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
Part number: 82119403140
This is for a coupe and will be different for a sedan.

Pieces and parts

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. 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

[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

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.

[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.