[boafriend]

I have a 2012 F30 and have noticed on occasion that the volume and A/C adjustment dials are sticky. This is only observed on hot days (I'm in SoCal). Almost feels as if something is melting. I use a sunshade on my windshield on all hot days....but am not sure what's wrong?

I have never spilled anything onto these buttons. And aside from sanitizing my hands between outside trips, I don't use anything sticky on my hands that could leave that residue.

You can even see some sticky residue on the volume button. Is this just a wipe-as-you-observe-it kinda thing or is there a permanent fix for these? No other controls or knobs have this issue.

My car is CPO bought in 2015 but I believe most of the warranties on it are already over and would not cover cosmetic shit like this.

Thank you.

[Tuerkay]

aggresive hand sanitizer kann attack the rubber surface of the dials. When the rubber gets hot, it won´t stay smooth then and get sticky. you can try using rubber care with a rag and clean them properly.

[boafriend]

Originally Posted by Tuerkay

aggresive hand sanitizer kann attack the rubber surface of the dials. When the rubber gets hot, it won´t stay smooth then and get sticky. you can try using rubber care with a rag and clean them properly.

Thank you -- what is "rubber care"? Is it the name of a spray-cleaning product or something?

[Tuerkay]

Sorry, don't know the common English naming for such products.
These are car interior cleaning and maintenance product's. If the rubber isn't too damaged already, it might help.
Spray some on an rag and lightly clean the knobs and let it dry. Interior shouldn't be hot at that time.

I'm using this one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonax-Cockp...0199401&sr=8-1

[boafriend]

Originally Posted by Tuerkay

Sorry, don't know the common English naming for such products.
These are car interior cleaning and maintenance product's. If the rubber isn't too damaged already, it might help.
Spray some on an rag and lightly clean the knobs and let it dry. Interior shouldn't be hot at that time.

I'm using this one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonax-Cockp...0199401&sr=8-1

Thanks, this doesn't look it's just for rubber though. I guess I can just use the BMW Vinyl Care spray that I have. I just worry this isn't solving the actual issue. The buttons aren't physically damaged or melted but the stickiness is bizarre.

[Pauloxxi]

Maybe caused by hand sanitizer during this last year.

[Billfitz]

Most likely a driver was female, who deposited all sorts of cosmetic residue on the dials. Acetone, for instance, which is a primary component of fingernail polish, and can off-gas for quite some time.

[dianebrat]

Despite all the other random blame being tossed about, "blame the woman" was particularly ridiculous, these are plastic with a soft touch finish and the soft touch finish ages out and becomes a sticky mess on many products, I suspect the SoCal heat and sun accelerated the aging of the soft touch finish.

As far as I've seen these dials are not actually rubber

[Billfitz]

I speak from experience, having been married to a woman who applied enough toxic substances to various body parts to qualify as an EPA Superfund site. The damage done to various plastics in her cars over the years, including radio dials, door handles and steering wheels, stood in stark contrast to my cars, which never suffered the same fate.

[Gabriel Bastos]

I have this button completely damaged, does anyone know where I can get a new one?

[RustyFlyer]

I have the same problem. The knobs have become sticky over time, and I almost never even touch them. I have found replacement dials on Taobao / AliExpress but they are expensive and require the console to be removed for fitting. I will first try cheap slide on covers (also Taobao / Ali) and see if I can live with them. The other option is the 'BMW Crystal Series Three-Piece Set of Volume and Air Conditioner' but that's a fairly expensive solution and I'm not sure if it has the correct label for my AC Max button.