02 BMW 325i how to remove door panels & rear deck?

dbdreams · March 22, 2010

I have an 02 BMW 325i for tomorrow and needed to know how to remove door panels & rear deck?

Any help would be appreciated

March 22, 2010

remove silver/wood trim at top of door and remove 2 torx screws from behind it, then one under top if door pull (by elec mirror switch) and 2 under armrest and I think 1 in the door release, then its just clips all the way round, panel is clipped to door along the top, not hooked over like alot of cars, front and rear panels are basically the same

rear deck, first remove the headrests, they can be really tight but they do come out, I usually put them up and grab the chrome poles then wiggle hard and force upwards, sometimes they are a real biatch, then it depends if its got opening rear seats, if not you'll need to remove the seat back just pull the top of it back its just clipped to the firewall, if its a coupe remove the plastic shoulder things next to seatbelts, theres a clip in the top just push the little circle on top until it clicks then remove, theres an extra cover where the little arm to open the 1/4s is but it should pop out easy enough, then the screen sidetrims - remove the interior interior lights theres a torxs screw behind them, pull the trims from the top theres 2 door panel style clips, then lift the trims out, remove speaker covers then speakers and speaker cups (3x 8mm bolts each) if its got Harmon/kardon stereo then you'll need to remove subwoofer from under deck in the boot as there is an 8mm bolt behind it (if no Harmon/kardon this bolt is not present, its there to stop the sub rattling the deck), back inside the car there should be 4 pin clips along the front of the deck, knock the pins right through then remove clips (I usually lose these and replace the pins with selftappers) then the shelf should just pull out, it maneuvers into the boot on the coupes to get it out the way but if its got centre 3 point seatbelt you'll need to unbolt the reel to move the shelf, in a 4 door you can pull the shelf down to where the seatback should be or unbolt the bottom of both seatbelt and feed through the holes so you can remove it all together, then all that is left is the plastic vent thing along the back, 4x 7mm bolts and it lifts right out, if the car has sat nav then the sat nav antenna is located on this, it unclips really easy

I know this sounds like lost of work but it really isn't, I can strip the back of an e46 in about 15mins

dbdreams · March 22, 2010

It is a 4 door and it is the one where the back seats dont open to the trunk.

Igot the headreast out and the bottom part of the seat but I cant get the seat back out. I dont want to pull to hard if it clips because I dont want to break anything.

Anyway thanks and I am about to read your post again to see if I can absorb a little more of what you are saying.

Thanks again

March 22, 2010

just pull hard on the seat, you wont break the clips they are huge metal things, sometimes take a good whack to get back in, once or twice I have bent the metal frame of the seatback, just bend it back before you refit, no problem!, there are 2 locating hoops on the bottom corners of the seatback. make sure they go back in thier slots when repacing seat, print the post off and take it with you

March 22, 2010

pm me your email I'll send you a couple of pics

dbdreams · March 22, 2010

I think I got it finally, with your help. I have the window sweeps out now along with the back seat so now all I have left is the rear deck with looks to be straight forward. I am glad they dropped it off today so I could get a head start because I can leave today relieved that I already have it apart and ready to go instead of coming tomorrow and get frustrated right from the start. Thank you so much for your help.

I dont get BMWs as often as American or Japanese but I have done a few over the years. I just dont remember doing one exactly like this one or maybe today I am just off my game.

Thank you kindly for the information. :gasp :gasp