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E46 couple question...windows in door frame

I got a ride in an E46 and noticed something funny about the windows.

The windows are kind of "stand alone"...they are not "in the frame" of the door like on my old Japanese car. When you close the door with the window up, the top most part of the door IS the window...ie there's no metal frame in which the window is enclosed.

I'm not sure why BMW does this. I would think it maybe makes it look sleeker...but you have to be careful to close the door from the actual door and not the window. In my Japanese car you can grab the top corner of the door, right at roof level and it's metal. In the BMW it is the window itself.

Do they do this on sedans as well?

I'm just curious. Sorry to belabor the point.

Reply to
kpb
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Which BMW are you talking about??? My e46 has doorframes - was it a "Ci" cabriolet??

Reply to
Choam Nomsky

"kpb" wrote

It's just on the coupes, IIRC.

door and not the window.

The bigger problem is that those rubber seals above the door have a tendency to come off. Or did BMW finally come up with a fix for that?

Cheers, Pete

Reply to
Pete

They do this with coupes. It is style over substance and, yeah, it leads to trouble with the rubber seals. They also have the window lower a bit before closing and this adds to wear of the (already short-lived) window winder mechanism. Sedans have proper framed windows, and also the under-designed winder mechanisms.

BMW is a very strange company design/engineering wise.

Some things they do extremely well and intelligently (like the in-line six gas engines and their diesels) and some things they do really, really ineptly and almost criminally stupidly (sun-roofs, window mechanisms, water pumps, E36/E46 rear shock supports).

It's like once in a while the adults leave the kids in charge of design/engineering.

GRL

Reply to
nopcbs

"Choam Nomsky" wrote

He's talking about e46 coupe.

Pete

Reply to
Pete

Right, E46 coupe. I titled the thread COUPLE question it should have been COUPE question.

I was wondering if they did that with sedans as well.

I think coupes are a little lower to the ground too. I think a sedan would be better for me, although the coupes have a more captivating look, IMO.

Reply to
kpb

I have the convertible/cabrio, and it doesn't have a frame either.

No real issues with my 2001 - and I don't think anyone expects a door frame on a convertible! I think it's the same body as the coupe, with the frame stiffening... So maybe it's easier to manufacture if they limit the door types to 2 instead of 3 for the sedan, coupe, and convertible...

Reply to
Jerry

Not since the rather strange looking late l940's Kaiser & Frazer models.

Tom K.

Reply to
Tom K.

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