[gobrigavitch]

Any Canadians do this?

Where is the best place to get these parts in Canada? Is Crown Auto still a good alternative? I also want to get the sunglass holder and to replace the rear ashtray with the cubby. Will I need all these part numbers ahead of time or will whoever I talk to be able to look them up?

Thanks

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Brent

Gentlemen: I may have found a source for the original BMW connectors (at least the plastic housing halves). I just ordered some, and will let you know when they arrive if they are indeed the correct items. If they are, I will post the vendor, part numbers, price, etc.

Well, bad news. They were the correct color & shape, but too large. They will not work. I have something else, though.

I just finished my robot install. I did it with the storage compartment instead of the ashtray.

I took the idea from some previous posters and made a harness, so that the mod is true P-N-P, and can be removed, the old piece put back in, leaving no evidence of the mod, as no BMW wires were cut.

I did find a better MOLEX style connector to use. The Radio Shack pieces fit loosely, and the pins & sockets they came with were oversized, made from really cheap looking crudely-stamped aluminum. I went to a local electrical components house called Abletronics, and found some by Philmore - they fit really well. The two halves that make up the connector are:

1. "Male" plastic piece: PN 61-202

2. The "female" plastic piece: PN 61-242

Now both of these come with the MALE crimp-on pins, so make sure you buy some FEMALE crimp-on pins to replace where needed.

So anyway I made up a wiring harness as above, with the plastic pieces that go over the BMW pieces fitting very snugly. The plastic plug that goes into the BMW piece where the old power connector is broken (where the green & brown wires change to red & brown) had to be reshaped. I used a grinder to shape the outside of the plastic piece, and then hand-filed it smooth. You also have to add a groove in the Philmore piece so that it will slide into the BMW piece. I did that with a soldering iron, melting a v-shaped channel by hand, followed by smoothing it out with a box cutter blade.

All told, it took about an hour, everything went together very well, and I did not cut nor alter any original BMW pieces on the car. I have power in all receptacles (front ashtray, console compartment, and the two newly added sockets) and no error messages.

Thanks to everyone who posted plans & advice before. This was my first mod, and it went very well due to the gracious help of those who went before me.

I did not take any pictures, as the thread has photos for everything already.

The cool thing is that I will add the Droid F8Z445 charger to one side to make it a USB charger - it is just about flush-mount. That way I will have a dedicated USb charger & an extra 12 V outlet as well.

[Ferruccio]

I finally installed the rear power outlets! I actually got the panel as a Christmas present from my brother (He owns a Harley, so, is used to doing these accessory mods all the time).

I was going to go with the drawer, but, since I had an LCI sedan, which seems to mean "delete all drawers from interior" I went with an open compartment with a foam insert. So, my robot's got an open mouth.

I didn't need to cut any wires at all. Since the like-colored wires are all sharing the same voltage, I just clamped the wire connectors partway up.

[fongboy]

I need some serious help. I can't stand not having an outlet in the rear. I'm looking for the part numbers for the BLACK rear console part, partion, and partion insert. I look everywhere but can't seem to find it them. Thank you

[Romanian nightmare]

Originally Posted by fongboy

I need some serious help. I can't stand not having an outlet in the rear. I'm looking for the part numbers for the BLACK rear console part, partion, and partion insert. I look everywhere but can't seem to find it them. Thank you

Try this....http://www.ecstuning.com/ES251889/ES83971/ or just go to your local BMW dealer....once you get the exact part number from them, you may find it cheaper on line...

[JDLM]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

I finally installed the rear power outlets! I actually got the panel as a Christmas present from my brother (He owns a Harley, so, is used to doing these accessory mods all the time).

I was going to go with the drawer, but, since I had an LCI sedan, which seems to mean "delete all drawers from interior" I went with an open compartment with a foam insert. So, my robot's got an open mouth.

I didn't need to cut any wires at all. Since the like-colored wires are all sharing the same voltage, I just clamped the wire connectors partway up.

I like the drawer (Do you have the part number for this?)

Also, what do you mean your clamped wires?

Thanks

I build computers etc.. and do stuff like this just looking for clarification

[Ferruccio]

Originally Posted by JDLM

I like the drawer (Do you have the part number for this?)

Also, what do you mean your clamped wires?

Thanks

I build computers etc.. and do stuff like this just looking for clarification

I didn't cut off the ends of the wires and press the ends through the quick connects. Instead, I just put the wires side by side and quick connected them together, above the plug. At the very least, the only "damage" can be fixed with a wrap of electrical tape.

[JDLM]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

I didn't cut off the ends of the wires and press the ends through the quick connects. Instead, I just put the wires side by side and quick connected them together, above the plug. At the very least, the only "damage" can be fixed with a wrap of electrical tape.

Similar to this:

[jon328i]

This DIY is very helpful, did my own retrofit. Thanks again to Evan/Jason (getbmwparts.com) for taking care of my order. Just arrived today and my installation is straightforward.

Parts: Black Interior
51-16-7-150-155 - Covering Rear
51-16-7-156-472 - Foam Insert, rear B
51-16-7-154-481 - Storing Partition


My old cover, left side peeling off due to my kid using this as his kick panel

And my new panel:

[JDLM]

Originally Posted by jon328i

This DIY is very helpful, did my own retrofit. Thanks again to Evan/Jason (getbmwparts.com) for taking care of my order. Just arrived today and my installation is straightforward.

Parts: Black Interior
51-16-7-150-155 - Covering Rear
51-16-7-156-472 - Foam Insert, rear B
51-16-7-154-481 - Storing Partition


My old cover, left side peeling off due to my kid using this as his kick panel

And my new panel:

What was your total?

Also how did you do your power connections? w/ the little connector or?

[jon328i]

to JDLM

my total was $99 shipped to my house in L.A.
For the power connection, i just tapped to the orange and brown wire (basic parallel connection) of the existing power wire on the left side part of the rear console using butt splice and quick connect

[JDLM]

Originally Posted by jon328i

to JDLM

my total was $99 shipped to my house in L.A.
For the power connection, i just tapped to the orange and brown wire of the existing power wire on the left side part of the rear console using butt splice and quick connect

Not bad price wise, I am pretty comfortable w/ wiring things just a tad nervous about this car

Will this be doable:

[jon328i]

Originally Posted by JDLM

Similar to this:

i used this quick connect to tap to the factory orange/brown wire

[JDLM]

Awesome, looks like I need to add more parts to my list of stuff (actual wire pics would be good)

I did/do electronics for a living I am sure I am over thinking this

[jon328i]

Originally Posted by JDLM

Awesome, looks like I need to add more parts to my list of stuff (actual wire pics would be good)

I did/do electronics for a living I am sure I am over thinking this

Here are some pics of the connectors:

[JDLM]

Thanks, will be ordering doesn't look hard

[intermediatic]

Alright…*so I have a 2011 e90. I popped the rear off and noted that if I disconnect the power adapter with the brown and red wires, I lose power to the cigarette lighter in the central armrest. I saw that as success as that adapter perfectly fit the rear console plug for the dual cigarette lighter! Yay. Except that with it connected to the new rear console I had no power to the lighters. WHAT?

Do I have a defective part or is it that the wires are reversed? The new rear console has brown wire going to the red wire from under the central armrest and the red wire going to the brown wire from the central armrest. Is this why there isn't power? If so, is there an easy way to pull those wires out of the plug without destroying it? Sure would be nice. I'd rather have a 100% reversible solution with two plugs in the back instead of a semi-useless plug in the central console.

Or am I making some kind of weird mistake? Can I reverse the plugs? Do I maybe have a defective unit?

[jon328i]

Originally Posted by intermediatic

Alright…*so I have a 2011 e90. I popped the rear off and noted that if I disconnect the power adapter with the brown and red wires, I lose power to the cigarette lighter in the central armrest. I saw that as success as that adapter perfectly fit the rear console plug for the dual cigarette lighter! Yay. Except that with it connected to the new rear console I had no power to the lighters. WHAT?

Do I have a defective part or is it that the wires are reversed? The new rear console has brown wire going to the red wire from under the central armrest and the red wire going to the brown wire from the central armrest. Is this why there isn't power? If so, is there an easy way to pull those wires out of the plug without destroying it? Sure would be nice. I'd rather have a 100% reversible solution with two plugs in the back instead of a semi-useless plug in the central console.

Or am I making some kind of weird mistake? Can I reverse the plugs? Do I maybe have a defective unit?

You do not need to disconnect anything, you just need to tap to the existing brown/red wire with white connector, parallel connection. You cannot reverse the plugs. And also use a voltmeter to check/verify the connections. You can PM me if you have any questions. Goodluck.

[Homer603]

Had to have this mod too for my 2007 335i.
Part # was 51-16-7-150-155 covering rear. Black.
Bought mine from Edmonton BMW for $116.15 + gst = $121.96 delivered to dealership. The computer said there was only one left in Canada and 5 in Germany.
Expensive but I was already at the dealership.

[cjmoy]

I just did this mod. It was very easy to do and only took me 20 minutes. Thanks to this thread I didn't have any issues unclipping the old part.

[ufarlig]

I dont know if this is different on US cars and EU cars but I cant seem to get the back panel off.

I get the top clips to loosen but the bottom part wont budge one bit. What am I doing wrong?

The top clips I pull straight back towards me to loosen, what about the lower ones? According to the first picture it looks like you have to pull it left and right but I've tried that as well as straight back

[JimVR4]

There are clips at the lower left and right that accept tabs from the console. You have to push the edges of the back panel toward the middle to get the clips to release.