Removing dash trim

[Juice84]

So I have seen the other threads and I am having some issues.

When I look in the center vents... I cant see the clips are you supposed to be able to? Ive tried for about an hour and no luck. Is it possible the clips are wedged in at a different angle and not toward the hole?

On the vents on the end, there are little black 'plugs' covering the top screws, how do you get these off? are they pulled out? are the screws? Ive nicked the vents a lil bit and I dont want to mess them up anymore.

[jcutrell]

See this thread for more detail on removing the center vents:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewto...remove#p135928

I tried to remove mine today. I couldn't see the clips either. Finally, with the aid of bent paper clip (as mentioned toward the end of the thread), I was able pull down on the clip far enough to see it. Use a heavy paper clip ... straighten it out and then bend a little hook on one end. Slide the hook end up into the hole and "hook" the clip. Pull it down. You should see the end of the clip, enough to catch it with a screwdriver. Unfortunately, in my case, I still wasn't able to get the vent out. Even with pushing down on the clips, the vent still seemed too tight to pull out. I'll be interested in your take on this if you're able to get your's out.

As for the side vents, those are just plastic covers over the screws. I used a small penknife to kind of work under the edge and they came right off. Good Luck!

[Car 5]

I had the same problem. I used a thin blade screw driver and was able to push up the clip and pulled on the vent one at a time. It was stuck and then it came out just like that. Once I got the vent in hand I can see just how it works, Be careful it will come out. car 5

[Juice84]

I will give the paper clip a try this weekend and see if I can hook it. I also have a service manual that should arrive this weekend that might give some alternatives.

[jcutrell]

I was finally able to get my center vent out today. Once you are able to see the clips, it takes more force to move them down than I anticipated. I had originally tried to use a small flat blade screwdriver. I finally used a more substantial flat blade screwdriver and pushed down harder than I expected I would need to and you just want to catch the very end of the clip. Those clips need to move quite a distance to release. It worked! Once the clips were fully released, the center vent came out very easily. I think this is one of those DIY jobs that you can't really understand until you finally achieve success ... then it is like omg, was it really that easy?

[jmillet]

Originally Posted by Juice84

So I have seen the other threads and I am having some issues.
When I look in the center vents... I cant see the clips are you supposed to be able to? Ive tried for about an hour and no luck. Is it possible the clips are wedged in at a different angle and not toward the hole?
On the vents on the end, there are little black 'plugs' covering the top screws, how do you get these off? are they pulled out? are the screws? Ive nicked the vents a lil bit and I dont want to mess them up anymore.

Save yourself (and us) a lot of time by visiting bimmerfest Z4 FAQ. You'll find the answer to most of your Z4 DIY questions there.
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...2&postcount=16
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=55

[DarkstarZero]

What did you guys do for removing the knee pads to get to the screw that's under them to remove the console trim? I just can't leverage the pad from the 4 clips no matter how hard I try. I've already damaged the plastic and the leather a little trying to pry it off but I can't even pull it from one clip. What do I need to do to get them off?

Thanks

[Juice84]

Originally Posted by jcutrell

See this thread for more detail on removing the center vents:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewto...remove#p135928

I tried to remove mine today. I couldn't see the clips either. Finally, with the aid of bent paper clip (as mentioned toward the end of the thread), I was able pull down on the clip far enough to see it. Use a heavy paper clip ... straighten it out and then bend a little hook on one end. Slide the hook end up into the hole and "hook" the clip. Pull it down. You should see the end of the clip, enough to catch it with a screwdriver. Unfortunately, in my case, I still wasn't able to get the vent out. Even with pushing down on the clips, the vent still seemed too tight to pull out. I'll be interested in your take on this if you're able to get your's out.

As for the side vents, those are just plastic covers over the screws. I used a small penknife to kind of work under the edge and they came right off. Good Luck!

Gave the paper clip a quick try last night and it seemed to work, I was able to hook the tab and pull it down. I should be able to get it out this weekend with that trick. Keep you guys posted. And thanks for all the help and links.

[DarkstarZero]

I used two dinner knives to get the vents out, worked perfectly first time, took about 30 seconds. The hard parts I had with removing the trim was the knee pads and main dash trim. You really have to apply absolute brute force. Good thing I was removing aluminum trim so I didn't have to worry about the trim breaking because it's a solid block of aluminum.

[Juice84]

Got off the dash.



BMW specialty tool



Ive looked around and only found the Italian thread on the transmission tunnel removal, are there any others out there? and I looked at z4 FAQ.

[DarkstarZero]

Sorry, there's no others. Just use this link to read it in English: http://translate.google.com/translat...parte-17411%2F

It's actually not too hard, but time consuming. You basically need to remove the entire center console going all the way back to the trunk. One thing to keep in mind is when you're removing the top plastic cover, you pop it up and out from the trunk side forward. Because you're doing all the work in the cabin, you'll want to pop that off from in there, but it doesn't work that way.

Another thing is the knee pads, you just have to use brute force to pry them off. Yes, some of the clips will break off, but you only need 2 to keep it secure. I don't know why BMW thought 5 clips were necessary but who am I to argue with their build quality