Front Cup Holders

[Jarhed1964]

Not sure if anyone has had these out yet, but I have a bad case of "we don't want to grip anymore" from the little tabs in my front cup holder. I figured it was something dumb, and it appears I was right, but can anyone else confirm what I'm seeing here? Are the gripping tabs (the tabs that extend into the cup holder to hold your cup) really sprung by a RUBBER BAND?

Mine are both dead, cups roll around in there freely.

[High5]

Rubber bands are what makes the tabs “springy”. I had that same problem for the last few months, finally got tired of it and started disassembling the center console. My suggestion:
1) order replacement bands first (if you can find them) or a whole new cup-holder assembly.
2) plan to do the job over a weekend
3) start early on a saturday
Access to this cup holder is amazingly tough. Half of your car will be in pieces. You will be taking the armrest/storage cubby/phone module out, both sides of the carpet & trim have to come completely off the center console, the iDrive controller and shifter come out, before you can ever get to the cup holder.
Sorry for the bad news. I started into it, thinking “it can’t be that bad”. It’s that bad. But you’ll be happy you did it after 😃 No more spilling drinks! I just put regular rubber bands back on mine, didn’t even bother trying to order the fancy silicone rubber band. Works great!

[TroubledGnome]

Originally Posted by High5

Sorry for the bad news. I started into it, thinking “it can’t be that bad”. It’s that bad.

+1 on it being an involved process. Here are some instructions.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...nsoles/Oy0vio5

[ard]

I'm wondering if a metal spring might be more permanent?

[High5]

I doubt metal springs would work because of space restriction. There is literally just enough room for a thin rubber band and it is laid around the two cupholders in a figure 8....

[Jarhed1964]

Thanks all. I doubt the appropriate OE bands are available anywhere (on purpose). I might start digging around online for some bands that would perhaps not only fit but also give me the durability I'm looking for. In other words, not break down like a regular rubber band from Office Depot would.

While I have replaced the electronic brake lever, I've not been down any further on this car. I'm certain I'm going to have a "large" time dismantling that mess, then trying to put it all back together. Thanks for the instruction link!

[ard]

Originally Posted by Jarhed1964

Thanks all. I doubt the appropriate OE bands are available anywhere (on purpose). I might start digging around online for some bands that would perhaps not only fit but also give me the durability I'm looking for. In other words, not break down like a regular rubber band from Office Depot would.!

Not sure Id look for OE bands. The office depot ones are almost surely an upgrade....





A friend who is a BMW master tech says the failure rate seems to be 100% by 100k, at least here in hot California....

[Jarhed1964]

Originally Posted by ard

Not sure Id look for OE bands. The office depot ones are almost surely an upgrade....





A friend who is a BMW master tech says the failure rate seems to be 100% by 100k, at least here in hot California....

Wow. Well, I'll see if I can figure out the highest quality rubber band at home depot.

Yeah, I get the heat. Dries everything out. I lived in SoCal for 8 years, in Fontucky. 116 degrees in the shade. Still not as bad as Phoenix was thankfully. Now I'm in Charlotte, NC and it gets nasty hot here but with a lot of humidity. There are days where I just want to give up breathing altogether.

[ard]

lol Fontucky. Nice track there tho...

[LightlyToasted]

Originally Posted by TroubledGnome

+1 on it being an involved process. Here are some instructions.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...nsoles/Oy0vio5

+1 involved.


I just completed this job to repair a sticking tambour cover over the ashtray, which I use all the time to store my keys. Follow the TIS to the letter, record where each screw came from, record each electrical connection you disconnect, and budget about 5 hours. One tip: don't disconnect the battery like the TIS says. You need power to move the front seats forward and backward during the procedure, unless you remove the seats. The clips holding the rear A/C faceplate are especially brittle, and particularly tricky to reinstall at the right angle to avoid breaking them.


Good luck.