[Outrun]

So I was driving today with a friend in the passenger seat when she observed that I had two different trims between my driver-side interior door handle (brushed aluminum) and the passenger side interior door handle (fineline stream wood trim). The funny thing is I've driven the car every day for the past year and a half and never realized this myself. I special ordered the car and had selected fineline stream wood trim, and that's what the rest of the cabin has.

I'm assuming the driver side interior door handle trim should match the rest of the interior trim, can someone confirm/deny this? It's driving me crazy now seeing the mis-matched trims every time I get in my car...

for reference, here's a thread I posted when I first got the car, you can see the passenger door handle in picture #6 and the driver side handle in picture #7:

http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showt...blue+coral+red

[pz619]

That's hilarious! They should definitely match. I would take it to the dealer unless you actually like it that way.

[Outrun]

Originally Posted by pz619

That's hilarious! They should definitely match. I would take it to the dealer unless you actually like it that way.

I can't stand it! And I can't believe I never noticed it earlier, now I can see it from a mile away. I will call the dealer and see what they say. Surprised this made it past quality control...

[Outrun]

I'm re-reading the thread where I initially posted the pics of the car, and an astute forum member actually picked up on it:

Originally Posted by rjroch

The pics make it look like you have an aluminum door pull on the driver's door...but the rest of the trim is fineline stream. Is that the case?

For some reason it never registered with me, should have read the post more carefully ...

[Deutsche-Broke]

That's hilarious..

Considering the amount of double-checking and product scanning that goes on in the assembly of one of these, you Sir have found quite a pearl..

[DanG]

Originally Posted by pz619

That's hilarious! They should definitely match. I would take it to the dealer unless you actually like it that way.

Never seen that before. You have one of a kind.

[BMWZ4]

Wow, how bizarre. That's got to be a first.

[Beartato]

That's too funny

[B_Rice]

Wow I've never seen anything like that. I have seen a base i3 with the bigger nav screen though.

[Outrun]

Originally Posted by DanG

Never seen that before. You have one of a kind.

my next thread will be: "Do mismatched door handles raise or decrease the value of the car when I sell it?"

It also makes me wonder if this was a machine-installed error or human-installed error....

[bimmerfile]

Originally Posted by Outrun

my next thread will be: "Do mismatched door handles raise or decrease the value of the car when I sell it?"

It also makes me wonder if this was a machine-installed error or human-installed error....

Makes it one-of-a-kind, so super rare.
Probably will appreciate over time..

[harma24]

Originally Posted by Outrun

my next thread will be: "Do mismatched door handles raise or decrease the value of the car when I sell it?"

It also makes me wonder if this was a machine-installed error or human-installed error....

I'd keep it! It's like a mis-printed stamp or mis-stamped coin!

[mdputnam]

Just speculation on my part, but it would be difficult to install one wrong trim part at a modern assembly plant as the parts are prepackaged as a group for a specific car, with each bin under strict statistical process control from the subcontractor's manufacturing plant to the loading dock at the assembly plant, to final installation. Most likely the trim was damaged during shipping and replaced at the Vehicle Distribution Center. VDC folks aren't even BMW employees any more, so someone in a rush probably grabbed the part out of the wrong bin.

Although the actual assembly process is carefully guarded by BMW we can get a glimpse from this document, watch the video and you can see part of the door assembly process!

"*Doors are removed from the car body and travel via an overhead conveyor to a separate door assembly line.
*On the door line, the glass, water seals, mirrors, airbags, speakers and other trim pieces are installed.
*The doors then travel on an overhead conveyor back to the main line and are reunited with the same car body."

[TheCaptain]

Whether you keep the mismatched piece of trim or not, you should try to get the correct piece free of charge from the dealer. That way you have both for yourself and the future owner.

I'm curious to hear what the dealer says about this. I don't know if they sell trim by the single piece, and I'll bet a full set of trim pieces is pretty expensive. I wonder if the dealer will willingly pay for the piece or give you a hard time about it. The dealer I got my car from writes "AS IS" in bold letters on the bill of sale, so the dealer could potentially say "you bought it as is with silver trim, if you want something else you have to pay for it."

[Outrun]

Originally Posted by mdputnam

Just speculation on my part, but it would be difficult to install one wrong trim part at a modern assembly plant as the parts are prepackaged as a group for a specific car, with each bin under strict statistical process control from the subcontractor's manufacturing plant to the loading dock at the assembly plant, to final installation. Most likely the trim was damaged during shipping and replaced at the Vehicle Distribution Center. VDC folks aren't even BMW employees any more, so someone in a rush probably grabbed the part out of the wrong bin.

Although the actual assembly process is carefully guarded by BMW we can get a glimpse from this document, watch the video and you can see part of the door assembly process!

"*Doors are removed from the car body and travel via an overhead conveyor to a separate door assembly line.
*On the door line, the glass, water seals, mirrors, airbags, speakers and other trim pieces are installed.
*The doors then travel on an overhead conveyor back to the main line and are reunited with the same car body."

Interesting theory...although I would think the interior door handle would be an unusual spot for damage during shipping. Based on that video though it does seem more likely something happened post-assembly rather than during...

[Deutsche-Broke]

Originally Posted by Outrun

Interesting theory...although I would think the interior door handle would be an unusual spot for damage during shipping. Based on that video though it does seem more likely something happened post-assembly rather than during...

This makes a lot of sense.. I would imagine that, "port finishing" facilities have a different level of expectation as compared to the factory of origin.

[abomb60]

My brother in law works on the X3/X4 assembly line in Spartanburg at the station where they put the finished doors back on the cars. I'll ask him if he's ever seen anything like this. I don't know how everyone seemed to not notice this. He did mention when we went on the plant tour that the finished doors when they move overhead sometimes do fall off the carriers. Maybe that caused the damage and human error is responsible for the wrong trim piece to be replaced?

[nd2002]

Originally Posted by bimmerfile

Makes it one-of-a-kind, so super rare.
Probably will appreciate over time..

Possibly one of two. He probably has a twin who never noticed one of his door pulls has a different trim

[doccyber]

Keep it as is. Makes your car very unique.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Outrun

So I was driving today with a friend in the passenger seat when she observed that I had two different trims between my driver-side interior door handle (brushed aluminum) and the passenger side interior door handle (fineline stream wood trim). The funny thing is I've driven the car every day for the past year and a half and never realized this myself. I special ordered the car and had selected fineline stream wood trim, and that's what the rest of the cabin has.

I'm assuming the driver side interior door handle trim should match the rest of the interior trim, can someone confirm/deny this? It's driving me crazy now seeing the mis-matched trims every time I get in my car...

for reference, here's a thread I posted when I first got the car, you can see the passenger door handle in picture #6 and the driver side handle in picture #7:

http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showt...blue+coral+red

Wow. That is very interesting that no one who actually saw your car in-person, including YOU, did not notice that.

As for keeping it that way because this is something unique or rare...are you freaking kidding me?!
Hell no I wouldn't keep it that way. I know you just realized it, but when I see the pictures it immediately sticks out that it's not right.
There is not about that error that is positive nor does it somehow raise the value of your 2 in any way.

Those on here who say to keep it because it's unique or rare would never consider buying that car used with the mismatched trim, let alone paying more for it's "uniqueness" or "rarity" of it's mistake.

The interesting question is, will the dealer correct the mismatch now that it's been so long since you took ownership.
I would think that if you have pictures from when you picked up the new car at the dealership that show the wrong trim, then that would be in your favor.

I'm interested to see how the dealer handles this.
Please post what happens.

[Outrun]

Originally Posted by RPM90

Wow. That is very interesting that no one who actually saw your car in-person, including YOU, did not notice that.

As for keeping it that way because this is something unique or rare...are you freaking kidding me?!
Hell no I wouldn't keep it that way. I know you just realized it, but when I see the pictures it immediately sticks out that it's not right.
There is not about that error that is positive nor does it somehow raise the value of your 2 in any way.

Those on here who say to keep it because it's unique or rare would never consider buying that car used with the mismatched trim, let alone paying more for it's "uniqueness" or "rarity" of it's mistake.

The interesting question is, will the dealer correct the mismatch now that it's been so long since you took ownership.
I would think that if you have pictures from when you picked up the new car at the dealership that show the wrong trim, then that would be in your favor.

I'm interested to see how the dealer handles this.
Please post what happens.

I'm not sure if those who posted I should keep the handles the way they are, if they're being facetious or not, but my obsessive nature towards symmetry and cohesiveness will push me to get the driver side door handle replaced with the correct streamline wood trim. I'm hoping that piece can just be popped off.

I'll give an update after I contact the dealer, hopefully they don't give me a hard time.

[abomb60]

Talked to my brother in law tonight and he said that occasionally the doors arrive out of order from the car they are supposed to be reattached to. Wondering if the car before or after was the same exterior and interior color just with different trim and no one noticed? If that's the case your car probably has a reverse twin He did say that they do check for this and it's the techs responsibility to make sure it's correct before it leaves their station.