Removing front dash wood trim

[kouks]

Hey all

I'm about to replace my dashboard and the thought of ruining the wood trim scares me. Can I get some tips from you experts on how to do it properly?

Thanks

[shanecarmaster1]

The two pieces next to the steering wheel simply pop off - just pull carefully and they'll snap out. The passenger side is removed a little differently: Open glove box. Unscrew 3 (or 4?) black screws holding the black plastic plate in at the top of the glove box. Now you have access to the back of the trim. Unscrew the big round nylon screws for the trim piece located below the wood in order to easily reach the screws for the wood itself. Once removed, unscrew the nylon screws for the wood and carefully pry out. Do everything in reverse to reinstall.

[kouks]

Awesome. When you say the drivers side just pop out...where do you start? From the bottom, top, either side or does it matter. Any tools that help?

[psjr]

They are pretty easy to grab from the sides and pull straight out.

[kooljess]

Here you go. This is the instruction that I followed. I hope this helps you out.

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1863

Good-luck!!!

[YAHL]

www.e38.org is your best friend here. That or if you're like me, it will make your to-do list even longer! Just take your time and be patient.

[Thresher]

Here you go. This is the instruction that I followed. I hope this helps you out.

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1863

Good-luck!!!

Even though this thread is from 2012 I thought I would chime in with some thoughts after having just gone through the process of removing the passenger side wood trim for the first time. First, the referenced DIY has wonderful pictures and outlines the job fairly well. There are also some videos on YouTube that are good. Anyone attempting this job should look at those first before starting the job.

There were a couple of things that I found very challenging. First, getting the plastic nut off the wood trim that is closest to the monitor was a real pain. With the exception of that one nut, all other nuts were installed in such a fashion that the smaller end was closest to the trim piece and the wider end was farthest away. Being able to grasp the large/wide end made the job of removing those nuts trivial. Now for the nut closest to the monitor. On my car I found it installed with the wider end up against the trim piece. This meant I had only a very small area to grasp on to, and in an extremely tight space. Forget about being able to stick your head in the glove box, the nut is off to the side and out of view. If you have a small telescoping mirror, get it out and use that. Using an already removed plastic nut I noticed the smaller end will accept a 5/16 wrench (oddly, none of my metric wrenches seemed to be the right fit). Using one of my auto-ratcheting wrenches I was able to get it out. If I didn't have a auto-ratcheting type of wrench, I don't know how I would have removed the nut as I don't think there was/is space for a small socket wrench and this nut was on tight.

After all of the nuts were out, the conventional wisdom in the various DIYs and videos is to pull gently on the trim and it will come off. Nope! Not for me. Mine was stuck on so well it reminded me a rotor stuck on a wheel hub. This is where I contemplated giving up on the project as I was very hesitant about doing anything that would crack or break the trim. The video I saw on YouTube from bimmermerchant finally helped me realize what to do. From the passenger point of view, toward the right end (but not the end that faces the door), look underneath the edge of the wood trim. You should see a small slit. Insert the trim removal tool there and as you insert the tool turn the tool counter-clockwise. You want the tool to get on top of the raised section that is to the left of the slit (see picture in the DIY where the trim has been removed, that will help you understand what is below the trim). By turning the tool counter-clockwise you want it aligned as close to horizontal as possible. Once you have done that, then carefully wedge the trim piece up and eventually out. I think if you try to wedge the trim piece out in a vertical / up-down fashion at different points on along the length of trim you will likely break it or crack it.

Hope this is helpful to the next person attempting this task...

FWIW, the struggle was worth it; I needed to remove the trim as I was swapping out the 4:3 monitor for a widescreen monitor.

[CPHES]

I found that the 8mm wrench in the trunk tool kit got to that one hard to reach plastic nut. All other tips above are good