BMW Door Handle Peeling – How to Fix It

2005-2013 BMW 3 Series cars are having a problem with the interior door handles peeling. The E90, E91, E92, and E93 models use a rubber-like coating that is delaminating from the plastic substrate it is adhered to. As you can see, it looks pretty bad.

Peeling door handle (Photo from Bimmerfest forums – no “before” photo was available for Edvin’s car)

Recently, ColorBond customer Edvin M. brought the issue to our attention. His BMW M3 was having this problem and, rather than replacing it with a new BMW door handle, he used ColorBond LVP Refinisher to fix it.

BMW Interior Door Handle Peeling Fix

Since the inside of the door needs to be taken apart to remove the handle, which is a hassle, the easiest way to perform the repair is to leave it in place. However, this requires removing the window switch panel to properly access the door handle. This is done by removing the trim strip on the door, which provides access to the panel to push it up and out. Then unplug the wires from the switch and set it aside.

Note: Photo of the refinished door handle 

Once that is done it’s time to remove all the rubber-like coating from the handle. Heating the handle with a hair dryer makes this easier. Once heated, the coating can be peeled off with a thumb nail or razor blade. Care must be taken not to accidentally gouge the handle or door panel.

After the coating is completely removed, clean it with ColorBond Prep Cleaner or alcohol to prep the surface. Then mask off the door handle with masking or duct tape and paper to be sure no paint or overspray gets on the door panel.

Edvin says he used ColorBond Adhesion Promoter on the BMW door handle, followed by three coats of LVP Refinisher in the correct BMW door handle color. Of note, LVP Refinisher is available in a variety of BMW correct colors, as well OEM correct colors for other vehicle makes.

Now the door handle looks just like new, and the job was done with $33.00 of ColorBond products. In comparison a replacement BMW door handle would run about $35.00 – $40.00, which isn’t much more than the products he used, but the real savings is not having to go through time consuming hassle of removing the door panel and avoiding the possibly of breaking clips in the process.

Restored door handle

We were researching the door handle issue and came across a video on YouTube from The Auto Repair Guys in which they were restoring a similar door handle. We were pleased to see they were using ColorBond! Check out the video and they will show you in detail how this job can be done.

We’re happy we could help Edvin restore his BMW door handle. He did a great job!

For more information on ColorBond LVP Refinisher click here.