[STLBimmer]

I've searched and cannot find if anyone has done this yet.

My 21 month old daughter decided to put her foot through my rear AC vent today, but it looks like all of the pieces simply snap in and out. I believe that I need to take the vent apart to get all the pieces that fell down into the AC tubing itself, so I'm hoping someone has played around back there. Thank you to anyone who can provide a schematic, or some tips!

Daniel

[Gabreigns]

I am sure this is going to be happening with me in the very near future.... Subscribed.

[STLBimmer]

Update, I went ahead and did exploratory surgery this evening and the fix was fairly simple. If you have one side still in tact most of this below is easy to infer from the opposite side, but I've included full instructions here in case someone in the future has both sides broken.

Step 1: The entire front fascia of the rear vent system pulls apart from the center console with minimal force
Step 2: Push down on the four tabs that keep the vents attached to the fascia
Step 3: Unplug the white electronic connector that connects to the vent controls

At this point, you should have the dual vent structure separate from the car

Step 4: Gather any lost pieces from inside the A/C ductwork (inside the center console)...the only piece for me was the metal bracket that had fallen down

There should be 3 vertical slats, 2 horizontal slats with three round nubs on the end (2 on one side, 1 on the other), one horizontal slat with the black and silver adjustment piece, and 2 horizontal slats with two round nubs and one nub with a right angle. For both sides, the side of the vertical slats with two nubs should be face the inside of the vent.

Step 5: Begin reconstruction of the vent air flow controls. You'll want to first connect the top two horizontal slats to the metal bracket. The order for the five horizontal pieces is:
piece with 3 round nubs
Piece with 2 round, one right angle
Piece with black silver adjustment piece
Piece with 2 round, one right angle
piece with 3 round nubs
When you connect the top two pieces at the same time, that will give the metal bracket the rigidity for you to install the remaining pieces. From there I installed the bottom piece, and then the second to the bottom.

Step 6: The last step is to re-install the middle piece with the central adjustment. The only tip here is to ensure that the central adjustment V-notch on the back goes over the post on the middle vertical tab.

Again, this a very easy fix, taking about 20 minutes total. Now, I'll let my baby girl "monkey around" much more freely knowing that there isn't much she can break that I cannot fix. I mean, that's what kids are there for, right?

Hope this helps

[Dang3r]

Not sure if you have this onto your rear panel, but I got a 12V output also and this is connected with a black plug which have to disconnected also, if you want to take the whole panel off the console.

[Professor///M]

Strong work on the self fix. My daughter did this with the heated seat button in my previous X5. Engineers were smart enough to make them all truly plug and play. Guess they did a kid test in house

[Dang3r]

Ya know that e.g. Johnson&Johnson hires sometimes some kids when they'd developed a new kid-safe lock mechanism for all kind of detergents, solvents and so on? If the bottle could be opened for sure, the kids would find out how. Clever move to get more safety on those items imo.

[Martinadam]

On the two outside vertical segments of the vent there are two metal spring cuts that hold the vent get together set up. Utilize a Mastercard or a plastic pry device and push towards the focal point of the vent to discharge the trim piece, in the meantime pry outwards and do this to every side ,driver and traveler to pop it out.

[dazed^]

Just chiming in here with some additional remarks for future reference, after going through the same experience with my F31.

Although you can indeed fix a kicked-in rear vent by yourself, a few words of warning for anyone attempting the job:

- the rear vent fascia does not come off that easily. Forget about using a credit card to release the holding clips; it is not strong enough to pry the fascia off while pressing down on the clip. I used a plastic spatula with much more success. You have to release clips on both sides, as well as on the top and bottom.

- the fascia that sits on top of the air duct assembly does not come off easily at all. It is held by no fewer than 8 thick plastic clips (top and bottom) and 2 thin steel ones on the sides. Prying these apart is hard work and you'll have to apply a lot of force, which is a little scary given the risk of breaking the plastic. It is stronger than it seems though.

- after the disassembly, re-inserting the horizontal slats is easy enough, but the tricky part is to mount the steel bracket simultaneously (this part yokes the slats). It might seem impossible at first, as it does not click into place anywhere, and thus drops out constantly, but it can be done with patience. Last tip here: the top and bottom slat look similar, but the bottom one is ~1mm longer.

[whataride727]

Anyone knows where to purchase the steel bracket? I just purchased a CPO F36 and noticed today that the part is missing. Hence, i cannot adjust the slats in the vent.

I don't want to get a whole assembly for a tiny sheet metal part. Is it worth a try going to a dealership?