Z3 Z Series 1996-2002 PT# 51 45 8 397 597 Repairs Glove Box Reinforcement Stainless Steel

This is a great part to aid in reducing the sagging glove box on my M Roadster.. I could get into a fairly long dissemination about "German engineering" and how it means really expensive cheaply made parts that break a lot, but I won't. I replaced my homemade aluminum bar fix with this as well as installing self tapping screws into the very strong and sturdy metal that supports the glove box better that the sorry ass plastic that crumble and breaks, maybe get on the phone and call up some flakes, who rush on over and break it some more..........

Does the job.

It did take a bit of mechanical reasoning to sort things out, especially while trying to carefully dismantle and deal with 20 Year Old plastic parts that are extremely brittle from age. But once a plan of attack was compiled and put into motion, this certainly did the trick for me. No more sagging glove box, plus the added benefit of using and retaining all of the original mounting hardware without the need to go out and buy additional bolts and nuts to get the project done.

Was easy once I did some internet searches and looked at photos others posted on this part. No need to completely remove the glove box. Open right side door, pry off the plastic cap covering the screw on the side of the dash and remove the screw. Remove caps and loosen two screws on the other side of the glove box at the side of the console. Open glove box door, remove the four screws, two have the caps over them. You should be able to lower the right side of the glove box enough to pull out the factory bracket. Note how it was positioned. Remove the four screw nuts that are clipped to the bracket and add them to the new bracket. Lay the new brace over the old bracket like the photos show. Install the two brackets together where the old one was. Insert and loosely install the four screws. You can see them go through. You need to line up the brackets. The two outer screws also hold the box door tethers, so line those up as well. When all four screws are started, tighten them up. Push the glove box assembly back into the dash and reinstall the right side screw and tighten the two on the console side. I also removed the plate inside the door to lighten it (only US cars had this). My plate was loose inside the door since the screw mounts were broken. Revone the four screws around the inside of the door plus the two for the latch. Pull door outer plastic off, remove plate inside, reinstall.

Take the damn crash plate out of the glove box before installing this to trim 10lbs of weight from the lid. This reinforcement works great and is keeping the interior lines clean.

The instructions say this bar clips on top of the crummy one that bends. Remember this when you take the glove box out. Make sure to save all the clips (also called speed nuts), the ones you can get at Home Depot type stores (here in the United States) are not metric. Note pictures, these tell you which side goes against the crummy bendy bar, the nice sturdy bar has some lips (ridges), which I am pretty sure do not go against the crummy bendy bar. I don't think the supplier of this part should provide glove box removal instructions. Just look up BMW Z3 glove box removal, and you will find plenty. Not sure I can put a link, will say that Pelican Parts has a set of instructions, with pictures, that I used when I did this repair. Now if these folks would make a kit to fix the interior door handles that break off...

Excellent and fixed my issue.

Works great