I know this won't be of much help to those outside the US, but Mike at BMW of South Atlanta just went way beyond what he had to do to find me the part I was looking for.
I was looking for the replacement panel that fits just below the radio-heater area - where many of us put in the AUX IN connector. Real OEM and others list this as 51 45 9 128 397, a realtively inexpensive $8.00 part. I ordered one from BMW of So. Atlanta, paid the $12.95 shipping (ugh) and recieved the part quickly, only to find that the panel has a rectangular cut out in it, like it has a rocker switch insert.
I communicated with Mike, via e-mail, he happily offered to order another one and check it out. I sent him pictures to verify the correct part. The next one Mike got in looked the same, so he said he would check w BMW.
I hardly expected to hear anything, but within a couple of days, I received a shipping notice from Mike, and then a couple of days later, voila, the correct part:51 45 7 053 092, which apparently is obsolete(?), couldn't even find it on Real OEM. BTY it was delivered for free, and they told me don't bother returning the other part - sorry for the trouble.
I really appreciated Mike going out of his way to find the correct ($8.00) part!
So if you need something... here's a solid place to try.
I was looking for the replacement panel that fits just below the radio-heater area - where many of us put in the AUX IN connector. Real OEM and others list this as 51 45 9 128 397, a realtively inexpensive $8.00 part. I ordered one from BMW of So. Atlanta, paid the $12.95 shipping (ugh) and recieved the part quickly, only to find that the panel has a rectangular cut out in it, like it has a rocker switch insert.
I communicated with Mike, via e-mail, he happily offered to order another one and check it out. I sent him pictures to verify the correct part. The next one Mike got in looked the same, so he said he would check w BMW.
I hardly expected to hear anything, but within a couple of days, I received a shipping notice from Mike, and then a couple of days later, voila, the correct part:51 45 7 053 092, which apparently is obsolete(?), couldn't even find it on Real OEM. BTY it was delivered for free, and they told me don't bother returning the other part - sorry for the trouble.
I really appreciated Mike going out of his way to find the correct ($8.00) part!
So if you need something... here's a solid place to try.
