USB/3.5mm Fall’s in the Console Mocking You – One Workaround

[ixlr8_m3z]

In my case I broke one of the retaining brackets on the console so there was no way it would ever stay put without pulling the console out and gluing the bracket back in and hoping for the best. The dealer quoted me a generous price of $1,300 to address the issue to which I said no-thanks. Less than $20 and I was back in business. Yes, it is a workaround but it worked for me and might sound good to others, as I have not seen many answers in general talking about using extension cables for this issue. I'm sure they exist.

Abandoning what wishes to be unseen and letting go can be the hardest part so I went with plan B – for USB Universal empty Space Beatdown.

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To remove the back cover with the rear air vents I used a 1inch paint scraper on top of a microfiber hand towel and twisted lightly it came apart easy. The bottom clips I slid the scraper up from front to back to get the bottom two clips – it was more work.

I fed the USB and 3.5mm extension cables through the hole where the factory unit used to wink at me until I used too long of an usb stick then plugged them in to the actual BMW connectors. I added some Duct Tape – then some more to make sure the extensions stayed together and shoved it back to its new home it seemed so fond of.

As I ended up with a extra 1.5-feet extension I ran it out the arm rest near the drivers seat so I can swap them out on long road trips. I will not use it normally.

I somehow thought that hemostats of various shapes and sizes would pull it back through - it wont... Like your first girlfriend if the bracket is broken you have been left - feel the burn and become one with a hack or pay some jack.

Of note, you will still need to buy short USB sticks if you use the listed parts I did. I over compensated and bough the leef (very small) 64GB stick www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FWQMKA0/ I will buy more.

Future upgrades – I plan to remove the duct tape from the area the USB/3.5mm used to be and put a single circle high black lego square or rectangle– taped down with jar-jar binks holding the 3.5mm cable to remind me how stupid it was to push that last 8th inch… Then I will upgrade to a R2-D2..

Monoprice 1.5-Feet USB 3.0 A Male to A Female Extension 28/24AWG Cable (Gold Plated) (106504)
$6.50
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C4U2XU/

StarTech.com 5-Feet Desktop SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Extension Cable - A to A M/F (USB3SEXT5DSK)
$8.30
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004WKRU7U/

Monster Beats Headphones Extension Cable 3.5 Extension Cable
$5.09
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007G4O5IG/

Regards,
IXLR8_M3z Glad to meet you all. 1st time caller...
2008 M3
1995 M3