DIY: M3 side moldings

[old skool]

I got the opportunity to swap my M3 side moldings onto the new car last night and although it is a fairly simplistic process, people seem to have questions about it.

The Mtechnic side moldings have different clips than the standard E36 side moldings. Chances are you will want to replace all the clips before putting the new side moldings on. The old clips could be worn out or broken and this could cause the sidemoldings to sag away from the car.

Retrofit kit (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BG93&mospid=47488&prod=19970700&btnr=51_2762&hg=51&fg=20)
Part number: 82119403140
This is for a coupe and will be different for a sedan.

Pieces and parts (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BG13&mospid=47485&prod=19970700&btnr=51_2762&hg=51&fg=20)

To hold the badge on you will need (2) 51132251639 (part #6)
To hold the sidemoldings in you will need 51132251394
For a coupe there are 3 for each end piece and I believe 7 in the middle piece.
The replacement rubber (condoms) that protect your paint and seal against water that go on each of these clips is 51131960127
The front quarter panel molding has part#12 at the front as does the door molding. The rear molding has it in the back right in front of the wheel well. The part number is 51711929320
This plug snaps into a special green grommet to hold it tightly and once inserted is very difficult to remove. It is not listed on this page but can be found with the side skirts (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BG93&mospid=47488&prod=19970700&btnr=51_2761&hg=51&fg=20). It is 51711932996 (part #7) I used 6 of these.

[old skool]

Start by trying to get the side molding to pull away from the body of the car. Start slowly and pull with steady force. Try to get your hands close to the clips and pull straight out. Work your way down the molding until it is removed.
After this I cleaned the metal behind the molding with a sponge and car soap. I made sure to dry it completely and not get water in the holes in the body panel.

[old skool]

Here is a picture with the green grommet installed.

[old skool]

Make sure you place this in the correct hole that corresponds to the plug on the sidemolding. here is a close up.

[old skool]

Here is a picture showing that you need to line up the clips to the holes.

[old skool]

Here is the piece installed and you can compare it with the normal E36 side molding.

[old skool]

Here is a picture to show the door molding pulling away from the door as it is being removed.

[Driverk]

I have been wondering how to do this. Thanks for an excellent DIY!

[old skool]

Here is the door side molding installed with the motorsport badge.

[old skool]

One side completely installed.

If there are other questions I can answer them or take more pictures. I had to rush through this job because I had some tough time constraints.
The most time was spent cleaning the car, the moldings and lining up the plugs. It could probably be done in about 15-20 minutes if you were in a hurry.

[Driverk]

So how do you replace the stock badge with the Motorsport badge? Just peel and stick?

[Justbimmering]

Good info.

[old skool]

You have to be careful trying to get the plugs to snap in. you have to press enough over the plug to get the sidemolding and plug to deform enough to go through the hole and secure on the inside of the panel. I think that direct constant point pressure works better than hitting it with your hand or a mallet.
Also the clips must be installed correctly. There is a small cut in the rail that allows the clip wings to go below this rail. Then you have to slide it to the correct position. These wings hold the clip down. On the top side there are clips on either side which attach to the upper rails as well. Make sure the clip is snapped in securely. It should be somewhat tough to slide them.

[old skool]

The badge has two plastic posts on the back of it. Simply insert it into the rectangular hole in the molding and then use those two metal clamps to secure it. They slide down the posts with the cupped side facing outward to the molding. The middle of the metal clamp has v shaped knife edge blades which grab to the plastic badge post and hold it in tension against the molding.

[XmEnNiNjA]

great write-up once again

[amdspitfire]

i just did this yesterday and wish you posted this a day earlier. The "special green grommet" the parts guy couldnt find ended up going back and forth a few times to the damn stealer. My grommet was actually clear colored though.

[old skool]

Yeah I got the part originally from a local BMW shop and then when I tried to get the grommet again the dealer didn't have a clue. I went back to that BMW shop and tracked down the part number and traced it to the side skirts....very strange.
As to color, you are probably fine as long as it is a hard plastic grommet and not the white rubbery condom shaped piece the dealer tried to give me. The green grommet should be a very tight fit to the plug on the side molding.

[amdspitfire]

Yeah I got the part originally from a local BMW shop and then when I tried to get the grommet again the dealer didn't have a clue. I went back to that BMW shop and tracked down the part number and traced it to the side skirts....very strange.
As to color, you are probably fine as long as it is a hard plastic grommet and not the white rubbery condom shaped piece the dealer tried to give me. The green grommet should be a very tight fit to the plug on the side molding.

yah sounds correct, theyve been on and still attached after a few hrs of driving so :redspot

[bigbris1]

I knew automatically the the end clips needed the green grommet used for the side skirts because I had just installed my sport skirts. The guys at the dealer are usually ignorant which costs you a few trips. That is why I did it in their service garage :D

For the plaques, they snap in so I just added a bit of crazy glue to hold 'em in permanently, damn the clips.

[old skool]

Apparently if you wish to buy these, PacificBMW, BavAuto, and MMS Tuning all have about the same pricing right around $180. They should come with the clips. Depending on whether you buy the Mtech retrofit kit or just "reorder" the M3 kit will determine whether you get the ///M badge or the ///M3 badge.

The other badges are sold separately.

Motorsport badge: 51 13 2 264 146
MTechnic badge: Missing the part number but it has been posted. I will check and update this.
///M3 badge: 51132251381
///M Clubsport badge: Never seen the part number for this.

[ding]

any way to go badgeless

[old skool]

I know this has been covered, although I can't find the thread on it. Either there was a sidemolding made with no opening for a badge or someone simply got creative and filled it, then painted their sidemoldings....

[Robstah]

Yah, you can always fill the hole with some bondo and then sand it down. Just remember that you will not be able to get the original texture, so I recommend sanding down the whole sides and then respraying them with some flat black and some clear. This will keep them in good condition and will never gray out/turn white when wax hits it.

As for the badge, if you already have the ///M or ///M3 and you want to put in the motorsport one, what you can do is carefully pry off the old badge with a knife, remove the two bronze clips, snap them onto the new badge, and just push the new badge into place. This will save you the trouble of removing the piece just to change out the badges.

Nice writeup old skool. Your car is looking better everydiy. :D

[bigbris1]

They make the side moldings without a hole for the badge. I just sold a set.

[328isguy81]

Man, where were you a week ago :) I was sooooo confused because the stealer never mentioned that I needed those green grommets so of course my mouldings didn't secure on the ends without them. So I had to drive around like that for a day or two until I got the green grommets. I had to pull all my mouldings off again to install the damn green grommets. I noticed after pulling them off and reinstalling them that not every single clip secured in fully. If you look down on the mouldings you can see a tiny gap between the body and the moulding. Do you think I should get more new clips and reinstall again or just leave it?

Also, I went through alot of those damn green grommets because they break easily. Don't hit the arrowhead piece into the grommet, slowly push it in and you will feel "snap" in. I broke like 3 or 4 grommets by hitting the moulding with my fist.

[amdspitfire]

Man, where were you a week ago :) I was sooooo confused because the stealer never mentioned that I needed those green grommets so of course my mouldings didn't secure on the ends without them. So I had to drive around like that for a day or two until I got the green grommets. I had to pull all my mouldings off again to install the damn green grommets. I noticed after pulling them off and reinstalling them that not every single clip secured in fully. If you look down on the mouldings you can see a tiny gap between the body and the moulding. Do you think I should get more new clips and reinstall again or just leave it?

Also, I went through alot of those damn green grommets because they break easily. Don't hit the arrowhead piece into the grommet, slowly push it in and you will feel "snap" in. I broke like 3 or 4 grommets by hitting the moulding with my fist.

i have a minor gap also one some of them, mainly the ones that i ended up reusing the old clips. Its too small to worry bout i think.

[old skool]

It is up to you but I would personally pull it off, try to secure those clips and if they needed to be replaced, I would replace them. This is only because water and dirt can get under here and get trapped and there are holes through the body...most are covered with rubber protector seals...but you never know. That and I am particular about that sort of thing. I was seriously tempted to get some kind of thin rubber seal to put between the body and the molding to seal the water out but I am not sure that would even work.

[328isguy81]

It is up to you but I would personally pull it off, try to secure those clips and if they needed to be replaced, I would replace them. This is only because water and dirt can get under here and get trapped and there are holes through the body...most are covered with rubber protector seals...but you never know. That and I am particular about that sort of thing. I was seriously tempted to get some kind of thin rubber seal to put between the body and the molding to seal the water out but I am not sure that would even work.

Yeah, I peronally want to pull them off but the thing is I just spent 33 bucks on all new clips for these mouldings and the more I keep pulling them off the more i'm going to have to replace :( I think what might be happening is the rubber pieces or "condom" like pieces might of gotten wet and maybe thats why some of them aren't fitting secularly.

[old skool]

unless you break the clips you should be fine to take it off...the biggest concern is that over time the plastic gets brittle and doesn't create enough force to hold them on securely...if they are new it shouldn't be a problem...as for the rubber pieces you could straighten them out if you took it off.
And as much as it is fun to pay $1.80 ea at the dealer, I am sure that someone sells them for less like Pacific or something. Anyway, just a heads up.

[kurtbmw]

I've check out most of the regular online sites for BMW parts but can't seem to find anyone that has the clips and grommets needed for the moldings to be installed.

Anyone know of a site thats sells these parts?

[old skool]

There are a few places that sponsor on this forum. In addition you can contact pacificbmw.com or simply pick them up from your local dealer.

[Rippin101]

How much different is this to do to a sedan?

[dmurray14]

Anyone have the part numbers for all 6 moldings?

Thanks,
Dan

[old skool]

Why would you buy them individually rather than as a set? Do you not need all of them?

You can try realoem.com or just call pacificbmw for the part numbers, or if you have to, just get them from your local dealer.

[richooooo]

anyone know where to get the moulding individually as my left passager and rear fell off DURR :@ lol

[kc0433]

www.bavauto.com

[QuickSilv3r]

If you just buy the OEM M-tech moulding kit from the $tealer, it comes with everything you need already pre-installed ($180 w/ CCA & employee discount). Just pull off your old stock mouldings and snap the new ones in. I did mine last week in about ten minutes (most of the time was consumed by cleaning the 9 yr-old dirt behind the old mouldings). :)

[sonicboom]

hey what wheel and tie combo did you use and or suspension thanx

[sonicboom]

great how about a tread on fuel pump replacment on e36 cars

[zx7rhitch]

That looks great!!!!Looks like a good x-mas project!

[jtroll]

Thanks for the excellent write-up; I plan on doing this within the week, and I haven't found instructions as detailed as yours anywhere else. Cheers!

[jroc23]

anyone do it for a sedan? how much green gromits should i use? help appreciated. thanks.

[atlantisvip]

I think taking off the old moldings is by far the hardest part of this project.. Write up sure helps though.

[TC535i]

When I pulled my stock moldings, I found not only were a number of rubber grommets torn and white plastic clips cracked, but also that a number of the side moldings themselves were cracked in the rail where the white piece clips in exactly where it should be aligned with the hole... so even when the clip/grommet were secure, the clip would only be seated in the side molding's rail on one side, or sometimes not really even at all. That's a major cause of the "lift" I was experiencing... only options were trying to epoxy the clips to the moldings, but you'd have to have it EXACTLY where it snaps into the door... I just got all new moldings/clips instead.

[rsy124]

anyone do it for a sedan? how much green gromits should i use? help appreciated. thanks.

4 green grommets for the sedan. 1 in the frontmost location of each rear door, and the 1 in the frontmost location of each front door. None on the fender moldings.

You'll need 24 rubber grommets total.

Revised for sedans:
4 - To hold the badge on you will need (2 for each badge) 51132251639 (part #6)
24 - To hold the sidemoldings in you will need 51132251394
24 - The replacement rubber (condoms) that protect your paint and seal against water that go on each of these clips is 51131960127
4 - Frontmost part of each door. None in the fender moldings. The part number is 51711929320
4 - This plug snaps into a special green grommet to hold it tightly and once inserted is very difficult to remove. It is not listed on this page but can be found with the side skirts. It is 51711932996 (part #7).

[marsvolta318i]

Will probably switch mine out by the end of the year. Thanks.

[Dr_S]

This was new to me, too...the thing with the green clip. I have always just used the white ones. Does it come with the green one stock or did you just come up with it? That it would stick better..

[old skool]

This was new to me, too...the thing with the green clip. I have always just used the white ones. Does it come with the green one stock or did you just come up with it? That it would stick better..

It's stock.

[brunp]

ok, I know this was done a while ago, but does anyone have a composite list of parts/pieces used to replace the side moldings w/ the M3 side moldings. The original post was not quite clear and I would like to make sure I have the parts necessary for the replacement. It seems like the grommet is only used on the one hole on the rear quarter panel and no were else?????

Please advise.

Paul

[old skool]

The green grommet is used in all the places that the smaller, more pointy part is used. This should be once per piece of molding. The first post gives the quantity and part number. But it is for a coupe. Perhaps it is different for a sedan.

[brunp]

The green grommet is used in all the places that the smaller, more pointy part is used. This should be once per piece of molding. The first post gives the quantity and part number. But it is for a coupe. Perhaps it is different for a sedan.

I have a coupe......so, I will look again. I guess I didn't read it quite well....

Paul

If I look at the following part number: 51132251394 on PelicanParts.com,
it appears there is already a grommet on the clip, so from your original
email, but if that is not the case, then I would need the following items:

Green Special Grommet: 51711932996 Quantity: 6
Plug: 51711929320 Quantity: 6

If you take away the plugs/green gromment from each side molding, you
have 2 for the front, 6 for the side long piece and 2 for the rear

Clip: 51132251394 Quantity: 20
Grommets for these: 51131960127 Quantity: 20

Any pictures in your archives, or anyone's archives regarding the total number
of holes in the door?

Paul

[GSpec]

awesome write up

[brunp]

OK...I took my old panels off to find out exact numbers and I have to correct what I had written below.

Green Special Grommet: 51711932996 Quantity: 6 (3 per side)
Plug: 51711929320 Quantity: 6 (3 per side)

Clip: 51132251394 Quantity: 24
Grommets for these: 51131960127 Quantity: 24

note for above: (12 per side, 2 front, 7 middle, 3 rear)

Now, I just had to order these items from the dealer...should have them within 24 hours to install the M-technic side-moldings.

Paul


I have a coupe......so, I will look again. I guess I didn't read it quite well....

Paul

If I look at the following part number: 51132251394 on PelicanParts.com,
it appears there is already a grommet on the clip, so from your original
email, but if that is not the case, then I would need the following items:

Green Special Grommet: 51711932996 Quantity: 6
Plug: 51711929320 Quantity: 6

If you take away the plugs/green gromment from each side molding, you
have 2 for the front, 6 for the side long piece and 2 for the rear

Clip: 51132251394 Quantity: 20
Grommets for these: 51131960127 Quantity: 20

Any pictures in your archives, or anyone's archives regarding the total number
of holes in the door?

Paul

[brunp]

So, I just picked up my parts from the dealer and the side-molding clips that I required (i.e., Part No. 51132251394 - Quantity: 24) already had the grommets installed on them, therefore I didn't require the 24 grommets.

Anyone else here able to confirm or deny this, or is my dealer special?

Paul

[pd109]

good thread

[MrSaikou]

Oops! Should've searched first. This is all I need :)

[runnr548]

Great write up! Our E36 will be getting new trim very soon.

[tonysbone]

FYI: The special green grommets do not apply to the DDM aftermarket side moldings. They do not have the necessary fitment for the green grommet and longer plastic clip

(part # 51711929320 and 51711932996)

For the DDM aftermarket pieces, you use only the regular clips and grommets that are included, or you can replace them with the BMW OEM clips if one breaks. The green grommets and clips will not attach.

[Sozo]

It's already been said, but once again, you saved the day with the p/n for the green grommet. THANK YOU! Yes, the dealer wasn't that hip. I've just completed painting my strips and installed them a few hours ago. Thanks again!

[dwonda]

My new side moldings only need the green grommet for the quarter panels, not the doors.

[36M3Vert]

Does anyone know how many green grommets I would need for a 99 M3 vert?

Just orders a full molding set...

1. M3 side kit
2. Front bumper (middle and sides)
3. Rear bumper (middle and sides)

My order from BMW parts only came with 5 green grommets.

Thank you!


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