Wide rubber strip across base of windscreen - W124
 

The wide rubber strip that runs across the base of the windscreen on my father's W124 '93 E320 coupe has come away from the windscreen on the passenger side (left side here in Oz). It appears that it has torn away from the section that engages in a channel to secure it. Attempts to secure the rubber to the glass with contact adhesive have been unsuccessful. It would appear that the rubber strip can be replaced as a separate item. Has anyone performed this job? How difficult is it? It would appear that the wiper needs to be removed first. Whilst the rubber strip is little more than cosmetic, I would like to try to put this right for my father.

On mine, granted it's 94 US model, there's a groove in the windshieldglass into which the rubber strip "clips". Part of mine was coming up, and I couldn't push it back down. I pulled the whole thing up on one side, cleaned out the glass groove with a toothpick (really gritty mess in that little groove). It snapped right back in, very snug against the windshield. Hope this helps. Best,

Michael,

Unfortunately, the section that engages in the groove has torn away from the rest of the strip. That section is still seated in the groove while the rest of the wide rubber strip is free. The only options are to glue the strip to the glass (have tried unsuccessfully already) or replace the strip with a new one.

Thanks,
Greg

Greg,

I've never replaced mine, but I have removed it and reinstalled it and it is pretty easy. There are strips on both the windshield and the engine compartment side of that piece of rubber that fit in slots which hold it in place. It is designed to be easy to take on and off as you need to partially remove it in order to get to the cabin air filters which are at the base of the wiper. You do not need to remove the wiper.

Unless huge parts of that holding strip are missing, I'd try to clean the track and re-install it before I bought a new one. Mine is missing parts of that strip on the windshield side, but there was still enough there to hold it securely in place once I thoroughly cleaned the track.

I also wouldn't agree that this is only a cosmetic piece. I believe it routes the water off the windshield over the seam between the windshield and the body and into the gutter in the engine compartment, where it can be carried safely to the ground. Among other things, this keeps that water out of the computer/electronics compartment which is located behind the battery. I wouldn't delay in getting this fixed if it were me.

I hope this is helpful to you.

Jim P.

Do see if you can find a part number somewhere on the piece. Or if someone has an EPC CD here maybe they can answer this thread....

Good luck.

Patrs number 124 671 13 30 is for the left side moulding below winshield.

If it's something you're not sure you can handle I know any windshield installer would be able to do it.

I was lucky, my insurance company paid for mine when I had the windshield replaced, all I said was the rubber looked worn and it may not seal properly when reinstalled. ;)

Thanks for all the replies. Firstly, the strip is too badly damaged to clip back into position. Most of the passenger (left) side has torn from the section that engages in the groove. I can only assume that someone had been a bit careless when replacing a windscreen at some time before my father purchased the car.

I also notice there must be different versions of this strip. On our '90 300TE it is quite obviously two separate strips, one for each side of the windscreen. Since these run between the wiper hub and the pillar they would appear to be easily replaced without removing anything else. However, on the '93 E320 coupe with the faulty strip, it appears to be one part running the full width of the windscreen. The centre section runs under/around the hub of the wiper suggesting the wiper would need to be removed before the strip can be replaced. Whilst both cars are W124s, there are differences in the detail in the region of the wiper hub.