OK Guys, this is my, not entirely successful, experience with Dash and Door trims.
I hope my experience will be useful to someone out there in E60-land and indeed E61-land.

First of all, if you have the BMW TIS CD's then have a browse through them. They are useful, if frightening, in places - just ignore the references to Special Tools.

I was full of best intentions of photographing the process of replacing the door trims, but the English Winter rains got the better of me and I had to retire to the garage, and my flash photography isn't the best. Hence no pictures. However, saying that, in my opinion, if you need pictures for a job like this, then don't try it. The job is so simple, anyone with a modicum of experience with playing at car mechanics will do the job in a jiffy.

The procedure is a bit long winded, and I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence when I say "use a Phillips screwdriver" when it is patently obvious that is what you use, but I wanted to give some detail to the operation.

Now, most people, I imagine, will be looking at this job with a view to changing from wood of one sort or another to the Titanium/Aluminium/Carbon style or vice versa. BE WARNED that if you do so, then you will need a NEW SET OF DOOR HANDLES too. (Browse RealOEM for the part numbers). The covers slide on to the handle with tapered slots. The wood ones are about 1 millimetre different to the non-wood ones. It is possible (from experience) to fit wood ones on Titanium style fittings, but it is loose, and there is a gap between the handle and the trim.

Still want to carry on with the job???

You will need:
A broad bladed screwdriver
A star (phillips) screwdriver
A small (terminal) screwdriver
T15 Torx Driver
T27 Torx Driver
10mm socket or spanner
7mm socket or spanner
Pair of pliers (pipe pliers are good)
Use of a garage if it's raining or snowing!

Special tools required - None.

I will concentrate on the door panels because Dash trim has been explained elsewhere on this forum.

It is easier if the windows are in the fully open position before disconnecting the battery.

Remove the 2 large plastic screws from the boot side panel and gain access to the battery. Use your 10mm spanner to loosen the nut on top of the earth or negative terminal. Lift off the terminal and insulate from the battery. I used a piece of rag!!

Go to your chosen first door. If you have sun blinds, push your terminal screwdriver into the slot at the top rear of the quarterlight vertical that houses the quarterlight blind. Pull the housing from the top towards the inside of the car. It WILL come off, it is only held by a spring clip. Store safely!

Again with the trusty terminal screwdriver, lever off the plastic cap from the one or two screws (depending on whether you are doing the rear or front door), from the outside of the door panel. I found that if you lever from the base, they don't move, but if you lever from the top edge, they come off easily. They are very soft and may get damaged a little, but they are unobtrusive. The phillips screwdriver will remove the screws.

At this point you may want to lever out your puddle lights under the door. Mine came off just using fingernails. Disconnect the wire and store the light where you won't tread on it.

Lever out the plastic blank that says AIRBAG - it is captive, so you shouldn't lose it! Unscrew the Torx screw behind it, and don't worry, its actually nowhere near the airbag!!

Starting from the bottom, slide the broad bladed screwdriver between the door and the panel, slide it to the nearest clip and lever. BANG, it will come loose, so continue to the next one. Go round the bottom and both sides of the door like this until all the clips are loose. Now the door panel will be held at its top and centre. Gently push the trusty screwdriver between the window seal and the door panel and lever. There are five or six metal clips that "grab" the plastic on the panel, and come off easily. Now you will have a door that is loose all round its edges, but held in the middle. DO NOT PULL ANY MORE!. Push down the locking button (apart from the drivers door which won't let you) and angle the door panel over the button. Now grip the door on both sides and lift up about 25mm (an inch in English!!). The door panel will now be completely off and loose, but still connected by some cables and wires. Pull out the window switch plug. Press in the button and withdraw the airbag plug (if fitted). Pull out the puddle light plug if you didn't do it before. Pull out the speaker plugs, but note which position they came from as you can get them muxed ip. You should be left with the door handle cable. You need to pull the inside door handle out fully, as if you were opening the door. Whilst doing this, gently lift up the little white catch on the inside of the door panel, and the cable will slide off with the white fitting.

Now retire with your door panel to somewhere soft, and place it shiny side down.

If it's your first time, then a cup of strong tea is always welcome at this stage to aid the triumphant feeling!

On the back of the door panel, you will see a steel plate. Use your 10mm spanner to undo the locknuts at the top and bottom of the door handle. (You can also undo the 3rd nut on the plate, but it is unnecessary). If you have sunblinds, use your torx driver to unscrew the silver screws along the length of the blind holder as well as the 2 black ones at either end. To the top end of the door handle, you will see 2 or 3 (depending on the door) 7mm nuts. Undo these with care. They are in plastic slots behind the trim piece and are locked on with Loctite or similar. My experience is that the Loctite is stronger than the plastic, so the whole stud spins! In this case use pliers or similar to grip the top of the stud (its not threaded all the way) and gently ease the nut loose.

The door handle and trim will now slide out of the panel. The trim is held by tapered slots and a tab. Hold the top part of the trim and bend it away from the door handle part by about an eighth of an inch. The handle should slide downwards by about an inch, and can then be lifted off. My Titanium ones were easy, but the wood ones I was playing with were tight and needed patience and perseverence.

PHEW! thats the trim off, and the replacement trim will just slide back nicely in its place. Refit the handle and trim to the panel and STOP. Remember when you took the panel off the door, you lifted upwards?? Well, you can refit the door in the same way, but it will take you weeks to get it lined up!

Look at the door itself, in the middle, and you will see a black plastic fitting with a metal clip sticking through it. Get your pipe pliers and squeeze the metal a little, this will release the metal legs and allow the plastic to slide off. Put the plastic bit into the metal part on the door panel. It will only go one way, thankfully! Replace your sunblind if you have one.

Approach the door with your updated panel. Make sure that the inside door handle is in the closed position. The white fitting will just slide into its receptacle and clip on. Reconnect all your wires, ensuring that the airbag one is FULLY home (it's a stiffy). thread the locking button through the hole. Line up the clips on the sides and bottom and a swift blow with the ball of your had will engage them. Squeeze the top ones in too (or just keep hitting them - either way works!). Replace the phillips screw(s) and caps.

One down, three to go. Easy. My first door took about half an hour, the next one 10 minutes.

As for the Dash trims, well, the trusty screwdriver came out again. Take out the Hazard switch. Lever gently from the door hinge side and they just popped off. The small drivers side trim came without the air vent, but the passenger side came complete with all the vents.

The centre was OK too - just lever out the gear lever gaiter from the side, undo the two screws. Pull off the iDrive knob. Lever from the back to the front. Sometimes the spring on the ashtray lid catches on the ashtray, but it can usually be fiddled clear.

Don't forget to reconnect the battery!

My impression is that some people are happy to do the dash, but are wary about the doors. Don't be, it is easy.

I cannot for the life of me think why Mr. BMW has different handles for wood and plastic, where the fittings are the same, but in a slightly different position. Put the two handles side-by-side and you still have to get a ruler to see the difference!

Naturally, the usual disclaimers apply, e & o e, At your own risk, blah, blah, etc. etc.



Special thanks to "Buckers" from this forum, who wanted to swap his wood for my Titanium, which we eventually couldn't do because of the slight differences. My upholstery is beige and his is black, otherwise we would have just changed handles too!

So anyone else out there with beige AND wood want to swap for Titanium???
Remember, the next time you see trim on eBay, you may need handles too.

As a footnote, please don't do what I did, and drop the drivers door panel with some of the wires connected. Most just pulled out, but the window/mirror plug must have caught on the airbag module, which neatly sliced the plug, and its connectors, in half. If you are in this situation, shortly after swearing, note that the socket connectors have a 0.1 inch pitch and you can get straight plugs and connectors from the likes of Maplin's. They aren't of course, handed or pegged, so you can plug them in the wrong way round, but a blob of paint or a sticker as an aide memoire is a good idea. For those of you that have old PC's scattered around, it is the same plugs that are used to connect motherboards to case accessories and indicators, and that's what I used, and I just connected the PC plug wires to the wires on the door.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the tutorial, much appreciated for the detail.

I'm not looking at changing my trim, but I'm curious by what you saw when changing the centre console trim, especially around the IDrive.

I'm looking at upgrading my Business to Professional Navigation when the parts arrive and hope to do a full tutorial about the conversion. The section that I'm not looking forward to is replacing the IDrive controller with the IDrive Controller HIGH.

When you removed the centre console trim, was there any way you could get to the IDrive screws to undo and perhaps remove the IDrive unit?

I've asked about replacing the IDrive unit numerous times and still haven't received an instruction of how to do. Can you see anything in the TIS manual of how to do?

Cheerz

 

Wow, excellent descriptions, well done! I might prefer something stronger than tea after removing the first door panel but otherwise this is extremely helpful. I was thinking about having a body shop do the work but may now do it myself. Thanks for the effort to put this in writing.

 

AlwynMike, thanks a lot for the excellent write up on how to change the dash and door trim. I do have one question, when you refer to DOOR HANDLES, you mean part 11 on the diagram, right?

 

Wiu-Bimmer,

Yes that is the part I refer to as the door handle - the wood/silver trim slides onto this part and the complete unit is then secured to the door panel by studs - 2 large ones for the door handle itself (part 11) and two or three for the trim part.

 

Thank you, I've had the Aluminum-shadow trim seating in the basement for a while, I just ordered the four door handles for Alu. As soon as it gets here, it will be time to put these in.
I will have a Poplar wood trim set available for sell (Including black door handles).

 

AlwynMike,

Thanks for the shout out on your post. Mike and I tried the swap a few weeks ago and as Mike said the door handles are 1mm difference. We looked for ages then got a ruler out to compare the two handle types. Everything else is swappable though. Glad you typed it all up mike you have saved me a job!!!!! But seriously like Mike says don't be afraid of doing this DIY job yourselves, the dash trim and IDRIVE trim takes 15 minutes max to take off. We had the rear door panel off and back on in 20 mins. Is a bit fiddly but once you have done two of the doors you will be flying. So come on and let us know if you all decide to retrofit in the near future.

P.s

Mike you are a star for coming over to help with the swap, just goes to show the E60 forum is the best around. Keep up the good work!!

 

AlwynMike-
Thanks for the directions. They were great! I was wondering where to find instructions for the rest of the dash and center console. You had mentioned about it being somewhere else on this board. Can you please direct me to that link. Thanks again!!

 

There are a few threads around. I did a search on "Dash Trim" (quotes included).

Have a look at the following thread (with pix) :

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=5650

There are other, slightly different, ways of doing the same thing, but after you've done it once, you will find your own way of doing it. I prefer to use a paint scraper and larger bladed screwdriver. In my experience, the dash trim came off easily, but the centre console clips at the rear were very tight, and I ended up using a thin bladed driver to get to the actual clip boss, rather than using the plastic console as leverage. Luckily the plastic is good natured and didn't mark or crack.

Have Fun!

 

Wiu-Bimmer, do you have the part # for the Aluminum handle, i am trying to put the aluminum on and it won't fit cause i have the wood now...thank