Driver side arm rest coming loose

[Helmsman]

Guys, the arm rest is somewhat lose/less fixed than the other side, makes some sqeak. I use it to rest my arm - as meant to? - but not overly loaded being a pretty light weight guy.

Searched around but can't seem to find a proper explanation on how removing the trim and how the rest is hooked up.

Anyone with the same issue and have managed to fix it?

Thanks

[Helmsman]

Anyone?

[Helmsman]

Doing a BOOF here and bumping an oldie. Who knows, maybe some of you guys have got the same issue going.

[BGBF18]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Doing a BOOF here and bumping an oldie. Who knows, maybe some of you guys have got the same issue going.

Helmsman, I recently replaced the driver's armrest in my E90 so I can tell you this. At least on the 2008s, the armrest was affixed by six or seven plastic rivets of sorts inside the door.

I'm just guessing that one or more of the plastic rivets has cracked, of which your only fix is to replace the entire armrest. The new armrest mounts with a different system and was really easy to do.

[Helmsman]

Thanks man, I will take another look ar this.

[Theodore]

Check out this thread over on E90Post, its the best one I've ever seen on this subject. The guys in the thread came up with more than one way to DIY this repair.

[Helmsman]

Cheers Theo, however its the whole arm rest rather than the handle. Not alarming but squeaky and not fixed in place like the right side. I'll take a more serious stab to see how to get it apart and re fix.

Thx

[Theodore]

Yeah I looked at my arm rest a while back and it has the same type of plastic welds, so I think most of their techniques can be applied to the armrest too. Do a follow up post once you get around to this job, I'd like to hear about what you learn.

[deansbimmer]

They are affixed at the factory by melting down the arm-rest's plastic posts that protrude through the door panel when the armrest is attached. The effect is a plastic rivet / glued hybrid connection. The only way to remove them is to cut down those points and pop the armrest off.

To re-secure the old armrest, My favorite is 3M hot-melt adhesive (high temp commercial stuff, not low-temp hot glue from the craft store), or I have found that 3M ABS bumper repair epoxy works well also but you need the mixing gun for it. I've tried home grade epoxies and JB weld but they just pop loose after a while.

If you're replacing the armrest, it comes with new posts that you can melt down with a soldering iron with a broad tip.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by deansbimmer

They are affixed at the factory by melting down the arm-rest's plastic posts that protrude through the door panel when the armrest is attached. The effect is a plastic rivet / glued hybrid connection. The only way to remove them is to cut down those points and pop the armrest off.

To re-secure the old armrest, My favorite is 3M hot-melt adhesive (high temp commercial stuff, not low-temp hot glue from the craft store), or I have found that 3M ABS bumper repair epoxy works well also but you need the mixing gun for it. I've tried home grade epoxies and JB weld but they just pop loose after a while.

If you're replacing the armrest, it comes with new posts that you can melt down with a soldering iron with a broad tip.

Thanks Dean. Yep starting to realize it will take a bit of effort, seems I simply have to live with a small sqeak for now and tace action should it get worse.