E36 Door Panel Inserts -Part Numbers- Which is which how to determine which you have?

[archmaneric]

First off I've searched and viewed dozens of threads and did not find a concrete answer. If you look at the ETK/realoem you will see there are literally hundreds of door panel insert options between cloth, vinyl and leather options. I'm trying to figure out which part number my 98 M3 has, and I'm sure many others have wondered which their E36 has as well. I have called ECS, Pelican & FCP and had their specialists look and try to figure it out from my complete VIN but none of them could give me a definite answer.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_3109
For the sake of simplicity I'm going to limit the discussion to trying to determine the left rear door panel insert for my sedan. I know it's either vinyl or leather and it's black so we end up with four options.

1) Only Applies to Luxury Equipment/SA772 Left rear door trim panel insert N5SW SCHWARZ Part Number 51422491671
2) For vehicles w/ Side airbag Left door trim panel insert P7/P8SW SCHWARZ Part Number 51428165669
(what the heck is this - no sedans have rear doors w/ airbags?)
3) For vehicles w/ All leather equipment Walknappa Left door trim panel insert L7/N5SW SCHWARZ Part Number 51422258007
4) For vehicles w/ Vinyl version or Leather trim schwarz 0203/0470/0477/0514/0518 Left door trim panel insert P7/P8SW SCHWARZ Part Number 51428165669 (or 51428221725 form 03/1997 on)

So I used to own a 93 325i years ago and it had what I believe was vinyl inserts. The material basically matched the rest of the door panel texture and appearance. This leads me to think my car has leather inserts or the sole imitation leather option.
The original windows sticker shows that is has BLACK LEATHER - INCLUDED and a VIN check says the interior is Leather Walknappa/black so it's not an option per se but standard - and it's nappa leather - it's very smooth minimal grain.

So which door panel insert part number does my car have? I actually purchased option 3 shown in the pics below. It's much grainier than the rest of the cars leather (and the old insert shown) and looks significantly different but I know leather varies greatly from lot to lot and also with age. So is this the insert I have.. 51422258007? It's not black vinyl because it has way too much texture and doesn't look like leather. It's not the Luxury because those have vertical stitching. So it's either the one I bought or option 4.

Please share any input you have if you know for sure. I'd love to compile a complete database of all options and which cars use which part numbers.

Both

both_2_1200.jpg

Original
mine_1_1200.jpg



New Part Number 51422258007
51422258007_1_1200.jpg
51422258007_3_1200.jpg

[xxxxxxx]

Lux as I recall is the type with vertical, slanted sections.

[archmaneric]

Lux as I recall is the type with vertical, slanted sections.

Confirmed this is the case, all Lux variation have the slanted stitched leather. I'm basically trying to figure out what each door panel looks like... vinyl vs buffalo leather vs nappa leather vs luxury leather and so on...same for cloth too... I'll update here with more as I research.

luxury_door_panel.jpg

[archmaneric]

Ok so I've done a ton of research.. I've got it down to two options for my 98 M3 above. The insert is either:

1) Part # 51422258007 For vehicles with all leather equipment Walknappa L7/N5SW SCHWARZ or
2) Part # 51428221725 For vehicles with Vinyl version or Leather trim schwarz 0203/0470/0477/0514/0518 P7/P8SW SCHWARZ

and the front door panel assembly is either:
1) Part # 51412496141 For vehicles with Side airbag for driver/passengerN5SW SCHWARZ or
2) Part # 51418225397 For vehicles with Side airbag for driver/passenger E7AV/ZR/OL/BS/BV C1/C3/C4/D6AT/K1/P7/P8SW/D6ME Insert, imitation leather SCHWARZ

but how to determine which? (some of these parts are still available)
If I do a VIN check on the car it says it has leather walknappa/black - however the door panel inserts could be either black nappa leather or the imitation black nappa leather (don't confuse the imitation leather with the standard textured black vinyl option - it's different)

[MParallel]

M3's all had nappa leather, non-M Modena. The L7 key (extended leather) wasn't offered in the US.

Can't say about immitation leather. I know for 1998 there as a shortage of black nappa in the US, but then you would have headrests with the M striped on it, instead of the seatback.

[archmaneric]

Ok, I have confirmed the panel inserts for my car are indeed black nappa leather. Thanks everyone for the help! The window sticker and VIN check didn't really give enough info. It was the build sheet under the rear seat that listed all the options and tells you everything you need to know.

[MParallel]

VIN check will list the same as on that paper.

On the inside of the driver’s seat back cover, you will find a big sticker with all interior parts/version in it.