MyE28.com

HayekFan wrote: Jul 29, 2024 9:19 PM This part is designed for E30s but with minor trimming will fit in an E28's broken off cigarette lighter mount:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166587690313?i ... SwuTZmTKzz

It's made of flexible translucent material that gives a nice amber glow.

Just trim the ribs with a razor knife and insert it into the hole in the console. It has a lip that lets it seat without falling through. Then insert your lighter socket/receptacle.

Not perfectly stock looking but pretty close for $20.

jayjaya29 wrote: Jul 30, 2024 8:41 AM Been looking for a solution like this for years. Thanks!

How does the lighter receptacle stay in the amber mount? Meaning, when you pull your cigarette lighter out what keeps the receptacle from coming with it?

HayekFan wrote: Aug 02, 2024 5:05 PM

How does the lighter receptacle stay in the amber mount? Meaning, when you pull your cigarette lighter out what keeps the receptacle from coming with it?

The amber mount has two small tabs that line up with a pair of small rectangular cutouts in the receptacle. You insert the receptacle and then rotate it until they snap into place. At that point the receptacle is locked in and won't pull out.

The caveat is that this amber receptacle is made of a different material than the factory part. It's kind of a rubbery material rather than hard plastic like the original apparently was. So the tabs don't give a super positive locking action. You can defeat them if you work at it but with a normal pull on the lighter element I find it doesn't come out. And I think you could help them lock more positively by slightly flaring the edges of the rectangular openings outward so the tabs have more to catch on. This could be done with a pair of needle nose pliers, I think. I have a spare receptacle and will probably test whether this works.

The other issue as far as the lighter not pulling out is the fit between the amber mount and the console. That is a friction fit. The way my console broke apart left about 1/2" depth of inner bore in the mounting hole and I assume that's how most cars are. The ribs of the amber mount need to press against that inner bore to provide friction to hold it in place. That means you need to trim the ribs down carefully and not make them too short. All four need to have a height of about 1/16" above the surface of the amber mount or maybe a bit more. Probably best to initially cut them slightly tall, and then test the fit and trim more as needed.

I must confess I trimmed the ribs on my mount too much and it tends to pull out of the console -- and in fact I ordered a second one to get the rib height better. In the meantime I'm using some 3M mounting tape applied to the surface of the amber mount to take up the gap, and that actually is working very well.

I also think it may be possible to leave a bit of material towards the back ends of the ribs to hook the back edge of the inner bore of the console mounting hole and thereby secure it. Then you wouldn't be relying on friction to hold it in place.

And of course gluing in the amber mount would be an option too, and would be simple since it could be done from the front rather than from around back like when re-gluing the original parts back together.

HayekFan wrote: Aug 10, 2024 3:20 PM Pics:

HayekFan wrote: Aug 12, 2024 8:34 PM Looks good! I notice you've got quite a bit of light spilling from the cig lighter/ashtray area up into the A/C blower area. My car is the same way. A console with an unbroken lighter mount has a structure that kind of shrouds the bulb but I think it gets lost when things get broken. My next move will probably be to make a light barrier of some sort behind the lighter with a small piece of black plastic sheet or something. That way it will be total darkness down there apart from the lighter ring.