I’ve been accumulating new door seals over the past several months to replace all four of mine, which are torn and ripped in too many places. I’ve been finding chunks of seal in the car and on the driveway recently. They are still available (bmw part) and while not crazy money, I popped for one per month for the last several months. They are the seals that run all the way around the door frame, and are friction fitted to the pinch weld. RealOEM lists them as “Edge protection”.
Pop up the plastic door sill with a trim tool, but be careful because in front these are held down at the ends by a tab that fits/locks under a corresponding tab on the plastic pillar/footwell cover. These tabs are very fragile now. Plastic clips slotted into the sill cover pop into the floor to hold them along their length. Somehow these seem pretty sturdy and none broke or failed during this work. My sill pieces are pretty beaten up, so I may replace these in the future. Assuming they are available.
Once the sill piece is off, grab the seal and pull it off of the pinch weld. Note the seam where the old seal is joined to make a continuous loop is “clocked” on the door opening (likely the floor) then start installing new one with the seam at this same point. I’m not sure if this matters, but I figured it couldn’t hurt. It takes some wiggling technique to get the new seal onto the pinch weld, and a rubber mallet to finish it up. It’s also exactly the correct length, but being rubber it’s easy to end up with too much seal to cover the last few inches if it gets stretched at all during installation. After a few attempts where I ended up with too much seal at the end, my technique became to push the seal on, both in a downward and lateral way so that the seal is slightly compressed against the length you’ve already installed, as it goes on. This way you won’t have a bit too much seal for not enough pinch weld. I read that some guys cut the seal to trim it, but there is no need for this as it is exactly the correct size. The fabric part of the seal can be worked over the headliner and pillar covers with a trim tool.
The doors, especially the rear doors, close much, much more solidly now. Time will tell if the wind and road noise on the highway is reduced.