DIY: E38 armrest retrofit (warning: MANY pics)

[gonzilla]

OK, right off the bat, this is kind of a lame DIY. I did this a few months ago and took a bunch of pictures in order to do a nice DIY post. Unfortunately right after that my dad passed away, so I shelved this DIY post for a while. I'm now unsuccessfully trying to remember all of the steps that were involved in it. I know I left out a few holes to drill and screws to screw. What I can say is that it would be hard to screw this up. It was relatively easy, it just took some time to get it to fit right. Hopefully this will at least save someone some time. Anyway...

So I was sick of the stupid armrest in our cars that has the hole, but no phone, and no place to store anything even though there is plenty of room. I wanted something with a little storage but I'm too cheap to plop down ~$300 for a Euro armrest with storage. I decided to split the difference and try an armrest from an E38. Although it still has the "phone hole," it also has two flip-up storage compartments on either side of that and is leather. One of the best parts is while it slides, it also has a lever that allows it to lock in place! All around it's a step up. I found one on Ebay for ~$60 and decided to experiment.




As you can see the E38 armrest is bigger and has a different base:

(E39 on the left, E38 on the right)




Here's the E39 with the base still attached (note how high the armrest sits off of the base)


Here's the E38 with the base still attached (note how it sits noticeably higher. you can also see the slide-locking mechanism)


OK, so basically all you need to do is swap armrests and bases. Unfortunately they aren't exactly plug-n-play. The hinges on the flip-up doors end up hitting the little wings on the back of the E39 base (the biggest problem), the armrest sits too low on the base and you have to transfer the slide-locking mechanism over to the E39 base as well.

DIY SECTION:

1. First thing you need to do is remove your stock armrest. Rather than beat a dead horse, I'll direct you here for info on that:
http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/Armrest/armrest.htm

2. Now you need to remove the armrests from their bases. Unfortunately I didn't take pics of this, nor do I remember all the details. However, this also leads me to believe that it's rather easy. I seem to remember that you access the screws from the bottom of the E39 armrest and may need to slide the bases fore and aft to get at all of them.

I also seem to remember that many of the E38 screws were accessed from the top (in addition to a few on the bottom). To do this, you must first remove the storage trays, which pull right out.

Once they're out, you have access to the screws.


When you're done removing the armrests, you will end up with two very different looking bases.

E38 on the left, E39 on the right.


3. Now it's time to see what you have to modify on the E39 base & E38 armrest to get them to work together. The first thing I had to do was to cut the plastic on the bottom of the E38 armrest handle. You can see from the picture that when you lay the E39 base on the E39 armrest there are two sections of the handle that will need to be cut before it can sit flush (outlined in purple magic marker (sorry the only color I could find)).


I removed the handle...


And started cut out the two sections that you see outlined above.


Attach the newly cut handle back onto the armrest.

4. After this, you have to shim up the armrest from the base slightly so that there is less interference between the base and the storage bin hinges. I used tomato stakes that I saw sitting out in the yard.



5. Now as you try to mate the E39 base to the E38 armrest, you'll see it fits pretty well. But if you try to open up the storage bins, no go. These little wings on the E39 base (used to support the back of the armrest) need to be ground down in order to allow the hinges not to hang on them. I used a dremel tool.



This part is kind of a pain because every time you think you've ground down enough, you still haven't. Just keep grinding and checking.

6. Now my memory gets a little hazy again here. I lopped off one of these little nubbins towards the front of the base (upper left silver part). I can't remember why and I can't remember if it was even necessary (I seem to remember after I was done I felt I didn't need to do it). But if there is an interference issue here, go ahead and lop it off because I don't think they'll be doing anything for you with the new armrest.
pre-lop:

post-lop:


7. The last thing you need to do is transfer the slide-lock from the E38 base to the E39 base.
There are just two screws that hold it on:


Remove them and take it off:


Now you just need to figure out where to place it. First I slid the base to full back position. I placed the armrest on top of the base. You'll see the little mechanism on the armrest drop down to engage the (not there yet) lock. Just figure that will be as far back as the armrest will slide, so base the lock position off of that. I used blue tape and purple marker to mark it, then drilled the holes.


This is what it ends up looking like:


Unfortunately, the lock sits farther out on the E39 base than it does on the E38 base, so you will need to grind down the end of the little locking mechanism arm on the armrest so that it is actually functional. No pics, but you'll see what I mean.

8. Try to find all the screws and screw them in. Then put that thing in your car!

This is how it ended up looking in my car (forgive the mess, I've got a one year old):

All the way back:



All the way forward:



Somewhere in the middle:

[jamesdc4]

Nice job, and my condolences on your father's passing. My mom died in July and I know there's absolutely nothing good about the process. Hang in there.

[oekundar]

Nice write up...and if you could have the middle covered even if it didn't open...it would really complete the armrest...

[larinah]

Great writeup might be jumping on this. My Condolences on your Dad.

[gonzilla]

Thanks for the thoughts guys.

@oekunder - Unfortunately the lame center phone hole is still the biggest place to put something, so I'm not covering it up. The side compartments are small, so best used for pens, loose change, etc.

@larinah - If you decide to do it and have any questions, send me a PM.

[Mark@EAC]

very nice! Thanks for sharing your work.

Anything is an improvement to the base sliding armrest, and the euro rest is pricey. Nice to see other options, and this looks factory.

[Jason5driver]

Awesome write!
My condolences to you.

Does the E38 console open up?

[BimmerBreaker]

Sorry to hear of your father's passing, best of wishes to you and your loved ones.

Does the E38 console open up?

IIRC some do, this one does not look like it does. Well technically it opens up twice, they are just on the top

And OP - what a fantastic DIY. Thank you a lot for this, I have always been curious if the E38 armrest would work in an E39. Now I know, and I may try something like this soon.

[sjbdeebo2]

I too am sorry to hear about your father. Best wishes.

As for the DIY I give you the genius of the year award. I love it!

[f355spider]

Anyone figured out how to install an E60, E90 or E92 arm rest? I want to be able to charge an Iphone, and they do not make a snap in adapter for charging it for the E39 arm rest, because the opening is too narrow. For now I am still using a BlackBerry Pearl....

[gonzilla]

Thanks again for the thoughts guys.

Does the E38 console open up?

Well, if you mean does it open up to reveal the giant hole underneath the armrest that would give you plenty of room to store your wallet, phone, small dog, then no. The sliding mechanism prevents anything deeper as far as cubby holes than what I've got. The one I have is almost exactly like our E39 sliding BS armrests, except a little bit bigger and the sides open up to reveal the little trays. Like I said, they're not super big, but at least it's something.

It looks like they offered one that opened up similar to the E39 Euro armrest (#1 in diagram) for the E38, but it lists at $439 and streets for ~$400, so you may as well buy the E39 version, which lists at $389 and streets for ~$315.


Here's one that someone's made into a single door:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-OEM-Black-Full-Arm-Rest-Leather-e38-740-740i-740iL-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem563e2be143QQitemZ37041 0250563QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries

Anything is an improvement to the base sliding armrest, and the euro rest is pricey. Nice to see other options, and this looks factory.

This IS factory! Just maybe the factory next door.

And OP - what a fantastic DIY. Thank you a lot for this, I have always been curious if the E38 armrest would work in an E39. Now I know, and I may try something like this soon.

Thanks! Here you go!!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E38-740-740I-740LI-ARM-REST-CENTER-CONSOLE-OEM-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2a06f1f6d0QQitemZ18050 5147088QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-01-BMW-740IL-750IL-E38-Center-Console-Arm-Rest-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem43a2ff382fQQitemZ29049 7443887QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries

As for the DIY I give you the genius of the year award. I love it!

You're too kind! Thanks!!! I only wish I could have remembered all the steps.

Anyone figured out how to install an E60, E90 or E92 arm rest?

Those look a lot different in design than the E39/E38. I can't see how you could make those work without custom fabricating a whole new center console.

[BimmerBreaker]

Anyone figured out how to install an E60, E90 or E92 arm rest? I want to be able to charge an Iphone, and they do not make a snap in adapter for charging it for the E39 arm rest, because the opening is too narrow. For now I am still using a BlackBerry Pearl....

No and frankly I doubt there ever will be. E39 E38 were built in the same time frame. E60 and E90 were built together, totally different than the E39.

Totally different, how would it even fit?

[maardein]

Very interesting DIY. Do you think this would work with the folding armrest (with storage compartment underneath) as well?

[gonzilla]

Very interesting DIY. Do you think this would work with the folding armrest (with storage compartment underneath) as well?

I'm not positive, but my gut says no. I think in order to get storage underneath the armrest (if there is indeed one with storage that goes that deep) you would have to install the E38 base along with the E38 armrest, rather than retrofitting the E38 armrest to the E39 base. The E38 base is much different from the E39 base. I think it would require extensive modification/fabrication to the center console to get it to work. I think you'd be much better off buying the E39 euro armrest with storage.

E39 armrest & base


E38 armrest & base


Bottom of both bases (E39 on the left)

[maardein]

I was more thinking about retrofitting an E38 armrest on the sliding/folding base from an E39 euro armrest. I've already got the storage (because I'm in europe), but no sliding armrest.

If I can find a E38 armrest with continuous top somewhere, maybe I'll try it

[MarlberCruz]

Thanks to this thread, did this on my car too.

[BlackV8]

Very nice. Thanks Gonzilla.