Hinged Compartment in Dash Board: Part Number 51457156228: IIRC, this part was not offered except on a special order and was never available in the US. Does anyone have a vehicle with this compartment, a perfect place for a driver's things in an E60/61 - the center console is a pain in the ass to store things like gloves in!!

If anyone does have this in a non-USA vehicle, could they please post a few pics of this item? It would go into the main dash panel underneath the light switch panel on the lower left of the steering wheel. I 'believe' that the main dash panel to which they were fitted were different from the USA dash panels. Of interest to me would be a pix from the outer left side of the dash panel with the door open showing where the flat dash panel side is which fits 'against' a closed door/panel. I'd love to retrofit one of these but don't know if it would look OEM upon installation ( if the curved part going under the dash would need to be hacked up), or if it could be done without looking like a chop job!

Thanks, Gary in Californis

 

Interesting. I looked up that part number in Realoem - it has the following note which leads me to believe in some models there is something behind that panel:

Hinged compartment in dashboard BEIGE 1 03/2005 51457156228 not suitable for use with start/stop button

I found this image here https://shop.db-carbon-interieur.de/...l-carbon-parts :

 

I believe the only reason we didn't get these in north america is that we require extra padding under the dash for safety. I know on my MK4 Golf there was a similar option in other countries but not in north america for this reason.

 

I'll have to ask a few independents about the unsuitability with the electronic key components; maybe that is where their electronics internal to the car are located!