» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | | | | | 03-02-2009, 09:00 PM | #1 | Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: illinois Posts: 3 | Cannot get Heater AC/Stereo Panel back on I am having trouble putting the heater AC/Stereo panel back on. There are 2 top screws which I can easily work with, but my main trouble is getting the two bottom clips back in. Seems like no matter how hard I push or bend the panel, I cannot get those clips to lock into place. | | | 03-03-2009, 12:06 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Rocky Hill, CT Posts: 1,065 | Quote: Originally Posted by blackdragn I am having trouble putting the heater AC/Stereo panel back on. There are 2 top screws which I can easily work with, but my main trouble is getting the two bottom clips back in. Seems like no matter how hard I push or bend the panel, I cannot get those clips to lock into place. | I'm sure there's a trick one of the guys will say. FWIW my clips are long gone, and it stays in place fine. I broke those clips when I took it out the first time. It's not that the HVAC knobs aren't lining up correctly, is it? __________________ 1995 318TI base. 95 2.5L from 325IS. S50 cams+pistons, e36 M3 front brakes. H&R race springs F+R. Turner Motorsport front sway bars, M3 control arms. M Roadster rear sway bar. Racing Dynamics strut brace. e36 325i 5spd. 3.25lsd from e28 535is. M Roadster short shifter. Conforti chip. | | | 03-03-2009, 12:10 AM | #3 | Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: illinois Posts: 3 | No, its not that the HVAC is out of place, I'm pretty sure that it is lining up perfectly fine. Its just that no matter how hard I try to slip the clip into the hole, it does not seem like it even reaches the hole enough to lock into place. True, if I did not clip it together, the face holds in place, however, since I am working on a friend's car, I would prefer it to look as if nothing changed. | | | 03-05-2009, 02:51 PM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 144 | pull the angled bottom part of the panel little bit and try and slide the clips into place then put the panel on from there. Thats how i've done it. The first time i just kept pushing and they eventually feell into place but it was a pain in the ass | | | 03-05-2009, 10:11 PM | #5 | Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: illinois Posts: 3 | I'll play with it a bit. But what happens is that if I just try to push the bottom portion in as much as possible, it doesnt seem like the clips even come close to the hole, almost as if I have to really push it in just to get the clips REMOTELY close to the holes. | | | 07-14-2011, 04:15 AM | #6 | Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: New York City Posts: 11 | I have the same problem.Also the top of the panel that has the hole for screws on the left and the right are missing.Missing peices on the inside of car where the wires for the radio go.looks like the screws would go threw black stereo panel and connect that to the top of that inside comparment.hard to explain. | | | 07-14-2011, 04:35 PM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Halethorpe, MD Posts: 1,028 | That thing is a son-of-a-bitch. I ended up not driving mine for two weeks while I screwed around with trying to get that thing in there. I had bought a new panel because I broke off the passenger's side plastic clip a few years ago. I ended up breaking it off on the new one as well. The one on the driver's side seems to go in just fine, but the other side doesn't seem to want to be there. With just the driver's side in there's a slightly larger gap on the right side of the panel, but most people probably won't notice it. If anybody has a consistent, repeatable method for getting that thing installed correctly please share. | | | 07-15-2011, 04:29 AM | #8 | Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Port St Lucie, Florida Posts: 49 | I also had the same problem yesterday. I was replacing the bulb that lights up the HVAC panel, while replacing the factory radio with a new Kenwood head unit. The old panel had a burlwood on it, plus it was broken in a couple of spots so I replaced it with a new one. The panel was a pain to replace; it was the longest and hardest part of replacing the head unit. I eventually got it to fit by lining the HVAC controls up, and then getting a long flat head screwdriver to push the bottom clips back a little to line up with the holes. It took a couple of tries but worked eventually. | | | 02-18-2012, 02:29 AM | #9 | Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Georgetown, MA Posts: 20 | I am having this exact same problem. I needed to replace the light bulb--which I found out is not just a replaceable minibulb (like on my e28s), but a whole minibulb assembly. I already had the minibulb ready to go and just swapped in a minibulb socket I had leftover from my e28 days--and it works great. Anyhow, I pulled the HVAC panel out okay, but it did take some jostling to get the stubborn two bottom tabs out. It looks like if I take out the center console piece that sits directly below the panel it will give me enough space to get the tabs to insert at the right angle--but I don't see a ready way to pull that part of the center console out. I pulled apart the shift boot (5-speed) and didn't see any screws that would loosen the console, but I didn't pull things apart searching (yet), as I had to drive the car right away. It would be great to hear from anyone who has put this back in there WITHOUT breaking the tabs off. | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |