'Body Moulding' , threshold & Sill Trim / Trim Clips

[Brucey]

6er bodywork of all vintages has had several trim pieces that are held on with 'centre plug' type expanding trim clips. These clips allow rapid and secure mounting of trim pieces without much in the way of tools; however disassembly can be difficult, and these clips are not designed to be removed and re-used. I have compiled a few notes on these trim clips (including a removal and re-use method) which may be of interest to anyone about to embark on a bodywork refurb; the ETK is somewhat vague regarding exact trim clip type and quantities (on a par with the way it indicates relays, more or less) so short of taking your own car to pieces this might be the best way of finding out...

Trim removal.

The wide 'body moulding' or rubbing strip comes in three (or four for some e12 chassis models) pieces. These usually have at least one Nylon nut mounting, some 'large' type trim clips, and often a 'hook' fastening as well.

In each case the nylon nut must be removed first, and then each large clip must be disengaged. Finally those pieces which are held by hooks can be slid backwards ~10mm to release them. Most 'large' clips I have encountered are of the type 'B' in the pictures, but you may find type A or type C. A certain amount of twisting and pushing up or down helps types A and B to release, but type C will only release once the trim strip is slid lengthwise until the clip lines up with the gap. I've only seen type 'C' on the wing (fender) piece to date but maybe it can appear on the other pieces too.

Removing the sill (rocker panel) trim is much the same procedure, except that more care is required; it is far easier to bend this trim strip, and the clips are less flexible. Also there are nylon nuts at both ends to remove.

The 'threshold trim' in the door opening is also held with a smaller version of this type of trim clip; here it is a question of simply prying up one end of the central piece of threshold trim until the clips pop off the trim. No amount of pushing in other directions will make the release more easy as far as I can tell.

Trim clip removal for re-use.

If you are lucky the clips will have largely survived the trim removal. However the clips are not designed to be readily removed from the bodywork. This is a problem if body repair is due, or if (say) the trim clip holes are to be used for adding corrosion protection fluid, for example. New trim clips are not that expensive, but since dozens are required the cost can soon mount up if they are all broken during disassembly. A few of these clips are accessible at the rear (which allows the centre plug to be simply pushed out) but most are not so accessible. Fortunately, after a bit of head scratching I have devised and implemented a scheme that allows simple trim clip removal and re-use with almost complete success.

The idea is to drill a small hole in the centre plug which is then used to accept a self-tapping screw. The screw goes in three or four turns only; it can then be pulled on and used as an extractor for the centre plug. Once the centre plug is withdrawn (partially or wholly), the clip can easily be removed for re-use. I managed to thus salvage all but two or three of the clips of this sort from my parts car, so I thought it worth sharing with you guys.

Should a centre plug be lost (or drilled out completely) it may be possible to use (say) part of a plastic golf tee as a replacement centre plug. I quickly found some which were the exact correct diameter amongst my collection of tee pegs.

Trim clip variations.


The nylon nut is a good arrangement because it is mounted to a plated brass stud. This arrangement seems quite corrosion resistant, provided the nylon body grommet (not pictured) or sealant is also used in the 6.8mm dia. hole. An earlier arrangement using a metal 8mm nut, a spring washer, and a plastic cap is still listed on my ETK but I've never seen it in the flesh.

The 'large' trim clips come in different versions. I've called them A,B,and C but this is not what BMW call them, I'm sure. Probably not every type is now available. The oldest 'A' type is very rigid which can make trim removal difficult. The most common 'B' type is more flexible, but still holds well since it has a steeper flank angle on the backside of the clip. A third 'C' version is used with a 'new' variant trim strip which has gaps in it. Provided you know what you are dealing with, this is probably the best design. If necessary the 'new' strip design will work OK with the older clips AFAIK. Externally there is little clue that the trim strip and the clips may be different; the only difference that I could see was that the end plugs in the 'new' trim strip were slightly longer.


Concluding remarks.

It occurs to me that it would be possible to add 'gaps' to older trim pieces so that easy (sliding) release is possible with any clip type. I may try this at some point. The downside is that the strip will be weakened when the gaps are added; the upside is that the strip shouldn't need to be forced so much during removal.

If what I have seen is anything to go by, the paint is often damaged in or near the trim clip mounting holes, and this is how rampant corrosion can start. It isn't a bad idea to remove these trim strips from time to time so that the bodywork behind them can be inspected and corrosion proofed as required. I will certainly be refitting mine with some waxoyl to help stop any corrosion local to the holes.

The 'hook' fastenings are meant to be plastic coated to stop body damage. At a pinch, adhesive tape or heat shrink may be suitable if the plastic coating is damaged.

Needless to say if these trim strips are in poor condition it brings the look of the car down somewhat. However the body moulding pieces are quite susceptible to
being cleaned and fettled; the brightwork is stainless steel (polish as hard and as much as you can be bothered) and scuffed rubber parts can even be wet-flatted with 600 grit paper and then polished to give a good finish if required. The sill trims require more care I think, but are similarly constructed and can still be cleaned up OK. The threshold pieces are more of a problem; they have an anodised finish, and should this be marked up, it cannot easily be rectified. Although in theory the anodising could be stripped off, it would be very difficult to do this on the complex shape, and subsequent regular polishing would eat into time that would be better spent doing something else...

Finally; I'm sure I've seen further centre-plug type clips somewhere else on my 6ers, but I cannot for the life of me recall exactly where. Brake pipe clips perhaps? I just don't know. But I'm sure the same removal and re-use technique can be used with any others on the car as well.

cheers

[Paul Humpage]

Excellent post, thanks very much. Should be a sticky somewhere.

[JCS]

Brucey,

Outstanding, as always!

[mulewright]

Thank you for this tip. I was just looking at them yesterday and wondering how I was going to remove them. Mine are in good shape after removing the trim. I am permanently removing the trim since I have to repaint after the work I have been doing.

[german performance inc]

awesome work

[Ralph in Socal]

As always. Anything from Brucey is very well thought out and throughly comprehensive. +1 on the sticky comment from Paul H.

Ralph

[Hefeweizen]

Excellent most excellent!! Thanks Brucey!
The only thing I see wrong with that is that I should have seen this when I did my trim pieces a couple of years ago.

[Carlp336]

some good info, thanks

[Pablo_el]

i vote sticky!

[PorscheDude]

Well done sir.

[ADRIAN CAVANAGH]

I am about to have my 1989635csi resprayed and we cannot work out how to remove the chrome trim that is on the body and runs around above the door and window openings. we have unscrewed the rbber section at the front guard and cannot work out what to do next . has any one got some ideas on how this trim is removed without damaging it.

[Brucey]

I'm sure this is detailed elswhere on this site, but in brief;

-you need to remove the aluminium strip from the trim. Note that it is anodised and if bent much it will craze and will never look the same again. So the trick is to remove it without bending much.

I have found it easiest to start at the back, since starting is difficult, and the final section is hidden by the rear window trim, so a little deformation here won't be evident later.

Once the strip is out, there are a load of #1 phillips head screws that hold the rubber piece to the roof joint.

good luck

cheers

[Chris Wright]

Here is a discussion on removing the window trim:
viewtopic.php?t=7609&

[billy635]

I needed to remove my trim today off an E12 based E24.
Thanks Brucey for the info , much appreciated.
Slight difference to rear trim pieces. 3 plastic nuts to remove , no clips.
Easy to see and remove with a 9 mm ring spanner.
Have modified Bruceys pic to reflect this. All other clips/nuts are the same.

[pipes]

Brilliant article Brucey!

I need a few clips - do the these need to be bought from BMW?

Cheers
Pete

[pipes]

I also need some of the thin black plastic beading - any ideas where I could get some?

Cheers
Pete

[sansouci]

How do we get the pictures reposted?