Exterior door trim removal

[Monkey Tennis]

Hi Guys,

I'm new here but have been on other beemer forums for a few years. I've bought the wife a 55 plate DSport and i will be giving it the works in the coming weeks.  I will be getting the machine polisher out and I want to make sure that the door trim (the thin strip on all doors about a third of the way up) is taken off before starting.

Any ideas how it comes off? I assume its just plastic clips but do they break off when taking the strip off and is there an easy way to avoid this.

Thanks

[Raj]

Welcome aboard.

They are held on by clips but if you're careful enough they will come off without damage. You will need to be very careful with the strips themselves as they may bow in which case won't back on properly.

[Sanj]

Yeap - use a sharp blade to get behind it. The clips in the door don't hold the strip on at all, they're just for guidance.

If you want to get the black gloss trim at the bottom of the windows off at the same time, that just pulls up and off. Try from the edge (there's one clip there that needs to release first). Be careful though, it's all plastic and it will deform.

[X5Sport]

Is something like this tool any good for the trim removal?

Or even this set?

Richard

[Monkey Tennis]

I thought it would be pretty simple. If the clips are just for guidance I am right in assuming that double sided tape is required when putting them back on. Is it easy to get the old tape off? If I put new tape over the old tape then they arent likely to fit flush when refitted.

[Sanj]

[quote="Monkey Tennis"]
I thought it would be pretty simple. If the clips are just for guidance I am right in assuming that double sided tape is required when putting them back on. Is it easy to get the old tape off? If I put new tape over the old tape then they arent likely to fit flush when refitted.
[/quote]

Right on every count. Double sided and very sticky, hard to get off but a must to get the new stuff on. Only thinking 3M but there must be better stuff out there. This is foamed, so it sticks out ever so slightly.

[Raj]

Why not just mask them before machining? Will save a lot of hassle and cost (if you should accidentally deform one of them).