Panel Gap

[ahmed24]

Can someone kindly measure the panel gap between the wing and the bonnet on both nearside and offside and tell me what the gap is meant to be? i am not sure if my gap is normal.

thanks

[Steve-SA]

5mm nearside
3mm offside
I hadn't noticed this up to now!
Steve

[ahmed24]

Thanks for that Steve. I wonder if that is normal? my offside is also slightly more than nearside

[copas]

Hi Ahmed, delay in answer as not been on site for a while,

I found a similar problem when looking to buy a second hand MK3. The panel gap was up to 6mm on one door (door to wing gap) and varied from top to bottom. I went on side of caution and walked away. Panel gap differences can be either a sign of accident damage or just poor quality control in the factory. Phoned Renault who had never seen a specification for acceptable gap (and hinted it was a crazy question!!). Internet searches revealed little on the subject which surprised me as I would have thought this issue would have arisen on owners taking receipt of new cars occasionally (any make not just Renault). I looked at another 6 meganes at a main dealer and found typical gaps of 3 mm but one had 5mm in places. Panel gap is crucial to the quality finish look of a car hence manufacturers try to keep as tight as possible. 3 mm gaps you don’t notice but 5 or 6mm that vary across the panel can be really noticable. My only other guess is that as the doors on coupes are longer than 5 door cars maybe the gap has to be wider to stop the edges catching?. Note panel gap is often referred to as shut gap if you want to do any internet searching.
Maybe the problem is for people like me with an eye for detail!!