Glove box won't open

[s3dgley]

Hi All,

Longtime lurker but just joined.  its a very informative forum compared to some I have been on.

A question.  my 57 E70's glove box won't open when the button is pressed.  It goes to open (1cm) then closes again.  Having looked this morning it appears this is due to the top half's rubber fascia sticking out at the corners preventing it from opening?

Has anyone else had this problem and if so is it a case of removing the whole of the fascia and gluing it back on again?  its not a major problem just very annoying!

[X5Sport]

And the door is electric too - which doesn't help when trying to fix it!!

See if you can find the BMW University instructions for the damned thing.  They might be on the BMW Coders forum.

For the rest of you. yes there really is a BMW University training module just for the glove box!!  It's that complex - some would say excessively so!!

Richard

[s3dgley]

Thanks will take a look.

[V12 EGO]

The top cover peeling in the corners is a common problem. Once it has started to peel you need to replace it.

Simply peel the old one soft facia off and I reckon you will get it open again. You will then need to buy a new top half door, circa £70 

[s3dgley]

[quote="V12 EGO"]
The top cover peeling in the corners is a common problem. Once it has started to peel you need to replace it.

Simply peel the old one soft facia off and I reckon you will get it open again. You will then need to buy a new top half door, circa £70 
[/quote]

Ouch!  After a bit more research (ideally surfing ebay) I found someone selling a facia and detailing exactly what you said.

Cheers.

[s3dgley]

One last question.....

Is a 57 plate pre LCI?

I will go and hide now before I get flamed for not googling....

[X5Sport]

Yes.  LCI is 2010 onwards (can't tell you which month though).

No flaming here......diesel is difficult to light.

[V12 EGO]

[quote="s3dgley"]
One last question.....

Is a 57 plate pre LCI?

I will go and hide now before I get flamed for not googling....
[/quote]

LCI = Life Cycle Impulse - BMW speak for mid life facelift 

As X5Sport has said, a 57 is pre-facelift although there are a fair number of 10 plate cars that a pre-facelift. Easiest way to spot is different front wings (they don't go to down in to the front bumper) and a front bumper with a sqaure'ish folg light grille.

[glim1000]

Same here, I found if you loosen all six of the T-20's under the top glove box fascia the glove box will work normally again.  I found that out after removing it half a dozen times trying to get it's placement perfect before tightening down the T-20's only to find out that tightening them was the issue.

Under the top section of the glove box lid is a plastic trim piece, pry down and it will eventually pop out.  Here is a picture of it so you can see the retaining tabs at the back of it.

[Spandex]

[quote="V12 EGO"]
Once it has started to peel you need to replace it.
[/quote]
Probably a bit late to help the OP, but someone might find it useful... It's not true that a peeling, sticking glove box lid invariably means a replacement. It is possible to fix, although it's not guaranteed to work.

What I did was remove the lid completely, then peeled up the corner that was coming loose. I then scraped out any of the dry adhesive between the two parts to ensure a good fit. Once that was done I covered both surfaces with a good contact adhesive and let it go off (basically, follow the adhesive instructions), before carefully pressing the parts together, ensuring they were perfectly aligned. Finally, I put the whole lot in a vacuum bag (the ones used for preserving food, etc - I don't have access to a proper vacuum bagging setup) to apply an even pressure over the whole surface while it set. Some strategically placed clamps would possibly do the same job.

I suspect the chances of success will vary depending on how much the foam pad has deformed, and how much of the old glue you can remove. Some lids might be beyond saving, but it's definitely not a lost cause once it starts to peel.