...As of today I've had more interior plastics shatter, crumble, break and everything else just shy of vaporize than I want to think about. Most recent causality, a rear speaker cover.

I hit a bump where some road work is being done and, BOOM! It shatters into a dozen pieces! After that, an A-pillar plastic breaking randomly, dash clips snapping and demister vents self destructing. I've about had it...

My original plan for the car was to do a complete factory refreb on the interior with some light mods. Now, I'm one more retainer clip popping away from going completely sick-house on who ever formulated this particular blend of plastic!

I want advice, ideas, opinions, inspiration as to what I should do!

 

well the honest truth is if u want to refurb ur interior, ur gonna spend money to do it the right way. i mean u can buy pieces here and there from ppl but the same **** is gonna happen. u need to buy all new **** from dealer oem. you have 20+ yrs on them plastics. they become brittle due to repetitive heat and cold wearing them down.

 

Do dealerships still offer interior trim?

 

Man I feel your pain. They do tend to burst into a cloud of dust rather than just chip or crack. I had perfect while series 5 centre vents took en out when I stripped the car and put them on a shelf. When I went to fit them back I, I have no idea how but two of the strips had broken. I ended up stripping most of my car out as I only drive it on weekends. The plastics and ruined carpet made the choice for me to put her on a diet. No heater or AC or radio or Powersteer, carpet, sound deadening, back seat, rear wiper, aerial, speakers or wiring for aas. And of course no fat friends. Don't regret it.

 

I've already removed all the AC components and depowered the steering rack so there is a good start for completing the diet. I also don't have a radio or any speakers and it's my daily driver. Would you mind posting a few pics of your interior?

 

Heat, cold and UV exposure are all bad for the plastic but the sad fact is, they are deteriorating sitting "new" on a dealer shelf, too.
The solvents in plastic are always exgassing and the material becomes more brittle as a result.

Just be aware that if you gut the interior, chances are it will never be complete again.
It's difficult enough to remove an interior and reinstall it a few days later...there are a million little snaps/fasteners/widgets that have been plotting their escape for decades, give them a chance and they'll disappear for good.
Trying to gather all the ephemera months or years later would be a nightmare.

The weight savings gained through deleting the interior plastic is not going to have any discernible performance impact but will degrade the cabin experience tremendously.
Especially on a street DD.

 

I just installed a subwoofer yesterday and the piece that surrounds the cigarette lighter at the back of the trim (with the light on it) was broken off at the screw points and then when I was trying to put it back in place a huge piece snapped off without any pressure added to it. When I was getting my speakers installed the retards at the store broke the passenger vent, driver side corner vent, warning light surround and mirror triangle on the drivers side. **** gets so brittle.

 

a lot of it yes. if you can get some kind of wholesale price its not even too expensive, i bought both triangle vents in the dash for $12 each, the defroster grilles are like $30 each

 

That's not bad at all. I guess I'll just have to call the dealership up and see what kind of pricing I can get.