E39 Cup Holder

[jeffbebe 1559]

I've got a '96 E39 528i as with most of the E39's the rubbish cup holder doesn't work anymore. I've replaced the rear one with coin storage but have searched endlessly for a decent after market front cup holder. I don't want a springloaded one that pops out of the ashtray. I don't want a crap plastic one that hooks to the side of the seat. I want one that looks genuine and fits where the old one is.

Well I found one that looks absolutely perfect and it's only about NZ$30 inc shipping on eBay. It looks like this installed:

But can I find one for a RHD car?! No, not anywhere. If anyone knows where I can get a RHD version of this slick aftermarket cup holder I'll be absolutely stoked!

[Guest Simon*]

That's not bad looking at all.

I feel your pain - BMW only got into the groove with cupholders at all in the late '90's it seems.

I would have gladly swapped out my ashtray for a decent cupholder any day

[allan 295]

If you want I have a few bits left from a rebuild of my cup holders. Just a point of interest the sensors for the air con are in the little grills above the drink holder if you have a hot or cold drink in their with the heater /air con going have a guess what the senors register as a temp reading to tell it what to do. Hope that all makes sense.

[jeffbebe 1559]

If you want I have a few bits left from a rebuild of my cup holders. Just a point of interest the sensors for the air con are in the little grills above the drink holder if you have a hot or cold drink in their with the heater /air con going have a guess what the senors register as a temp reading to tell it what to do. Hope that all makes sense.

It makes sense that the sensor would be as poorly thought out as the cup holders in front of them! Thank god the rest of the car is a dream drive!

[jeffbebe 1559]

That's not bad looking at all.

I feel your pain - BMW only got into the groove with cupholders at all in the late '90's it seems.

I would have gladly swapped out my ashtray for a decent cupholder any day

I know, best I've found by a country mile... Typical that I can only find them for LHD vehicles.

[my_e36 43]

Try this.....

http://www.ultimatecupholders.com/

[jeffbebe 1559]

Try this.....

http://www.ultimatecupholders.com/

Thanks. I've seen those but they don't appeal to me at all, nor do the ones that pop out of the coin storage or ashtray. I want something that looks like it's part of the original fit out. I just want it to work better than the OEM ones!

[Allanw 1071]

I saw a cast aluminium version of the factory ones..... somewhere... weren't cheap either! At least you'd never have to buy another!

[jeffbebe 1559]

I saw a cast aluminium version of the factory ones..... somewhere... weren't cheap either! At least you'd never have to buy another!

I found these - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showt...d.php?t=1592862 - but judging by the comments it didn't end well with people getting ripped off or the cup holders not fitting/closing properly.

[jeffbebe 1559]

So, in the end I decided to buy the one I liked from ebay for an LHD car and DIY modify it to fit my RHD E39. Here's a quick how to [moderators, feel free to put this in the DIY section]. I'm pretty happy with the results:

1) This is what I bought (cost about NZ$25 incl shipping):

2) I cut the sides off with a fine tooth hacksaw and glued the pieces back together to fit the space for a right hand drive car. Then filled any gaps, etc with some plastic putty (bought some cheap sandable filler from Mitre 10) and sanded to shape with fine grain sandpaper - sorry, only thought to take pics when I was almost finished:

3) Primed with cheap off the shelf spray paint (this will highlight any bumps/cracks in your filler and sanding so you can fix those up before the final coat of paint):

4) Finished with 3 coats of matte black (cheapest I could find) spray paint:

5) Fixed in place with a bit of 3M tape on the underside - not ideal but effective - and here's the finished result which I'm very happy with. As you can see it'll hold a bigger latte size coffee cup, the passenger holder is slightly smaller as the tray is narrower but will still hold a coke can or long black size coffee cup:

[BM WORLD 1283]

well done now you have the ultimate unbreakable cup holder

cheers

good work

[hotwire 352]

Looks great, well done!

[Vox_nul 0]

Wondering if this type of cup holder ended up being produced for RHD E39s in the end - could not find one anywhere still.

Great looking result @jeffbebe!

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

Look to be all LHD only but plenty available on Aliexpress. I searched "BMW E39 cup" just now and got 15 hits, all for ~10USD

[Gabe79 410]

6 hours ago, Vox_nul said:

Wondering if this type of cup holder ended up being produced for RHD E39s in the end - could not find one anywhere still.

Great looking result @jeffbebe!

This is the cheap option... but it works.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171379899269

 Before

After

Note, I don't actually use the cup holder at all. I just didn't want the garish hole in the console!

[allan 295]

That looks good and still holds the drinks well the oem ones were a disaster from the word go . If you are not aware their are two little grill sections just above the cup holders behind them are the sensors to  read and check on the cabin temp. If a hot or cold drink is present and you have the heater or A/c on it will upset the sensors and give you incorrect settings.

[Vox_nul 0]

2 hours ago, Young Thrash Driver said:

Look to be all LHD only but plenty available on Aliexpress. I searched "BMW E39 cup" just now and got 15 hits, all for ~10USD

 

You would think someone looked into making this type of cup holder for RHD as well since the original post.

With the existence of this DYI precedent i'm actually tempted to try it as well.

[Vox_nul 0]

14 minutes ago, allan said:

That looks good and still holds the drinks well the oem ones were a disaster from the word go .

If you are not aware their are two little grill sections just above the cup holders behind them are the sensors to  read and check on the cabin temp. If a hot or cold drink is present and you have the heater or A/c on it will upset the sensors and give you incorrect settings.

Totally agree with you on both fronts!

Thank you for the heads-up.

[Vox_nul 0]

2 hours ago, Gabe79 said:

This is the cheap option... but it works.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171379899269

 Before

After

Note, I don't actually use the cup holder at all. I just didn't want the garish hole in the console!

Thank you for taking the time to reply. 

I wouldn’t go back to the same faulty design - I'd rather keep the broken one to be honest.

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

18 hours ago, Vox_nul said:

 

You would think someone looked into making this type of cup holder for RHD as well since the original post.

The technology to scan the product and manipulate it to make it RHD is more available now, true. Most people would only want to make themselves one, or a couple though, not sell to Joe Public.

Feel free to buy yourself a 3D printer and go nuts

[bmwluvr 3]

Handcrafted woodwork cupholders in RHD and LHD for E39 available on ebay.

RHD http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BMW-E39-Front-Cupholder-Custom-Made-RHD-Fine-Handcrafted-Woodwork-/272787839853?hash=item3f836c1b6d:g:maUAAOSwjTlZf45D

LHD http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BMW-E39-Front-Cupholder-Custom-Made-LHD-Fine-Handcrafted-Woodwork/272787833578?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20140106155344%26meid%3Dbf38895078044633aebafad7d415f305%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D272787839853

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

This would be an upgrade from the factory cupholders, in that they look like they may actually work. They are a bit spendy, though... I recently replaced mine with original items- not because I actually use 'em, but it bugged me that they were broken. I think it would be a shame to loose the space in front of the gearshift.

[Gabe79 410]

7 minutes ago, Young Thrash Driver said:

This would be an upgrade from the factory cupholders, in that they look like they may actually work. They are a bit spendy, though... I recently replaced mine with original items- not because I actually use 'em, but it bugged me that they were broken. I think it would be a shame to loose the space in front of the gearshift.

I had the same concern and replaced mine with ones that cost $30ish on ebay. I will note I don't actually use mine for their intended purpose and them $30 was simply to close the unsightly gap the broken ones left behind.

[Allanw 1071]

The taiwanese replacements are as well finished as the genuine BMW standard ones... but they are stronger and last longer....

 

weird.