BMW i3 Strip Down 3: How to remove the door skin and wing mirror

A short video showing the removal of a door skin and wing mirror from a 2014 BMW i3

[@tigger441]

Really looking forward to seeing you taking off the rear door skin and rear quarter panel 😃

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

Hi James, let's see how it goes 😬

[@cleanearth]

Thank you very much for the excellent instructions. Hope to see you make more for the i3

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

There will be more on the way, thanks for the comment.

[@KoenBroumels]

Second that! I own a solar orange 2014bev and sure like these vids to learn from..

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

@@KoenBroumels I’m glad you’re finding them useful. I normally get a new video up each Friday

[@Gosilla]

Thanks for making this video, Without it, I think i would have taken off much more screws/parts than I needed 👍

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

Glad I can help Tony

[@KevinNguyen-zn4vv]

Because the i3 body panels were designed for easy replacement in case of a collision, my plan is removing the entire exterior panels to use as plugs for carbon fiber or kevlar molds.

[@rogerhudson9732]

There looks to be enough space on the inside of door skins to put a layer of insulation (dynamat?) to help quieten the cabin? The wheel arches can do with some work as well, look at how a Lexus 400 wheel arch is done. If you mainly drive alone an 85 kilo passenger can be replaced by lots of lovely sound deadening.

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

There is lots of space however the skins do tend to fill with water, just the bottom cm or so. Also they are very quiet cars anyway so I'm not sure if the cost would be outweighed by the benefit. Saying that if you like to upgrade your sound system it might help with acoustics.

[@dennisbird5901]

Are the panels easy enough to get off for painting? And are they difficult to put back in place? Thanks for the video!

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

Most of the panels are easy enough to come off, you may break some plastic clips whilst doing it tho. The outer A post panel won't come off without breaking it. Hope that helps

[@dennisbird5901]

@@MiniLifeCrisis thanks! Are the clips replaceable?

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

@@dennisbird5901 yes, they should be easy to get from BMW or online

[@dennisbird5901]

@@MiniLifeCrisis Thanks again for all the great info. Best wishes on the project.

[@DanielSlottskog]

Ok, It sure looks like I need to order some new clips before fitting the door skin again. (7 of them). But do I need a new rubber trim as well? Yours in the video looks ok right?

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

My trim came off really easily, a little too easily. The other side was a pain to get off. If it's not damaged I don't see why you couldn't just refit the trim

[@torfinnsrnes6232]

I need to replace the door stopper. How can I access it? Seems like I need to remove both inner panels?

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

Do you mean the check strap/ bar that prevents it opening too far?

[@cartoon5684]

Hi, i have bmw i3. My left side doorlights doesnt work "interior light/ night light" , do you know how to fix it? Do i only need to replace new Led-lamp or do i need to change/buy the hole doorhandle? 😕 I cant find way to just take out the Led-lamp from the doorhandle. Sorry for my poor english.🙏

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

Hi, I'm sorry, I don't know, mine doesn't have the door handle lights. There are some very knowledgeable people on BMW i3 Facebook groups who might be able to help

[@MiniLifeCrisis]

After a quick look online it seems you can buy the lights on their own

[@rydinorwin]

This is good, but my door handle has latched somehow and will not come off, after I removed the door skin, yeah, it wont come off and I have removed my door skin - AAAAAaaaaghh!

[@flyingyakdeath]

Looking at the design it wasn't meant to pop out from the outboard. The plastic protruding pins on the skin side are supposed to stay with the skin. If you pop the panel out to the outboard without first removing the insert from the inboard side you risk damaging the pin holder on the skin side. I've done this a couple times and I popped it out like you an luckily didn't have anything broken. I did have to unscrew the white screw in out-of-plane adjuster that held the pin in and then insert an 8mm socket into it the back of the white piece to remove the pin to be able to put them back into the skin pin holder slot.