Wood trim and pins -- different pin size?

[sapote]

NA-BMW chased me down by all methods to have the final passenger airbag recall done. I was able to have the tech came to my house for the 2006 M3 and 2003 325iT this morning. Yesterday I remove the wood trim and the right air vent in preparation. The 325iT has the solid aluminum wood trim with screwed-in aluminum pins and it came out smoothly using the plastic pry bars. The M3 ZCP aluminum texture trim has the cheap plastic base (for light weight?) with the clipped in aluminum pins and this trim put up a big fight. It finally came out but also pulled the red plastic clips off the dash with the pins. The pins locked very tight to the clip. No wonder why people had cracked the trim doing this. I investigated the problem: the red plastic clip has an embedded metal plate with 0.222" hole for the pin, and the pin dia is 0.238". So we have 0.016" interference fit on 2 side of the pin, and this is why the pins won't come out. I had to use a nail puller to separate the pin from the clip like pulling from a 2x4 piece of wood. This is not right for a plastic trim.

I filed down the pin on one side only until cross section is 0.230" and it fits tight but smooth like on the 325iT. The not-filed side is "softer" to deform when inserted in the clip.

Are all M3 cars have the same plastic trim with inserted pins, or the non-ZCP have the solid aluminum with smaller screwed-in pins? Yes, they are 2 different size pins.

The tech thanked me for my works and took him only 10 minutes per car.

[Cubieman]

Out in the garge and had these out...fwiw.

[sapote]

Out in the garge and had these out...fwiw.

Very interesting. According to TIS, the plastic trim has the larger pins (but yours shows 2 thou smaller). I see that your plastic trim also pulled the red clip off the dash. You M car has both aluminum trim and plastic trim, or these came from 2 different cars?

The plastic trim only goes with the white dash red clips, and the aluminum trim goes with white clips.

[Cubieman]

Very interesting. According to TIS, the plastic trim has the larger pins (but yours shows 2 thou smaller). I see that your plastic trim also pulled the red clip off the dash. You M car has both aluminum trim and plastic trim, or these came from 2 different cars?

The plastic trim only goes with the white dash red clips, and the aluminum trim goes with white clips.

The previous owner had bought a set of the woodgrain metal trim pieces and had them wrapped in carbon fiber effect. I recently removed them in favor of installed stock colored plastic trim pieces.

I definitely see how one could do damage to the plastic trim during removal so when it comes time to let BMW do the recall I will remove the trim as you did for sure!

[sapote]

OK. I wish the M3 stock trims have the solid aluminum instead of plastic base; the weight saved is not worth it in this case.

[sapote]

Out in the garge and had these out...fwiw.

No big deal but I just wanted to clear this up about your "big pin" on the plastic trim that was measured only 0.23455": The new pin should be around 0.238" and you might happen to measure on the used sides of the pin which had been scraped off by the clip's steel plate. The virgin side of the pin should be larger than 0.2345".

BTW, after the airbag done, my 325iT has these weird new problems and I wish I had tested running the engine thoroughly after the tech finished. He was sitting the passenger seat and ran the engine (it's auto tranny) for about 2 seconds then shut off so he might not see what I saw the next day:
1) seat belt warning light stayed on with me on the driver seat and no passenger
2) the front interior light turned on then dimmed off then moment later repeated again
3) the radio display flickering.

I called the dealer about this and the advisor promised to get back but nothing yet.

[Cubieman]

They don't need to hook up to the OBD port when doing passenger side airbag recall do they? Someone at my local BMW dealership said they don't do any/read write on the DME after I expressed concern over possibly causing issues seeing as my DME has been flashed over to CSL.

[sapote]

The young tech didn't spend enough time to check the car condition before and after his work, so it's hard to point finger now. He told me that no need to remove the wood trim nor the air vent. I told him TIS said they were to be removed and he said yeah, but he could do without removing them (probably just forcing the airbag cover out and in which I think it's cutting corner). No OBD connected.
He did run the 325iT for a few minutes -- probably making sure no SES codes or anything like that. When he finished he only ran engine for 2 seconds.

For the M3 he didn't even run the engine before or after.