Taking interior apart: pics & questions

[astondg]

I have started to pull out the interior of my 1985 E30 323i today to clean it and hopefully get rid of a few rattles. I have a few questions:
1. The right side of the air/heater control panel has come away from the dash slightly. I think this happened with the previous owner putting in a sound system and also when I took it to get the air conditioning fixed. I have the Haynes manual but I think it is for the later models because it says to remove the plastice pieces each side of that panel and the screws for the panel are underneath but my car doesn't have pieces on each side they are all part of the dashboard in one piece. Does anyone know how to fix this or how I can get that panel out/in or something? Here are some pictures:
Problem area circled in blue and that is where the Haynes manual says the removable pieces are but mine is just the dash: http://www.members.westnet.com.au/aston ... trols2.jpg
You can see the gap: http://www.members.westnet.com.au/aston ... ntrols.jpg
2. Are there any good mods I can do while I've got the interior apart?
3. Where do rattles normally come from, so far I haven't found much. Maybe the parcel shelf? I am sure I can hear some from the back as well as the dashboard but not sure exactly where?
4. Any ideas how much it would cost to get the 2 front seats (Recaro's), rear seat, and door panels (for a 2 Door) re-trimmed?

So far no rust (I suppose a benefit of being in Australia?), well I had a tiny amount of surface rust on the front right wheel arch where the paint had been chipped off but I sprayed it with rust converter and then patched up the paint. We also sprayed the inside of the door with rust preventer type stuff to help in the future.

Here is what I have done so far:
- Pulled trim off right door, cleaned with high pressure cleaner, sprayed rust preventer.
- Almost got trim off left door (I'll do the same as the right door tomorrow), adjusted it on the hinges so it closes easier.
- Pulled out rear seat and interior trim, vacuumed and cleaned with water and rag inside (a lot of dirt/dust, probably from autocross).
- Pulled out instrument cluster to fix batteries. I replaced them a while ago but I didn't have anything to stick them in with so I used tape and I think they have been moving around. Also check all connections.
- Fix up rattles, but so far not found much.

Still to do:
- Left door
- Clean all trim, I'm actually thinking about getting everything re-trimmed. I might leave everything off until I can find out how much it will cost.
- Fix insturment cluster
- Fix Air/Heat control panel
- Fix up and clean as much of the dash as I can
- Maybe shampoo clean (or whatever it's called) the carpet
- Put everything back together

Here is a picture of the door:
http://www.members.westnet.com.au/aston ... rApart.jpg
And the interior:
http://www.members.westnet.com.au/aston ... rApart.jpg

Oh and I've got manual windows, electric mirrors, and central locking if anyone is interested. They haven't caused any problems so far.

One last thing, is the metal bar in the door and intrusion beam? I didn't know the E30 had them?

Aston

[A1BMW325iSport]

the heater panel has a screw that goes up underneath into the dashboard, looks like the screw is missing

[astondg]

Ok, thanks. Quick reply too . So if I just look around under there I should see where it is supposed to be?

Aston

[dsio]

Hey mate, where abouts in brisbane are you? Just interested because theres a guy with an '85 323i in grey up the road from me here, wondering if its you Come to think of it there is another 323i 85'ish at uni :\

btw, after recently taking both my doors apart to change handles, I tightened up the windows and the internal side of the door look, which made a difference for me. It had a terrible noise when the door slammed or over a bump, but now it sounds german

[aus325]

Hey Aston, I have done a similar job on my car this very day. Although my dash was in pristine condition to begin with, no sqeaks, no rattles. I dont usually like pulling dashes apart, because I dont want to introduce any rattles. But today I had most of the dash apart to replace my SI board batteries, to fit my new Zone1 chip (thanks Ant!!), and to start retrofitting an OBC to replace the analogue clock (yuk).
There heater panel is indeed secured with 2 gold screws from underneath. There are washered self tapper style screws, and secure to those slide-on metal tab retainers. It's possibly fallen off, or is just not lined up with the screw hole. If you need to remove this entire section of the dash, remove panels for (on your car) the alarm LED, and the blanking panel on the far right. It's a difficult section to get back in place nicely, because of the heater control wires - they're quite springy and take some fiddling to get back in there.

[A1BMW325iSport]

you can remove the panel and leave the part with the cables on....

pull off the 3 control knobs, then unclip the facia, you will then see the four screws, remove those and the cable control part will stay in the dash when you remove the main panel

[astondg]

Hey mate, where abouts in brisbane are you? Just interested because theres a guy with an '85 323i in grey up the road from me here, wondering if its you Come to think of it there is another 323i 85'ish at uni :\

btw, after recently taking both my doors apart to change handles, I tightened up the windows and the internal side of the door look, which made a difference for me. It had a terrible noise when the door slammed or over a bump, but now it sounds german

I am actually just out of the North side of Brisbane in the Pine Rivers Shire. My 323i is black. What university and campus is that? I go to the QUT and both the Carseldine and Gardens Point campus. I'll check the windows, thanks.

Thanks for the help (everyone who replied)! I'll check it out today, although it is overcast and raining so it might be harder to get stuff done .

My dash is in ok condition (a few scratches but no cracks) but the previous owner has pulled it all apart to fit his sound system and not been very careful. Actually in some places it looks more like he has ripped it apart . Then there was the place I took it too to get the air conditioning fixed, they pulled the glovebox out and didn't bother to refit it, I think they also pulled out the air/heater controls. I was thinking about the OBC, I have the digital clock that takes up that whole rectangle area but the clock display is only about 1cm high and at the very top and the rest of the area is blank so it looks a bit strange.

Aston

[mrLEE30]

Yeah as said definately the screw has fallen out and so will the clip, a little tip i did on mine was to rerposition the aircondition switch to the top right switch position (i see you have a blank in there) that makes life much easier as the wires are not at such a bend and dont push on the plastic facia as yours is.

As mentioned pull off the three vent controls and use a small screwdriver to prise off the plastic surround. you will find behind four screws undo them. then remove the clock surround in same manner and push the two tabs to remove the clock and pull it out. THEN push out the (on your picture) security light, rear demister and emergency flashers, push them from behind with your fingers. Then two screws (or one in your case) are accessable with a short phillips driver up above the ashtray. then look up into the holes where the switches were and you will find the final two screws that hold on the dash. remove the heater control knob by pulling it off (oh er) then same with fan, use long nose pliers to remove the brass screw behind the fan control and the whole bit should then come out, give it a good clean, and then you will see where the missing screw should be. Change the panel light bulbs as they are cheap and stick back together.

Most squeaks are from the join between the panel around the bit i just told you to take out and the gear surround panel. hard to fix without taking all apart but idea is to stop the plastic bits rubbing together. i used cut up visa cards and blue tack and works fantastically, but as you can see below i removed the whole dash, and that is a pig!!

mrlee




and after lots of swearing, but you can see A/C button is on the top row, use the blank you took out to close the original A/C button hole.

[astondg]

Thanks! Very helpful. I didn't get a chance to do much today with the rain but I'll try that tomorrow.

I remember you thread about that and those pictures, looks like a lot of work . Must feel good whe you have it back together though . I don't want to pull it all out incase I make it rattle more.

Aston

[dsio]

I am actually just out of the North side of Brisbane in the Pine Rivers Shire. My 323i is black. What university and campus is that? I go to the QUT and both the Carseldine and Gardens Point campus. I'll check the windows, thanks.

Ah k, Im at chapel hill, long way away from you, and go to griffith, nathan, where a guy has a beautiful 323i John Player Special with the full JPS race edition graphics (the full size JPS badge painted along the entire side of the car). When I bought mine, it came with a 323 badge, jps badges, gold leaf vinyl stripes, and all the gear in a big box that the previous owner was going to use for a JPS conversion as its a black 2 door as well. Bit cheap doing that to a 318 though...
If you are interested you can have it all and do some jps styling on your 323, else its on ebay.

About 9 E30s I see at griffith, almost all 323is or 325is in the series 1 chrome bumper shape. Had no idea how common these things were until I started looking. You mind if I pick your brain some time about e30 tricks and parts sources in brissie?

[astondg]

dsio: I sent you a PM

Still haven't got to look at my car anymore yet, I had to work today . I just finisihed university (hopefully for ever ) last week so I thought I could have some time off but my parents run a business and need a hand. E30 might have to wait until the weekend now , but it's still raining anyway so maybe not so bad.

Another question too: I noticed on both my doors that the interior pull handle bit (part 1 on this diagram http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/q/204.png ) is loose at one end. I mean one end is fixed but the other end can be pushed in. Is this normal? There is a screw at both ends but it still moves, I thought maybe it was broken but both doors are like this? Also that diagram doesn't show a screw on one end (the end that is loose on mine)?

Thanks,
Aston

[dsio]

I broke my drivers door handle in a similar way to how you described it. You can see here the hook part where it breaks. Its very easy to do as the plastic is very thin in that structural area there. Very easy to fix after you have taken the door apart (I may add, this is when I tighened and WD-40ed everything inside the door, massive improvement).

The german car wreckers (supermerc) held me to ransom over it. The quoted price is $70 / door handle, $20 extra for the surrounding trim piece.
I got extremely lucky and shipped in a drivers and passengers from the US on ebay for $18, trim bits included (you can see the spare passengers handle I have in the last picture.)




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