Stewbie
06-15-2014, 08:45 PM
Over the weekend I installed ECS Tuning's Interior LED Kit (http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-330i-M54_3.0L/Lighting/Interior/ES2207842/). Installation of most of the bulbs is pretty straightforward, and ECS's Instructions (http://bd8ba3c866c8cbc330ab-7b26c6f3e01bf511d4da3315c66902d6.r6.cf1.rackcdn.co m/BMW_E46_Sedan_Ziza_Interior_LED_Light.pdf) work fine. But the C-pillar dome lights were a bit of a pain, so I thought I'd share my experience so others know what to expect.
So, ECS says to pry along the forward edge of the housing (i.e. the edge that points towards the front of the car). There is a picture of someone doing this on the passenger side of the car. The next picture is of a removed housing, but its a bit confusing because its the housing from the driver's side.
The housing is actually recessed into the headliner, so it was difficult just to get under it and get some initial bite. Once I had some bite, there was a lot of resistance and the tip of my pry tool was bending. The reason for this is that the brass tabs that hold the housing in place get caught up on the backside of the headliner. I had to bend them to get the housing out.
If you look closely at the top of the forward edge you will see a notch in the housing. This is the approximate location of the top brass tab. There is also a similar notch on the top edge of the housing. I found that by by prying one location then the other, I was able bend the top brass tab enough that I could more easily get a tool in between the housing and the headliner. At that point I could start moving the tool towards the bottom of the forward edge, bending the lower brass tab a bit.
The rearward edge of the housing is held in place by a channel that the headliner sits in. Once I had the entire forward edge lifted a bit and could wiggle the housing around a bit, I was able to get the rearward edge of the housing un-channeled (yes, I know that's not a word). You still can't remove it entirely as there are other bits of the housing that are recessed rearward behind the headliner (*), but getting the headliner channel free did provide some more wiggle room.
From there I used my hands to pry along the forward edge, gently bending the brass tabs. Once you have a bit of a gap, it's possible to compress the tab at the top of the forward edge with a tool and get it free. For the bottom tab, all I could do was keeping bending it until there was enough wiggle room to get either it or the rearward edge free.
So here is the housing free from the headliner. You can see one of the brass tabs is badly bent. Also notice the black plastic part where the wiring connects. This is that part that is recessed rearward in the headliner (* above),
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_120459_zpsea1812e5.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_120459_zpsea1812e5.jpg.html)
Another view of the bent tab:
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_120549_zps9d85e8f8-1.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_120549_zps9d85e8f8-1.jpg.html)
Tab bent back in place for re-installation:
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121417_zpsbef7fbb7.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121417_zpsbef7fbb7.jpg.html)
This is the rearward edge of the housing. It's a bit hard to see in the photograph (and I took a few different angles to try to capture it), but there is a channel there that the headliner sits in. This is what holds the rearward edge locked in place.
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121618_zpse96e08dd.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121618_zpse96e08dd.jpg.html)
Here is the housing reinstalled. I've rotated the picture 90 degrees clockwise for ease of reference. Location references that follow are based on the location in the picture.
When reinstalling, my first thought was to get the headliner channel in place, and then push simultaneously on the forward edge at the two brass tab locations. When I did this, one corner of the housing would pop out. So what I did instead was to apply pressure with left hand fingers at the top left, right hand fingers at the top right, and both thumbs on the bottom where the switch is. This way my thumbs were pushing pretty much directly over the lower brass tab. The other brass tab just popped in on its own.
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121950_zps2582d065.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121950_zps2582d065.jpg.html)
Hope this helps anyone else who is trying to remove these.
So, ECS says to pry along the forward edge of the housing (i.e. the edge that points towards the front of the car). There is a picture of someone doing this on the passenger side of the car. The next picture is of a removed housing, but its a bit confusing because its the housing from the driver's side.
The housing is actually recessed into the headliner, so it was difficult just to get under it and get some initial bite. Once I had some bite, there was a lot of resistance and the tip of my pry tool was bending. The reason for this is that the brass tabs that hold the housing in place get caught up on the backside of the headliner. I had to bend them to get the housing out.
If you look closely at the top of the forward edge you will see a notch in the housing. This is the approximate location of the top brass tab. There is also a similar notch on the top edge of the housing. I found that by by prying one location then the other, I was able bend the top brass tab enough that I could more easily get a tool in between the housing and the headliner. At that point I could start moving the tool towards the bottom of the forward edge, bending the lower brass tab a bit.
The rearward edge of the housing is held in place by a channel that the headliner sits in. Once I had the entire forward edge lifted a bit and could wiggle the housing around a bit, I was able to get the rearward edge of the housing un-channeled (yes, I know that's not a word). You still can't remove it entirely as there are other bits of the housing that are recessed rearward behind the headliner (*), but getting the headliner channel free did provide some more wiggle room.
From there I used my hands to pry along the forward edge, gently bending the brass tabs. Once you have a bit of a gap, it's possible to compress the tab at the top of the forward edge with a tool and get it free. For the bottom tab, all I could do was keeping bending it until there was enough wiggle room to get either it or the rearward edge free.
So here is the housing free from the headliner. You can see one of the brass tabs is badly bent. Also notice the black plastic part where the wiring connects. This is that part that is recessed rearward in the headliner (* above),
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_120459_zpsea1812e5.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_120459_zpsea1812e5.jpg.html)
Another view of the bent tab:
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_120549_zps9d85e8f8-1.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_120549_zps9d85e8f8-1.jpg.html)
Tab bent back in place for re-installation:
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121417_zpsbef7fbb7.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121417_zpsbef7fbb7.jpg.html)
This is the rearward edge of the housing. It's a bit hard to see in the photograph (and I took a few different angles to try to capture it), but there is a channel there that the headliner sits in. This is what holds the rearward edge locked in place.
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121618_zpse96e08dd.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121618_zpse96e08dd.jpg.html)
Here is the housing reinstalled. I've rotated the picture 90 degrees clockwise for ease of reference. Location references that follow are based on the location in the picture.
When reinstalling, my first thought was to get the headliner channel in place, and then push simultaneously on the forward edge at the two brass tab locations. When I did this, one corner of the housing would pop out. So what I did instead was to apply pressure with left hand fingers at the top left, right hand fingers at the top right, and both thumbs on the bottom where the switch is. This way my thumbs were pushing pretty much directly over the lower brass tab. The other brass tab just popped in on its own.
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121950_zps2582d065.jpg (http://s1254.photobucket.com/user/Stewbie2000/media/C_Pillar_Dome_Lights/IMG_20140615_121950_zps2582d065.jpg.html)
Hope this helps anyone else who is trying to remove these.