[3PedalJake]

So how far would I go to eliminate the squeaking dash on my newly restored 325i? Pretty far but apparently not as far as I'm gonna go. I removed the cabin filter housing and strut tower braces to rule them out, then started removing my dash 1 piece at a time. First the trim, then the radio/temp controls, then the cluster, then the blower, then the center console, then f-it, time for the whole dash. I can see why this is one of the most expensive jobs at a shop, it is tedious and there's a crapload of things to unscrew, pry off, wires to disconnect, the steering wheel and stalks have to come off, but finally got all that removed, unbolted the dash and got it out, thinking for sure I can find the squeak, or at least lube and tighten everything as I put it back together. Then I took a look at the vents in the HVAC box... yikes. The rubber part of the flaps looks like it's melted/coated in tar, all soft and gooey. WTF can do this? I can't find any way to fix this and I'm figuring that if the ones I can see are like this the internal flaps are probably just as bad or worse. Soooo looks like I'm replacing the HVAC box. With all the work required to get at it I can't see not replacing the heater core and ac evaporator, and if I'm doing those may as well do the heater hoses too. Well crap, that squeak just turned into a bigger job than the entire rear subframe. Wish me luck brothers, I'm off down the rabbit hole to wonderland.

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by 3PedalJake

So how far would I go to eliminate the squeaking dash on my newly restored 325i? Pretty far but apparently not as far as I'm gonna go. I removed the cabin filter housing and strut tower braces to rule them out, then started removing my dash 1 piece at a time. First the trim, then the radio/temp controls, then the cluster, then the blower, then the center console, then f-it, time for the whole dash. I can see why this is one of the most expensive jobs at a shop, it is tedious and there's a crapload of things to unscrew, pry off, wires to disconnect, the steering wheel and stalks have to come off, but finally got all that removed, unbolted the dash and got it out, thinking for sure I can find the squeak, or at least lube and tighten everything as I put it back together. Then I took a look at the vents in the HVAC box... yikes. The rubber part of the flaps looks like it's melted/coated in tar, all soft and gooey. WTF can do this? I can't find any way to fix this and I'm figuring that if the ones I can see are like this the internal flaps are probably just as bad or worse. Soooo looks like I'm replacing the HVAC box. With all the work required to get at it I can't see not replacing the heater core and ac evaporator, and if I'm doing those may as well do the heater hoses too. Well crap, that squeak just turned into a bigger job than the entire rear subframe. Wish me luck brothers, I'm off down the rabbit hole to wonderland.

You better keep this car a loooong time!!! It will be so nice to have all those jobs done though. Especially the vents/box... I don't even want to know what mine look like! I have a long-term flap error that came with the car. I imagine it's pretty bad in there as well!

[3PedalJake]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

You better keep this car a loooong time!!! It will be so nice to have all those jobs done though. Especially the vents/box... I don't even want to know what mine look like! I have a long-term flap error that came with the car. I imagine it's pretty bad in there as well!

Yeah if this wasn't already a forever car (it was) it would be after this. Zeroing in on 0% of this car that I haven't had apart now, we're practically soulmates. I was working on getting the musty smell out of the ac, I think this oughta do it lol.