Removing leather doorcard inserts???

[x Spades x]

Hey Everyone,

Is there a guid to separating the leather inserts from the plastic door cards? I need swap interiors (imola and black) and one of them is heavily modded for an aftermarket stereo system... so the panel needs to stay with the car.

i know i need to drill out the plastic welds, but would like a guide (and which ones).

Thanks!!

[JakeM346]

Well don’t have my dooryards infringe of me but it’s basically all of the plastic welds except maybe 3-4 in the front. And then the best way to get it back together is plastic welding.
it‘s not really that nice of a job

[x Spades x]

Well don’t have my dooryards infringe of me but it’s basically all of the plastic welds except maybe 3-4 in the front. And then the best way to get it back together is plastic welding.
it‘s not really that nice of a job

When you say plastic, do you mean just dropping glue into the hole or are you saying ending some kind of metal pin and melting plastic over it?

[AWE46M3]

Fast forward to 13:08 if the link doesn’t jump to it:

[JakeM346]

When you say plastic, do you mean just dropping glue into the hole or are you saying ending some kind of metal pin and melting plastic over it?

Nope I mean actual plastic welding. With a hot air fan and a plastic weld rod…
glue won’t work except if it’s a special glue made for PP because normal glue doesn’t stick (properly) to PP

[JakeM346]

Fast forward to 13:08 if the link doesn’t jump to it:

one should mention that the normal panels don’t have screw holes…therefore incredibly hard to fix them reliably.

[x Spades x]

Nope I mean actual plastic welding. With a hot air fan and a plastic weld rod…
glue won’t work except if it’s a special glue made for PP because normal glue doesn’t stick (properly) to PP

Ugh, I got epoxy from the store, but I sounds like that won't work. Do you have an example (or link to an example) of the type of plastic welding youre referring to?

[Avedis]

This is included in my E46 M3 CSL door panel comprehensive DIY. You can view the thread and download the file here

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/246178-e46-m3-csl-door-panels-center-console-comprehensive-tutorial

[x Spades x]

This is included in my E46 M3 CSL door panel comprehensive DIY. You can view the thread and download the file here

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/246178-e46-m3-csl-door-panels-center-console-comprehensive-tutorial

Thank you for the info abd AMAZING DIY documentation!

I checked through it and it brings me to where I am above. Once I drill out the welds and swap the leather inserts, how do I reattach? Your doc has the Karbonius hardware that secures the door panel to the cf insert, but the OEM inserts dont have holes to accept screws. So because of this, im still not sure how to secure the leather inserts to the door panel.

[JakeM346]

Ugh, I got epoxy from the store, but I sounds like that won't work. Do you have an example (or link to an example) of the type of plastic welding youre referring to?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaurCfVv_LA

[Avedis]

Thank you for the info abd AMAZING DIY documentation!

I checked through it and it brings me to where I am above. Once I drill out the welds and swap the leather inserts, how do I reattach? Your doc has the Karbonius hardware that secures the door panel to the cf insert, but the OEM inserts dont have holes to accept screws. So because of this, im still not sure how to secure the leather inserts to the door panel.

I have done zero research on this, so take this as thinking out loud rather than vetted advice.

Couple different options:
1. Use a short but fat screw paired with a washer, screw from the backside of the panel into the dowels that come off of the leather panel.
2. Drill a hole into the dowel that comes off the leather panel. Use a matching sized plastic rivet with large head and rivet the two together (I believe this is how the CSL does it, but I have not seen the panel in person)