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Thread: Replace dash section above the glovebox

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Athens, GA
    Posts
    2
    My Cars
    2002 Z3 3.0i coupe,

    Replace dash section above the glovebox

    Hi, new guy here and hope I can get advice about my problem. I keep my 2002 Z3 coupe with extended beige interior garaged in the winter. When I took it out this last spring I noticed the section of the dash above the glovebox and around the passenger side airbag cover had shrunk and split. I have been living with it but get sick everytime I look at it. Would it be possible for a guy who’s done a few things with cars to remove and replace this section and if so could someone let me know where to find a replacement? Thanks much.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    kansas city
    Posts
    143
    My Cars
    98 Z3, 01 330i, 07 328iT
    I've just gone through this myself. My extended leather was peeling back and shrinking. I removed the entire dash and unscrewed the leather pod from the dashboard. I sprayed leather stretcher on the shrunken leather to make is soft and pliable. Then, I tried stretching it back into place prior to gluing it back on and RIP. The old leather tore like paper when I tried to stretch it. In my case, completely removing the leather and replacing it would have been the only way to keep the extended leather.

    I ended up trimming away the top half of the leather and painting the pods with SEM Color Coat. For the leather that remained, I filled any rough edges with leather crack filler and recolored the leather when I re-dyed my seats. You can see it somewhat in the pictures below. They show the leather where I trimmed it and re-dyed it prior to painting the upper pods black. It turned out looking good but was alot of work. Short of recovering with new leather or finding matching pods with good leather, your'e left with similar options.

    IMG_0868.jpgIMG_0869.jpg

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Athens, GA
    Posts
    2
    My Cars
    2002 Z3 3.0i coupe,
    JRowe, wow, looks like you gutted the innards of your car! I thought these were leather but where this thing tore I could swear it’s vinyl. Had you ever done anyrhing like this before-were you experienced? I hope to only take that one part off, well, the glovebox and airbag cover, too. I may swallow hard and try to tackle this to see if I can stretch this and have it look decent - can’t look much worse than it does. I have seen some of these things listed on eBay but the look a little different. Mine has (fake?) stitches around the perimeter of this piece.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    kansas city
    Posts
    143
    My Cars
    98 Z3, 01 330i, 07 328iT
    Yes. I have removed the entire interior of my car. I got a very neglected 98 2.8 for $2500 due to it sitting and getting rained in. It has necessitated removing the interior for cleaning and reconditioning. Here's a link to a thread I started on it.

    https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...8#post30158098

    As for my experience level, 25 years ago, I worked part time as a mechanic. I've done just about everything that can be done on a car at least once. So, I'm not afraid to tackle big or complex problems. Also, I would go insane if I didn't have a project to work on evenings and weekends. I sit at a desk the rest of the week and need the hands on outlet.

    I can't comment on whether your dash is vinyl or leather, but I wish you the best of luck with it.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Timaru, New Zealand
    Posts
    1,132
    My Cars
    Two Z3 Roadsters
    Hi

    I successfully repaired my extended leather dash with the original leather. Here is my write up on it.
    https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...t=leather+dash

    Muzz
    1999 2.8L Z3 Roadster,
    2000 3.0L Z3 Roadster,

    There is only one thing more pleasurable than working on a Z3, that's driving it top down on a fine day.

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