Replacing the headliner (LOTS of photos)

Subject: Replacing the headliner (LOTS of photos)
Author: DavidC (moderator) : member since December, 2003 : 12116 posts
Posted on: 2008-08-29 19:37:24

Problem: Sagging headliner over the rear seats.

Solution: Remove and replace the headliner. The task was actually easier than expected. I'd rate this a 3 on a 1-5 difficulty scale.

General Tips:

Protect the interior of your car, especially the A/B/C pillar trim and the felt edging around the door seals, from the awful orange goo that will fall off the back of the old headliner. It goes everywhere and once it gets on felt, it makes a real mess. I suggest removing all of the A/B/C pillar covers prior to touching the headliner, to protect them.
Insist that everyone wash their hands multiple times during the installation, and that they wear gloves. Otherwise, they will leave handprints and smudges in the headliner material and the pillar trim. It’s VERY easy to do.
Be very careful with the little plastic doors that cover the screws in the ceiling handles. They’re flimsy plastic and they break off easily.
Be aware that 1998 and later models have the HPS (head protection system) airbags in the A pillars. You can use a 1998+ headliner in a pre-1998 car with a slight modification, but not vice versa.

Summary of Procedure:
Remove the A, B and C pillar trim panels.
Remove the sun visors, lights and overhead console trim pieces.
Remove the overhead handles.
Disconnect the overhead motion sensor.
Remove 9 torx screws from outside above the sunroof.
Pull down the rear edge of the headliner where it attaches to the sunroof with friction clips.
Remove the headliner, install the replacement and re-assemble everything.

Time Required: Approximately 2 hours.

Tools Required:

Ratcheting wrench
Torx bits
Screwdrivers (flat-blade and philips)

Let's begin.

The new headliner, purchased for $100 from a salvage yard out of a wrecked 2001 740iL. It was in like-new condition and, compared to the $800+ cost for a new headliner at the local BMW dealer, it was a bargain.

Remove the sun visor clips by gently prying open the little doors covering the screws.

Then remove the screws and the clips.

Open the cover of the sun visor swing-arm...

And remove the two torx screws.

Disconnect the sun visor power plug. Repeat the process for the other sun visor.

Remove the light fixture from the center overhead console. It is held in place by two spring clips as shown above.

Remove the cover panel for the garage door opener and sunroof button.

Remove all four ceiling-mounted flip-down handles. Use a small, flat-blade screwdriver to gently pry open the covers for the screws. Be very careful as the covers are easy to break.

Remove the screws to remove the handle assembly from the ceiling.

Remove the rear lighting fixtures from the C pillar area (on both sides of the car).

Don't forget to remove and unplug the lighting fixtures over the sun visors. Disconnect the wiring for the garage door opener and other items in the center overhead console area.

A view of the sagging headliner with the ceiling-mounted handles out of the way.

Remove the B pillar trim, starting at the bottom. Grab the lower edge and firmly pull toward the center of the car.

Slide the upper B pillar cover off of it metal hook near the top.

And let it hang loosely over the seat belt.

Gently pry the edges of the A pillar covers to remove them (on both sides, of course).

You'll now be able to reach under the edge of the headliner and start pulling it away from the rubber door seals.
Now is a good time to take a few photos and note how the edge of the headliner tucks snugly behind the door seals for later reassembly.

Open the sunroof halfway (you'll need to temporarily re-connect the sunroof control button).

Using a torx bit and ratchet, remove the 9 screws along the front and side edges of the sunroof. These hold the headliner to the three edges of the sunroof. The rear edge is held in place without screws (more on that below).

Close the sunroof and, using your fingers, reach up and over the headliner where it meets the rear edge of the sunroof. Gently pull straight down to release the headliner from the metal clips which secure the headliner by pressure-fit only.

Another view showing the separation from the rear edge of the sunroof.

The above two views clearly show the metal clips that you're pulling away from. The cable hanging down is for the ceiling-mounted motion sensor, which we'll also disconnect.

More views of the metal clips that hold the rear edge of the sunroof opening to the roof.

Disconnecting the motion sensor harness. TIP: If you're buying a used headliner as I did, try to get the seller to include the motion sensor and the cover. Your old cover may not exactly fit the cutout of the replacement, which might leave an impression in the felt material.

The entire headliner is now free to come down. We still need to disconnect the ceiling-mounted motion sensor behind the sunroof opening.

Another view of the headliner getting ready to come down. Note the sagging fabric in the rear portion. It was sagging so much that it would touch my head when I sat in the back seat.

The old headliner getting ready to exit the car. We decided to remove it through the right (passenger) rear door. Note the orange material along the edges. That's the awful goo that will get on everything if you don't take precautions to protect the rest of your interior. It's a combination of glue and decomposed foam backing above the felt. Pay particular attention to the edges of the headliner and to the felt areas of the door seals and C pillar area -- they're very easy to soil during the removal process.

Here's the old headliner coming out of the rear passenger door. Note that it was not necessary to remove the front seats. The headliner has just enough flex in it to make it possible.

When you're done, this is what your car will look like without a headliner. That's the sunroof "cassette" in the ceiling.

Note the orange smudge on the leading edge of the C pillar trim. This is why I now recommend removing the trim panel. It took a lot more time to clean it than it would have to simply get it out of the way.

The new headliner going in. Same path as the old one.

Another shot of the new headliner going in.

Reconnect everything and re-install the motion sensor, visors, lighting, A/B/C pillar covers and the ceiling handles. If you find that the ceiling handles for the front aren't lining up as expected with the mounting holes, it's probably because the your car was built prior to 1998 and you've got a headliner from a '98 or newer vehicle with HPS (head protection system) airbags in the A pillars. This was my situation. The solution is to mark the new location of the screw holes so that the handles line up properly with the new headliner, then drill new holes for them. There's plenty of room in the roof area to do this and, because there's plenty of reinforcement metal in the area, there's no danger of poking through the roof as long (as you don't drill too deep, of course). I attached a depth-stop ring to my drill bit ($6 for a set of depth stops at the local Lowe's store) to guarantee that I didn't make any mistakes. The new hole locations are about 1/2" above the original ones. I'll post more photos of that later.

David Cecil
Lexington, KY
'97 740iL, 170k miles
'92 750iL, 92k miles
'86 735i, 101k miles

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The 7 Series E38 Forum | Message Thread:

Replacing the headliner (LOTS of photos) (pic) - DavidC 2008-08-29 19:37:24 (8088 views)
- David....Question... - johngoga 2008-09-08 20:37:29 (139 views)
  - You can make the cut, but undersize it somewhat so that - DavidC 2008-11-16 17:36:14 (99 views)
- I hate that orange goo. (nt) - manithemoneyman 2008-08-31 11:44:38 (172 views)
- Great work David. On my to do list. - bugs1357 2008-08-30 19:26:03 (127 views)
  - That's a good idea. (nt) - DavidC 2008-08-30 20:42:34 (118 views)
- Nice write up! Don't think I will need it...I live with ''sagging'' everyday! (nt) - TxDarth 2008-08-30 10:12:17 (140 views)
- Great job. I thought you were going to recover your original before the shots.. (nt) - bpddaddy 2008-08-30 10:11:09 (128 views)
  - We need to document that type of repair, too. Anyone? (nt) - DavidC 2008-08-31 21:30:49 (125 views)
- Excellent! One w-u I hope never to use but I fear one day I will. (nt) - Ed 2008-08-30 09:43:42 (103 views)
- Nice writeup David, straight to e38.org - BJames38 2008-08-30 09:30:26 (111 views)
- That's nice work (nt) - HighLine740iL 2008-08-30 08:19:33 (108 views)
- Excellent - I would DIY this after reading the write up. (nt) - RobinK 2008-08-30 04:31:34 (102 views)
- Nice work D! I see you got the facelift head liner! nice score! (nt) - Edwin 2008-08-30 04:25:50 (124 views)
  - facelift headliner???? What are you smoking today Edwin? - 04sshd 2008-08-30 04:45:45 (153 views)
    - The cover is bigger and has slats in the cover (nt) - Edwin 2008-08-30 04:55:33 (115 views)
- Thank you David..... (nt) - johngoga 2008-08-29 22:23:26 (96 views)
- Dude, excellent work and hell of a write up. That's how its done. (nt) - rg0115 2008-08-29 21:30:58 (94 views)
- Talk about step by step write up Great job David ! (nt) - Krazy D 2008-08-29 20:55:14 (102 views)
- Re: Replacing the headliner (LOTS of photos) - karol11222 2008-08-29 20:34:26 (184 views)
- Looking good David! I don't even want to think of how many times I have - 04sshd 2008-08-29 20:14:06 (132 views)
  - Really?? I guess you will be helping with mine very soon since - Krazy D 2008-08-29 20:53:52 (90 views)
- Great write-up David! My headliner is starting to sag a little to but its not - mahmudb 2008-08-29 20:02:39 (142 views)

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