E9 Belt Line Trim Pads / Back in Stock / CNPR / La Jolla / Details

paul cain

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After a long journey in sourcing the right tooling, trials, test fitting and tariffs, we now have a good supply of E9 Belt Line Trim Pads.

For those of you just coming into the movie: these are non-OEM washers that fit in between the extruded aluminum belt line trim and the painted body. E9 only. The large 'washer' surface area avoids one from overtightening the bolt and pinching your soft paint, creating unsightly wrinkles in your new paint job. These were invented in the 1990s when a concour competitor at the Monterey BMW (pre Legends event) was proudly displaying his new paint job, a small blister appeared above the trim. When the afternoon sun baked this blister, it grew from 1/4 inch to over 1 inch, necessitating a complete fender repaint.

When assembled, these pads are 0.0338 inches thick and you can't tell they are there. Use only a socket held in your fingers to 'finger tighten' each of these bolts. Use only BMW OEM bolts with rubber washers. The new pad also allows drainage, keeping water from accumulating behind the trim. Pictured below is one full car set.

Carl Nelson at La Jolla Independent will be the exclusive source for these. At: http://www.bimmerdoc.com/contact-us/ or (858) 488-1555
 

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Paul is 100% correct on this. i installed these pads on my car when putting the belt trim on ... and used new T bolts and new rubber washers. interesting enough, one of the bags i got from Carl has a BMW part number on it ... and they are black. i will dig it out and verify, but it is probably NLA.
 
These were invented in the 1990s when a concour competitor at the Monterey BMW (pre Legends event) was proudly displaying his new paint job, a small blister appeared above the trim.
rsporsche said:
interesting enough, one of the bags i got from Carl has a BMW part number on it ... and they are black. i will dig it out and verify, but it is probably NLA.

Hmm, those two quotes seem to be contradictory. Paul seems to be saying that BMW never thought of or offered these spacers; they are a "home brew" product. So if Carl packaged some in a bag with a BMW part number, I suspect he was simply re-using a bag that some other part originally came in.
 
Paul is 100% correct on this. i installed these pads on my car when putting the belt trim on ... and used new T bolts and new rubber washers. interesting enough, one of the bags i got from Carl has a BMW part number on it ... and they are black. i will dig it out and verify, but it is probably NLA.
Hi guys
where can the T bolts and washered nuts be bought ?
( if BMW still have them , do we know their part numbers ? )
 
After a long journey in sourcing the right tooling, trials, test fitting and tariffs, we now have a good supply of E9 Belt Line Trim Pads.

For those of you just coming into the movie: these are non-OEM washers that fit in between the extruded aluminum belt line trim and the painted body. E9 only. The large 'washer' surface area avoids one from overtightening the bolt and pinching your soft paint, creating unsightly wrinkles in your new paint job. These were invented in the 1990s when a concour competitor at the Monterey BMW (pre Legends event) was proudly displaying his new paint job, a small blister appeared above the trim. When the afternoon sun baked this blister, it grew from 1/4 inch to over 1 inch, necessitating a complete fender repaint.

When assembled, these pads are 0.0338 inches thick and you can't tell they are there. Use only a socket held in your fingers to 'finger tighten' each of these bolts. Use only BMW OEM bolts with rubber washers. The new pad also allows drainage, keeping water from accumulating behind the trim. Pictured below is one full car set.

Carl Nelson at La Jolla Independent will be the exclusive source for these. At: http://www.bimmerdoc.com/contact-us/ or (858) 488-1555
Hi Carl
Good to hear they are available again.
I just checked the website link and I don’t think they are listed
Am I missing something ?
 
Hi Carl
Good to hear they are available again.
I just checked the website link and I don’t think they are listed
Am I missing something ?
I would give Carl one day. He is taking delivery of the entire batch today. I am sure it will be up on his website soon.
 
Hmm, those two quotes seem to be contradictory. Paul seems to be saying that BMW never thought of or offered these spacers; they are a "home brew" product. So if Carl packaged some in a bag with a BMW part number, I suspect he was simply re-using a bag that some other part originally came in.
Jay, I can assure you, these are not an OEM part. Carl probably grabbed the first bag available at the shipping desk.
 
BMW wish they had thought of this.

They didn’t.

Paul did.

Mandatory item after paint job.
 
Carl may not put them on his website, it doesn’t get updated very often, give him a call. I used these on both coupes and you can not tell they are even there. There are 45 T bolts and at one time Don told us the Walloth ones did not fit. I bought bolts from BMW and washers from Walloth four years ago.
 
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Carl may not put them on his website, it doesn’t get updated very often, give him a call. I used these on both coupes and you can not tell they are even there. There are 49 T bolts and at one time Don told us the Walloth ones did not fit. I bought bolts from BMW and washers from Walloth four years ago.
Hi Chris
Do you remember the part numbers by any chance ?
 
Hmm, those two quotes seem to be contradictory. Paul seems to be saying that BMW never thought of or offered these spacers; they are a "home brew" product. So if Carl packaged some in a bag with a BMW part number, I suspect he was simply re-using a bag that some other part originally came in.
might well be, this was kind of a reminder to me to find the bag and check. i suspected that he reused a bag, but i remember the quantity of 45 was on the bag as part of the bmw part # maybe it was the number for the T bolts. that's my best guess.

but i took @HB Chris recommendation a while back to be sure to put them on ... and i ordered them from Carl (twice). they go on easily, they work great, and i am really happy they were available for us to buy.
 
Hi guys
where can the T bolts and washered nuts be bought ?
( if BMW still have them , do we know their part numbers ?
Trim line fastners with nuts. 90 pieces. I would also check frist if Carl has them first
PS these do work I just got them less than a year ago and they worked fine with the pads.

Here is link
 
The ones I bought last year from Walloth and installed at the start of this year have worked perfectly — pricey, but top-notch quality. Huge thanks to HB Chris for insisting I use the pads — definitely saved my paint! Even with the pads, be careful not to over-tighten; I cranked one down too much and ended up with a little orange peel.
 
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counting 45 is an urban e9 myth.

We counted the number of holes in the body, and came to 49 pieces for an e9, referencing NOS panel parts mostly. Not 45 as mentioned above.

Either you'll be 4 short, or you may choose to not install the difficult ones...

@paul cain ; you may want to add '49 pieces needed' in your initial post to avoid confusion.
And sell 4 more ...

 
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