In December this year someone T-boned my dad in his MCS. It needed, amongst other things, a new passenger door. Since he's had it back, it's never been right, and has in fact been back to the bodyshop three times since. The door has not been parallel with the sill since he got it back, there were problems closing the door, and then there was an almighty whistling sound. Thankfully the sound has now been eliminated.

The bodyshop seem unable to address the issue, and my concern is that since they are obviously Jack of all trades, they may not know all the various intricacies of a particular model. For example, on my TT the correct way to fit a door is to hang the door and then fit the window to fill the gap that's left.

So, on that basis, what is the correct way to fit a replacement door to an R53 MCS? Could anyone assist please? It's not so that we can fit it ourselves, but so that we can tell the bodyshop how they should be doing it so that it fits (and works!) correctly.

Thanks for any assistance. :cool:

Hi,
Have you got this sorted yet? I replaced my drivers door last weekend. Quite an easy job actually. If the door panel isn't true with the sill then I'd get it checked for a bent chasis/subframe.
To fit the door it's door first (straight if possible!) then window glass. Window up then close to one click - you should be able to hold a piece of paper between the glass and top rubber seal. If not you need to loosen the bolts under the bottom of the door to adjust the angle of the glass in or out. You should be able to pull the paper out otherwise it's too tight.
Next the height needs to be adjusted by unscrewing the big cogs that hold the glass to the actuator. The glass should overlap the rubber strip by at least;
Top 5mm
Front 3.5mm
When it's set just tighten the cogs with an Allen key and it should be done.
To reset the body control computer bit you need to close the door, put the window up and hold the window switch up for 5 seconds to tell it where to stop.

Good luck getting this sorted - I hate it when 'the professionals' get it wrong.

I should also add that I've since had central locking problems but I think disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes should sort that. Just in case you need it.

You can shim or adjust the door hinges to get the door gaps correct and even in the aperture, in/out, up/down and back/forth.
The door should be adjusted for correct fit with all its hardware fitted, ie glass, trim all on, as to do it with just the door shell when fitted out it will be weighed down and this affects correct alignment.
The body lip the door seal fixes to needs to be true to the door, vertical and straight and follow the door without any distorted areas so that when the seal is fitted it contacts the door evenly.
If the doors been damaged in a accident and a new door is fitted, check if the old hinges have been reused and they are not distorted too?
If the door has been damaged and they only fitted a new skin to the original door, then to get this done right is a skilled job and you can normally always tell as the job is difficult to repair as good as the factory finish.
Once youve got the door fitted correctly then you need to go about adjusting the door glass.