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DIY - Phone Cradle Removal

25K views 38 replies 16 participants last post by  deptrai 
#1 · (Edited)
I didn't find much in one place on the internet about this for an E70 (mines a 2013) but combining info from several different forums and YouTube I was able to figure this out and write out all the steps so they are all in one place.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures (wasn't thinking about a write up at the time)...

Anyway here it is:

1 - Have patience!

2 - Remove trim plate around shifter and above vents on rear of console - use trim pry tools and go slow.

3 - Remove shifter and iDrive plate - 4 large screws

4 - Remove both pieces of side carpet on passenger side (both sides if you are replacing bucket) This requires removing under dash panels also - 3 screws on under dash panel, 1 screw on carpet panel under the dash, 2 push-in keepers and 2 sliding clips to get the long thin section out. Next the shorter taller carpet slides out (4 sliding clips) but it's tight between the seat and the console.

5 - Remove 2 screws under cradle and cradle can be taken free from the bucket.

6- Fish along the passenger side for wires (clipped on in 2 locations) and disconnect at connectors and remove cradle. Be sure to tuck the loose connectors back under the console in a manner that they won't rattle.

***If not replacing the bucket you can start reassembling.

Note: Disconnecting the cables should not cause any codes as the connections were open in the cradle unless you attached an adapter and a phone.

If you are replacing the bucket you need to do the following.

7 - Repeat step 4 on the driver's side.

8 - Remove panel inside the front of bucket that holds the USB, AUX and 12v socket. My new bucket doesn't have a place for the 12v outlet so I did without instead of trying to adapt it to fit.

9 - There are 3 screws on either side of the console that hold in the panels that the arm rest lid/pads attach to. The bucket also snaps into these panels and once the 6 screws are out the whole bucket and lid assembly will lift right out.

10 - Carefully separate the 2 lid/side panels from the bucket.

11 - Install the USB/AUX piece into the new bucket and fit the 2 lid/side panels and the bucket together.

12 - You will have to work on the wiring to get the AUX and USB to the back of the bucket and the connectors to fit. Cut back some of the tape and pass the 2 wires and plugs under the black plastic piece to accomplish this. I had to trim some of the metal crimp on the USB cable, it exposed some of the braided shielding but now allows the plug to fit between the bucket and the USB housing.

13 - Drop the bucket and lid back in place as a single assembly and just reverse everything to put the console back together around the new bucket.

Notes:

The old bucket should be able to be removed without removing the 6 screws (3 on each side) or taking the carpet panels off but for some reason the lid/side pieces and the bucket act like they are fused together.

As soon as you unplug the wires from the iDrive and the shifter/parking brake you will get a chime and the park light will be flashing on the dash. It will quit but will start over each time you open a door.
 

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#3 ·
Sorry no pictures, I'll try to take one today... No errors or chimes after everything is back together. There are 3 wire connectors that are unplugged to free the cradle and all the leads were open in the cradle unless you plug a phone and adapter into it so it's just like the cradle was there as far as the car is concerned.
 
#6 ·
The more I think about it, if you only want to remove the cradle I don't think you have to remove the trim around the shifter or above the rear vents. Skip steps 2 and 3, do steps 4, 5 and 6, reverse the process and call it done. You'll have a hole in the bucket but it looks like they make a trim plate to cover the hole. See #6 below.

 
#10 ·
This is most helpful, thank-you

Great write up. This waste of space (cradle) in the console has annoyed me for some time. I think I'll do a "Bubba" shortcut by removing the 2 screws that hold the cradle and then cut and terminate the wires. I have zero use for the cradle and can stuff the terminated wires back beneath the console. Then cut and fit a trim piece to cover the hole. Job done without twisting my old bones out of shape removing and replacing trim and carpet. :thumbup::D
 
#11 ·
..I think I'll do a "Bubba" shortcut by removing the 2 screws that hold the cradle and then cut and terminate the wires. I have zero use for the cradle and can stuff the terminated wires back beneath the console.
I took a similar approach initially, broke apart the cradle and stuffed the wires into the hole. Repairing the cupholders required more extensive disassemble of the console, which gave access to the cradle connectors.

...Then cut and fit a trim piece to cover the hole...
The trim piece is under $10 (I paid $7)
 
#14 ·
Wish I had seen that thread before I did the full bucket replacement... All google turned up was a confusing 6 page thread on xoutpost and some X3 threads. Even in the xbimmer thread most the posts don't provide help but the one that contained these three pictures would have really helped.





 
#15 ·
The pictures were very helpful guys. I did a "Bubba" modified removal. I got to feed my inner Bubba by carefully destroying the cradle and freeing the wire harness and circuit board. Rather satisfying taking back my inner console territory with brute force applied with precision....smiling. Nothing I cared about was scratched or marred and the wiring harness with attached circuit board coils up nicely within the perimeter of the existing hole. The advice to not just cut and terminate was timely and important to me. Will order the panel Monday (Thanks again for the part number, much respect for that added tidbit).

Thanks to all who went down this road prior to me,

Chris
 
#16 ·
I wish I had seen this post 3 weeks ago. I finally got tired of the space hog cradle and removed it one afternoon. My removal process was a lot less complicated, however. I removed the two cradle support screws under the cradle hinge, removed the cradle...then commenced to remove the wiring from the cradle. I didn't want to cut into the wires for fear of codes, lights, and other malfunctions. Removing the cradle was easy, getting the wires out of the cradle was the tough part. But in the end I finally removed the wires and neatly stowed them into the hole in the back of the console box where the cradle had been attached. I found a black piece of plastic that basically matched the inside of the console box, cut it to the size of the cradle hole and screwed it to the back of the console box to cover the stowed wires and the hole. I didn't have to remove any part of the truck except for the cradle. I got no codes or lights and everything seems to functioning normally. I don't know how I lived with that thing for so long.
 
#18 ·
Where is the cheapest place to get his part online?

51169115083 - Blind Plate

ECS Tuning = $18.09 delivered
Get BMW Parts = $24.25 delivered
How about going to your local dealerships parts department? I know $9 shipping is a lot for a small part but even $18 at ECS is cheap compared to about $50 for a new bucket. Also if you have a $20 order at ECS you get free shipping, do you need anything else?
 
#21 ·
At my age and lacking the patience of younger members, I just cut the wires to the unit. At
this juncture no bells, chimes our whistles. That's not to say they won't appear. Car starts and drive
normally, have received and used cell phone with no issues. Will keep your informed of any occurrences.
As all members have observed, the cradle is a useless piece of ____. In today's world it serves no ruction
since most people use smart phones. Naturally it's renders the console useless. I kept the remnant PCB..etc
and will replace if issues arise. There are no short cuts removing the cradle without destroying the unit.
 
#22 ·
At my age and lacking the patience of younger members, I just cut the wires to the unit.
I thought I was the only one lazy enough to cut the wires. Didn't care about destroying the useless component. Except when I started the car and the entire sound system is dead. No alerts, stereo audio, bluetooth, nada.

I suppose as an alternative to resplicing the wires and reattaching the unwanted limb, I can take the center console apart and unplug the severed wires properly.

Wise man once say search teh googles before cutting wires.
 
#23 ·
Sorry for your mishap. At this juncture still no problems. I was careful about cutting wire harness
with a pair of dikes. Purchased cover from BMW ($35.00 rip-off for a piece of plastic. My vehicle
is a 2013 X5. Basically, there is no difference between removing all the essential parts to get
access to the multipoint connectors and unplugging the unit or carefully cutting the wires (Please
not with a scissor) Once again sorry for what transpire to your car.
 
#24 ·
The problem with just cutting a bunch of wires is that you short a random combination of them together while it's being cut...

There's power & ground, as well as bunch of data lines, in addition to two coaxial cables... When you cut them all together in one go, there's a chance you're going to short out wires that will damage whatever device the wires are connected to...

Removing the harness properly literally takes 5 minutes via removing 4 screws & 3 panels that easily slide and / or pull off...
 
#25 ·
Maybe if I had sen the recommended technique I would have done it. After 40 minutes of trying to remove
the board intact I gave up. If you were my age It would have taken more than 5 minutes. It took
me more than 5 minutes to holding the cradle intact. Having work as a system engineer for
many years I took my chances. I wasn't going to research something which wasn't
worth my time. If I was under 50, probably 5 minutes. The outcome for me was
simple cut and no problems afterwards. I'm not telling anyone this is the recommended
approach, but simply it worked for me. As everything in life IT's RELATIVE
 
#26 · (Edited)
I really don't think age has anything to do with whether it's a remotely good idea to blindly cut wiring harnesses due to willful complacency... Plenty of folks well above age 50 doing far more complex & arduous repairs & restorations on project cars, for fun & enjoyment... I know plenty of these folks, as they're retired former colleagues & mentors, some with legit debilitating diseases & illnesses that significantly limit mobility & strength...

The 1st time I removed the cradle, without any sort of guide or instruction, it was pretty damn obvious that the board you were tugging on was being caught up by the passenger side footwell underpanel, that takes 3 torx screws to remove (the same torx size that is required to remove the bolt holding the board you were tugging on for 40 minutes.)... This panel needs to be removed to replace the recirculation cabin filtration elements, where it's quite easy to remove with no other effort than conscious thought to do so...

You got lucky, many don't... My comment was to explain why this is such a very bad idea, where one should not take the risk, ever, regardless of whether it "worked" for someone else...
 
#27 ·
Problems

I really don't think age has anything to do with whether it's a remotely good idea to blindly cut wiring harnesses due to willful complacency... Plenty of folks well above age 50 doing far more complex & arduous repairs & restorations on project cars, for fun & enjoyment... I know plenty of these folks, as they're retired former colleagues & mentors, some with legit debilitating diseases & illnesses that significantly limit mobility & strength...

The 1st time I removed the cradle, without any sort of guide or instruction, it was pretty damn obvious that the board you were tugging on was being caught up by the passenger side footwell underpanel, that takes 3 torx screws to remove (the same torx size that is required to remove the bolt holding the board you were tugging on for 40 minutes.)... This panel needs to be removed to replace the recirculation cabin filtration elements, where it's quite easy to remove with no other effort than conscious thought to do so...

You got lucky, many don't... My comment was to explain why this is such a very bad idea, where one should not take the risk, ever, regardless of whether it "worked" for someone else...
As promised, at this juncture (If your model had a console USB port) it will not function anymore. It doesn't matter if you removed the hardness the hard way or cut the cable. But I suspect most car owners don't use this port. Everdently it is part embedded of the wireharness. not having the dexterity of other owners, I cat the cable with dikes. If you are able to do the aforementioned removal. Best to you all.
 
#28 ·
Both of my USB ports work just fine after removing the phone cradle harness the proper way... I use it every day...

Not only do my USB ports work, so do everyone else's that removed the harness the proper way...

The center console USB is connected to a USB hub that also provides USB connection to the phone cradle...
Cutting the cable must have shorted the hub, as I suggested was a possible negative outcome of doing this... Two folks cut cables, one has major issues, you only lost USB connectivity...

The glove box USB is a direct connection to the COMBOX, this one should still work assuming the COMBOX is not damaged from having random wires shorted out...
 
#30 ·
My 650i has a cradle that now holds my wireless charging pad. Had to do a little fitment work using black rubber sheets and Velcro. Can***8217;t see it under the charging pad. Now my wireless charging cradle looks and works great.
 
#32 ·
I found this video for the 2014+ F15 cradle removal. Apart from the fan, would the wire connections be similar in our E70, so that you can unplug them without having to remove side trim pieces? I know our "blank" piece is a different part number and smaller in size. Also, would we also use the T-25 bit to unscrew everything? Have not seen this mentioned before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FkRdlpgFEs

Thanks in advance!
 
#33 ·
I found this video for the 2014+ F15 cradle removal. Apart from the fan, would the wire connections be similar in our E70, so that you can unplug them without having to remove side trim pieces? I know our "blank" piece is a different part number and smaller in size. Also, would we also use the T-25 bit to unscrew everything? Have not seen this mentioned before.

Thanks in advance!
The wires on the E70 run down to the side of the passenger, much longer than the ones in the video. Which is also why people just cut them. I have ten thumbs, it wasn't that hard to remove it the right way. The hardest part was trying to carefully remove the side trim without breaking it with my brute force since i was unaware of HOW the panels were held on.
 
#36 ·
These directions worked perfectly for me!!! Thanks to all who contributed.

One question - anyone know if there is a tray to create 2 levels for the E70s? Everything I find is for the 2014-. Could a F15/16 tray be trimmed to fit our Xs?
 
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