[AlanAZ]

I saw that the rear hood seal on my 06 325i was short on both sides, allowing hot engine air into the cabin air intake area (pressurized when the car is moving), and compromising the comprehensive hood sealing to prevent this from happening, causing the A/C to work harder and possible engine fumes into cabin.

The gap was 1 and 3/16 inches on right side, and 14/16 inches on the left, see photos: top to bottom: left and right gaps, difference in length of seals, and after replacement.

Since I live in Scottsdale AZ this was a major concern to me with the high temps here, and replaced it. Particularly those of you living in the sunbelt, you might want to check this seal, fixing it will improve your A/C performance and increase it's service life. I bought this car 2 months ago - it was always an AZ car - so I can't say whether this seal was always short or shrank in the heat here. It seems like a lot to shink, over 2 inches, and may have been manfactured short.

The replacement seal is BMW part number 51 71 7 060 565 ($15.40 from Chapman BMW; 18.00 from North Scottsdale BMW), but verify with your VIN at realoem.com that your car uses the the same part. The part number on the seal I removed was the same, date code 07/07/05.

The new part was exactly the right length and clips right on. I left mine out in sun for a couple of days to help straighten it out, it had be coiled up in a plastic bag for a long while. And I put Vinylex on the older hood seal parts, as they were dry looking (as seen in photos, which were taken before.)

[FCP Euro]

Weird. I have never seen a seal do that. I would replace it either way.