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Subject: Glove Box Latch Repair Author: pdef1949 : member since June, 2004 : 5555 posts Posted on: 2007-10-15 22:19:32

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I decided to pull my broken glovce box latch apart before spending $123 for a new one, and go through the hassle of needing two keys, or trying to swap out lock cylinders. Here's what I found:

First things first.....open the glove box and you will see a black plastic cover over the latch area. Remove the three retaining screws and then the latch cover. You will also need to remove the Bowden cable that fits into the white plastic arm.

Pictures of the latch cover removed, with the screws and spacers.




Picture of the latch mechanism uncovered, with the Bowden cable shown disconnected.





The latch mechanism removed:



Remove the retaining rod that the latch pivots on:




Remove the latch mechanism from its outside frame.

The frame of the latch mechanism. Look closely at the slot on the right, and you can see where it was broken. This allowed the metal slider and return spring to come loose and jam the latch. The slot on the right holds a tab on the slider; the return spring fits in the cove on the left.



The metal slider and spring were loose when I disassembled the latch. They are shown back in place with the repaired latch frame.

Side view of the mechanism showing the torsion spring in place.




Push the repaired latch mechanism inside its frame, repalce the reatining rod, and push the whole assembly back into the opening in the glove box. Put the three retaining screws back into the latch cover, locate the spacers over the cover retaining screws, line up and tighten the screws and you're done!

A couple of notes:

Do NOT use gel-type Superglue to repair the plastic latch mechanism frame. Gel superglue will not harden with this particular kind of plastic. Use regular superglue and carefully line up the broken surfaces.

If the glue doesn't hold, you may need to reinforce the areas where the plastic is broken. I used some thin brass shim stock, molded it to fit, and superglued it in place while applying as much pressure as I could. This spreads the load out instead of concentrating it on the glue repair, and makes a stronger joint.

The spacers that hold the latch cover in place are a PITA to line up. They are supposed to be captured on the screws, but they don't fir very tight. Put a SMALL dab of non-hardening gasket compound to hold the spacers on the screws....else they will be much MUCH frustration to get lined up with the holes in the latch mechanism.

Phil in Philadelphia

'99 740iL
'88 635CSi (sold but still close by)

• Glove Box Latch Repair (pic) - pdef1949 2007-10-15 22:19:32 (2535 views)
  • Good info. This is going on e38.org (nt) - davidc 2007-10-16 12:36:43 (73 views)
  • Nice job Phill! (nt) - Edwin 2007-10-16 01:13:10 (49 views)
  • Great! I sure hope mine never breaks. (nt) - visionbmw7 2007-10-16 00:42:05 (56 views)
  • Nice Job, definitely E38 worthy! (nt) - IBHenry 2007-10-16 00:12:55 (53 views)
  • Hmmm......I broke mine a couple of weeks ago....... - Sarasota 2007-10-15 23:16:24 (101 views)
  • Re: Glove Box Latch Repair Reprised (pic) - pdef1949 2007-10-15 22:27:58 (374 views)
    • Thanks ...A huge help!!!!!!!!!!! (nt) - henry 2007-10-16 18:55:12 (75 views)