Is panel held in by clips and can it be removed from above to check for obstruction? Thank you. Love the car. Completed 7 week 8000 mi trip from MI on hwy 2 to WA and down coast HWY to CA and return. Beautiful country and frriendly and helpful people. I had never heard of the International Peace Garden on the the border between Manatoba and North Dakota. Refered by a farmer during a gas fillup. "Don't see many cars like that around here!" Beautiful place to visit in the summer.
You have to take out the ash tray to access a phillips head screw below the ash tray to remove the assembly. Probably some coins stuck down there. You can try a knife or something similar to try and dislodge them.
Ash tray cover Thank you. I'll keep trying to dislodge whatever is in the way. Can see no coins and cover opens only about 1/2". I've tried magnets and and thin metal narrow spatulas but havan't had any success so far. It's a good challange for a rainy day. A good test of my patience and persistence. Thank you again for the advice. Good thing I'm not a smoker. Just have to be sure the cell phone is charged up before I leave the house.
Ash Tray Cover Success!! I used the handle of a nail file to slide side to side along the dash side of the cover edge with the cover closed and also partially open. After several attemps the cover opened. I remover the ash tray and the screw below and removed the unit from the console. Low and behold, I am 90 cents richer and the cover opens and closes good as new. It was a little tricky keeping the wires pushed forward when replacing the panel. Two suggestions for owners of 2003 Z4's. Do not use the handy ash tray to store change and periodically remove the panel to check for rodent stashes especially before and after storing the car for the winter. I recently had a $978 insurance claim to repair wiring and replace the computer above the glove compartment due to mouse damage. Thanks again for the assist.
Glad to hear it worked for you. Coins are the usual culprit. Replace the ash tray with a spec dock and you'll never have the problem again, plus you now have a place to plug in your iPod/iPhone.
It's not just on 2003's but all MY's. I had this happen on my 2008 because I did not learn from my 2003...
The spec dock is a device that replaces the ash tray only with a holder that plays and charges an iPhone/iPod through the oe radio. I am using a DICE Silverline for the interface which honestly has had mixed reviews. Mine has functioned as is supposed to since I installed it last year. With the two, I am able to control the iPhone/iPod through the radio and see what is playing on the radios display. There are better choices if one has Nav, but I don't and the two work well. If desired, I'll take a picture of the dock and post it later.
Yeah, I needs me a spec dock. . . Yes, please. . . I did not know there was an iPodic device for the roadster. Right now the ash tray holds an old tube of lib balm. That's to slip into the Valentine One bracket to release the unit and leave the bracket stuck to the glass. I don't have no navigation, neither, so something in the hash tray would be nice. . .
Here you go Satch. There are a number of interfaces for it, I have the DICE Silverline which has been replaced with a newer unit. Some love it, some hate it, mine has worked well for a year and a half.
Thanks! But what's that funny knob? You don't mean. . . it couldn't be. . . it's not a GEAR SELECTOR, is it?!
Oh, well, then, never mind! Yeah, there ARE actually a few good reasons to eschew a stick, aren't there?!
