new pro5 - moon roof question

[seaduced]

Hi,
Just took home my 2003 protege5 yesterday.
No roof rack - just skinny black strips on each side -
anyone know what those are for? Can a roof rack be installed
later? i saw other pro5s on the lot that didn't have
a roof rack or the black strips - just plain metal - so
why doesn mine have black strips? looks better than plain
metal though.

but anyway - my moon roof question is when fully
open the wind noise in unbearable. I don't have a deflector
but I can't believe it is suppose to be this bad without one.
If I hold the rubber piece down in front as I'm driving - the
noise stops, so I'm wondering was it put on wrong?
Is the rubber seal piece held on by 2 little straps on each side
suppose to flap around in the wind?
I took it by the dealer and he said that's how it is
and I should buy the deflector but i keep reading here people
are taking the deflector off and there's no noise.
???
any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Sir Nuke]

hello seaduced and Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to our Club. There are TWO BIG fridge'S in the corner with anything you can think of in them...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have.

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom don't care....and take it easy.

oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!!
(stash)

as for the strips....I think if you looked REALLY close at those 5's that you THOUGHT didn't have the strips you will see that they do. I would bet they were darker colors and you just didn't see them as that is how the car is built...they ALL have them. to answer your OTHER part of that question...YES you could install a rack later if you wanted to....its a lot of work but it can be done. you see to put in the factory rack you need to remove the entire head liner.....just like the guys that didn't like their racks and have taken them off.

as for the moonroof.....that is how they are....I have one...but honestly its so hot here I rarely use it....only a short time in the fall and spring...otherwise it stays shut.

 

[uclap5]

my p5 doesnt have a moonroof, but my MR2 does, and it has the same problem, the rubber peice in the front rattling all around. my ghetto fix was to stick a casette tape in there whenever it's open.

ghetto fix for my ghetto car.

good luck finding a solution.

 

[bradman]

Hi there...I just picked up my 2003 mp5 this week as well. A couple weeks before when I was testing cars I noticed the wind noise as well with the moonroof so I made sure that I ordered the wind deflector if I was gonna buy the car. Well I bought it and got the wind deflector and the noise is very minimal!

Here's some pictures of my car (with the wind deflector on of course)

http://www.sfu.ca/~bparasa/zoom/

 

[p5mica]

I got the deflector on mine and let me tell you, cruising at around 70 mph the noise is less that that of my Dad's 2003 325i. For 40 bucks, it's definetly a good investment.

 

[seaduced]

well.... couldn't stand it anymore ( only 1 day with the car - ha ! )
so went to dealership and got the damn wind deflector.
I don't have a roof rack so I still can't get over how bad
the wind noise was.

As for the black skinny strips - I swear they weren't on
the test drive car. I even made a remark at the time
"oh this car doesn't have the groove for the rack" and
the dealer said b/c now it is a factory only option so
get it now or never get it.

I don't see how I could have missed it - the car was silver.
(maybe the strips were silver?)
When I go back to the dealer, I'll look again and
take a photo is it's true. (always have my digital camera
with me - never know - an accident, UFO, whatever).

Have a great weekend!

 

[uclap5]

perhaps they were left off so they could install the roof rack if the buyer so wished.

 

[DrPhill]

whoa were those headlights stock bradman?

 

[dficken]

I think thats one of the things they changed for the 2003 model. They blacked out the inside of them.

 

[bradman]

canadian 2003's come with the black headlight casings

 

[acfyu]

bradman, have you washed your car? did the wind deflector make washing the top of the car difficult?

 

[JOS3]

my sister has the wind deflector and it can be a bitoch. she gets leaves and all kinds of crap stuck in there...................

 

[bradman]

yeah its definetly more annoying. Usually spraying water in with a hose gets leaves and stuff out no problem (I had a deflector on my prelude before i got this car and never really had issues). There's openings in the rubber to let the water out.

 

[jsooke]

You will need the wind deflector if you use the moon roof. Haven't put ours on yet ... the dealer didn't seem to interested in selling me one (asked for it but they did not install or charge). I installed the deflector on my 90 golf many years ago and it made a big difference .... good even crack the roof a bit in the rain (and it rains alot here in BC).

 

[gabee]

OK, with those dark headlight housings that the Canadian version comes with, we have to be able to get those somewhere. And BTW, I would assume that they are not something that that the 2003 comes with since mine does not have those. Those look so much better, like the SPEED!

 

[gabee]

Do you need to drill holes or something to install the deflector? Is it something that is complicated to do, or just a half hour in-the-driveway job?

 

[joka1]

no its just 3m tape!!!
takes like 15 minutes


http://members.cardomain.com/joka1

 

[gabee]

well then maybe I will just have to pick one up then... I have been kinda wanting one, but the whole drilling holes in my brand new baby didnt quite fly with me...

 

[bradman]

From what I can see (in the dark) there is no drilling involved. instead, there are some clamps that seem to hook under the moonroof somehow. It's too dark to tell, but here is a picture attempt that might help describe what I'm talking about.

My prelude didn't have these clamps..if I remember correctly, it was screwed directly into the roof.

 

[seaduced]

no drilling - takes 15 mins to put on.
Only thing to consider is some say the paint may be chipiped if
you ever remove it.
It would only be a small area so you could touch up yourself.

It doesn't remove all the noise but at least 80 % I'd say.