Cracks in the dashboard

[Tammer in Philly]

PROBLEM: My dashboard looks like (choose one): the San Andreas fault, my plumber's ass, a Baltimore street corner ... in other words it's got cracks all over.

CAUSE: "They all do that." Especially when they sit in the sun, don't get conditioned, and experience extreme and rapid temperature changes.

SOLUTION: Free: Live with it. Cheap: Dash cover, a plastic shell that fits over the stock dash and has cutouts for bents and such. About $100 from places like BavAuto. They look decent from 3 or 4 feet; only aficionados will notice. Pricey but the "right" way: A new dashboard, about $560 as of this writing. R&R is tough the first time--expect it to take 6-9 hours for a newbie. For an excellent write-up, see Todd Kenyon's E28 M5 site (Google "Todd Kenyon E28 M5"). Be prepared with appropriate rivets, a drill, and a rivet gun to transfer VIN plates and bracketry from old to new dash. CAUTION: the attachment of central ducting to the dash is done via lunchbox-style catches; the plastic around these is very easy to break! Be very cautious while extricating ductwork. The wiring under the dash is simple to keep track of, use lots of tape flags to track connectors.

PREVENTION of REPEAT SCENARIO: Vinylex every month, windshield sunshade every time the car is parked outside (also protects leather and cools interior), and try not to crank the heat up super-fast on those really cold mornings. Feel free to email me for pictures taken during my install; I have not gotten them all online.