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      01-02-2009, 11:56 PM   #1
Rook
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E90 M3 side gill switchout???

I ordered matte black side gills for my car. I know how to get them in and out of the car, my problem is once they are out the chrome piece is attached to a black plastic casing (this has a honeycomb look to it) and i cannot figure out how to get these two apart so I can replace the chrome with my new black ones and put them back in the car. Please help, and remember this is for the e90 side gills not the e92!
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      01-03-2009, 02:40 AM   #2
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Please! I know there are m3 sedan owners who have swaped their side chrome grills for black ones, please explain this!!
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      01-03-2009, 04:12 AM   #3
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I have heard that there is a torx screw back there. Remove that and then it should snap out easily I believe

Last edited by spectrumphoto; 01-05-2009 at 02:05 AM..
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      01-04-2009, 01:13 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rook View Post
I ordered matte black side gills for my car. I know how to get them in and out of the car, my problem is once they are out the chrome piece is attached to a black plastic casing (this has a honeycomb look to it) and i cannot figure out how to get these two apart so I can replace the chrome with my new black ones and put them back in the car. Please help, and remember this is for the e90 side gills not the e92!
Proper removal will leave the honeycomb part you mention in place. It is not supposed to come out. See if you can separate the chrome piece from the black casing. There are several tabs that hold it to the black casing. If you can access these tabs from the back you should be able to get them separated.
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      01-10-2009, 10:33 AM   #5
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E90 owners MUST READ

The chrome piece will not separate w/o removing the torx screw. I would advise all e90 owners to abort this particular mod. The e92 removal methods do not work for the e90. I ended up going to my dealer to check the parts diagrams on how to remove the grill. BMW says to use the BMW plastic cards (like a credit card) and a zip tie!!! The diagram shows: insert the card between the grill and quarter panel to disengage the tabs, then stick a zip tie in/out of the honeycomb and yank on the whole assembly!!! Ya right, it took bruit strength from two of us only after removing the wheel, wheel well and washer fluid reservoir just to get behind the passenger side grill. After finally getting the assembly out, the only way to swap the chrome part out is to damage it by squeezing the tabs with channel locks. After seeing how impenetrable this grill was and the potential for damaging the car, I just put everything back and returned the grills to JLevi.

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Originally Posted by KANdaddy View Post
Proper removal will leave the honeycomb part you mention in place. It is not supposed to come out. See if you can separate the chrome piece from the black casing. There are several tabs that hold it to the black casing. If you can access these tabs from the back you should be able to get them separated.
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      01-11-2009, 02:30 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by R68 View Post
The chrome piece will not separate w/o removing the torx screw. I would advise all e90 owners to abort this particular mod. The e92 removal methods do not work for the e90. I ended up going to my dealer to check the parts diagrams on how to remove the grill. BMW says to use the BMW plastic cards (like a credit card) and a zip tie!!! The diagram shows: insert the card between the grill and quarter panel to disengage the tabs, then stick a zip tie in/out of the honeycomb and yank on the whole assembly!!! Ya right, it took bruit strength from two of us only after removing the wheel, wheel well and washer fluid reservoir just to get behind the passenger side grill. After finally getting the assembly out, the only way to swap the chrome part out is to damage it by squeezing the tabs with channel locks. After seeing how impenetrable this grill was and the potential for damaging the car, I just put everything back and returned the grills to JLevi.
WTF??! LOL! Dude not sure why you had so much trouble. Mine popped out perfectly fine, exactly like with the e92. Seriously, this is such an easy procedure. I am not sure why so many have a problem with it.
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      01-12-2009, 10:56 AM   #7
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Yo Dude,

Not sure either. I couldn't get it nor could the dealer. My tech wrestled with it for 45 minutes (luckily free of charge) to no avail. He's removed them before on E92 with no problem. Even using BMW's removal method failed.

In hindsight, I think I know why some e90 owners are having issues and others are not. If my hunch is correct, the problem is due to the occasional excess plastic (excess squeezed out during the injection molding process) in the space where the chrome tabs enters the honeycomb housing. Simply put, this excess prevents the tabs from moving. The only way around this would be to remove the entire housing and trim the excess with a razor blade. In looking at the back of the assembly, the excess was only on 3 or 4 of the tabs but that was enough to prevent compression and removal.

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Originally Posted by KANdaddy View Post
WTF??! LOL! Dude not sure why you had so much trouble. Mine popped out perfectly fine, exactly like with the e92. Seriously, this is such an easy procedure. I am not sure why so many have a problem with it.
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      01-12-2009, 11:57 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by R68 View Post
In hindsight, I think I know why some e90 owners are having issues and others are not. If my hunch is correct, the problem is due to the occasional excess plastic (excess squeezed out during the injection molding process) in the space where the chrome tabs enters the honeycomb housing. Simply put, this excess prevents the tabs from moving. The only way around this would be to remove the entire housing and trim the excess with a razor blade. In looking at the back of the assembly, the excess was only on 3 or 4 of the tabs but that was enough to prevent compression and removal.
Could be.

I even went back and looked at my stock ones to make sure I didnt' break one and just not realize it. Both were in perfect condition. Strange.
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      01-13-2009, 09:13 PM   #9
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Yeah, I still have not been able to get mine off. Total PITA.
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      01-14-2009, 11:18 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by R68 View Post
In hindsight, I think I know why some e90 owners are having issues and others are not. If my hunch is correct, the problem is due to the occasional excess plastic (excess squeezed out during the injection molding process) in the space where the chrome tabs enters the honeycomb housing. Simply put, this excess prevents the tabs from moving. The only way around this would be to remove the entire housing and trim the excess with a razor blade. In looking at the back of the assembly, the excess was only on 3 or 4 of the tabs but that was enough to prevent compression and removal.
That or his car was built NOT on a Friday!
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      01-15-2009, 04:37 AM   #11
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longtran did a write up before... might want to PM him for more info
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      01-23-2009, 01:43 AM   #12
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Any success on these little buggers coming off? Mine arrive next week and would love to get a handle on it before hand. KANdaddy, you're the only one that has seemed to have had success? Advise?
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