[dankykev04]

anybody notice in their coupes that with the windows down, the top of the window shows about 1/8th to 1/4th of an inch out of the door panel. is this common with all coupes since the doors are so big and the windows dont fit in the panel?

 

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

My M3 does it.

It might just be to keep them centered, but that's a guess.

 

[xemo]

Mine also. I think it's so the window stays on track when lifted (like a guide). It is connected at the bottom and therefore, no additional guides are needed. This would save weight, money and complexity. Just a guess.

 

[The HACK]

You guys are putting WAY too much analysis.

Take a look at the curvature of the window. Then take a close look at the curvature of the door. The window is simply too TALL to completely disappear into the door, since it has to go down in a straight path following nearly the same angle. To completely hide the window the glass would have to extrude past the door frame, or the window regulators would have to be microns thick.

EDIT: Image may not be ideal, since it's not taken of the door ajar STRAIGHT ON, so the perspectives are a bit messed up, but this should illustrate my point.

 

[JonathanIT]

I remember a little while after I got my car last year this topic was discussed a few times in relation to convertibles. The strange thing is, it seemed to only be a problem on passenger side windows, not the drivers side. My car is like this; the drivers side disappears completely, but there is a little bit of the passenger side that sticks up. Here are links a couple of the threads:

Question: Pass. window 2004 330i convertivle

Frustrated New Bimmer Owner

I'm sure that the door on a convertible and coupe are very similar.

--J.

 

[jamin77]

You guys are putting WAY too much analysis.

Take a look at the curvature of the window. Then take a close look at the curvature of the door. The window is simply too TALL to completely disappear into the door, since it has to go down in a straight path following nearly the same angle. To completely hide the window the glass would have to extrude past the door frame, or the window regulators would have to be microns thick.

EDIT: Image may not be ideal, since it's not taken of the door ajar STRAIGHT ON, so the perspectives are a bit messed up, but this should illustrate my point.

You're right, the glass is too tall, but I do not think the situation has much to do with the curvature of the door. Keep in mind that there is at least 2" of glass below the belt line when the window is up all the way, where the regulator attaches to the glass. The window is just too tall to hide in the door. Now this has definitely been over-analyzed.