E36 Door Panels Switched!!!!

[Delmarco]

So The panels came in tuesday and I did the switch that night and it took me about 7 hrs of straight non-stop labor. The panels themselves are easy to take off, but transfering the door panel clips onto the new panels took about 1 hour per door to do. It was like trama surgery...trying to remove the broken clips and put in unbroken ones without breaking them. There is no easy way to do it and my finger tips are still cut up and sore from it.

Also I had to convert my old 1-speaker door 318i set up into a 2-speaker door 318i set up since my new door panels came with the 2-speaker door panels. This was hard to figure out at 1st, but the actual wiring, soldering and splicing was easy. Anyway the pictures should have loaded by now. Enjoy.

I also took step by step detailed DIY pics for doing the door panel conversion as well as converting from the 1-speaker door system to a 2-speaker door system. I will post these later in the DIY section.

[BMWjesterFAN]

Nice fix/upgrade. Where'd you get the panels?
-Tim

[Delmarco]

Originally posted by BMWjesterFAN@Jun 10 2005, 01:25 AM
Nice fix/upgrade. Where'd you get the panels?
-Tim

[snapback]352277[/snapback]

EBAY!!!! They came off of an 1997 M3 sedan. I won a bid for them and paid $160 for all the panels ($29 S&H) and they came unexpectedly, and to my surprise, with working Nokia Speakers on them and new panel clips. The panels themselves are virtually new!!!

I swear I got them for a steal since E36 panels usually sell on Ebay (without speakers or panel clips) for $400 for a set of 4 used panels or on average $100 a panel.

I've been proxy bidding and watching out for the right panels at the right price for almost 6 months now and my patience paid off.

BTW I'm selling the old panels on EBAY right now....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...TRK%3AMESE%3AIT

I'll probably get $150 to $200 for them...he he he he

[97alpineM3]

Hey Delmarco... do me a favor... when you get a chance... go to the test forum.. post this up in a put together DIY or something of that nature... remember to give credit where needed to whom ever....

Good Lookin ride man...

Les