My driver's door window glass is badly sand scratched, and I now have a new one ready to install.

I've pulled the door card off, peeled back the protective plastic and removed the two bolts that hold the glass to the regulator.

But I have no idea how to now remove the old glass or fit the new glass!

I can't see any way of getting the glass out of the side and top channels/door strips.

Do I need to remove those door strips?

If so, how, without damaging them? And then how do I get them and the new glass back in in perfect nick?

Is this a doable DIY job or do I need to take it to a crash repair shop or heaven forbid a stealership?

The workshop manual is no help.

Mal - this could be one for you to offer some advice or tips on.

KJ.

You are right, the 380 manual skips this part.

Look for 10 mm bolts on the outside of the door itself that hold the window guides in. If no bolts, try tipping the window with the front as low as it will go, then lift up the rear. From the pictures in the manual, you should be able to lift the glass away from the guides, then it's up and out.

Always a head scratcher first time you do something like this. lol

Thanks Max, I think I've figured out how to do it.

Remove the external mirror - piece of cake.
Remove door card - ditto.
Peel back plastic lining - ditto.
Undo & remove the two bolts holding the glass to the regulator - ditto.
Remove external door strip - Houston we have a problem!
Remove external window guide/surround plastic/rubber - should be a piece of cake but haven't tried it yet. And refitting nice & neat could be a hassle.
Then the window glass should come out of it's guides enough to bring it up & out from the outside of the window frame.

Removing the external door strip is the headache.
Taking out the small screw at the back edge is dead easy, but then levering up the strip from the door without bending it or breaking it, or scratching the paint, is something I haven't been able to figure out yet. It's clipped very tightly to the top edge of the door, and just grabbing it with fingers & pulling it does SFA. I've tried gently levering it up with a large flat blade screwdriver but it moves only a mm or so before it 'jams'. It looks like it needs a fair bit of force to unclip, and I'm not yet game to give it that much force for fear of bending it. And once bent it'll be stuffed for sure and impossible to get back into shape without a noticeable kink or two in it.
Dan (D-VAN) talked to me about removing these strips a few months ago, apparently there is a trick or knack to it that I now forget. Something like 'rolling' the strip one way or the other. Dan??????

Oh, one more thing.
I'll need to get the new window tinted.
Easier/cheaper to do before I install it, or makes no diff?

The strip across the top edge is (probably) held on by 3 or 4 clips that bend over the edge of the door itself. Find these clips, and lever them up with a screwdriver, don't lever on the strip itself. Go gently and go from one clip to the next, don't try to lift each clip right off all at once.

Get the tint done after, might get damaged when you put the glass in the door if tinted before.

Remember - the first time is the hardest, get this right and you can call yourself an expert (on this sort of job anyway). lol

Max, please keep out of the 380 tech, enough damage is done on third gens with your "advice"

To remove strip is tricky but once done once is a winch

From inside of door you will see where the clips are, use a large flat blade from inside the door and gently twist between strip and door while pulling up on the strip

Winch? lol

Like I said, the clips need to disengaged. Either from above or from inside the door, whatever works best for you.

Oh you are so funny Max, ipads dont always work well with typing, either way, your adivce, as usual, would have lead to damage. It is great trying to assist someone WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, you dont have a 380, you dont work on them, leave them alone please for the love of all things good.

The strip does not need to be removed, I have taken many windows out without taking it off but it is a prick to do, in short what you are doing is getting under the strip from inside the door and the twist of the screw driver will allow you to widen the strip enough for the strip to pop over the clip if that makes sense.

BTW< no need to remove the mirror, not sure where that comes from. Remove door trim, remove regulator and rear glass guide. Window shoud drop far enough into the door to access the strip, undo screws and then starting at handle end of the door lift and find those little buggers

Oh you are so funny Max, ipads dont always work well with typing, either way, your adivce, as usual, would have lead to damage. It is great trying to assist someone WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, you dont have a 380, you dont work on them, leave them alone please for the love of all things good.

The strip does not need to be removed, I have taken many windows out without taking it off but it is a prick to do, in short what you are doing is getting under the strip from inside the door and the twist of the screw driver will allow you to widen the strip enough for the strip to pop over the clip if that makes sense.

BTW< no need to remove the mirror, not sure where that comes from. Remove door trim, remove regulator and rear glass guide. Window shoud drop far enough into the door to access the strip, undo screws and then starting at handle end of the door lift and find those little buggers

Thanks Mal.

As the mirror covers the last cm or so of the strip I guessed it would be best to remove it.

But if I don't need to remove the strip then no need to remove the mirror.

Do I really need to remove the whole regulator?

And how do I remove the rear glass guide?

Are there screws or bolts holding it on or does it just pull off/out/up?

It's starting to sound like it's not an easy DIY job for a clumsy klutz like me on my own, any idea how much a smash repairer or dealer would charge to do the whole job?

TreeAdyMan: PM sent.

All done thanks to your help guys, and especially "Valiant" who tipped me off on the best/easiest way to do it. Dead easy in the end, no need to remove any mirrors or strips, the glass comes out on the inside of the frame not the outside, it's just a matter of getting the right angles. You tilt it towards the front of the car about 35 degrees and out she comes, reverse to put the new one in. Now to get it tinted!

KJ.