Z3 interior color change

[amancuso]

About two weeks ago I set out on a journey to change the interior color of my Z3 from sandbeige on beige to sandbeige on black. It was a little bit of an undertaking but I managed to get through it. I took pics along the way. Here are some of the general steps.

1. unbolt, disconnect and remove seats.
2. remove center console
3. remove oddments box/subwoofer enclosure
4. remove roll hoops
5. remove seatbelt tower cover
6. remove door sills
7. remove lower lateral covers
8. remove rear carpet
9. remove under-dash trim
10. remove steering wheel trim
11. remove air-bag and steering wheel
12. remove gauge cluster
13. remove driver’s lower trim
14. remove glovebox
15. remove air-bag cover
16. remove air-bag
17. remove three caps and screws on top of dash near windshield
18. remove two small allen screws in dash behind air vent
19. remove 4 bolts at each side of dash
20. remove dash
21. cut carpet around HVAC box.
22. remove front carpet.

Installation is reverse of disassembly.

*I have changed the upper side defroster vents to black, as well as black floor mats as in the last photo.

IMG_1474 by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_ba98 by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_ba9b by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_ba9d by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_baa2 by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_ba9f by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_baa0 by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_baa3 by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_baa5 by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_baab by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_bab8 by Al, on Flickr
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_baf0 by Al, on Flickr

[Tigershark48]

A bit of an undertaking is an understatement. Totally beyond what I personally would attempt.

End result - excellent work. Looks great!

[KBH22102]

Looks awesome Al. Great work!

[IndianaRoadster]

Very well done! Was this a winter project?

[dimm6]

That’s a hell of a undertaking. Great job. The dash removal seems like the most difficult task. Glad to see my wind deflector still being put to good use.

[amancuso]

Looks awesome Al. Great work!

Thanks!

A bit of an undertaking is an understatement. Totally beyond what I personally would attempt.

End result - excellent work. Looks great!

Thank you. It wasn't too bad.

Very well done! Was this a winter project?

LOL no. One day I just decided I wanted to do it and got it done in 3 days.

That’s a hell of a undertaking. Great job. The dash removal seems like the most difficult task. Glad to see my wind deflector still being put to good use.

The whole thing wasn't really all that bad. Rear console was the most annoying bit for me. The wind deflector still works great!

[delvec]

NICE JOB! Like the color combination!...Did you have any electrical/mechanical issues when completed?

[Tigershark48]

Makes sense to do it in three days versus over the winter to help remember how things came apart. My wife said, “he must have really hated the original color”.

[SteveG66]

That looks so much better!!! Great job!!!

[amancuso]

NICE JOB! Like the color combination!...Did you have any electrical/mechanical issues when completed?

Thank you! No problems whatsoever.

Makes sense to do it in three days versus over the winter to help remember how things came apart. My wife said, “he must have really hated the original color”.

I didn't really hate it, I just thought it was far too much beige.

That looks so much better!!! Great job!!!

Thank you, I agree. ;-)

[BimmerBreaker]

Looks great!

[z3forlife]

If you got it apart and back together without any new squeaks you did a good job. If you got it back together and eliminated old squeaks you did a terrific job. Lol

[Z-Thrizzle]

Wow, great job Al!!

[Kram71]

OMG I admire your determination. I guess my having to replace some shocks was not that big a job after all lol

[pwhitt]

that looks really good... i like that a lot, good job.

[amancuso]

Thanks again! I'm really chuffed.

[Randy Forbes]

Not even I like doing that job! Not much you don't know about the interior now (forward all questions to Al... )

Did you cut the front section behind the dash to make it easier to get out/in? It can also be cut in the area under the center console so it can be completely removed as a LH and RH sections. This becomes particularly useful if your top develops a leak, or you just plain old get caught in a downpour.

Good job, looks so much nicer, and the black floor will be a lot easier to keep tidy looking!

[amancuso]

Not even I like doing that job! Not much you don't know about the interior now (forward all questions to Al... )

Did you cut the front section behind the dash to make it easier to get out/in? It can also be cut in the area under the center console so it can be completely removed as a LH and RH sections. This becomes particularly useful if your top develops a leak, or you just plain old get caught in a downpour.

Good job, looks so much nicer, and the black floor will be a lot easier to keep tidy looking!

Thanks Randy. I did cut it around the HVAC box, but I used cable ties to keep the carpet taut. I put holes in the piece under the HVAC box and in the new carpet and sutured it up. Loving it so far. Will be nice to show it off when this damned virus either dissipates or gets it's ass handed to it by a vaccine.

[aba4430]

Great effort and excellent outcome.

[BimmerBreaker]

Thought about doing a beige center console to pull the dash into the rest of the cabin, sort of like on M models with the colored upper center dash and colored center console?

[amancuso]

Thought about doing a beige center console to pull the dash into the rest of the cabin, sort of like on M models with the colored upper center dash and colored center console?

Pics of your interior? My dash was originally all sandbeige, but I removed it from the car, and swapped the pods over from a black dash. I do have the beige radio console trim, but had difficulty finding the beige lower shift/window switch panel, apparently it's on eternal back order from Germany which = NLA. That's why I decided to stick to the wood trim.