Re: glass sealer/glue: why not take it to dealer?

["Mike Wilkens" <mikewilkens@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike wrote:
>The rubber that runs along the bottom edge of my 1998 E36/4 back window
>glass, is partly coming off.  I can slide it back into place around the
>glass edge, but it comes off again.  Seems like it needs some kind of
>treatment to keep it on there.
>Would anyone be kind enough to recommend the particular kind of goop
>needed?

John wrote:
  Mike, if there is a problem with the seal, why not just take it in and
have
  them replace it under warranty? (I presume if it's a '98 you are under
50k
  miles <g>) It is bound to only get worse in the future.
  Regards,
  John

Hi John, well that's a perfectly reasonable answer, so I guess I should
explain
that I live in the Bay Area.  As BMW NA likes to remind us, dealers are
independent
businesses, and each has their own way of doing business.  Here, dealers
are rude,
arrogant, patronizing, incompetent, deceitful, and downright weird.  They
charge $10 a quart for
synthetic oil (yes, even though it's scheduled maintenance).  They take
down information
wrong.  They stare at you for long periods of time when you come in to buy
parts.
(The parts guy literally backed in to the parts area, so as not to lose
sight of me.)
They bribe customers for "excellent" customer satisfaction ratings.

Because the service customer/dealer ratio is high in this area, one must
wait 2
weeks (or more) for an appointment.  Because of dealer incompetence (or
simply because of
a dealer enforcing their "policies"), that appointment is broken and you
have to reschedule
2 weeks later or have them keep your car for some indefinite period of time
to do
an oil change.

If a dealer doesn't want to service your car, because they're packed and
they get reimbursed
for warranty work at a lower rate than they charge their paying customers,
then there
isn't much you can do about it.

In life, you have to decide what you want.  I happen to be extremely
intolerant of
below-average people, so, to retain my sanity, I avoid dealers.  It does
cost me $56.25
to get my oil changed, but it's a small amount to pay to not have to
negotiate with people
who try to not help you, who are too stupid to lie convincingly, and who
ought to be in
jail.  And God only knows what goes on inside that garage.

So, back to this rubber seal, if it needs to be replaced, I will pay to
replace it.  Same with
the torn rubber door seals, the creaking clutch pedal, and the loose
driver's seat.  When I need
genuine BMW parts, and the shop will let me buy them myself, I will buy
them from Stephen
Wolff with pleasure.  I've got the repair fiche and other materials on
order already, to help
me be partially self-sufficient (or at least dangerous).

I know that this mailing list is primarily dedicated to serving home
mechanics in their
repairs, but I hope that it can also be used to help us all learn a little
more about our cars.
and about that mysterious god-like entity we know as BMW AG.  We're all in
the same fog
when it comes to part numbers and BMW policy, so it helps to join a club.

My intention in reading this list is not to save money, but to learn about
how to maintain
and fix simple things myself, and to learn how things work.  My ideal is to
over-maintain the
car such that I have no unpredictable service.

I hope I don't come off as sounding defensive; I didn't interpret John's
message as a challenge
or anything.  I just thought it was worth introducing myself somewhat.

Cheers
Mike

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