Porsche 996/911 Sunroof seal Replacement procedure

My 911 is proving to be quite noisy at speed with the sound of wind that seems to be coming from the roof. On inspection it appears that the sunroof seal is well past its best and not giving a complete seal around the edge of the roof line hence causing the sound from air rushing through at speed.

Porsche 996 Sunroof seal replacement procedure

There seems to be little information online about the sunroof seal and how to remove it to replace and fit a new seal. There may be a difference in seals between models of 996 as some guides refer to removing the sunroof panel itself which appears unnecessary as the the seal is on the car side of the panel and can be accessed when the sunroof is retracted into the car.

Porsche 996 Sunroof seal removal

To remove the seal from the car you need to push down so it detaches from the metal edge of the roof. It's not obvious from looking at the seal initially if it pulls off, down or up but having tested it works best using a thin trim removal tool between the edge of the paint and the seal to dislodge it first at the join. Once it has started to come away then it's easier to remove around the rest of the aperture.

Old seal removed

Once removed it's easy to see the difference from old and new

Old vs New - Porsche 996 Sunroof seal removal

 Seal removed is dated July 1998 so is the original 21 year old one - well due to be replaced and the rubber is so much harder and less flexible than the new one.

Date code on Porsche sunroof seal 

The roof was showing signs of rust when the seal had been removed so I decided to treat it with corrosion preventer before fitting the new seal. First job was to mask around the edge to prevent the roof being contaminated with wax.

I used Dynax S50 anti-corrosion spray to treat and coat the edge of the sunroof to protect it. Once the wax had dried I then started to fit the new sunroof seal.

To fit the seal I used a trim removal tool to push the seal into place.

The difference has been amazing, the car is so much quieter now without the wind noise at speed.

The video of the sunroof seal replacement is here: