[gavronm]

This is probably a long shot but what the heck.

I've got the fold out glasses holder that mounts to the roof in place of the driver side grab handle. Loved it until the return spring disengaged from casing part, which now hangs down under its own weight.

I've tried getting the pivot pins out to disassemble everything and reattach that spring, but to no avail. I went so far as drilling into the casing from the outside along the axis of the pin with a tiny drill bit and then trying to drive the pivot pin out toward the inside with a small punch, but the pin doesn't seem to want to come out in that direction.

Anybody know how to get the two halves of this thing apart?

[d1saster]

It happened to me too. There's no way to separate it without damage. I got frustrated and started pulling and bending and it gave up at the end. After that i noticed a little plastic thing that holds the spring was broken. What i did was to put small size screw there to hold the spring.

These things have one year parts warranty if it's oem.

[gavronm]

Want to update the post in case anyone else runs into this. I finally managed to get those pins out using the method described in my first post, just needed to work at it a bit more and pound a bit harder. Ended up having to remove both pins to separate the two halves. Once the pins were out the halves could be carefully pried apart. I then shaved away the remnants of the broken spring-retention tab on the outer half of the holder, drilled a pilot hole, and inserted the smallest screw I could find at the local hardware store to serve as a replacement spring stop.

Putting it back together was trickier than anticipated. You need to disengage the end of the spring from the mounting half of the holder so that when you snap the two pieces back together the spring tab that runs parallel to the axis of the pins catches the screw you installed. You also need to make sure the rib on that cylindrical piece in the middle lines up with the slot formed by the three ribs on inner surface of the outside piece - that is what provides the damping to prevent the thing from snapping shut.

With all that aligned you snap it back into place, then you can put the end of the spring you removed back into place (I used a small pick), reinstall the pins, and screw the thing back into the car.

[dragazn]

Man my X3 glasses holder on top of the driver is broken spring as well. Anyone know the parts number to get replacement? I order long ago and forgot the parts number

[opjose]

There are two hidden screws that permit you to take the whole unit off, After removal the springs are accessible.

Here is the part

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...51164862872kt/