bmw e30 dashboards - cracks ??? anybody

[anton]

hi all,
just wonderin, all the e30's here, well most of them seem to have cracks in their dash... mine actually doesnt, well didnt... it has a small hairline at one of the vents, and then at the passenger side "storage compartment" ontop of the dash there is a small crack now.. about 1cm in length.. it isnt actually the dash thats cracks, i'd say actually the vinyl..

just wondering, is it our hotter climate over hear that seems to make the e30's VERY TIGHTLY stretched vinyl split at places,
are the uk e30's also like this???

going to get me a "leather/vinyl repair kit", works quite well.. you mix the color to match the dash, u then fill the "split". you then press a loose piece of vinyl over it with matching pattern, this makes it that the fill you did has the same texture as the dash itself...

this stuff is meant mostly for fixin couches etc.. but it'll work. im sure of it..


do uk e30's dashboards crack?

has anyone ever tried any type of repairs to it?

regards
Anton

[hammoj28]

I have heard about this so much but iv had 4 e30's so far and none have had cracks in the dash/vinyl.

[anton]

i'm from south africa BTW.

anton

[Simon]

Very common problem, and yes, as you say, it's the heat that does it.

I've seen a lot of E30's here in the UK with cracked dashboards, and is probably made worse parking the car in the sun facing South in the summer months, as the heat created through the windscreen can be very high.

Out of 6 E30's I've had, 3 have had cracked dashes.

[anton]

was wondering...

maybe one can "brace" the dash underneath... but i think its actually a design fault...

The vinyl is stretched way too much... this doesnt allow it enough play/give... so eventually it splits in certain
stressed areas...

well this is my opinion... any other theories...

cheers
Anton

[Simon]

It's just plain and simple heat, the dash is behind glass, and the fact the dash is black and attracts the heat, if you have an old dash hanging around, apply a heat gun to it and see what happens!

The vinyl has to be stretched for the nice smooth flush finish, it would sag and fold otherwise.

[Jimb]

Smearing the dash with Armorall is begging for problems. Make usre you keep the dash..and all vinyl well oiled with a good UV protectant...like 303 for example.
Cheers,
Jim

[anton]

hi there,
my dash is in above average condition, not a scratch, except a small 1cm x 1mm crack ontop of the dash in the "compartment", you know, passenger side, where you can put your cellphone or wallet "in". the other hairline crack already fixed with clear silicone.

going to repair the little crack with the following or similiar:

http://www.leatherworldtech.com/Product ... ctid=lw765

should work good, used a similiar product before, on first use it doesnt work. but what the instructions failed to tell me was one needs to apply heat (hair dryer e.g) to cure the compound.

like i said above, what really happens is you "inject" the compound, then you press it with a piece of vinyl offcut with the same pattern as that on the dash.
this then creates a seamless repair.

if never attempted a dash though... hope it works out.

cheers
anton

ohyes, i know heat is the problem, but non of my previous vehicles have had this, yes even those with near-black dashes. all i can think is in the moulding process they used either too much heat or the vinyl itself doesnt have enough "give".

because from what i can see is that all the e30's seem to give cracks in the vinyl in the same spot..
all seem to be in the area ontop of the dash, above the glovebox.

i.e in a righthand drive car, all seem to be from the left most point of the dash on top to close to the middle,
they never seem to crack on the driver side say in the area above the instrument cluster..

why's this? probably because the vinyl is stretched too much.

look at e.g e36 and above, the dash is of a more "flatter"/rounder shape..

[bottlecapE30]

i always thought you could just use black silicone. I guess the cracks never really bothered me so i didn't try it.
I don't think the cracks come from the vinyl being streched to tight as we would have seen cracks long before now.
I think this comes from 15years of baking in the sun and drying out and cuses it to lose its elasticity.

[mrLEE30]

both my E30's cracked here, and pretty much avery otherone i've seen also cracked, normally seems to be around the instrument cluster or the storage area above glove box. I even changed one dash and that has now cracked ( i also have a spare on my parts car and it also is just starting. nothing you can do as its not a flexing problem its a heat cycle problem, gets hot expands cools down contracts, eventually it cracks.

black silicone is an easy fix but its is still visible. best bet is to get a better dash from another car and replace it.

mrlee

[anton]

hi there.

well, in 2000 i owned a 1982 toyota corolla, this was 18yrs old, never had a single crack in it.
and the color of the dash was pitch black, not a dark grey like the e30.

its a pity its a weakpoint, not a major one though... but these cars are gr8 older cars, full house quick lotsa BHP potential etc, smooth drive.. all for a song...

what i paid for mine here was the same as the 2nd hand price of a year 2000 mk1 golf 1.6i

The dash i had never had even 1 "Crack". but i love the aircon, i set it at no.4 all the time... perhaps this is not a good
thing when car has been standing in sun.

perhaps the fact that it stands in between 2 white white walls and infront of a white white glassfibre garage door even further magnifies it, then i drive off... bomb the aircon.. so i suppose the temperature change is too drastic...
i dont think the aircon was ever used as much as i use it.. the previous owner was a WOMEN doctor.

ohwell... in a weeks time or so im moving into my new house.... where the car will be inside a garage!!!

only problem, with LARGE bond payments etc soon there wont be much if any spare cash for tinkering...

luckily ive got my jl audio e4300 amplifier, a jl audio 10w1v2 subwoofer, a stinger capacitor etc etc some wood, some vinyl etc.. so over the next couple of months in my soon to be broke state i could always keep busy with me car audio..

Anton

[mikeinoz]

Hi Anton

Being in Australia this is a problem with most E30's plus others ..its the heat factor and direct sun.

We usely have to get a new dash or refurbished dash fitted or reskinned...I have had the cracks filled /repaired before but they dont last long...the build up of the heat reopens the cracks in the end....if you cant live with them bite the bullet and get another dash fitted.

all the best mikeinoz

[anton]

howsit.

our rugby team (south africa) finally got it together and was able to beat u guys...
and the all blacks mind you... but it wont last... we've got such a good side and very
talented guys... but they just cant seem to keep it together/get it together and form a "package".

discipline i think...the problem...

ohyes, the e30, im thinking of getting a spare e30 dash..

im VERY finnicky when it comes to these things...

thing is... i wander what im gonna pay for one. as they all crack and people know this. so finding a perfect one will be hard and they will be scared, and the local bmw yard knows this so i think i will get charged alot.

BUT:

I HAVE A PLAN

i have 5 dvd's worth of bmw ETK/TIS/EPC etc software which they want...

bargaining power!!!!

its a bmw yard and workshop... called bruce's bmw

know one of the owners.. wonder if i can twist rolf's arm...ehhehehe

anton

[jog5000]

Anton, let me know where you get that stuff, cause I have major dash crack, really irritates me..

[anton]

will do!!!

Anton

[WerkdE30]

Has anyone ever noticed that its the run down peice of crap e30's where everything is neglected that the dash is NOT cracked and the well maintained ones are cracked badly?

I see at least 1 new e30 a day at work and always check the dash as mine is badly cracked and i find this to be the case. I think its something to do with armorall and other substances used to "preserve" the quality of the dashs rather than how much sun they get but this is just my theory.

I think about this a lot because every time i see run down e30 with a perfect dash it cuts me up inside.

[mattG]

both of my e30's have the crack. have heard about the black silicone which would hide the whiteness that shows through, not sure if you could match up the pattern with those repair kits as it's only 0.5mm wide and 15mm long

[nwmlarge]

what about filling the cracks then flocking the dash?

[e30bemer]

got a crack i mine, seems to be getting bigger!
but cant be arsed to change the dash!

[ivqii]

Anton

Ek gaan Twickenham toe op 25 November vir die tweede toets

Sou miskien a naelskraap spel wees

[zaust]

got a crack i mine, seems to be getting bigger!
but cant be arsed to change the dash!

Same 3 big cracks and 1 small and can't be assed to change it with the near perfect one i have..

[cliffybabe]

I'd like a crackless dash, only got the usal 1 at the moment gon do the black sealent trick it hink i cant be dealing with a dash strip out and re-fit

[Herrity]

No no no you're all wrong ! The little crack in the dash adds character to your E30 ! Like your rust that's some where and the shite heaters too ! Please tell me i'm not alone here with a rusty E30 with a crack in the dash ! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it otherwise I'm getting the whole dash flocked in grey leather at huge expense no doubt.

[e30bmlover]

I have heard about this so much

join the club, heard about it but never seen it, the 320 hasnt got a mark on her dash.

[Simon13]

just a thought...... i've had 5 e30's 2 black and 3 silver. both black cars had cracks and the silver ones didn't. Most black e30's i see do to.

So does colour have some bearing, black cars get hotter inside for sure in the summer when left parked up

[oguz327]

My sport is black and has the dash cracked, i am not too botherd as my car is no minter but i think you can get them repaired by one of those mobile seat and bumper repair guys.

[alan325i]

My mate used to do them sort of repairs as well as stone chips but not sure how good the repairs look afterwards. Plus for about Ԛ£40-Ԛ£50 u can pick one up with no cracks and replace it, easy enough job and can be done in an afternoon