Abgasanlage: Worn Interior Trim Part On E65

[SilverSaloon]

Hi

The lower B Piller trim (identified in yellow in the picture below) is worn from me getting in/out of the car. The matt black rubbery trim has worn away in places to the shiney black plastic underneath. BMW say this is normal wear and tear and is not covererd by the warranty, even though I disagree they wont pay for replacement:



I think this is a common world-wide problem with this trim, is any of your cars worn in the same areas???

my options are:

(a) Buy from a dealer - EXPENSIVE!
(b) Attempt to repair myself with spray paint or get a company to repair it
(c) leave it alone and live with it
(d) source a used (2nd hand) part

Does anyone know of a place where i could source this panel (both the left & right side if possible) in Black from a scrapped-vehicle supplier in Germany, who would ship to the UK? There isnt really any scrapped E65 cars here in the UK yet.

Price for each side NEW from a UK Dealer is £100 UK POUNDS. Obviosuly the used part from the scrapped car would have to have no wear marks on it.....

The details & part numbers for the trim is in the following link (its number 8):

 http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...45&hg=51&fg=55

Hope someone can point me in the right direction.

Thank you all in advance! :

[DJ41]

Hi...

we have exactly the same problems and I think most of the other E65 owners do.
BMW Germany is not replacing the parts on warranty, only to your own expense.
The areas which you desribed are the places where the wear usually starts, but it will soon be at many more areas. (Especially the beads in the door which you keep hitting with your shows when getting in- or out. Front and rear.)

So, either pay or live with it... That's your choice...

I thank it's a shame for such car to have such quality problems without having BMW paying for the repairs...

DJ41

[SilverSaloon]

yes my other panels are starting to show wear too but not too bad here... the main places are the B pillar trim:

[DJ41]

Exactly, but with your black interior you don't see it that much. We have light grey, so everywhere you see these shiny black areas now... beautiful..

[SilverSaloon]

yeah i cant believe they used that rubbery stuff on this area of the car.

looks like i'll have to live with it then.

i dont want to spend £100 on each new panel just for it to wear away again.... if the new trim was better quality then i may consider it