Couple of quick mods

[jimf15e]

Got a couple of quick mods done today to my E70. I've been frustrated by the phone dock since we drove the car home from the dealer brand new. In principle it sounds great, but in practice... to simply listen to Pandora via the dock I have to: get in car, open console, take iPhone out of case, put iPhone in cradle, start car, wait for nag screen to go away, start Pandora on iPhone, select Apps from iDrive menu, select Pandora, drive away. With bluetooth... get in and start car, push shortcut 3 for BT Audio, Pandora resumes where I left off. Much, much easier. Forget all the other 'features' of the dock - definitely not worth the loss of storage space.

So I followed this guide:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-cradle-2.html

I bought the blank cover plate from Tischer, and 30 minutes later it's complete. Soooo much nicer inside the console! Just remember, unless you have more plastic skills than I it's not a reversible mod!

While I was at it, I ordered the non-smoker's package storage tray. It replaces the ashtray with a longer, deeper storage cubby. Big enough to hold a phone, leatherman, etc. The ashtray is pretty silly IMO, a throwback to a 70's era Cadillac. Too bad you can't option out the lighter and ashtray.

Anyway, a nice couple of mods and highly recommended if you a) don't smoke in your car, and b) don't use your phone dock at all. Pretty cheap couple of parts as well, total of around $35 with shipping I think.

[95wildtt]

What was invloived with the ashtray replacement?
Is it as simple as just pulling the ashtray out and putting the replacement in?
No trim removal needed or anything, correct?

Thanks,
John

[jimf15e]

That's correct - no work at all. Just remove the insert (it's already removable so one could clean out ashes) and snap the new one in. A perfect, easy one-for-one swap.

On the Tischer site search for: BODY HARDWARE / CONSOLE / FRONT CONSOLE / Insert (non-smoker). It's #4 on the exploded part diagram (no part number listed, sorry - anyone else that can help with that?)

[jimf15e]

Also, here are photos of the new storage insert as well as the console with cradle removed and cover plate installed:





The part number for the console cover plate is 51169115083. The part number for the non-smoker storage insert is 51166954946. Let me know if you have any questions!

[95wildtt]

Does the blank cap for the lighter come with the new non-smoking tray?

Thanks.

[Tymah123]

Originally Posted by jimf15e

The part number for the console cover plate is 51169115083. The part number for the non-smoker storage insert is 51166954946. Let me know if you have any questions!

Cool mods. Would you mind posting the links from the Tischer website? I tried searching by keywords and the part numbers and no matches were found... thanks!

[jimf15e]

Confirm you're going to getbmwparts.com? On the main page there's a "search by part number" container. I just tried to cut/paste both numbers and it spit back the part with an add to cart option.

Searching without a part number is a pain - you have to figure out which category it's under then keep drilling down and looking at part diagrams. When I ordered both parts were under "body hardware/console/front console". For the non-smoking storage insert:

2012 BMW X5 Parts - getBMWparts.com - Exceptional Pricing | Unparalleled Service | Genuine BMW Parts

For the cover plate it looks like they've deleted it from their parts diagrams. The only way I could get it was via a part number search. Here's the link to add it to your cart:

BMW Parts - getBMWparts.com - Exceptional Pricing | Unparalleled Service | Genuine BMW Parts

Trust me, it's the correct plate. Hope this helps!

Jim

[Tymah123]

Originally Posted by jimf15e

Confirm you're going to getbmwparts.com? On the main page there's a "search by part number" container. I just tried to cut/paste both numbers and it spit back the part with an add to cart option.

Searching without a part number is a pain - you have to figure out which category it's under then keep drilling down and looking at part diagrams. When I ordered both parts were under "body hardware/console/front console". For the non-smoking storage insert:

2012 BMW X5 Parts - getBMWparts.com - Exceptional Pricing | Unparalleled Service | Genuine BMW Parts

For the cover plate it looks like they've deleted it from their parts diagrams. The only way I could get it was via a part number search. Here's the link to add it to your cart:

BMW Parts - getBMWparts.com - Exceptional Pricing | Unparalleled Service | Genuine BMW Parts

Trust me, it's the correct plate. Hope this helps!

Jim

Thank you, Jim! Yeah I went to getbmwparts dot com.

[jimf15e]

No, I stole that from M3 before I traded it in

[Tazojla]

I'm stumped on how to remove the phone cradle, I don't suppose you could detail how you went about it as it looks really clean on yours, I'm not bothered about saving it for the next owner