Replaced Front Door Speaker Cover

[argento]

This might be common knowledge for most, but thought I'd post the quick details...

I just bought this 2013 X5M and curiously the driver door speaker cover was black and all the rest in the vehicle were silver. The vin called out enhanced audio system, so for whatever reason the previous owner or BMW replaced the speaker cover with the cheaper black one. It would bother me to no end. So I replaced.

Black (HIFI) Speaker Cover: 51.41.6.969.384
Silver (ENHANCED) Speaker Cover: 51.41.8.038.099 (~$36)

1. Remove driver side door, Bavsound's DIY video

//vimeo.com/27405938

It's for the passenger door, but still very accurate. Roll down the window before start. On the driver 2 screws (all T20 torx) at the bottom of the panel, 1 screw behind door handle trim, 2 screws behind window switch trim. Once removed, take a pictures of how the wiring was routed on the door for re-install. (NOTE: I used a craftsman castered stool with adjustable height under the door to prop-up the door panel while I worked on it. Extremely helpful)

2. Remove the speaker, from the back of the panel, 3 T20 screws

3. Remove the old speaker grill by using some small wire cutters to clip of the melted plastic tabs on the back of the grill.

3. Temporary install the new speaker grill to the door panel. You will need to melt those tabs for it to be a permanent install. There is a pin/boss on the grill to help you properly align the grill.

4. Using a soldering iron (and pressing the front of the grill against the door panel with your other hand) begin at the top of tab and allow it to melt. BE PATIENT AND AWARE HERE. There is potential for damaging the door panel. The white plastic on the door panel is pretty rigid, I didn't do any damage with minor bumping of the iron to this plastic. However, the tabs on the speaker grill will begin to melt like solder, except not as clean and easy. By placing the iron on and off, i was able to melt it down enough to hold the grill in place. IF YOU HOLD TOO LONG, YOU COULD END UP CUTTING THE TAB COMPLETELY OFF THE GRILL. As a check, you press on the grill from the front and if the plastic you just melted raises, then you need to melt a little more. The black plastic from the tab will not stick to the white plastic of the door panel. Blow on it to cool off and it will harden instantly. In reality you only need about 3 of the 6 tabs melted, but I did them all. You're call. Repeat for the other tabs.

5. Done! Put everything back like you found it. It took me about 2 hours, but I'm super SLOW when it comes to working on my cars, lol. This is probably a 60-90 min job.


Good luck,
Jeremy

[-c-]

Originally Posted by argento

This might be common knowledge for most, but thought I'd post the quick details...

I just bought this 2013 X5M and curiously the driver door speaker cover was black and all the rest in the vehicle were silver. The vin called out enhanced audio system, so for whatever reason the previous owner or BMW replaced the speaker cover with the cheaper black one. It would bother me to no end. So I replaced.

Black (HIFI) Speaker Cover: 51.41.6.969.384
Silver (ENHANCED) Speaker Cover: 51.41.8.038.099 (~$36)

1. Remove driver side door, Bavsound's DIY video

()

It's for the passenger door, but still very accurate. Roll down the window before start. On the driver 2 screws (all T20 torx) at the bottom of the panel, 1 screw behind door handle trim, 2 screws behind window switch trim. Once removed, take a pictures of how the wiring was routed on the door for re-install. (NOTE: I used a craftsman castered stool with adjustable height under the door to prop-up the door panel while I worked on it. Extremely helpful)

2. Remove the speaker, from the back of the panel, 3 T20 screws

3. Remove the old speaker grill by using some small wire cutters to clip of the melted plastic tabs on the back of the grill.

3. Temporary install the new speaker grill to the door panel. You will need to melt those tabs for it to be a permanent install. There is a pin/boss on the grill to help you properly align the grill.

4. Using a soldering iron (and pressing the front of the grill against the door panel with your other hand) begin at the top of tab and allow it to melt. BE PATIENT AND AWARE HERE. There is potential for damaging the door panel. The white plastic on the door panel is pretty rigid, I didn't do any damage with minor bumping of the iron to this plastic. However, the tabs on the speaker grill will begin to melt like solder, except not as clean and easy. By placing the iron on and off, i was able to melt it down enough to hold the grill in place. IF YOU HOLD TOO LONG, YOU COULD END UP CUTTING THE TAB COMPLETELY OFF THE GRILL. As a check, you press on the grill from the front and if the plastic you just melted raises, then you need to melt a little more. The black plastic from the tab will not stick to the white plastic of the door panel. Blow on it to cool off and it will harden instantly. In reality you only need about 3 of the 6 tabs melted, but I did them all. You're call. Repeat for the other tabs.

5. Done! Put everything back like you found it. It took me about 2 hours, but I'm super SLOW when it comes to working on my cars, lol. This is probably a 60-90 min job.


Good luck,
Jeremy

It's possible to whole door card was replaced and that door card didn't have the correct door speaker cover. Especially if it was heat staked.

[argento]

I considered that. Production dates matched build date, 5/2013, and the heat staking didn't look much better than mine...I assumed the factory staking would have been much cleaner. But certainly possible...