My 2001 740iL has issues with both cupholders and I would appreciate advice on both. The front cupholder comes apart when pulled out. The part that slides out easily separates without coming to a stop as you would expect it to. Upon inspection nothing looks broken or any parts missing. All it seems to be missing is something that stops the slide-out part at the right point. My rear seat cupholders have a broken button that cannot be depressed to release the cupholders. I am not sure how to get the cupholders to slide out to replace the button or whole assembly other than damaging parts of it in the process. Any advice on both issues would be appreciated. Thanks, Knut
Sounds like you will need to replace both front and rear cup holder assemblies. The rear will need to be broken in order to replace. I usually take a pocket screw driver and pry it open breaking the catch on it.
I don't believe those cupholders are noted for their robust engineering, design, or longevity. If you opt to replace them, keep in mind they will likely fail again, eventually, and similarly. Some may be ok with that, some perhaps not, considering the factory replacement part (the front one, for example) may be around $250 and entail a lengthy install, making the cost of replacing cup-holders add up, fast. If your rear one is stuck in the seat, that's better than if it's stuck out, if your'e at all discouraged by replacement costs. Used ones might be found on ebay for not so much, but they may be just as short lived, since their plastic is just as prone to fail due to age, even if they're functional upon receipt.
Unfortunately, another one of those frustrating-to-maddening issues that appears to be a by-product of now-old German plastic(s) failing.
BMW's turn-of-the-century cupholders are BMW engineers' subtle way of telling us that we don't need cupholders in a car. They're complete rubbish. You're smarter to simply block them off to spare yourself the embarrassment of having your guests break them.
