Has anyone here successfully removed and replaced the dash trim on the passenger side (the piece on the secret compartment). It would seem that the one remaining source of noise in my secret compartment after the last fix from the dealer is coming from the Brushed Aluminum trim itself. I'm hoping that if I can detach the face of the trim I'll be able to eliminate the source.

I realize there are two screws that need to be unscrewed, I unscrewed those but the trim piece seems to still be stuck in place. Frankly this car only being two weeks old, I don't want to force it and break any clips. So is there some sort of method to this? The one thing I was thinking (I'll try this the next time I have time to work on it again) is that maybe it needs to slide one way or the other for it to release the clips holding it in place.

 

I can't help you with the specific details, but I will share a website that you can use from now on to find part numbers and diagrams which have been helpful to me in the past. It might help.

www.realoem.com

 

I don't know for sure, but it seems like a lot of the time MINI uses double-sided tape with a kung-fu grip on their pieces. I wouldn't be surprised if thats all thats holding it together after the screws are removed.

Hopefully someone will know for sure, though.

 

Have you tried just pushing on the compartment door as you drive, to see if the buzz stops? Also, did your dealer install the fix specifically for the secret compartment?

 

In my case this has been a long story...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=121390


Bottom line... the compartment itself seems to be pretty solid now (though it is difficult to say for sure). I'm fairly sure the issue is with the door. The sound of the vibrations and the metalic rattle change depending on where I put pressure. I don't want to have the dealership mess with it again unless absolutely necessary. So if I can remove and reenforce in myself I'd rather do that.

 

If you figure out how to take the front panel off, please post instructions. I'd be interested. I've been thinking about it for awhile, but haven't experimented yet.

 

Darn, I was hoping this would be a more common procedure than it appears to be. The irony being that this looks like probably the easiest bit of dash trim to take off with it opening up and then having the two screws underneath. The little metalic rattling noise it makes (and the fact that it seems solvable without opening the dash) is compelling me to try to fix it, so I'll see if I can find a way to gently remove it tonight.

Worse case scenario I guess I'd have to order a replacement (hopefully without rattle) for around $150 if it breaks (assuming its something on the storage compartment that breaks, which would be very bad), but if I can fix the issue it's worth the risk. I'm sure there is a logical process for removing this thing (and I don't think it is taped down as it does seem to move around a bit with the screws undone).

 

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.d...31&hg=51&fg=30

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...35&hg=51&fg=30

 

Thanks... actually I'd run into that before. Doesn't do much as far as guiding through dissasembly of the aluminum trim piece from the hidden compartment (which does come off).

I struggled with this for quite a while tonight and couldn't get it off. Sliding it to one side or the other doesn't help and I did apply some considerable force at one point (just short of where I thought I'd break it) without any results. So to avoid causing more harm than good I decided to recenter the trim piece where it is suppose to be and retighten it.

I'm considering emailing the service manager at my dealership to see if they can address the issue once and for all (if necessary by replacing the trim). It's already been in their twice, and had the dash opened twice I don't want them opening it up again to go on a wild goose chase if the answer is right in front of them.

I've been trying to ignore this thing and live with it, but every now and then when i hit the right patch of road (for example on the I-5) the metalic noises it makes sounds like I'm driving in an old jeep off road. I mean the car has some other minor rattles if it hits a pothole or some really rough road (I realize this is not a quiet car) but those are nothing compared to this as it seems to resonate as vibrations pass through the car. I'll sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow.

BTW, if anyone does know the correct way to open this or anyone has any good pointers for resolving noise issues with the aluminum trim piece, let me know.

 

yeah it easically comes off....I took mine all apart to paint my colorline.

 

To be clear I'm not talking about the colorline trim, I'm talking about the trim piece covering the secret compartment (whether it be brushed alum, piano black, etc). I tried undoing both screws, I can get it to slide around a little bit, but it does not come off. It is as though it is still clipped or attached in multiple places. I'm sure there is some little trick to this that I'm missing (that or my dealer did something stupid the last time they were in there, like gluing it together).

I have a feeling based on the very tinny metallic noise that this particular issue may be more common and noticable with the BA trim versus the plastic ones. Anyway, I left a message for the service manager at my dealer today. Once I hear back I'll go on a test drive with this guy. If I have to point it out to him (like the SA) and he doesn't pick up on it himself I may just call it quits right there. It's not like this is hard to miss, my dad heard it as soon as he rode in the car for the first time it's just that it seems certain ppl are more perceptive about this stuff than others, if the service manager can't hear it then I very much doubt he'll be able to do much about fixing it either, and like I said earlier I don't want people messing around in there unless they are really able to fix it.

 

Well for me this just became a moot point as my dealer FINALLY on the third try was able to silence the incessant noise coming out of my secret compartment. I was just driving it for the past two hours and there was silence, which basically meant that for the first time since taking delivery of the car two weeks ago I was able to drive around in it without having to be perpetually annoyed by the fact that my dash sounded like it was going to come apart if I hit a bump in the road to hard.

The only downside? Basically what they did included stuffing a whole lot of padding in the upper left of the trim, which in turn makes it a real pain to open now. At first I was pretty ticked off about this (to the point of getting the service manager out to take a look at it too), but then I realized two things.

A) I would probably open that thing once every month or two anyway and so really don't need to deal with it on a daily basis and I'm willing to sacrifice some functionality to be guaranteed silence.

B) The secret compartment is now really a secret compartment as if you don't know exactly where and how to push, you will not be able to open it at all (and would never know there was a compartment there to begin with). So this could have some benefits as well.

Part of me was hoping the dealer would have just replaced the door outright (and I was sort of expecting it at this point) but given some of the reports I've read of new doors developing rattles after a few weeks I really don't care how they fixed it as long as it stays fixed. Quite honestly with my experience (and I know this isn't the case for everyone) if it wasn't for the iPod adapter I would have been perfectly happy to have done away with the secret compartment entirely if it would have saved me the all of the headaches during the past two weeks.