Model 3 - Roof glass rubber seal

[Durzel]

Hi

Before my Model 3 arrived I binge watched loads of YouTube videos, and one of the things that came up was fitting a rubber seal around the roof glass, to reduce wind noise, so I went ahead and bought one from Abstract Ocean.

When my car turned up I was lucky enough that the glass was aligned evenly all around, so there wasn’t any massive gaps.

I hadn’t bothered fitting the seal, mainly because I’m lazy but also because I’m not driving the car regularly. When I have driven it I haven’t felt like there has been obvious wind noise, but at the same time it seems a bit louder than I remember the i3 being. The problem with wind noise and quietness is that I guess it’s subjective, and without a frame of reference it’s hard to tell if one car (my car) is louder than other ones.

I have since seen this video that suggests that there is no actual dB difference:

So, I’m curious, who has fitted one of these and swears by it?

 

[MrBadger]

I've got one but not been able to fit it yet as i'm still waiting to have the windscreen replaced and air leak in roof seal sorted 8 months after collection. It finally went in a few weeks back to have the work done, after several postponed appointments, only to get the car back without the work being done due to not having the required sealant in stock. How much notice do Tesla need to get the relevant items in stock to do the job when its been on the job card since last November?

But when I do get it done, I will report our experience on how much having a properly sealed roof makes to noise, then after a time to acclimatise my ears, how much difference the seal makes.

 

[Medved_77]

Hi

Before my Model 3 arrived I binge watched loads of YouTube videos, and one of the things that came up was fitting a rubber seal around the roof glass, to reduce wind noise, so I went ahead and bought one from Abstract Ocean.

When my car turned up I was lucky enough that the glass was aligned evenly all around, so there wasn’t any massive gaps.

I hadn’t bothered fitting the seal, mainly because I’m lazy but also because I’m not driving the car regularly. When I have driven it I haven’t felt like there has been obvious wind noise, but at the same time it seems a bit louder than I remember the i3 being. The problem with wind noise and quietness is that I guess it’s subjective, and without a frame of reference it’s hard to tell if one car (my car) is louder than other ones.

I have since seen this video that suggests that there is no actual dB difference:

So, I’m curious, who has fitted one of these and swears by it?

Would be keen to hear how you get on.

Got the impression from the videos I've watched that it's less effective in the more recent TM3s as they've done a better job of aligning the roof glass. Some have even struggled to fit it within the gaps due to the improved alignment.

Sensible approach to try an establish a baseline first. I'm holding off installing the door seals until I manage to get an hours drive on the motorway as a reference for wind noise.

 

[Durzel]

I fitted it today, but then removed it again, as I’m not going to be driving the car for a few days, maybe a week or more. Need to really drive it back to back to try and discern a difference.

It fitted ok and was tight all the way around, which is good I suppose as less likely to pop out. I did notice that in the corners it wanted to work itself right under the glass rather than sit along the edge of it, which looked like it would cause more problems.

 

[Rustybkts]

Whilst I couldn't hear any difference, just looking at the screen edges being exposed in a channel means they will be a future dirt trap.
They are well aligned but I am surprised that the front screen is a different width than the rear one by a couple of mm.. Surly they can supply glass that is an exact size!

It is very tempting to just run a silicone bead along it but certainly won't for obvious reasons.

 

[Durzel]

The reason the middle glass section is narrower than the front and rear windscreens is because you can fit a roof rack to the car.

It does look a bit janky if you don’t have one fitted, though, and Tesla being Tesla it is one of those things that tends to be quite random when it comes to alignment.

 

[DaveW]

There have been reports of them cutting through the glass seal in place, it’s not something I’d fit based on that.

 

[Durzel]

There have been reports of them cutting through the glass seal in place, it’s not something I’d fit based on that.

That’s interesting, and scary. Any links to posts where people have talked about that?

 

[m3p_uk]

There have been reports of them cutting through the glass seal in place, it’s not something I’d fit based on that.

What's your source?

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Whilst I couldn't hear any difference, just looking at the screen edges being exposed in a channel means they will be a future dirt trap.
They are well aligned but I am surprised that the front screen is a different width than the rear one by a couple of mm.. Surly they can supply glass that is an exact size!

It is very tempting to just run a silicone bead along it but certainly won't for obvious reasons.

What reasons. Glazers do this on sunroofs

 

[DaveW]

That’s interesting, and scary. Any links to posts where people have talked about that?

What's your source?

I’ll try and find it again, was either on the Model 3 section here, Facebook or Reddit

 

[Medved_77]

There have been reports of them cutting through the glass seal in place, it’s not something I’d fit based on that.

That jogged my memory:

Possible roof damage from “wind reduction kit?” : TeslaModel3

Who knows how it was installed/treated though. I imagine 1000's of these kits have been sold so suspect this is rare.

 

[m3p_uk]

Looks to me like they pulled it too tight in the corners and not any real damage

 

[Durzel]

On the basis that mine slipped under the glass on one corner, and if left would’ve been pushing on the seal due to the tension, within about 5 minutes of fitting, I’m not going to bother with this mod I don’t think.

In theory it shouldn’t be able to break a seal, but at the same time you never know with Tesla!

 

[stonecoldrmw]

I bought one from Torque Alliance a few weeks back and finally got round to fitting it around a week ago after washing my car. It comes as one piece of rubber, like a large loop.

Model 3: Wind Noise Reduction Kit (Rubber Seal for Glass Roof Panel Gaps)

The description and instructions said 'Ensure you work it around the car, and if there's any slack left, just keep going around until it's all gone, this will ensure a long-lasting fit.'

This isn't possible with a single, solid loop as the rubber is too long. So I cut mine and started in an area on the roof where one of the panels is wider, basically thinking that I'd have some left over to double back on. After feeding it around the gaps the one thing I found was that you need to pull it tight enough to stretch out and become thin enough to sit in the channels. I think this is part of the reason they cut under at the corners. Mine did that quite a bit. Anyway, I ran the spare length down over the excessive gap (doubling over) and from an installation point of view I was happy. However, I noted that the corners were pulling in under the glass more and more after a day or so, which made me think along the lines of your post earlier.

As a result, I've removed it. I will look to refit it again at some point later, and I'm going to look at another way of sealing the corners so that there's no pull under. In reality, I don't think this kit will reduce noise by 5db, but I do think it will add something, if installed in a specific manner.

 

[Durzel]

The Abstract Ocean one I got was a perfect fit, and was no slack at all really after going around it a couple of times with my thumb. I suspect everyone’s cars will be a slightly different experience though.

But it was tight by the end (a good thing) so was not likely to come off, but at the same time when it worked it’s way under a corner you could see that it was under some tension against the seal.

I didn’t feel comfortable leaving it, especially as it moved of its own accord, and after reading the above I don’t want to take the risk I don’t think.

 

[stonecoldrmw]

With mine being a little longer, I think I'll definitely try fitting again and will use something to hold it in place. It's clearly a minor issue, but I will persist with it after a bit of thought on how to add it.

 

[Masklin]

Have to say that, having driven both with one fitted and without, I didn’t notice any appreciable difference in wind noise whatsoever so have elected to leave it off. Part of that decision was noticing how tightly it was pulling at one corner in particular.

Without any empirical measurement I do wonder if there’s a hint of placebo effect involved?

 

[Masklin]

Just to add, before picking the Model 3 up I’d read here about wind noise so obviously had some concerns.

Come collection day the drive home was 110 miles, much of it on motorway and dual carriageway and at a goodly selection of speeds, low and (cough) high’ish.

Wind noise didn’t raise my eyebrows at all, it was certainly acceptable to me at least. For overall noise levels it seems far more susceptible to road surface more than anything else.

 

[Durzel]

Without any empirical measurement I do wonder if there’s a hint of placebo effect involved?

I think there is probably quite a bit of that involved, as well as not wanting to feel like you've spent out on something that has made no difference.

I too hadn't noticed anything obvious in terms of wind noise coming from the roof (or anywhere else, unless I'm not listening hard enough or my expectations are too low), but fitted it because I had it sat there. As with you, as soon as it started pulling in on a corner I took it off.