Door Seal Repair

My mild OCD means that whenever there is something a little wrong with my car it bothers me. Recently I noticed that the rocker panel door seal under the driver’s side door was missing.

I figured it would be an easy repair, but that was before I found out that the seal itself (part 230-690-01-98) was discontinued. (sigh)

The one for the passenger side is still available. I assume that is because the driver’s door is used more frequently and thus there is a higher chance for the seal to go missing.

My shop told me that they couldn’t find one and that at least one other of their customers was missing the same seal, but I managed to find a used one on eBay. The seller, R129-parts.eu, is located in Riga, Lativa and the part was shipped quickly and arrived in good shape. It even included the little hard plastic bit that goes toward the front, but the one on my car was still there so I didn’t need it.

In an ironic twist, while I’ve only been in Riga once, the seller and I had one friend in common. Small world.

Before installing the used seal I bought a rocker clip (part 011-988-98-78) to replace the missing one. It was simple to install: I just kinda pushed it in and then used needle nose pliers to pull the “clip” bits into place.

Before installing the seal I washed it in cold water with a little dish soap at the advice of Wayne R on Benzworld. Then it was a simple matter of pressing it into place.

I think it looks a lot better than it did before:

and I am certain to look at it every time I get in and out of the car to make sure it doesn’t fall out again. I’m not sure I’ll be able to find another one.