e36 door panel fix "How to"

[e28forever]

Ok, this is for those of us who need to fix that "door panel flaw" of the e36 bmw (if you don’t know what im talking about, it’s the "plastic door panel posts are no longer glued to the door panel" problem). so here are some directions on how to fix that problem so that you never have to mess with it again.

Things needed

1) Epoxy (grab some from walmart, grab 4 tubes or so, and if you need more, then go get more)
2)Fiberglass kit
3)Large head chisel
4)Sharpie or other permanent marker
5)Patients, this will take a couple of days, so be ready to spend those days without door panels

Directions

1) Take that sharpie that you grabbed for the project, and mark the corners of each plastic post in such a way that when you remove the glue the marks are still there, my suggestion on marking is shown below.

2) now that that the corners of each of the posts are marked, go around and remove each post one at a time, after removing a post, look on the bottom of the post and take not of the number, be sure to mark
that number of the post next to where the post had previously sat (se pic below)

3) now that you have removed all of the plastic posts, take that chisel you rounded up for this project, and use it to remove all the epoxy that is on the door panel (CAUTION: BE CAREFUL NOT TO DIG INTO THE DOOR PANEL WITH THE CHISEL!) if you happen to remove any epoxy with placement markings for when you re-attach the plastic posts, be sure to remark what was removed as best you can.

4) now that you have removed all the epoxy that was on the door panel, take each post individually and apply a decent amount of epoxy to the bottom of the plastic post that you are on, and then place that post in its respective spot, then applying some pressure and holding it in place till the epoxy starts to harden. do this for every plastic post, then set the door panel aside.

5) ok if you are only fixing one door panel, then make sure that you give it a good 30min-1hr to harden, if you are doing multiple door panels then you will repeat step 4 on your next door panel(s).

6) This is the step that takes the longest and is why your car may go a few days without door panels. Now it's time to break out that fiberglass kit. you are gonna take that fiber glass kit, and fiberglass the plastic posts to the back of the door panel (make sure you only fiberglass the base of the pedal..not the whole thing) make sure the fiberglass is spread over a large area, do this for say half of the posts on the back of the door panel then go on to the next door panel and do half of it. let the door panels sit for awhile (whatever the prescribed waiting time is for your particular kit) then come back and finish the other half of each door panel.

7) ok, now you need to set these door panels aside overnight to let everything dry/harden. after they have set/harden/dry. apply a second coat of fiberglass just to make sure you are thorough.

8) you're done! although this took quite some time to fix, at least you are doing it right (my way isnt the only right way, im sure there are other ways to fix them) now your door panels should last until the outside is either jacked up, or until you put the car out to pasture.