[DavidM5]

...I always keep a bunch of change in the ash tray and this weekend noticed that it had diminished considerably. Asked my wife if she had pocketed it for the meter but she said no. Asked my daughters who told me that my toddler son had been playing in the driving seat while I was filling up with fuel (no keys..I'm not that bad). Finally got him to show me what he had been doing (apart from pulling the aerial off the GPRS jacket on my iPaq) and he showed me.

He lifts the cigar lighter from the recess....lines a coin up against the cigar lighter itself... and then pushes it back into the recess. Lo and behold the coin disappears..

In the 10 minutes it took me to fill up and pay he has probably done 20 £1 coins.

I need some info as to how to get the housing off...... I'm assuming that it doesn't actually go anywhere dangerous but please, if you have info to the contrary, let me know ASAP.

I know some of you guys changed the cupholders and stuff.....does anyone have some instructions on how to get under the cigar lighter?

Any information gratefully received.....

DavidM5

 

[Gustav]

That could get expensive!

 

[DavidM5]

Thanks Gustav! You mean expensive in pound coins or expensive in repair??

If it's just eh pound coins.....well, I'll get them back.....with some instructions :1:

 

[DavidS]

Watch it! The coins are metal, and there is cabling with pretty big current rating fuses for the cigarette lighter. Better pull the lighter fuse until you get the coins out. You definitely do not want to risk a short in that location.

I would also like to give you credit for having excellent interrogation skills as you actually got the kid to tell you what actually happened, not just what you wanted to hear.

You obviously have great kids.

David

 

[hudson]

Sorry David I had to chuckle when I read this story.:hihi: I have personally played with that lighter and it is fun to open and close. You know that german engineering.

Anyway there is a panel on the drivers side that you can remove and some of the coins will come out there. To get the panel off remove the phillips screw near the throttle pedal and push the panel back. You might have to take off the shifter boot and use a long thin screwdriver to push the coins towards the opening of the removed panel. As mentioned removing the fuse for the lighter is a good idea.

Keep in mind this is a US version M5 it's opposite yours. I don't know how you guys drive on the wrong side of the road :1:J/K.


Hope this helps
Joe

 

[DavidM5]

Thanks for all your help.

Actually DavidS, he's a great kid and more than happy to tell me he's put the taps on in the bidet and come look at the water all over the floor! Thanks for the other info too...He's for sale on eBay as we speak.....kidding.

[email protected] European...just live in London. I don't know how they do it either!! Drive on the wrong side. Ill try that panel...

Any other info about getting the off thehousing that the cigar lighter sits in? I case i can't get them all out. He really did do about 20 pound coins...

Thanks in advance..

 

[hudson]

Thanks for all your help.

Actually DavidS, he's a great kid and more than happy to tell me he's put the taps on in the bidet and come look at the water all over the floor! Thanks for the other info too...He's for sale on eBay as we speak.....kidding.

[email protected] European...just live in London. I don't know how they do it either!! Drive on the wrong side. Ill try that panel...

Any other info about getting the off thehousing that the cigar lighter sits in? I case i can't get them all out. He really did do about 20 pound coins...

Thanks in advance..

David if you pull up on the shifter boot it comes right off. Under the boot is a big sponge insulator. If you remove that you will probably see all the coins. It's much easy to do this then to take off the lighter panel.

Good luck
Joe

 

[Ashok Arora]

I'm sorry David but this really made me laugh

Our oldest son is almost three and I know the mischief they can get up to. I keep all my change in old 35mm film cannisters in the door map pocket. Doesn't rattle around and easy to reach. Parking in London means having lots of pound coins in the car :sad3:

 

[cal]

David, I'd be real careful trying to remove the coins and there are two fuses related to the cigarette lighter. Both are labled. One is in the main fuse box behind the glove box and the other is on a fuse bank located in the trunk on the passenger side. I had an accessory that shorted out the lighter and had a dickens of a time finding out what and how it was powered. In my case the fuse behind the glove box was good but the one in the trunk was toast. It would be really hard to imagine not blowing fuses with coins but that's what fuses are for! In my case it did more damage than just taking out the fuse. The good news is that it only appears to power the cigarette lighter, the bad it can blow more than the fuse (e.g. fuseable links etc.) as it did in my case. :crying2:


Cal

 

[DavidM5]

Hi all thanks gor the help and assistance. All (I think) coins are now removed. Fuses too so ther hopefully won't be any more damage!

Joe - did that....got most of them but some had slipped down the side.

Cal - thanks for the heads up.

Ashok - Group buy on 35mm film cannisters with M5 logo hiha speaking of parking Ashok have you seen what they are charging in Tottenham Court Road...£1 for 8 minutes now!!

David

 

[Stem]

How about using all the coins he has "saved" for his college fund??? Your car could be worth hundreds of extra pounds by the time he is ready for higher education. And in real "coin of the realm"!!

Your gas mileage would suffer, however, as the fund increases.

 

[hudson]

How about using all the coins he has "saved" for his college fund??? Your car could be worth hundreds of extra pounds by the time he is ready for higher education. And in real "coin of the realm"!!

Your gas mileage would suffer, however, as the fund increases.

Good one Stem :hihi:. Won't be any increases if the market keeps this up.


Joe