BMW Horror

Recently I tinted a guy's 97 BMW 540i and I was getting frustrated because I couldn't tuck the film below the rub rails. On Top of that I was using LLumar premium dyed 35%. Tough to install on that car! Thin as rice paper! Creases very easily! Also on a beamer they design those windows to be bloody AIRTIGHT, which makes it friggin' hard to tuck the film, especially if it's LLumar dyed 35%! Anyway, since I couldn't seem to tuck it below the rub rail, I got this bright idea that I'd remove the door panels. NOT GOOD. Bad mistake! Even with them off, I still had a devil of a time. Got frustrated (rookie) Just wanted this nightmare out of my sight. When it was all done, the guy's doors didn't work right, and the tint job looked bad. And I mean bad. The guy had to pay a lot of money to get the doors fixed. Moral of the story: Don't remove the panels! Too risky, especially on high-end cars!
Also if anybody has advice on how to install on this particular car, I'm all ears. Please email me! BCCwintint

BCC,
You should be able to just pull back the very top portion of the door trim and remove the rubber with chrome decorator strip. Saves doing a R and R.
Devil

You have to close those latches in the door to make it think it's closed in order for it to stay in the up position that extra half inch. Two clicks. Then pick up on the door handle when you'r finished and it's dry to open them back up. Might have to use a tiny screw driver to help it open the second click.

Check the BMW section for further details. Mercedes and T Bird's do the same thing.

If you removed the door panels then you noticed that the gaskets and moldings are still in the same spot they were with the panels on right You have to use a flat head screw driver or simliar object and remove the entire chrome (sometimes black) and rubber weather strip as one piece.

Hard to explain but on each clip you must push the screwdriver down then pry up start at one end and work to the other end when you get 4-5 clips undone the you can pull the moldings out

Look in the BMW section someone im sure explains it better

bmw's, i almost hate them as much as the pricks who drive them

Amen TD

I have worked on alot of 5 series BMW's and they are quite easy up until this brand new 2004 model. All the panels pull back from the top and we use a hook tool to pry out the trim. You then need to remove each clip and reinstall them back onto the metal part of the door and then put the trim back in. You have to get the grooves right or it won't fit properly. Then all you need to do is semi-pound the top part of the panel back onto the clips.
The 5 series BMW's do not have the slight window up and down. Only the coupes have that feature if I am not mistaken.

I think one of my tips of the week is on the BMW door panel removal.