Need advice assembling door panels

[That Fly 325i]

Im jumped right into it today and took off my door panels which had been falling since i bought the car a week ago. Disassembly was a breeze considering they were half off already and using maybe about 3 clips.

Anyway i glued the broken pieces back together, re-glued the parts that came un-glued, and then put all new clips in.

When i went to put it all back i got the top rail perfectly and most if not all the clips along the sides in perfectly. However the bottom of the door panel has some space and the clips along the bottom aren't sitting in the holes there supposed to be in.

How can i get them in, do i need some special tool. Because its to small of a space to even get a screwdriver in but just enough to bug me, plus with it not being a 100% seal im sure that will make it prone to breaking again.


Any help or tips here?

[ChitownzVIP]

line up the clips with the wholes in the door frame with your finger tips if you can get in there and just put some force into it. As long as they're lined up squeeze the door panel and door together til you get what you were looking for. If that doesnt work make sure nothing is holding back from going in like maybe wire(s).

[irvine6]

I did my door panels a couple of days ago.

I made sure the ones down each side were lined up first and worked my way down to the bottom clipping them in. The bottom clips just fell right into position and using abit of force push them in just make sure you arnt trapping wires.

Take your time and take a couple of goes to line it up right before you push it back properly.

[dnc026]

Im thinking about doing this too but im scared that when I take the door panel off that it will break more clips or make more stuff unglued.

Did you have any problems with breaking things while taking your door panel off?

[TempCK318is]

I have done this a lot here's some helpful hints.

first when pulling them off be gentle and patient, those clips break easily and the fiberglass is generally old and not as resilient as today's stuff.

You will probably break many a clip so I would have plenty of extras on hand. As far as gluing the fiberglass back together I tried epoxy and a number of others and finally just went with waterproof automotive goop which has held the best so far.

putting them back on is a pain especially if they are warped at all so again go slow. put in the top rail first so it will hang then slowly go down the sides making sure the clips are lined up with the holes and just use constant pressure. for the bottoms I got out the pry/pick tools and laid on my back under the door so I could see what I was doing and aligned them. It is easier if you align them all properly before pushing them all the way in because you will loose all the space to work with. after they are all aligned put your hand in the door pocket and apply gentle pressure until they snap in.

By the way if your vapor barrier is in shotty condition just replace it, they're cheap and it helps keep moisture down in the car as well as extends the life of the vinyl on the door and the fiberglass of the panel. I didn't replace them the first time thinking they were just annoying and it led to me doing this again with a new set of panels a year later because the ones I installed got squishy and fully deteriorated (the car was in Oregon= a lot of rain).

Good luck it is really a PITA but makes the car look so much better on the interior.

[jmo69]

Are you sure you got the top piece back on the door in the proper position? I just did this project again, for about the third time, and used Gorilla Glue and lots of clamps. If the top strip is off a little it will misalign the whole panel and break clips.

[lightflyer1]

How many clips are in each panel?

[That Fly 325i]

Originally Posted by irvine6

I did my door panels a couple of days ago.

I made sure the ones down each side were lined up first and worked my way down to the bottom clipping them in. The bottom clips just fell right into position and using abit of force push them in just make sure you arnt trapping wires.

Take your time and take a couple of goes to line it up right before you push it back properly.

My clip rail on the top was in pieces and the glue came off. So i had to glue them back on. After that i got the side clips in perfectly but the bottom ones where still a bit to low. The more clips i got working my way to the bottom center from each side the smaller the gap is. So now i only have like 3 clips on the bottom not in, one now broken the panel is fine though. The only other problem is the panel insert started to come off randomly and now its cause some door opening problems.

Originally Posted by lightflyer1

How many clips are in each panel?

11, i dont have air bags

[la02max]

The problem is that the top rail is not aligned correctly. A good way to do it is to attach the top rail to the door first, then put glue on it as you're installing the door panel. That way all the clips will be in the right place and everything will be attached correctly.

[328 Power 04]

i just used my finger to wiggle the clips up and down and snapped each in one by one, but it all depends how off it is. Good luck though, i'm sure you'll get it

[That Fly 325i]

I think i need to take them off and redo the clip rail. Which is going to be a bitch. So thats probably not gunna happen for awhile cause im lazy