Is the boot seal worthwhile?

[Doudeau]

I’m using the lockdown to fit some of the accessories I bought last year and never got around to fitting.

I started fitting the seals (Basenor in my case) but I’m not convinced about fitting them in the boot (aka trunk).

it looks like it’ll be impossible to make them look neat as there are several sharp bends to navigate.

I’m guessing the sound insulating benefits will be limited but I’d gain from the boot closing sound being more like it should for a car of its value.

Should I just do the doors and frunk? or has anyone got any tips - like just fit along the top edge?

 

[N4t_Boy51]

This is a mod I’m intending to do when my SR+ finally arrives. Lots of very good guides on YouTube. Lots of reviews but all seem to be positive for doing it. Seems daft to not do the boot if you have the seals to do it.

 

[tj333]

gain from the boot closing sound being more like it should

I discovered the plastic adjuster bolts a few days ago, unscrewed about half a turn and my boot close sound is now less 'tinny' (maybe placebo, either way I'm happier!)

 

[Doudeau]

Thanks tj - I’ll take a look at that later.

Here is what I saw on a YouTube video, for fitting them, that I think looks so cheap and nasty - I wouldn’t be happy to open my boot and see that every time.

 

[M3noob]

I’m using the lockdown to fit some of the accessories I bought last year and never got around to fitting.

I started fitting the seals (Basenor in my case) but I’m not convinced about fitting them in the boot (aka trunk).

it looks like it’ll be impossible to make them look neat as there are several sharp bends to navigate

I’m guessing the sound insulating benefits will be limited but I’d gain from the boot closing sound being more like it should for a car of its value.

Should I just do the doors and frunk? or has anyone got any tips - like just fit along the top edge?

Frunk Insulation:

While I was fitting my frunk hooks I also went for the €66 Frunk Insulation Matt also from www.torque-alliance.com in the Netherlands.

The fibre mat is probably no real help with road noise but it might provide some heat insulation when the sun gets going on the bonnet. I have to say that it also looks a lot better than the bare bones of the frunk supports.

Installation was straight forward with double sticky tape holding the mat in place so you can fix it in place with the eight bolts and strange finger-shaped nuts supplied.

A note of caution... I used Nut Lock fluid on the bolts because I was afraid that if one worked lose it with hide itself in an inaccessible channel in the frunk supports and rattle.

 

[Doudeau]

That’s a neat job.

If the lockdown goes on much longer I’ll no doubt get bored and do the same.

I ended up fitting all of the seal and it doesn’t look as bad as the image I posted above.

Next job for me was Mud flaps and I used offcuts from the door seals between the flaps and the body work as I didn’t like the idea of the hard plastic edges digging into the paint that I am trying to protect.

 

[kuruma]

I ended up removing mine about a month after we fitted it. I followed the install vids and did the whole car except the frunk at the time.

To show you how much we've missed it, I'd actually forgotten it was gone until I saw your thread. The only thing it did for us was irritate us every time we wanted to close the boot. The boot was much harder to close. Forget the idea that it'll make it sound more like a car that cost that much. You'll be slamming it that much harder. I had hoped that after a month of doing this at least once daily that the seal would flex a bit and allow us to return to shutting the boot with the normal amount of force. Nope.

The clincher for me were the two occasions where we thought it as closed and walked away from the car only to return and find that the car had not locked because the boot hadn't shut properly even though it looked shut. Not worth risking an unlocked car for what we perceived to be no gain at all in sound insulation.

And don't get me started on other people trying to shut it... and failing again... and again...

 

[Durzel]

On the subject of seals.. before I bought the car I was expecting the door closure sounds to be really cheap sounding, based on how much people seemed to rave about the seals.

Either MY20 cars have been improved in that area, or I’ve never had a car with a “decent” closing sound, because I don’t think mine are actually bad at all. They’re not tinny, or insubstantial, if I wasn’t aware of the availability of seals I wouldn’t even think it was a problem?

 

[pdk42]

I bought the Basenor seal kit from Amazon. I took one look at the boot seal and decided not to bother. The others were fairly easy to fit and I think made a noticeable difference. I also fitted the roof seal at the same time though, so the net result will be due to both.

However, the biggest difference in reducing wind noise came from ad-hoc sealing around the base of the a-pillars and the wing-mirror. Pay attention to two things:

a) The chrome trim on the top of the door continues up to the bracket that holds the wing mirror. If the trim is not installed fully forward and butting up against the bracket then it causes significant wind noise at speed. On my car, it was fine on the near side and quiet, but there was a 2-3mm gap on the off side which generated a lot of noise. I stuffed some rubber seal into the gap and it fixed it perfectly. Another option is to remove the trim and reposition it, but I've not been brave enough to try that.

b) The gap between the A-piller and the top of the wing causes wind noise too. I inserted a bit of seal here and found another drop in wind noise.

I also stuck a bit of the left-over seal onto the top of the door where it closes by the hinge. Not sure that made much difference, but whatever! It's not the prettiest of things, but you can't see it when the door is closed and it's not that obvious when it's open unless you know where to look.

With all that in place, the car now has very little wind noise, even at 70mph. The remaining cabin noise now is tyre/road noise. When tyre change time comes, I'm going to look for the quietest ones I can find. They may not perform as well as the SP4s on now, but I'm not treating the Tesla as a sports car!

Pics below:

Trim at top of door with area to look at:

My driver's door:

Gap at top of A-pillar (filled in with rubber seal in this shot):

Extra seal at top of door:

 

[Durzel]

Impressive how you managed to localise the wind noise to that gap by the wing mirror

 

[MrBadger]

Even more impressive is having paint on the front door hinges.

 

[Jez_GB]

On the subject of seals.. before I bought the car I was expecting the door closure sounds to be really cheap sounding, based on how much people seemed to rave about the seals.

Either MY20 cars have been improved in that area, or I’ve never had a car with a “decent” closing sound, because I don’t think mine are actually bad at all. They’re not tinny, or insubstantial, if I wasn’t aware of the availability of seals I wouldn’t even think it was a problem?

I agree - the sound when closing is a pleasing "thunk". I'm less happy with the water/crud ingress that the lack of a second seal allows so I've plumped for a set on that basis!

 

[pdk42]

Impressive how you managed to localise the wind noise to that gap by the wing mirror

It took some time I can tell you - lots of taping up!

 

[Heavy Rain]

For me the noise reduction from door rubbers are noticeable, but to me the most important thing is you will keep the door sills clean
For the boot (trunk) rubber, I have cut it into pieces with a 45 degrees angle for the bends, looks much better.

 

[kuruma]

I found that double sided tape works wonders when the adhesive starts wearing off. Seals are now back tight as never before.