One of the few things I've done to my 650i is remove the utterly stupid phone cradle (Generic picture)
My car has a usb and aux socket unit in the bottom of the box, which means I can have music and charge my phone without a bunch of cables and phone mounts all over the place. When using navigation I'm happy using audio-only from my phone and the map on the nav-screen (I've heard the built-in nav isn't the greatest), plus with my phone hidden away, it removes any temptation to use my phone while driving, something that is (rightly) clamped down on very hard here in the UK.
It was actually fairly simple; four torx screws to remove the cradle from the base which then gave me access two screws in the base which secure the whole thing to centre console. The base of the box itself can be carefully lifted by the back end to get to the cable connectors (I think they're friction connectors so popped off and popped back in). I'd read it can annoy the car if you start snipping cables so I played safe and put the effort to get them out. It hasn't thrown any errors and the Bluetooth, aux and usb all still work without issue.
It leaves a gap behind the original tub, but I'd already come up with a minor bodge solution. There is a fabric section that attached to the underside of the phone tray which was easy to disconnect, and which conveniently stretches enough to be able to use a couple of self-tappers to attach it to the rear of the box and covers the space the phone cradle hinge sat. It's not perfect and looks a bit untidy, but honestly, I'm not bothered. It does the job and is neat enough for my liking.
It makes for a much more useable space and while not a major change it was a bit of faff to do as it's not an easy space to reach into, but it's a nice quality of life upgrade.
I don't know why BMW think these are useful things, I'm yet to encounter a single owner who likes these useless cradles, but thankfully mine is gone, that went straight in the bin.
The video link is one I followed. It's not the greatest quality ever, but it does show where all the screws are and meant I had an idea of what I was looking for.
I will admit it's harder than it should be; 6 screws and a couple of electrical connectors sounds simple, but a bit of patience and planning and it's fine.
The biggest challenge was getting the cradle and the tray separated; the four torx screws are not the easiest to reach with tools, but not impossible. I couldn't get to the base screws while the cradle and tray were connected but it meant I didn't have to dismantle the main lid. Once that was out, the two screws in the base are easy and it's just two electrical connectors, so again it's just a bit of patience to trace them.
It took me about an hour or so, maybe an hour and a half, but it is really worth it because the cradle acted basically as a second lid to the storage box and it was just in the way and annoying. To me it's a massive quality-of-life improvement to the car for a few screws, a couple of connectors, a bit of time and some occasional swearing.
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