Mechanically, the E34 M5 BMW is regarded as a thoroughly over engineered performance machine, typical of German craftsmanship of the era, and perhaps the last vehicle built by the marque that was created using a “cost is no object” philosophy when it came to design hours. The BMW M5 interior, on the other hand, has a few areas where the BMW parts prone to failure as time wears on. The most frequent problem areas are the BMW M5 door panels, which in the U.S. version for the 1991 BMW M5 were covered in vinyl from the factory utilizing perhaps the least heat resistant glue available at the time. This results in the vinyl insert – basically a sub-door card – beginning to flap around and the vinyl and the rest of the door vinyl shrinking and detaching from its base.  Another BMW M5 part failure point are the trim panel clips and their attachment points. The BMW door panel clips themselves, which look like white plastic screws, become brittle and snap and their attachment points on the door panels seem to have been glued using the same sub-par adhesive utilized for the rest of the door panels.  The latter can be reattached without much difficulty — and the former can still replaced cheaply (BMW part no. 51411973500).

These door panels began to fail just years after production. I remember my father’s 1991 M5 door panels failing by the mid-1990’s, and now, some 25+ years later, nearly all have deteriorated in one manner or another. Thankfully, the later BMW 1994-1995 door panels were glued with a revised adhesive and used actual leather, and the 1995 version even featured stitched leather door pulls. Unfortunately, the door panels themselves are no longer available from BMW, and so BMW replacement part sets require some hunting. Mine were suffering from all the typical failure areas, and I sourced a set of black leather 1995 BMW door panels from a fellow E34 enthusiast after about a month of hunting.

Another note: while the later BMW door panels were put together better and look nicer, they did come with wood trim, which was not initially available on the 1991-1992 BMW M5. The options are to source non-M5 matching wood trim bits for the dash and glove box (you will need an entire glove box) to wrap the wood on the door panels in some matching black vinyl, or to leave them as is, without the full set of wood. I decided to leave mine as is for now, and I’m happy with that decision now that they’re installed.

Upon receiving my BMW replacement part set of “new” door panels, I checked to make sure that all of the black attachment points were in place. A few of mine were weak, so I popped them off and re-glued them. After letting them sit overnight, I set out to removing my old BMW M5 door panels. There’s a lot of information on this procedure available online, but basically, for the fronts, you need to remove the door tweeter, the screw inside the door pull, and the screw behind the door handle. Then go around the outside of the panel with a plastic putty knife, or other trim removal tool, feeling for the white plastic screws. When you get to one, gently pop it up. Finally, remove the door lock pin and the BMW M5 interior door handle wire and pull up and out. The same procedure is used for the rears, except there is a screw behind the door ash tray.  Reassembly is basically the same in reverse, paying attention to the lock / alignment ring in the center inside of the door panel. All said, it took about an hour and the difference was significant.  Best to purchase several of the white trim screws – many of mine were broken and needed to be replaced.

Finally, while I was working on the inside, it seemed time to replace my non-standard MTech I steering wheel with a custom, re-wrapped BMW MTech I steering wheel with M-colored stitching. This BMW steering wheel is also a little bit smaller (370MM v. 385MM). Installation was a breeze – in my case, a direct swap from the BMW M5 steering wheel already installed – and the result is fantastic. The car feels more nimble with the smaller steering wheel and the soft, new leather is a tremendous improvement. If your BMW has the older style steering column like mine, make sure to use a new self locking nut (BMW part no. 31106774714) and I needed two steering column spacers (BMW part no. 32311120260) . Also, the nut itself is a 17mm unit – make sure to have the correct size socket on hand.

Next up, two big improvements to drivability and a significant maintenance item …