Parcel Shelf clips?

[vsonix]

I took my car for an in-and-out clean the other day, and although they did a great job the dude was a little rough pulling out the parcel shelf when cleaning the boot of the car and managed to break off the little plastic clip that fits over the bits that lock in at the sides where the shelf folds as the trunk opens (does that make sense?)

My car was previously rattle-free but now the parcel shelf rattles as it jumps about whenever I go over any relatively small bumps. Obviously rattling BMW is not at all cool. Can anyone suggest anything I can do to repair this, or is it going to have to be the first of the long list of annoying minor issues? it looks to me like the broken part is integrally moulded to the whole fitting that holds the rear speaker and everything, could prove tricky to repair considering I have few mechanical skills...

[tiFreak]

you'll probably need a new one, I really hope you won't be the one who has to pay for it though, you didn't break it

[roadrash]

If you still have the plastic bits that broke off you can try using some sort of epoxy or JB Weld to reattach them.

[vsonix]

I have a nasty feeling they probably got sucked up in his vacuum cleaner, the car was spotlessly immaculate when I got it back, and I only noticed the broken clips an hour or so later, by which point the place was closed for the day.

I'm thinking about maybe putting a centimetre or so of rubber/plastic tubing over the 'pegs' - if I'm lucky it might help it fit more snugly in the recess. Or maybe if I were to somehow fix a small stiff-but-bendy bit of metal over the top, leaving it loose at the front end it might work as a kind of rudimentary clip... hmmz... whatever happens, I have to get rid of the rattle. BMWs should NOT rattle when going over small bumps!

[roadrash]

Hmmmm.... if you're in a crafty mood, you might be able to look at some close-up photos and use some sort of epoxy to gradually rebuild the plastic bits. I'm sure that'll take time and a lot of trial/error though.

Best of luck to ya, this is the sort of thing that drives me crazy too. :-)

[vsonix]

would anyone mind doing me a massive favour and taking a photo of their parcel shelf clip in its unbroken state so I have something to work from?

[roadrash]

I didn't realize I had the resolution set so low until just now. Let me know if these aren't large enough and I'll take the pix again later today or tomorrow.

[vsonix]

nah that's fine man, I can't say I'd actually ever looked at the way the parcel shelf fitted in in all the time I have owned the car since I haven't needed to move it at any time, so this is the first time I've seen what it looks like intact!

they're snapped at the bottom on both sides... so there must be a couple of l-shaped bits of plastic floating around in a landfill somewhere now... GRR!

I'm looking at metal spring clips of the sort you might use to hold a PP3 battery in place, they would probably hold the rod snugly but they'd look hideous. This is gonna be hard to fix cheaply/easily without it looking really ghetto, I think.