It was called a Lobster tray by most of us, since that is what the depression looks like. BMW stopped supplying them around 2003 or 2004. It was designed to hold pens. They were commonly available on ebay and other sources, and were swapped on X5World, since they were handy to use as the base for a telephone or other mount, without marking up the vehicle. I used a Dremel and cut out the shape of my iPod in mine, and it worked perfectly (with the sliding cover closed for anti-theft reasons) for several years.

hope you checked to see if they are as thick as OEM, as most aftermerket CV boots are thin (& flexible), but don't last as nearly as long

item 16 in your display is a coin tray for those cars without the phone option. It's replaced with a phone adapter cradle which then holds a phone adapter designed to hold specific cell phones, when you get the phone option or retrofit a bluetooth kit.

:thumbup: thanks for taking time to respond
you have not got me upset with bmw
bmw have managed to get me upset and the particular dealer responsible has once more got me upset .

I'm bringing this back from the dead because I too found this little tray while cleaning out the spare tire area. I was puzzled by this little piece of plastic. It's a very odd shape to hold pens. Is that what it is really for? Is that noted in the owner's manual somewhere?

Nevermind. I found the answer. It really is for holding pens. Crazy.

Wait, you thought I was making this stuff up? :rofl: