[LT5PLA]

hI,

Im from australia and i have a 06 e90 sedan. The drivers side interior door grab handle is flaking..

Is the door handle replacable? Can i buy the part and replace myself or is it kinda one peice with the door skin?

[rjive]

I looked on realoem at this. Looks like you can replace just the door handle. Now, keep in mind I used a North America model for this diagram, but it should be about the same



link:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...35&hg=51&fg=50

Hope this helps

[Dracon]

Originally Posted by rjive

I looked on realoem at this. Looks like you can replace just the door handle. Now, keep in mind I used a North America model for this diagram, but it should be about the same



link:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...35&hg=51&fg=50

Hope this helps

Well, it kinda is replaceable and kinda not.

You can buy the handles from RealOEM and you'll get just the handle, the problem is they are compression/heat moulded into the door itself. So you would need to cut the old handle off and use a heat tool to put the new one in place.

I tried this myself by just ordering the handle and found all this out the hard way.

Here's a link for reference on how it's constructed to the door.

http://www.bmw-sg.com/forums/interio...tml#post504199

[rjive]

oh it looks like it just snaps in. Good info man! I'm sure this will help out the OP.

[executioner]

Hi , sorry to revive and old thread, anyone have a more detailed idea how to solve the problem of replacing the inside of that grab handle on the passenger side.

This is the grab handle:




Behind the door trim this is the top:



This is the bottom one:



Really appreciate your comments.

Yep its a stupid design you have to melt the old on off then new one back one, I have the handle, but I'm not going to hack up a 600 dollar door panel.

[Meeni]

Part n*4 is very easy to replace though and gets 90% of the ugliness away usually.

[glachhman]

Originally Posted by executioner

Hi , sorry to revive and old thread, anyone have a more detailed idea how to solve the problem of replacing the inside of that grab handle on the passenger side.

This is the grab handle:




Behind the door trim this is the top:



This is the bottom one:



Really appreciate your comments.

Sorry to bump an old thread but its really easy to replace. Just use a drill to drill out the old one's 4 mounting points. Put it into place then melt down the tabs with a heated bolt or something similar.

[Augster]

I used a propane torch and an old, long bolt that had a special smooth, round head so there would be no raised lettering or ridges that could catch on the gooey plastic when mushrooming them into place. Even wearing welder's gloves I could feel the hot bolt and had to switch fingers holding it to prevent pain building up in any one finger.

It was time consuming: heating the bolt head for 5 seconds, then slowly mashing plastic mounting pin just a few seconds at a time while rotating the bolt head, then repeating steps, slowly flattening the plastic roughly 1/16" at a time, until eventually a mushroomed head seats against the door panel. Once seated, go to the next mounting pin.

I did both the passenger's pull handle and the driver's entire armrest/pull cup.

A temperature-controllable soldering iron with a wide, flat tip (preferably 1/2" or wider) would have been much easier, if I had one, as it probably could mushroom the pin in one long step, instead of the back-and-forth action using a propane torch and bolt head.

[glachhman]

Originally Posted by Augster

I used a propane torch and an old, long bolt that had a special smooth, round head so there would be no raised lettering or ridges that could catch on the gooey plastic when mushrooming them into place. Even wearing welder's gloves I could feel the hot bolt and had to switch fingers holding it to prevent pain building up in any one finger.

It was time consuming: heating the bolt head for 5 seconds, then slowly mashing plastic mounting pin just a few seconds at a time while rotating the bolt head, then repeating steps, slowly flattening the plastic roughly 1/16" at a time, until eventually a mushroomed head seats against the door panel. Once seated, go to the next mounting pin.

I did both the passenger's pull handle and the driver's entire armrest/pull cup.

A temperature-controllable soldering iron with a wide, flat tip (preferably 1/2" or wider) would have been much easier, if I had one, as it probably could mushroom the pin in one long step, instead of the back-and-forth action using a propane torch and bolt head.

Or just heat the bolt until its glowing red and melt down the 4 points....

[Augster]

Originally Posted by glachhman

Or just heat the bolt until its glowing red and melt down the 4 points....

I did that with the first pin but it was too hot and the plastic stuck to the bolt head leaving nothing left to form a mushroom to anchor the pin. I let the bolt head cool, scraped the hardened plastic off the bolt head and placed it on what was left of the pin that was still protruding through the panel, then carefully torched the bolt head to re-melt the plastic just enough to bond back to the pin head. Luckily, this pin was on the screw side of the handle so I wasn't too worried of its strength.

Lesson learned: You can't use too much heat with plastic or you will suffer the consequences that I did.

[fl335i]

^i'm here now guys. I'm thinking about a rivet or screw with washer.

[Augster]

A rivet might be better over a screw, especially for the top of the handle.



Because the mountings pins are hollow with thin walls and a large hole, screws will have to be very "fat," such as a #12 (7/32" holes) or #14 (1/4" holes). Again, for the top of the handle, the screws will have to be a short length because it cannot not penetrate into the other side as it may interfere with proper seating of the hand grip cover.

If riveting the top of the handle, it would be best to insert the rivet from the inboard side (facing the interior) to provide the flushest head to prevent interference with the cover.

In either case, you need to cut off the pin flush to the door panel.

[fl335i]

^ Agree. I'll trim the stubs down flush with back of the panel. Use a proper sized small rivet & rivet gun. done. Move the heck on kids. Just can't believe it's such a PITA. My handle looks terrible.

Lol I have had this handle for over 3 years in my garage, I've been to scared to start hacking away at my door panel.

Maybe I should give it a shot.

[fl335i]

^it's not that bad. Watch the Youtube video for panel removal. The rest is just some time and creativity. The top really doesn't even need rivets. It's really the bottom two that are structural when pulling.

[Augster]

Originally Posted by fl335i

The top really doesn't even need rivets. It's really the bottom two that are structural when pulling.

Hmmm.... I dunno about taking such a short-cut. As I mentioned previously, one of my pins (aft one) on the top of the handle wasn't fully "mushroomed" because the plastic "head" broke off when it stuck to the heated bolt. Even though I was able to melt it back on to the remaining pin, I didn't mushroom it fully down tightly to the panel back. Now the grip handle ever so slightly rocks and squeaks (just faintly) whenever it's pulled to close the door. I may eventually go back and finish fully seating that pin, even though I'm sure no one else would notice this anomaly.

So my take away is that you should secure those pins against the panel back in some way; BMW put them there for a reason, even though there is a screw used as the primary mechanical strength, as they appear to serve a purpose to prevent rotation of the grip handle since the door panel is really just a heavy duty composite fibrous (paper-like) material and that single screw alone is insufficient to completely prevent movement in all planes and axises.

[fl335i]

^ Agree. I'm goign to try the rivet route first.

[GB-335xiCoupe]

Originally Posted by Augster

So my take away is that you should secure those pins against the panel back in some way; BMW put them there for a reason, even though there is a screw used as the primary mechanical strength, as they appear to serve a purpose to prevent rotation of the grip handle since the door panel is really just a heavy duty composite fibrous (paper-like) material and that single screw alone is insufficient to completely prevent movement in all planes and axises.

Wouldn't a strong CA or epoxy resin glue work?

[Augster]

Originally Posted by GB-335xiCoupe

Wouldn't a strong CA or epoxy resin glue work?

By itself with no other mechanical means of securing the pull strap at the relatively small contact points, I doubt it would be strong enough to endure the potentially large amount of pulling force exerted in closing the door constantly, especially on inclines downward towards the passenger side.

[xTaSkx]

Where did you guys get the replacement part? Cant find it online.

[executioner]

In my pictures above you can see this part number

51419150340

It is the right handle one

http://parts.bmwofsouthatlanta.com/p...419150340.html

The stealership installed mine.