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The plastic trim around both of my seat back nets has been destroyed and I don’t know of a way to repair it other than to replace the seat back. The OEM part is an expensive piece of plastic, so I’ve been trying to find one on eBay or from a junkyard. The problem is I have vented seats, which means the seat back is vented. The vented back is a hard piece to find and the few selling them don’t want to separate the seat back from the rest of the seat. Does anyone know of a workaround? Alternatively, any thoughts on buying seat backs that aren’t vented and cutting the holes with a dremel tool? I think I can pop out the trim piece on my existing seat backs and try to reuse it in the replacement backs, but I have no idea how cutting that hole is going to go. I’m worried the trim piece won’t pop in if I don’t cut the hole precisely enough.
Precise cutting will be necessary for your idea to work. Not impossible. How good are you with precision and power tools?
Make a precise template and be sure it’s right.
Cut just less material than the template requires. Then hand fettle the reused trim piece into the hole you have cut.
The plastic is likely PP (polypropylene) or ABS. Read about cutting tools and tool speeds for cutting. The wrong tool and wrong speed makes a melted smoking mess of the plastic. The right tool and the right speed makes a nice cut.
Helpful advice, thank you. Trying to decide whether I’m more encouraged to try or disciplined enough to call it what it is and keep holding out for the right part. Good news is this part seems to already be marked (see below, behind the sticker), so just have to follow the line. I’m certainly handy, but this will be first time with a Dremel.
Helpful advice, thank you. Trying to decide whether I’m more encouraged to try or disciplined enough to call it what it is and keep holding out for the right part. Good news is this part seems to already be marked (see below, behind the sticker), so just have to follow the line. I’m certainly handy, but this will be first time with a Dremel.
Thanks again
Yep, that's a plastic part where the vent portion of the molding tool (a "mold insert") has been filled in for the non-ventilated seat.
So, for someone skilled in precision cutting, it's reasonable to expect that the non-ventilated seat back can be modified to accept the vent components. Again, requiring care and precision in the cutting procedure.
For anyone else out there contemplating this, it’s really quite easy. I was super careful on the first cut, taking a conservative approach with the Dremel at the lowest speed setting that would still cut. By the 4th cut, I’d thrown caution to the wind. There was never a threat of anything melting, the covering on the back did not rip and the trim piece has enough of a lip on it that even errant cuts were fully covered. Very happy with the outcome and the ($400+ saved).
For anyone else out there contemplating this, it’s really quite easy. I was super careful on the first cut, taking a conservative approach with the Dremel at the lowest speed setting that would still cut. By the 4th cut, I’d thrown caution to the wind. There was never a threat of anything melting, the covering on the back did not rip and the trim piece has enough of a lip on it that even errant cuts were fully covered. Very happy with the outcome and the ($400+ saved).
@pshrop Well done! Looks great. I tell my wife that the netting in my GLE and her X3 are for decoration only, as I pull the three library books out of her seat back netting stretched to near the breaking point.
The plastic trim around both of my seat back nets has been destroyed and I don’t know of a way to repair it other than to replace the seat back. The OEM part is an expensive piece of plastic, so I’ve been trying to find one on eBay or from a junkyard. The problem is I have vented seats, which means the seat back is vented. The vented back is a hard piece to find and the few selling them don’t want to separate the seat back from the rest of the seat. Does anyone know of a workaround? Alternatively, any thoughts on buying seat backs that aren’t vented and cutting the holes with a dremel tool? I think I can pop out the trim piece on my existing seat backs and try to reuse it in the replacement backs, but I have no idea how cutting that hole is going to go. I’m worried the trim piece won’t pop in if I don’t cut the hole precisely enough.
10-16-2020, 03:13 PM
