Rear Fresh Air Grille AC Vent Interior Center Console Compatible for BMW 5 Series F10 F11 520i 523i 525i 528i 530i 535i 550i 2010-2016 Air Vent Dashboard AC Ventilation Conditioning Outlet

Will recommend to anyone who needs parts for their vehicle

For the most part this OVANOH Front Air Grille AC Vent Interior Center Console is a well made replacement on my f10 528i xdrive. The included trim removal tool is good to have and useful but I found using my finger tips easier and safer to remove the wood grain panel. I've seen cheaper replacements running about 10 bucks that did the job but the flaps were very bendable. This units vent flaps are fairly ridged and durable. I noticed some slight variations although very similar to original, that throws the fut slightly off but well enough to get the job done.Replacement begins with prying off the trim panel that runs from side of steering wheel to passenger side door (tip- open passenger door slightly for more room). After prying wood trim panel off keep it close to dash and flip it to disconnect 3 cables (a small flat head screw driver may be helpful). The 3 cables are for start/stop button, hot/cold roller and flashers. After disconnecting wires I get a little fuzzy on if ther were some screws holding thr vent to the panel but there are a good amount of torx screws holding this part, the face of the vent to the vent. There are also a number of fragile plastic clips holding this part to the rest of the vent that need gentle prying to release (a small flathead also useful here). After taking the old vent off adding the new one is tricky as the slide knob on the vent has to attach a certain way to properly control the vent. I know I had an annoying time trying to figure out if the v clip that sticks put the back of the vent goes on top or under a notch on the internal vent flaps. That is actually the hard part but after that reconnect the wires and do your best to line up the holes before pushing back onto the dash.It can seem complicated but once you understand how it all goes together it's fairly easy, doesn't require a lot of tools or that much time to complete. Getting the job done with knowing how takes about 10 min. Never doing it before and figuring it out plus mistakes takes about 45 minutes. See if you can spot any slight differences on the side photos as uts not limited to the side but all around this unit. Just not precise but close enough.

For me, the issue I had with my center vent is that over time, my F10 started to show a slight cracking at the vents. At first, I thought this was just cosmetic and I can live with it, but it turns out that the cracking was where the vent is attached so, eventually the vent slats started to come off. When it came to removing the original vent, you can see in the picture that nearly all the vent slats fell out.I didn't include a picture, but the center vent does come well packaged in a cardboard box with styrofoam and then cellophane wrapped.Installation can be tricky, but they do include a tool to help. The center vent is screwed and pressure fit, so take your time doing this installation. It took be about 20 minutes.The third picture shows the final product and you can see fitment is 9/10. The top portion is slightly off from the wood grain but more than acceptable to me. The F10 model is now over 10 years old in some cases, so having a manufacturer like Ovanoh provide affordable replacements is fantastic.

I'm sure this is a nice replacement for the factory grille cover, but it came with no instructions--you better be an expert at this already!--and didn't specify that it was NOT for F10s with the cold weather package (which includes rear seat heaters, which are controlled at the console).