The Remarkable New Schüco AS FD 75 bifold door reviewed

The new bifold door by Schuco is slimmer, sleeker in appearance and capable of sizes exceeding most other bifold doors. The Schüco AS FD 75 is an ultra-modern aluminium bifold with legendary Schuco engineering and quality. There’s a reason Schüco have a reputation for making some of the best bifold doors, and this AS FD 75 is no exception.

What is the Schüco AS FD 75 bifold door?

The Schüco AS FD 75 is an all-aluminium folding sliding door system designed in Germany by Schüco, arguably the best name in high-end residential and commercial glazing systems.

The original ASS70 model is still available and continues to provide beautifully designed bifolds, the go-to premium bifold door offering for many installers, architects and discerning homeowners. This new model reinforces the outstanding Schüco design ethos, still made to the highest standards but is significantly slimmer, has flush-fitting frames and offers vastly improved glass areas compared to the old model, if not virtually any other folding sliding door on the market.

The Schüco product range is vast, providing solutions for homes, commercial buildings, and even fire protection and specialist glazing for high-security buildings. The Schüco AS FD 75 offers the slimmest possible bifold solution within the residential patio doors range.

For anyone wanting a bifold door providing even more light and better views, this new bifold door is hard to beat. It’s suitable for residential and commercial property projects, especially offices, car showrooms, bars and restaurants. The market position of the ASS FD75 is at the premium end, complimenting the ASS70FD and ASS80 FD HI

The design of the Schüco AS FD 75

Suitable for new extensions and a modern replacement for any old patio doors, this new bifold offers a much cleaner and reduced design. The new styling will appeal to buyers looking for the slimmest folding doors. Also appealing are the minimal visible frame joints and, even better, the substantial reduction in mullion sizes to just 90mm.

Besides some niche bespoke systems, the Schüco AS FD 75 is now the slimmest folding sliding door where the bifold panels meet in the middle. See our sightline comparison of all major bifold brands showing this new door at the top. For where doors need additional strength or for technical reasons, there’s an additional profile giving mullion sizes of 104 mm and slightly less glass coverage but remaining slimmer than most other doors, including the popular older Schüco ASS 70 model.

Another significant improvement is the capability of the bifold door panels to go up to 1.5m wide. As with any folding door, you’ll need the space outside on the patio area or inside the room for these wider panels to stack. If you have the room, this size of the bifold panel can be better than opting for a sliding door. The maximum panel height of 3.5m high is another excellent design feature and improvement over the previous model.

First is how these larger panels give you a three-panel door set in a typical four-metre opening, whereas other bifold doors need four panels. The benefit is fewer doors, reduced cost and less visible aluminium. The next benefit is how closed doors give you the same look as a slim sliding door, whereas a regular bifold with more panels may look chunkier.

Moreover, this large panel design can make the Schüco AS FD 75 more beneficial than a sliding door. The everyday traffic door is easier to use than partially sliding open heavier patio door. The advantage of folding all the door panels back gives you around 98% clear opening, whereas a fully open patio sliding door can take up half or a third of the opening. These are all valid reasons to choose a wider panel bifold like this over a sliding door.

The fact that this particular bifold is so capable also means more design freedom. If your project calls for larger folding doors, most other bifolds cannot achieve the sizes needed, meaning you are restricted by the product rather than your intended design.

When this bifold first launched in the Spring of 2022, it only came with a profile depth of 75mm. Now you can choose a triple-glazed version, the AS FD 90.HI. This has a deeper 90mm frame and increased airtightness, enabling U-values as low as 1.0 W/m²K.

Simply put, the new Schüco bifold brings the outdoors in, far better than other doors.

The aesthetics of the Schüco AS FD 75

Apart from the minimalist styling, the frame profiles are flat in appearance, giving an improved appearance over the similarly styled ASS 70.

Overall it’s a bifold door with a minimalist look, and this clean styling extends to looking better when fully open. Frame covers, no gaskets in the frame and even covers for a cleaner-looking threshold are all part of the aesthetics.

The slimmer frame profiles and minimal look are thanks to how Schüco has engineered the door with the intermediate panel locks positioned between the folding panels. Other bifolds have them in the frame profile. Also new and different to other bifolds is the more radical design of the frame profiles showing far fewer joints where horizontal aluminium meets vertical. The overall styling is smoother and more seamless without the steps and edges found on other doors.

At the bottom of the doors, you get to choose from three types of thresholds, all of which are capable of achieving the low or flush track and two offering weather protection. One of these includes a wheelchair-accessible version, and another is just 4mm high and used when the bifolds are fitted internally as a room divider. A further 15mm ramped threshold option meets the needs of disabled users or where the ramped threshold suits the installation better.

Technical information

The full technical details of the Schüco AS FD 75 are available from Schüco or any of their approved fabricators. Here are the significant technical details.

• Door panels up to 1.5m wide and up to 3.5m high
• Accepts glass units up to 50mm thick
• Full range of RAL, metallic or special colours
• From two up to 8 or more panels but no 90-degree corner model available

Bifold door hardware

The styling of Schüco door handles is one of the best. And this hardware remains unchanged on the AS FD 75. Thin, stylish yet robust main door handles, matching intermediate handles, and small elegant bifold door pull handles are branded with the Schüco logo.

The carriages and rollers are also new, providing more adjustment than the existing bifold door models and allowing for more precise adjustment.

The multi-point lock follows the usual Schüco philosophy of locking via the key cylinder rather than a raise to lock handle, then additional locking via the key cylinder.

Security of the Schüco AS FD 75

As you’d expect with a new product, security is to the required standards, meeting Class RC 2 and PAS 24. Whilst every brand on the market claims to have high security. The actual security depends on several factors, such as the glass type (laminated) and the configuration of the door set. That said, most doors should have the same or better locking system and a high-end key cylinder. The glass is held in place from the inside, and the overall door design has built-in features to keep the door locked and the property secure.

PAS 24:2016 Enhanced security performance requirements for doorsets and windows in the UK is a minimum standard. This means there is no upper or lower grade. The doors either pass or fail the test. You will find the Schüco product is also covered by Secured by Design.

U-Values and Energy-Efficiency

The Schüco meets current Building Regulations for both new and existing buildings, but the performance you get depends on the glass and overall door specifications.

As a double-glazed door using a 1.0Wm2K glass unit, you get 1.4Wm2K best U-Value. Go triple-glazed, and the U-Value gets better at 1.0Wm2K.

General sealing and weather protection

The design and sealing are excellent, as you’d expect from a high-calibre bifolding door. Performance figures will vary depending on the door configuration, but overall the AS FD 75 meets all the air, wind and water tests with varying results. It’s a very well-sealed and tight door.

Other products to compare with the Schüco AS FD 75

There are many excellent bifold doors on the market, but the styling, sightlines and new profile design of this door make it hard to provide a true like-for-like comparison. We believe the following doors can be considered with the Schüco depending on your criteria.

The Express Bifolds XP Vision is based on the Alumil System for similar wide panels up to 1.5m wide. There’s also the existing Schüco ASS 70 FD HD. The brand new Solarlux Megaline bifold also goes to 1.5m wide panels and a phenomenal 4.5m high.

For similar mullion sightlines only, you can consider the Solarlux Ecoline, Sunflex SF55, Smart Systems Visofold 6000 or newer Visofold 1000 Slim, although none of these models is as contemporary in appearance.

If you’re looking for a German-made or high-end European-designed bifold with similar levels of quality, your choices will be Solarlux Ecoline and the new Solarlux Megaline door. You can also consider the Reynaers CF 68 or aïr800 bifold door.

Conclusion

There’s no question the new slim Schüco AS FD 75 has a look like no other door currently on the market. You can also expect the same spectacularly light and smooth slide-and-fold action as the existing ASS 70 model, the quality of which is evident when you compare this door with another brand.

Not everyone will need door panels as large as this bifold door is capable of. Importantly, it demonstrates the engineering and prestige of a Schüco that should reassure interested buyers that they’re buying a high-end bifolding door. But do consider the merits of large panel bifolds compared with sliding doors.

Its standout feature is its positioning as the slimmest bifold door at the door mullions and the investment in one of the best German-designed aluminium brands; in the same way, you may prefer a choose a German car or home appliance.

How to buy Schüco AS FD 75 bifolding doors

All Schüco products are made via a trained and selected manufacturer network around the UK and installers that understand the advantages of a Schüco product.

Homeowners or the construction trade looking for a supply and installation service and the glazing trade looking to buy this product on a supply-only basis can get in touch for details of a supplier.