DIY: Replace Side Gills (easy method) on E92 M3

Great write up. I think it took longer to put the painters tape around the gill than it took to replace pop them out and replace.

Amazing! You rock:bow:

worked with gorilla tape, I find if you angle and pull the tape somewhat upwards it works better.

been wanting to do this mod for a long time. My car has a red and black theme to it. Everything is black or red. Rims, windows, BMW badge, etc buying the part tonight! thanks

Applied this technic today and man was it a breeze….

my lord. just did this. in the cold. ridiculous.

mind you i had to separate the two black "vents". The last two chrome gill tab just wouldn't give; almost broke the black plastic slits. But the tape method was awesome lol

Did this last night. It took 5 minutes and was as easy as stated, great write up.
Although I ended up doing the drivers side twice because my painters tape got caught under the newly installed gill. The tape tore off and left a very thin, visible strip of painters tape that required a second removal and re-installation. I didn't even use painters tape on the passengers side. Didn't need it in my mind.

thanks for this gonna install mines this weekend

Do you all think this will work on a 2013 X5M?

I just found this post and I am going to try it this weekend but wanted to ask if anyone here tried it on an E70?

Gents,

Turns out this little trick also works for replacing the side gills on the E70. I changed mine over the weekend. Thank you for posting this BimmerM!

Great idea! Worked like a champ.

3 years ago I used this awesome method to put in my black gills... Tonight I used it again to return it to stock for the lease turn in. Worked out perfect the second time too!! Thanks again!

-Scott

Ps - seeing my car again with the chrome reminded me just how much better the black looks!!

Struggled with removing with bare hands and was lacking packing tape. Tried a few other tapes with no success. Finally put on some rubber gloves for grip and came right off. Takes a lot of pressure and pulling upward almost feels like it's gonna break!

Thanks OP - worked like a charm, although I had problems removing the cup and hook (?) from the front of the gill as I only ordered the matte black fins not the whole unit.

Ended up drilling holes in one original chrome piece to get it to unseat.

Looks great and thanks again!

Five thumbs here and it worked like a charm. You have to pull scary hard but it worked well. Five minute job both sides including unwrapping the new parts

Used this method over the weekend to install my black gills. Worked great. Thank you OP.