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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Powertrain and Drivetrain Discussions > NA Engine (non-turbo) / Drivetrain / Exhaust Modifications > STICKY Plastic



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      05-25-2015, 04:01 PM   #1
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Question STICKY Plastic

Ok ok, I know I'm in the wrong section , but I have been pulling my hair out trying to search for a repair of the BMW soft touch plastic that heats up and melts/gets gummy/gets gooey. I'm not looking to replace the part, just wondering if a special cleaning chemical or adhesive can be used to restore my poor passenger door handle.
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      05-25-2015, 06:01 PM   #2
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I'm going to try iso alcohol (70/30) , and possibly some magic eraser. That gummy surface is awful!
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      05-25-2015, 06:34 PM   #3
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let me know what happens, it happened to me too!
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      05-25-2015, 06:49 PM   #4
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This happens on my radio volume knob for whatever reason. I usually use an alcohol solution wipe it off.. really really strange i always thought that it was myself or a friend touching it with sticky hands LOL.
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      05-25-2015, 06:59 PM   #5
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I heard magic eraser is bad for leather or something.. I read that somewhere, but I forgot where.
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      05-25-2015, 07:20 PM   #6
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Thanks for the support NA pals! I'll report back shortly.
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      05-25-2015, 07:33 PM   #7
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I still dont know where you guys are talking about....gummy? hm. I just detailed my car with the chemical guys leather shit. My inside feels like a voluptuous soft tit (just one tit) now. Try that too, it works pretty well to restore and clean! Its just vitamin E.
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      05-25-2015, 07:49 PM   #8
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Only happens on the radio portion of my e82. It bakes in the sun all day at my job throughout the summer.. so it kinda makes sense.
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      05-25-2015, 07:52 PM   #9
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Yeah, for me it's that inner passenger door handle. I think all German cars have this issue, I've read dozens of other forums. The soft touch plastic almost biodegrades inside the car on hot days.
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      05-25-2015, 08:10 PM   #10
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Yup, and my radio knob too.
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      05-26-2015, 12:09 PM   #11
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My windows switches were peeling so I just scraped all the "soft touch" garbage off. Now they look they way they SHOULD have come from the factory, nice black plastic.

I hate that soft touch garbage. It feels awful, looks cheap and peels way too easily. BMW could save a lot of money not using it, especially when the black plastic underneath is good quality, has a nice subtle texture and looks 100 times better than that rubber crap.
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      05-26-2015, 01:35 PM   #12
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I've found that my center console has it too, the sides that the seat belt clip is in contact with. Its sticky and peeling on the rounded edge near the e-brake handle.
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      06-30-2015, 05:37 PM   #13
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So after taking forever to try my fix, I attempted cleaning the gummy passenger door pull. I put a healthy amount of Denatured alcohol on a paper towel and gently cleaned the handle. It got rid of all the dirt, loose pigment in the plastic dye that had oxidized, as well as restoring the beige color to factory. All the dirt and black color was actually stuck residue and the handle now matches the other two rear. It left my plastic intact, and did NOT dissolve the soft touch coating NOR peeled it away. Best of all, I didn't need to buy a replacement part! I then put a thin layer of furniture wax over it by hand to seal the surface. I'll update on how it does.
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      11-21-2017, 01:09 AM   #14
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Turpentine to clean sticky plastics

Turpentine (spirit of turpentine) gave me success (radio knob, seat/seatbelt plastic parts so far).
A cloth damped with spirit of turpentine would wipe off the sticky coating quite easily (no need to insist too much), and without damaging the plastic underneath the soft touch coating. I have done this 2 weeks ago, and the plastic has remained "stable" (i.e. I was afraid to see the turpentine having a negative mid-term effect on plastics).

Ideally, the best would be to dismount all plastic part to be cleaned and wipe them off or bath them with Turpentine. However, dismounting all these little pats is too time consuming (door handle, steering wheel, around gear shifter, cup holders, etc...) . So I will just carefully wipe off the parts little by little leaving them in place (use knifes, chopstick, toothpick, barbecue stick wrapped in cloth to access difficult angles). Note that Terpentine is not harmful to leather, in fact it is used to clean wax, shoe shine, coatings, etc... Without doing a messy job, if the rug full of Terpentine touches the leather, it is not the end of the world.


I have tried various chemical one after another with increasing strength. Here is my experience:
(-)(-)(-)
  1. Alcohol - no effect
  2. Thinner - no effect
  3. Zippo gasoline - no effect
  4. Degreaser/ Fabric Stain Remover based on aliphatic hydrocarbons include hexanes, heptane, VM&P naphtha - no effect
  5. Turpentine (spirit of turpentine) - wipes off the sticky coating quite easily, and without damaging the plastic underneath the soft touch coating.
  6. Trichloroethylene- too strong, damages the plastic underneath
(+)(+)(+)

WD-40 - Not tried. It smells too much and too greasy.
Aceton - Not tried
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      11-21-2017, 07:54 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E93WhiteHK View Post
Turpentine (spirit of turpentine) gave me success (radio knob, seat/seatbelt plastic parts so far).
A cloth damped with spirit of turpentine would wipe off the sticky coating quite easily (no need to insist too much), and without damaging the plastic underneath the soft touch coating. I have done this 2 weeks ago, and the plastic has remained "stable" (i.e. I was afraid to see the turpentine having a negative mid-term effect on plastics).

Ideally, the best would be to dismount all plastic part to be cleaned and wipe them off or bath them with Turpentine. However, dismounting all these little pats is too time consuming (door handle, steering wheel, around gear shifter, cup holders, etc...) . So I will just carefully wipe off the parts little by little leaving them in place (use knifes, chopstick, toothpick, barbecue stick wrapped in cloth to access difficult angles). Note that Terpentine is not harmful to leather, in fact it is used to clean wax, shoe shine, coatings, etc... Without doing a messy job, if the rug full of Terpentine touches the leather, it is not the end of the world.


I have tried various chemical one after another with increasing strength. Here is my experience:
(-)(-)(-)
  1. Alcohol - no effect
  2. Thinner - no effect
  3. Zippo gasoline - no effect
  4. Degreaser/ Fabric Stain Remover based on aliphatic hydrocarbons include hexanes, heptane, VM&P naphtha - no effect
  5. Turpentine (spirit of turpentine) - wipes off the sticky coating quite easily, and without damaging the plastic underneath the soft touch coating.
  6. Trichloroethylene- too strong, damages the plastic underneath
(+)(+)(+)

WD-40 - Not tried. It smells too much and too greasy.
Aceton - Not tried

Just to comment on Acetone.

I took my steering wheel trim off in order to vinyl wrap it in matte black in order to match the oem look.

Removing the unpeeled rubber coating was a pain until I soaked the whole piece in acetone (Nail polish remover).(EDIT: DO NOT USE PURE 100% ACETONE AS IT WILL EAT INTO YOUR PLASTIC. USE NAIL POLISH REMOVER WITHOUT ACETONE OR LOW CONCETRATION)


Within seconds all of the rubber separated from plastic effortlessly.
Acetone however will discolor the plastic! For me this was not an issue since I was wrapping it. It just made the job so much easier.

Discoloration will present itself in the form of white haziness.

Have a look at the thread I made: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1122789

Last edited by Wolf 335; 09-12-2023 at 11:36 AM..
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      11-14-2018, 05:01 AM   #16
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radio knobs

Hey guys.... I know alot of people have issues with the radio knobs being sticky over time. I just bought a 2008 e90 and had this issue with the radio knobs, was really gummy and sticky.

I just took out the knobs and used goo gone... Best thing ever... Will get all the gummy rubber and sticky stuff off the knobs. No need to replace it....just buy a bottle of that goo gone...
Might be able to do the same with the door handles.
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      11-14-2018, 08:27 AM   #17
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thanks! ^
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      11-14-2018, 05:43 PM   #18
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I had success with regular isopropyl alcohol to strip the soft touch coating around the idrive controller.

left me with a nice textured hard plastic. Eventually I'm going to strip all of the soft touch coating. It just doesn't age well.
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