle of teflon lubrication one brand that I like is Tri-Flow, lube all the door's seals and you will be very happy. This stuff really works well.

what areas would you lube up??

Originally Posted by southbaye39

what areas would you lube up??

start with opening the door, and lubing the outer gasket that is attached to the body. The noise is usually the gasket rubbing against the door.

As for the window seals, look at them first. Newer ones may have a felt feeling to them negating the need for lubrication. If they are rubber, you can lube them.

On E39's, BMW changed the seals from all rubber, to rubber, with some felt placed in strategic locations.

This can be fixed. I took my 2003 530 back in a few weeks after I bought it - they replaced the door seals with different felt lined seals. Two weeks later - same sound! I took it back, they applied 3M teflon tape from front to back on the metal door frame. Now silent for 18 months.

Originally Posted by Joe530

This can be fixed. I took my 2003 530 back in a few weeks after I bought it - they replaced the door seals with different felt lined seals. Two weeks later - same sound! I took it back, they applied 3M teflon tape from front to back on the metal door frame. Now silent for 18 months.

all the way around the doors? and was it placed right up to the edges so it could almost be visible from the other side...?

Originally Posted by danny540bmw

all the way around the doors? and was it placed right up to the edges so it could almost be visible from the other side...?

Naw they tapped the entire door - wrapped it like a mummy. hehe.

Originally Posted by Joe530

This can be fixed. I took my 2003 530 back in a few weeks after I bought it - they replaced the door seals with different felt lined seals. Two weeks later - same sound! I took it back, they applied 3M teflon tape from front to back on the metal door frame. Now silent for 18 months.

I'm curious about this 3M Teflon tape- my seals are gone.

I used canuba wax.