Rear Hatch Trim

Slowly putting the interior back in.  First up is the rear hatch.  I had to replace the upper trim near the hatch hinges, the piece had been cracked a few times when I got the car and it couldn't mate to the female fasteners in the car anymore.  While I was at it, I took a good look at the lower hatch trim at the same time.  On this car, it looks like someone over-loaded the cargo area then slammed the hatch on it.  This caused the bosses of several of the inner screws to fail (see pics).  In fact, 2 of the bosses were sheared off altogether.  Someone really wanted the hatch closed, I think.

This rear hatch panel squeaked a lot.  M coupe interiors will squeak if they aren't reassembled perfectly (and I mean perfectly) or if a clip or two is missing or damaged.  You have to be slow and deliberate and careful.  To help this hatch trim, I sealed in the hatch lock trim panel with clear latex caulk (see pic).  There was plastic-on-plastic squeaking there.  I restored all the broken bosses I could and also used a dab of caulk inside them too, before screwing the parts back together.  Lastly, I used felt (in pics some is black and some is yellow) wherever there was plastic-on-plastic and I could get away with some additional thickness.  Super quiet now.

While I was at it, I added a piece of nappa leather over the factory carpeted piece.  LeatherZ sells these pieces, and I have one on my S54.  Nothing says quiet cockiness like a leather-lined hatch, I think!

Failed plastic boss, typical, I found 4-5 more like this one.  Either someone over-torqued the screws (unlikely) or someone had the hatch really, really full of cargo and they slammed it closed.

Added felt pieces

You can see the caulk here, not quite fully cured (white) waiting to become clear.

Leather panel for the rear hatch trim.