Just changed rear window, what a pain in the butt

[gas guzzler]

After ordering and getting a rear window off ebay, from some place in Germany, I finally got around to putting it in over the weekend. I consider myself to have reasonable ability in fixing things and have replaced two hoods on mx5's but one rear screen tested my patience to the limit. The instructions need to be read and followed very closley and then re-read to take note of the translation from German. Zip wouldn't fit over material so out with the dremmel, back plate for securing pins missing so back out with dremmel, material on zip ends fraying so fastner wouldn't go on so out with soldering iron to melt the nylon, tried zip fastner round new zip on window kept getting stuck because of residue glue, so clean that. Three attempts to get window in, zip kept seperating, finally got it in, went to put double sided tape on (supplied) about as sticky as putting sellotape on a wet surface. The window cost £73 which is about £100 cheaper than an original part, but you get what you pay for, rear screen now nice and clear but the plastic is not as flat as the original product, by which I mean it appears to have a shimmer to it.
Anyway my neighbours have learnt some new swear words and my partner has learnt not to come up with inane comments when I'm stressed

The thread on this forum on how to fix the rear window is very good by the way.

Andy

[chrisp_1]

you saved a bit of money for your pain though

[tags]

Yikes, I have mine to replace at some stage.

Tags

[**Z3**]

You can get it all done for under £200 in Exeter! Lot less stress!

[TitanTim]

I think it really helps if you have a second pair of hands on the outside holding the screen in postion whilst you zip away

Tim.

[chevron]

I have fitted loads of these screens so hope this may help anyone struggling
You need two people for sure
if the zip wont go on as the material is frayed then put the zip on the wrong way round and bring it all the way round the hood zip to the start position and the offer the screen up and start zipping it in
My best tip is once you have the screen started to be zipped in maybe the first 10 teeth use a needle and cotton and stitch the start of the zip teeth up to stop the zip coming apart as you zip the screen in.I in fact stitch over both ends rather than put the metal piece on,this is covered when you tuck the hood material back in

[Trevsky]

I had eactly the same problem trying to fit a genuine BMW one, the zip just would not start on the material and eventually frayed it so badly it was ruined. It got to a point where i was afraid of damaging the material on the hood in the same way and decided the only thing was to start again with another new one. This time I got the dealer to fit it. Must be the most expensive window replacement in the world but at least its done. Afterwards I wondered if putting some kind of lubricant on the material might be the answer.

[gookah]

I chose the ebay one for my wife's Z3, and it was a pig to fit because of frayed ends, but this was also frayed on the hood.
Took me ages to start it then had to undo and redo 4 times because of the zipper out of alignment.. It was a nightmare and I thought the roof would need replacing it was becoming so bad. The teeth on the new window started at the edge of the material and there was no lead in to begin with so I couldn't see which tooth it should line up with.

In fact now I am really reluctant to put the roof down cold, even when its a bit warmer like today because I don't like the idea of going through that process to fit another window if it split again.

[aceman]

Yep I had similar frustrations but patience is certainly a key factor in getting it right.

Glad to hear you thought my writeup was good (if it was mine that is).

[helmik]

I got one from germany too. After much trying i measured it against the original and it was the wrong size. tha went back and i got an ebay one which went in a heck of a lot easier. I have sewn the ends too, more secure.

Glad you got it in though,

Mick

[Jonttt]

I thought it was a pretty easy job (OEM one)

[gas guzzler]

I thought it was a pretty easy job (OEM one)

The thing is it's not the jobs not that hard, it's just frustrating. At the end of the day how hard is it to line two halfs of a zip up and do up? Someone else could do this job line the zips up correctly first go and hey presto job done. Trying to fit in between the seats an rollbars didn't add to the overall experience. It took about 15 mins to get old window out and clean up and and when I finally manage to get it lined up correctly and zipped in took about another 15 mins. It was the hour and a half in between those two events that got me going.
I ended up stitching the ends of the zip as well, found it easier and more secure.

Andy