Adjusting front door window, Cabriolet — VW
Adjusting front door window, Cabriolet on VW: 29 steps. What to remove, in what order, and what to check after.
On the VW Cabriolet models covered by the platform codes listed below the frameless front door glass has to meet the convertible top seal exactly, so adjustment is done in stages rather than by eye. First the basic setting: drive the window down to its final stop, run both regulator adjustment screws fully down, then bring each one up exactly 8 turns. The longitudinal position is set at the clamping brackets with the door trim off, then the gap at the rear clamping bracket (5 mm, which a 5 mm hex key gauges nicely) and the height with gauge T10391. Inclination is set by moving the front regulator and turning the bolt on the rear one until the glass retracts into the top seal. The deciding check is a function test with the hood both open and closed.
🧭 Before you start
Set the basic position with the window at its final stop and both adjustment screws run down and back up 8 turns. With the door trim off, loosen the clamping bracket bolts, set the glass longitudinally and tighten them. Set the 5 mm gap at the rear clamping bracket and the height with gauge T10391 using the adjustment screws (one turn is 1 mm). Finally adjust the front and rear window regulator positions so the glass retracts into the hood seal, tighten, and check with the top open and closed.
Fits: platform codes 5C7, 5C1
Don't miss
- Press the switch a second time at the bottom; only then does the window reach its final stop position.
- For the basic setting, run both adjustment screws fully down, then exactly 8 turns up.
- One turn of an adjustment screw moves the glass 1 mm; clockwise raises, anticlockwise lowers.
- Loosen the clamping bracket bolts but do not remove them when setting the longitudinal position.
- Always check function with the convertible top both open and closed, then adjust the side window if needed.
Written for this job from the workshop steps below · TorqFix editorial.
📋 Procedure
- Lower door window (1) to basic position as far as stop.
- Press switch again; only then will the window move to the final stop position.
- Remove caps on underside of door.
- Screw front and rear adjustment screws (2) downwards completely.
- Turn front and rear adjustment screws (2) exactly 8 turns upwards.
- Remove door trim General body repairs, interior70Front door trims; Removing and installing front door trim.
- Prise off caps on bolts (4) of clamping bracket.
- Loosen bolts (4) of clamping bracket (5) at front and rear but do not undo completely.
- Carry out preliminary work for adjustment in longitudinal direction .
- Adjust door window longitudinally until dimension (a) is achieved.
- Tighten bolts (4) of front and rear clamping brackets firmly.
- Perform a functional and adjustment check with convertible top open and closed.
- Adjust side window if necessary .
- Remove inner door cover .
- Set distance (a) = 5 mm between door window (1) and contact surface for door window at rear clamping bracket (e. g. using a 5 mm hexagon key).
- To ensure this, attach gauge T10391 to door window at positions shown and adjust to respective dimensions.
- Lower door window (1) as far as stop.
- Press switch again; only then will the window move to the final stop position.
- Remove caps on underside of door.
- Turn front and rear adjustment screws (2) on window regulator (3) until dimensions are attained. [Note: One turn = 1 mm adjustment.Clockwise = raises door window, anticlockwise = lowers door window.]
- Perform a functional and adjustment check with convertible top open and closed.
- Adjust side window if necessary .
- Remove door trim General body repairs, interior70Front door trims; Removing and installing front door trim.
- Remove caps for securing nuts of front window regulator on underside of door.
- Remove caps for securing nuts of rear window regulator on top of door.
- Loosen securing bolts for front window regulator (2) and adjust front window regulator (1) by moving it from its current position (arrows a).
- Loosen securing nuts for rear window regulator (3) and adjust rear window regulator (1) by turning bolt (4).
- Adjust front and rear window regulators, until the door window (5) must retract into convertible top seal (8) as illustrated (arrows c).
- Tighten securing nuts (2) and (3) for window regulator.
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Who makes these pages, and how
TorqFix was built by a mechanic — after a 2,700 km drive with five roadside repairs that no diagnostic tool could explain.
The figures on this page come from manufacturer workshop documentation and are shown as they are. The page is assembled automatically from that data — it is not written by an AI. The AI works in the chat, where it answers for your specific car. It writes nothing here.
Variants of the same model differ. Cross-check torque against the factory manual for your engine before final tightening.
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The story behind TorqFix →Workshop data on this page last updated 20 Sep 2026.