I recently ordered the storage tray that replaces the ashtray - part number 51167136190. In the diagram below it is labelled 4 and 5. This is an option in Europe for non-smokers, sadly it's not an option here. It arrived within a few days and cost $61. Bargain! So I picked up the part from Bib Stillwell BMW and opted to install it myself. "Can't be too hard", I thought, and the parts guys agreed.
I had a quick look at realised that it was going to be harder than I thought, and called the parts guy I'd been dealing with to see if he could give me some pointers. He offered to print off the instructions and I could go and pick them up.
To cut a long story short, there were no instructions available, but one of the service guys said it would take 2 hours to install, at a cost of $400!! In order to install it, you need to remove the entire centre console all the way from the armrest to the ashtray.
I decided there was no way I was going to pay $400 to install a $60 part, so said "I'll give it a shot".
I'm happy to report that I managed to install it in under 2 hours... I did it in 1 hour 50 minutes :wink:.
Even though it took this long, I'm stoked to have the extra storage space, and finally I have somewhere to put my sunnies!
Here's a couple of pics: