Just installed the OEM armrest.

[L84THSKY]

This was my first modification to my car. I saw another guy relocate his alarm light LED and his cigarette lighter/ashtray. The install of the armrest was straight forward. While cutting away the carpet under the center console, I came across this connector. Anyone wanna guess what it is for? Checkout the before and after pics, tell me what you think.

http://www.geocities.com/l84thsky/BeforeMod.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/l84thsky/Mod.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/l84thsky/mod1.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/l84thsky/LighterMod.JPG

Mysterious connector
http://www.geocities.com/l84thsky/connector.JPG

[GDB]

whoa, that whole center console is different that the one I have. your cigarette lighter is in a different spot and you don't have an ash tray. When was the change made in the tis? Also, what are those buttons rearward of your front window buttons (I just have blanks there).
BTW, the armrest looks good, I was just kinda shocked to find out the tis had other interior layouts.

[NEKO]

Originally Posted by GDB

whoa, that whole center console is different that the one I have. your cigarette lighter is in a different spot and you don't have an ash tray. When was the change made in the tis? Also, what are those buttons rearward of your front window buttons (I just have blanks there).
BTW, the armrest looks good, I was just kinda shocked to find out the tis had other interior layouts.

It looks like the buttons are for heated seats. At least thats what the image on the buttons look like to me.

And where is the change corral?

[NEKO]

The armrest looks good.

[L84THSKY]

Thanks Everyone for the nice comments. The cigarette lighter and alarm LED were repositioned, it is not stock. The ashtray was removed;who needs it. If you look closely at the side view of the modification pic, you can see the remaining holes where the lighter/ashtray were. The buttons below the window switches are for the heated seats.

Originally Posted by GDB

whoa, that whole center console is different that the one I have. your cigarette lighter is in a different spot and you don't have an ash tray. When was the change made in the tis? Also, what are those buttons rearward of your front window buttons (I just have blanks there).
BTW, the armrest looks good, I was just kinda shocked to find out the tis had other interior layouts.

[luckyboy984]

how do you like that blaupunkt deck? i had it in my old 4runner, i had some problems with it. the buttons on the right side wouldn't work sometimes, you really had to push them in hard. and also the cd eject button wouldn't work. did you run into the same problems? or any others?

[L84THSKY]

There are a few annoying issues. Sometimes it says," disk error" when I insert a disk. Then I must eject it and re-insert. The one thing that drives me nuts, as well as my girlfiriend, is the adjustment of the volume control. It is designed not to allow a fast increase in volume. You must tuen the dial very slowly to get it to go up in volume. If you spin the dial, nothing happens. Actually, it's a clever idea, just annoying at times. It plays original disks good, data CD-R disks good, but CD-audio disks it has problems. I wish it would play MP3 disks, but oh well. Overall I like it very much. It was in my VW Scirocco for years and worked fine.
And the best thing about it is............it isn't made in ASIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Portugal to be exact.

Originally Posted by luckyboy984

how do you like that blaupunkt deck? i had it in my old 4runner, i had some problems with it. the buttons on the right side wouldn't work sometimes, you really had to push them in hard. and also the cd eject button wouldn't work. did you run into the same problems? or any others?

[L84THSKY]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ayphotohosting

[aceyx]

nicely done. any pics of it up?


i think the connector is for the bmw mobile phone.

[tipsyaj]

I have the same problem with the volume, that's why I got the thummer remote ... it's an easy install, takes 5 minutes, and you can have the volume and cd control on the wheel, makes for safer driving. I bought the remote for $35 and later on found the regular remote on ebay for $10, so now I've got two remotes ... it's worth it, believe me.

[L84THSKY]

Check the pics in the first message of the thread. It shows the armrest in it's finished state.

Yes the connector is for the mobile phone. I guess you can use it for others things as well.

Originally Posted by aceyx

nicely done. any pics of it up?


i think the connector is for the bmw mobile phone.

[aceyx]

ah, i meant pictures of the armrest in the raised position. also from the driver's perspective, if you've got 'em.

silly english, so confusing.

[schussey]

where did you find a dove grey armrest? I thought they only had tan and brown?

[L84THSKY]

My understanding was that it only came in two colors, black, and the one I have. If you have the tan interior, you will notice that the center console and and dash is grey, not tan. The armrest is the proper color for cars that have a tan interior with the grey dash. Look at my pics from the start of the thread.

I bought it at Circle BMW in NJ, $175.00.
Checkout the two armrests for sale on Ebay in my previous post.

Originally Posted by schussey

where did you find a dove grey armrest? I thought they only had tan and brown?

[1996 328ti]

Another nice little mod is to have a remote switch on the console for the sunroof. If you don't have heated seats you can use that blank spot.