strange crack in interior panel

wiseguy

wiseguy

Member
 Mississippi, USA
Has anyone else experienced this? This crack appeared after a long recent trip (yea, the interior needs a cleaning after that expedition). It only appeared on the left side of the center storage compartment. I have no idea what caused it.

I should also mention that the center compartment push button is broken (it works, but it hangs down to one side).

z4interiorpanelcrack_zps4787ed7a.jpg
 
ranski said:
I would say its been lent on


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I'm the only driver of the car, and I haven't leaned on that area before. I'm not even sure how I could do so. I had a suit jacket and slacks suspended from my driver's headrest bars during the trip, but I took special care not to recline the seat too far, to avoid wrinkling the suit by pressing it against the rear bulkhead, so that couldn't be it either. It's almost like a stress fracture, based on the location. It meets up with an OEM bend in the other rear panel at that spot. I'm just wondering if any others have experienced the same. If I replaced this section (which would be quite costly, I'm sure) I wouldn't be certain that the crack wouldn't appear in the new panel, until I determine the cause.
 
Stress fracture. Probably cracked slightly last time it was fitted or removed and has since quietly grown until you noticed it.
 
I have the exact same crack on the other side, mirror image........ leads me to believe stress or body flex of some sort is causing this.

John
 
Has the car been out in the sun alot? Used to experience numerous cracked dashes on the mk2 scirocco for this reason..
 
andysat said:
Is it just a coincidence that you both live in the states?
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I'd say it's a coincidence. I don't leave the car out in the sun with the top down, do drive it that way a lot though :-)

I think it a stress crack from body flex. I think those panals are so tight against each other that rear suspension flexing might cause it. It does look bad though.

John
 
bluestreak56 said:
Has the car been out in the sun alot? Used to experience numerous cracked dashes on the mk2 scirocco for this reason..
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While I often put the top down when driving, it always has the top up when parked. It never sits in the sun top-down and is parked in a shady spot during the day. I treat all panels with Armorall when cleaning, to add a little UV protection.

I can't say re: both of us being in the US. Since my center storage area's release button has completely broken this week, maybe I can find this cracked panel and the button in a wrecked Z4 and do the install myself.

I didn't see a "how to" on removing this cracked panel in the forum. Does anyone have the factory repair manual pages on this ?

Wiseguy
 
I'm with CJ on this. Crack expanded from initial damage during previous removal or fitting. I can't see how one could cause this when it's in place short of hitting it with a hammer.

You can get copies of the TIS (repair manual) off of fleabay. The only online reference I know of is in Russian, but Google translate works well enough in most cases: tis.bmwcats.com
 
bcworkz said:
I'm with CJ on this. Crack expanded from initial damage during previous removal or fitting. I can't see how one could cause this when it's in place short of hitting it with a hammer.

You can get copies of the TIS (repair manual) off of fleabay. The only online reference I know of is in Russian, but Google translate works well enough in most cases: tis.bmwcats.com
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
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