E36 DOOR PANELS SWITCHED!!!! Teaser Pics/DIY coming soon! - United Bimmer Community

**delmarco** · 06-10-2005, 01:53 AM

So The panels came in tuesday and I did the switch that night and it took me about 7 hrs of straight non-stop labor. The panels themselves are easy to take off, but transfering the door panel clips onto the new panels took about 1 hour per door to do. It was like trama surgery...trying to remove the broken clips and put in unbroken ones without breaking them. There is no easy way to do it and my finger tips are still cut up and sore from it.

Also I had to convert my 1-speaker door 318i into a 2-speaker door 318i since my new door panels came with the 2-speaker door. This was hard to figure out at 1st, but the actual wiring, soldering and splicing was easy. Anyway the pictures should have loaded by now. Enjoy.

I also took step by step detailed DIY pics for doing the door panel conversion as well as converting from the 1-speaker door system to a 2-speaker door system. I will post these later in the DIY section once the moderators give me a green light.

**delmarco** · 06-10-2005, 02:02 AM

blank post...[delete pending]

**delmarco** · 06-10-2005, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMWjesterFAN,Jun 10 2005, 01:25 AM

Nice fix/upgrade. Where'd you get the panels?
-Tim

[snapback]352277[/snapback]

EBAY!!!! They came off of an 1997 M3 sedan. I won a bid for them and paid $160 for all the panels ($29 S&H) and they came unexpectedly, and to my surprise, with working Nokia Speakers on them and new panel clips. The panels themselves are virtually new!!!

I swear I got them for a steal since E36 panels sell on Ebay (without speakers or clips) for $400 for a set of 4 used panels or on average $100 a panel.

I've been proxy bidding and watching out for the right panels at the right price for almost 6 months now and my patience paid off.

BTW I'm selling the old panels on EBAY right now....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMESE%3AIT

I'll probably get $150 to $200 for them...he he he he

**Dudesky** · 06-10-2005, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delmarco

transfering the door panel clips onto the new panels took about 1 hour per door to do. It was like trama surgery...trying to remove the broken clips and put in unbroken ones without breaking them. There is no easy way to do it and my finger tips are still cut up and sore from it.

You sure you were doing it the right way? The clip's flange that goes into the panel holes has a notch in it. Line up the clip so the panel hole's edge fits into the notch. Then simply turn the clip, drawing it into the hole. Removing them is the same- notch into the panel edge, and turn. I did the clips on both my front doors in less than a half hour.

Not that this is any help now that you're done

Nice work though- looks bitchin'! A DIY would be cool. I don't know how you endured this work with all the heat we've had going on these days!

**Dudesky** · 06-10-2005, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delmarco

Anyone know how to make those pictures not show up as thumb links?

Don't use the 'Manage Attachments' button in the 'Attach Files' section. Upload the images through the File Manager first. You'll find it at the top of the page:

Then copy the location of the image you want, and paste it into the box that appears when you click the 'Insert Image' icon:

Wallah

**komodo** · 06-10-2005, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dudesky_E36

Don't use the 'Manage Attachments' button in the 'Attach Files' section. Upload the images through the File Manager first. You'll find it at the top of the page:

Then copy the location of the image you want, and paste it into the box that appears when you click the 'Insert Image' icon:

Wallah

Exactly.

**delmarco** · 06-10-2005, 07:58 AM

[QUOTE=Dudesky_E36 A DIY would be cool. I don't know how you endured this work with all the heat we've had going on these days![/QUOTE]

I know check this out....my OBC read 101 F degrees during the day when I working. My tools kept getting too hot for me to use if i left them out in the sun.
At one point the OBC read 106 F degrees

**SHAHAB323IS** · 06-10-2005, 09:11 AM

good job bro

**Rooz** · 06-10-2005, 12:11 PM

Del, hate to break your heart, by my car came with the two speaker ones

**delmarco** · 06-10-2005, 03:32 PM

yeah...but i gained a new skill from having my car originally coming with one speaker also I'm sure I paid thousands less for my car....

he he he eh....

good luck with your ZKWs!

**Spieluhr** · 06-10-2005, 03:37 PM

your shifter knob is 180 degrees from where mine is pointing

**Rooz** · 06-10-2005, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delmarco

yeah...but i gained a new skill from having my car originally coming with one speaker also I'm sure I paid thousands less for my car....

he he he eh....

good luck with your ZKWs!

Thx Del, I'll be needing it, But hey I just noticed this, the new leather looks to be a different color, is it? Or is that just lighting?

**94bmw325i** · 06-10-2005, 09:37 PM

My OBC has an extra row of buttons and my shifter is in the opposite direction hmm...

**Rooz** · 06-10-2005, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 94bmw325i

My OBC has an extra row of buttons and my shifter is in the opposite direction hmm...

Same here but my OBC has also 4 more buttons than yours then + the screen is bigger..

werd?

**jrhaile** · 06-10-2005, 09:39 PM

I should pimp slap you for using that many caps in the title... shame on you!