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Thread: DIY: Replacing F25 X3 Interior Trim

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2008
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    Celle, Germany
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    DIY: Replacing F25 X3 Interior Trim

    DIY: Replacing F25 X3 Interior Trim

    I bought my 2012 X3 second hand when it was a year old as a daily for my girlfriend. Sadly, it came from the factory with the worst looking trim available, the satin silver painted plastic trim. In my opinion, it really lets the car down in terms of interior quality and is way too easy to scratch up. Even if they had put a nice, glossy paint job on the trim, it would have been much better.

    Something had to be done, so I asked my girlfriend what she wanted, and she requested the brushed aluminum trim. I was lucky enough to find a used set of this trim in good shape for a great price on eBay, and had it shipped to me promptly. When I performed a cursory search for how to remove the trim on the F25 I didn’t find much info other than the fact that the door trim was held on by screws which can only be accessed by removing the door panels. GREAT! The problem was that no matter how I searched, I couldn’t find a comprehensive guide for removing the trim on this particular model. This isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to this kind of thing, so I dove in to figure out what to do. Here’s the DIY:

    Tools needed:
    - T20 Torx drive (screw driver kind is best in my opinion)
    - Interior trim removal tools (or substitute other prying mechanisms at the risk of marring your paint/interior finishes)

    That’s it! I love BMW for the fact that their interiors can practically be taken apart with a T20 torx, and their mechanicals can be removed with a combination of 10 mm and 13 mm tools.

    This picture shows all of the pieces needed to swap your interior to another style. It includes one trim piece for the dash which just pries off, one trim piece for the center console which also just pries off (pry from the back near the arm rest first), and four door trim pieces which I will cover here in depth.



    The rear door panels attach in two places in the door handle, one behind the tweeter cover, and one near the bottom of the door.



    Make sure to pry the tweeter cover from the front (closest to the windshield). If you pry from another location, you will break the clips.





    After removing the T20 screw under the tweeter cover, proceed to the door handle.

    I found it easiest to pry in the following location. After it popped up enough for me to get a finger or two behind it, I pulled it off the rest of the way by hand. Just be aware that there is a tab you can break at the very bottom of the handle near the arm rest. Pull away from the top first to avoid breaking this.



    Here are the two screw locations for the door handles







    This is the bottom screw location for the rear doors.



    I don’t have any pictures of this, but now you are ready to pull the door panel off of the door. I found that if I pried near the bottom of the door, I could get one of the trim panel clips loose. Once you have one or two of those loose, you should be able to pull the door panel off my hand (you might have to yank a little). When these things pop off, they tend to make a pretty violent sound, but don’t worry, they should stay intact. However, they often come off and get lost, and do occasionally break. They can be had for less than a dollar each and I HIGHLY recommend picking up three or four of them before doing this job. You’re bound to lose or break one. The part number for these is 51418224768.

    Just be careful as there are wires attached to the door. Try not to put any stress on them when the panel comes all the way off. Work your way up the door popping any trim connectors out. When in doubt, pull somewhere else! There are several of the white trim panel clips running around the bottom and sides of the panel, and at the top of the door there is a different kind of attachment. Again, just pull and they will pop loose.

    Once you have the door panel free from the door, you should be able to access the T20 torx screws holding the trim pieces to the door. Unscrew them and then you are ready to pry the trim loose.

    The first screw is near the interior door pull



    And the second is further aft on the door



    I like to start prying the trim from the back of the door. After popping the first spring clip loose, the trim piece should be able to be removed by hand.




    That should take care of the two rear doors.

    The front passenger door is the same as the two rear doors, but there are two T20 screws at the bottom of the door instead of one.

    The front driver’s door threw me for a little bit of a loop, and was really the only thing I was worried about going into this process. It is very similar to the other doors, but it lacks a door handle… So how does it make up for this?

    Look where you would pull the door shut. There is a little piece that can slide up, revealing our two missing screws!











    That’s it! It’s not too bad of a process really. It took me about an hour to do it all.

    I was really impressed with the Aluminum trim. It is THICK!



    Not some thin film or veneer




    It might seem like a minor change, but we didn’t want to change the look of the interior. For me, the devil is in the details J

    Old




    vs. new




    Oh and one interesting bonus… the trim is made in the USA! (at least the painted plastic trim was, I didn’t check the brushed). Go us.




    Hope this was helpful. Good luck!


    -Chris
    1985 635csi euro MT
    1998 328i
    2001 330i Touring
    2005 330d Touring
    1991 Audi 200 20v - 455 awhp

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    1
    Found the thread just as I was going to pry my doors apart... Thanks!

    Bram

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    NJ
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    2013 X3 28i
    Thank you for taking the time and effort to document and post this! About to go with the brushed aluminum myself

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Celle, Germany
    Posts
    528
    My Cars
    E30,E24,E34,E46,E39 M5..
    I'm glad it has been helpful
    1985 635csi euro MT
    1998 328i
    2001 330i Touring
    2005 330d Touring
    1991 Audi 200 20v - 455 awhp

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Glen Cove NY
    Posts
    2
    My Cars
    2013 BMW x3 & 1991 MR2
    Nice Job. Thanks for the instructions! I am looking to trade or sell my Aluminum Trim from 2013 x3 M-sport if anyone is interested. I am looking for the sienna wood.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    CT
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    1
    My Cars
    X4 M40i
    Thanks for posting this...it was very helpful! I used it to install the Carbon Fiber trim kit in my X4 M40i.

    I noticed the picture links stopped working recently which is too bad since this is a great resource...luckily I printed a copy off while they were working.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Celle, Germany
    Posts
    528
    My Cars
    E30,E24,E34,E46,E39 M5..
    Looks like photobucket just updated their terms... And also lost me as a user as a result. I will try to remember to get the photos and upload them a different way when I get some more time.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    X4
    Loxxrider do u still have the picture ? I need to remove the trim on my x4 TIA

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Kirkland, WA
    Posts
    7,285
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    2006 Toyota Tundra
    You can install something on your computer that rehosts the pictures. Let me know

    - - - Updated - - -

    https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...flicjjgj?hl=en

    - - - Updated - - -

    https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...bifiaedg?hl=en

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