Front Door Armrest Repair?

[CkDedmon]

So, my independent BMW shop left a couple of scrapes in the armrest on my front right door during a recent maintenance visit. I pointed it out to him when I picked up the car, and he agreed to address it.

He has since found out that the armrest is only sold as part of the entire door panel on the E46 sedan (you can evidently purchase the armrest separately on the coupe). As the door panel lists for ~$900, he would like to have his upholstery guy try to repair it instead.

I'm okay with trying this approach, as the shop has always backed-up their work. I also want to be reasonable and let him try this approach first. However, I'm not convinced that repair will have a satisfactory result.

Does anyone have any experience with repair of the rubber-type material of the armrest? Any suggestions for alternatives? Does anyone know if the armrest even comes off of the door panel, or is it all molded as one piece?

Appreciate any feedback!

[johnrando]

Oh wow, that sux. Don't really know on the sedan, hopefully someone can chime in. Hope things work out.

[ELCID86]

You can actually replace the arm with a little ingenuity. You'd need a donor door card from a scrap yard etc. there's a guy on e46f that has a good DIY.


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[brettbimmer]

Sorry to hear. I know that they can be removed with a few screws from an E30, but never tried to separate the E46. Good luck with the repair.

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[ELCID86]

The guy on e46f uses a dremmel to cut the plastic welds.


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[ELCID86]

You might find a good interior guy/gal. My wife's car had damage when I bought it and I had the dealer's gal do refinishing work.




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[illirep]

Depending on how bad the damage is, you may be better off buying a used one on ebay for $100.