M3 entrance cover (aka door sill) repair?

[Shonky]

So my driver's side M3 sill cover has a few broken clips. I managed to get it out without breaking any more but I only had 1 complete clip and one half broken one which was still holding its section down quite well.

I only managed to recover one of the broken parts that was still in the car side clip. All the sill clips are perfectly intact.

So given these are pushing US$200 / side I'm looking at repair options - mine do have a bit of wear but not ready to spend up just yet.
https://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-M3...h/51477891928/

1) I don't have most of the broken parts and I suspect even if I did epoxying them or similar wouldn't likely hold. They're possibly floating inside the sills but the nature of the sill clip doesn't look like it could actually fall through in there. So the broken bits are probably gone.

2) The black plastic back with the clips seems to be a generic non-M3 specifc part so much cheaper at about 1/3 third the price - perhaps I can just remove and transfer the M3 top part across. The part number on my actual piece on the back comes up as this:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/51478204114/

3) I have some generic christmas tree type body plugs like these that fit quite well in the sill clips so maybe I can epoxy them in place of the broken clips.


Anyone else repaired theirs? I had a bit of a search on e46fanatics in particular with most posts limited to how to get them out.

[antknee]

just buy a used one from ebay. I got one last year for like $40

[Shonky]

just buy a used one from ebay. I got one last year for like $40

Yeah unfortunately I'm down under so cheapest I can see is USD$50 + another USD$50 shipping and looks like all the clips are broken on that one anyway. I'm going to try something to fix mine. Worst case I have to replace it anyway.

[karter16]

Yeah unfortunately I'm down under so cheapest I can see is USD$50 + another USD$50 shipping and looks like all the clips are broken on that one anyway. I'm going to try something to fix mine. Worst case I have to replace it anyway.

FYI if you do go down the replacement route Schmiedmann have them for less than 100 EUR a side


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[STAATS]

I am having the same crisis myself. Although I am running the ///M Clubsport sills so they are worth significantly more than the standard M3 sills... They only have 2 clips left each side so they at least mount but rattle about a lot. I have a set of standard M3 sills with no broken clips so I had toyed with the idea of potentially doing your Option 2... but then it seemed like I'd basically be scrapping the stock M3 sills which seemed like a waste, so I was also considering something like your Option 3 although I hadn't looked much further in to it. I quoted a new set of ///M Clubsport sills from Schmiedmann and they were like 560EUR for a set or something stupid so that option doesn't even crack a mention of a possibility as thats absurd. I think Option 2 is the easiest but I also dont think its sustainable if we were ever to break clips again in the future for whatever reason so I am very keen to see if Option 3 can be made to work as that is a viable longer term repair that could be repeated or redone if it happens again which will make it more viable as these kind of parts eventually go NLA.

[repoman89]

Are the non-M door sills any cheaper? If so you can buy those and swap the M3 insignia over. I just did this for the rear left of my M5 since the sill with M5 logo is NLA. Take a heat gun and trim removal tool and start peeling. The "rubbery" insignia part is quite bendy and durable, so pretty hard to damage. I used silicone to adhere the old M5 logo to the new regular 5-series sill.

edit: bummer, doesn't seem like they shared the plastic base between the M3 and regular 3-series like they did on the 5

[Shonky]

Are the non-M door sills any cheaper? If so you can buy those and swap the M3 insignia over. I just did this for the rear left of my M5 since the sill with M5 logo is NLA. Take a heat gun and trim removal tool and start peeling. The "rubbery" insignia part is quite bendy and durable, so pretty hard to damage. I used silicone to adhere the old M5 logo to the new regular 5-series sill.

edit: bummer, doesn't seem like they shared the plastic base between the M3 and regular 3-series like they did on the 5

That's my option 2. The black plastic part is the same best I can tell. The part number moulded into the black plastic on the back of my real M3 one when searched brings up the regular BMW version which is a bit strange. Why do you think they're not the same.

However I notice the M3 version also has the silver strip that the regular one does not so that would have to be transferred too.

I'm leaning towards option 3 since it's basically zero cost and doesn't leave me any worse off than I was if it doesn't work.

[Shonky]

FYI if you do go down the replacement route Schmiedmann have them for less than 100 EUR a side


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Thanks definitely a much better deal there and shipping is not terrible

[repoman89]

That's my option 2. The black plastic part is the same best I can tell. The part number moulded into the black plastic on the back of my real M3 one when searched brings up the regular BMW version which is a bit strange. Why do you think they're not the same.

However I notice the M3 version also has the silver strip that the regular one does not so that would have to be transferred too.

I'm leaning towards option 3 since it's basically zero cost and doesn't leave me any worse off than I was if it doesn't work.

I just looked super quickly at some pics on ECS and didn't think they looked alike. If you've compared more carefully and think they're the same then you're probably right. Didn't realize you already knew about this option, should have read the OP more carefully. It worked great though for my M5 sill.

[heinzboehmer]

Karbonius does something similar to your option 3 with their CF door sills. Probably worth a shot to try and fix the ones you have like you described.