[1Bad335turbopsi]

Has anyone replaced one of these without having to change the entire door panel from what I was told is the only way to fix the grab handle that is peeling.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by 1Bad335turbopsi

Has anyone replaced one of these without having to change the entire door panel from what I was told is the only way to fix the grab handle that is peeling.

You don't have to change the entire door panel if it's black:

I don't know if I'd use epoxy to reattach it. I haven't looked in detail but I want to know if I can use screws and washers to reattach the arm rest to the panel.

[jsunma]

I'm not normally very OCD about things like this, but I will say that the door pulls on my 13 year old car are probably one thing that I think look pretty nasty. That BMW "rubberized coating" is a disaster any way one looks at it (or touches it).

So a few things re. the procedure in the video - which I think is overall quite good.

1) I wonder if anyone has tried acetone for cleaning off the coating. Seems like that may work better than rubbing alcohol.

2) I'd be pretty damn careful with the heat gun. Most of those can get mighty hot and if you're not very careful could melt or warp the plastic...in which case you'd be looking at a new door panel for sure...just for the parts. Perhaps a hair dryer would accomplish the same thing w/o the risk of melting stuff.

3) As compromise position, I'd consider doing the alcohol (or acetone) treatment without removing the actual piece from the panel. That will alleviate the need to drill the thing out. Perhaps mask with tape. I did do the drilling to remove my passenger side door inside handle (which also "melted" and needed replacing), but I'm not so sure I'd do it for this bit.

4) The trim around the switches seems to be removable without drilling anything, so that's pretty simple once you figure out what you're going to do to remove the coating. I have to check, but you may be able to remove that switch cluster w/o taking off the door panel.

5) And yes, if I did go to the work to drill out the connections and remove the actual pocket, I'd not epoxy the thing back together. Rather, I'd try short screws and washers (the solution for reattaching the passenger side door pull/handle) or maybe nothing since in this case it's not a structural piece. Epoxy is a once and forever done thing...and that just seems excessive.

But again, I think I'm going to try this first without removing the pull/pocket and just doing it while it's still in place in the door. And unlike the guy in the video, I probably don't care so much if the switch trim is exactly matching the pull pocket...so I'll try this whole thing without removing the door panel. Being the lazy person that I am...unless you can remove it w/o removing the door panel (per above).

Otherwise, the video is a good representation of a great way to thoroughly do this repair. And to the OP's point, a better thing to try vs. buying a whole new door panel.

[InnerBlueSkies]

Actually, there are members who have done this job without any of the steps mentioned above.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1800393

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by jsunma

1) I wonder if anyone has tried acetone for cleaning off the coating. Seems like that may work better than rubbing alcohol.

2) I'd be pretty damn careful with the heat gun. Most of those can get mighty hot and if you're not very careful could melt or warp the plastic...in which case you'd be looking at a new door panel for sure...just for the parts. Perhaps a hair dryer would accomplish the same thing w/o the risk of melting stuff.

Acetone works great but it is guaranteed to discolor the plastic, I definitely do not recommend it. You even have to be careful with alcohol. I used 90% ethanol and it started discoloring the plastic. Next time I'm going to try 50% isopropyl and see if that's gentler. I did this to my dual CD/DVD drive surround trim and after seeing the damage the strong alcohol did I ended up wrapping it in vinyl and it looks great. Unfortunately there are too many curves on the door handle to effectively use vinyl.

I'm not worried about the heat gun, just need to be careful.

[tcphoto]

I definitely need to refinish the drivers door handle and the blank piece under the CD player. I will probably pull the door panel and disassemble the pieces. The other DIY provided links to the paint needed and I've saved it in my Amazon list.

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by lowrydr310

Acetone works great but it is guaranteed to discolor the plastic, I definitely do not recommend it. You even have to be careful with alcohol. I used 90% ethanol and it started discoloring the plastic. Next time I'm going to try 50% isopropyl and see if that's gentler. I did this to my dual CD/DVD drive surround trim and after seeing the damage the strong alcohol did I ended up wrapping it in vinyl and it looks great. Unfortunately there are too many curves on the door handle to effectively use vinyl.

I'm not worried about the heat gun, just need to be careful.

90% IPA did not discolor the black plastics I stripped of the rubberized coating.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by nsjames

90% IPA did not discolor the black plastics I stripped of the rubberized coating.

Good to know. I used ethanol the first time and it made a mess, but fortunately it was an easy piece to wrap with vinyl. Sounds like isopropyl is the way to go.

[Fritzer]

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy knowing that everyone else is suffering the same peeve as I am. Can't wait to take care of this and other interior bits....

[edmfperez]

Eazy Pz