Well it finally happened to me last night. I was sitting in my car on the phone and just idly pushed the cupholder button. There was a loud crack and the mechanism jammed half way open. I happened to be on the phone to a friend who also owns an E60 530d and whose cupholder also broke. He told me he had taken it out and decided that it couldn't be fixed. He then rang his dealer who agreed the part could not be fixed and that they would have to order a new one under warranty.

Not content to just sit and wait to take the car to the dealer (and bearing in mind that the mechanism was jammed half way out of the dash) I set about removing the assembly to see if I could fix it.

Low and behold I did manage to fix it. This has to be the worst piece of design I have ever seen on a BMW. The assembly resembles the curved magazine of an AK47 when removed from the dash. The top cover is attached by plastic lugs to the base which then appear to have been heat sealed. I was able to gently prize the cover off using a small flat bladed screwdriver. The item that appears to "break" is a coil of metal that applies pressure to let the mechanism retract into the dash. It has a double spade type fixing on the end that slots through the cover and it is this piece which had actually jumped out of place and caused the loud crack. I refitted it and re-installed the cupholder and it is working fine again.

A very simple fix but the quality of this assembly and the design of the spring is pathetic. I shall remember not to play about with it again.

Iceman,

Can you ask BMW to offer the cupholder package as an option rather than standard fit as they do in the Z4? The dash would look much better without these unsightly doors which don't even match the colour/texture of the surrounding area.

 

My daughter played with the cupholder for 5 seconds and it ceased to work after that. BMW sorted it quite happily under warranty. Bad design, but not too much of a bore. Why on earth do they bother to include cupholders? Who on earth uses them???

 

hmmm.. so you got the cupholders for free jamespratt...

I'm so stupid... I ASKED them to add the cupholders..for.. 60 euros...
I still hope that they will be better as my car is 2005 modell as it is built this week. GOD HELP!!

Anyway.. everybody.. in any revew agrees that theese cupholders are the worst thing ever happend to a BMW!

 

Cup holders are essential, having them there is better than not having them at all.
Mine didn't break though, it got stuck outside. You push it in and it doesn't go in, almost the whole thing goes inside then something holds it and prevents it from moving more. The dealership couldn't fix it and they ordered a new one under waranty.

PS: the new cup holder had a cup picture engraved on the button, and another class (white sticker) on the inside.

 

Desert530,

It is the metal spring which holds it in as I described. When it comes away from its anchoring point it slides around in the holder and prevents the drawer from closing. It seems that the dealers dont want to simply open up the part and resite the spring. The supplier of this part must be losing a fortune in warranty claims against them.

As I said, it's a simple fix which takes no more than 10 minutes if you know what you are doing and there is no need for a new part. I couldn't have put up with the 2 or 3 week wait it would have taken the dealer to organise the part and book the car into their workshop for repair. The sight of the holder jammed part way out would have made me mad .

 

The fourth time I used mine ceased from operating. Now It is locked and it will stay like that. I know that if i fix it and use it a few more times it will cease from operating.

Pretty bad design.

One of the best (in my opinion) cup holder design was my E46 2000.

 

The ones under the armrests??? If you had a phone you didn't have the cupholders so IMHO it was a bad design because I wanted them too but wasn't able to get them due to the carphone.

 

Under the armrests ???