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      08-16-2013, 12:59 AM   #1
peter123
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Raising the center armrest on the X1

Personally, I found the X1 armrest to be too low to be most comfortable on long drives. The following describes how to raise the armrest by 1 inch without compromising its appearance or function.

The raised armrest can be seen in its forward position in the first photo. The two new 1 inch high "feet" (3/4" chromed spacers with black button covers over the sheet metal screw heads, available at specialty screw supply stores) are installed beside the smaller factory rubber buttons - these only have the function of supporting the armrest if you put your full weight on it - they do not quite touch the base in normal operation.

The changes to raise the armrest are shown in the next figure. For reference, take a look under your standard X1 armrest when it is slid fully forward, then raised. I have applied two sets (four total) of 1"x7"x 3/8" aluminum bars (marked A and B) between the factory rails (C) and the armrest. The track rails (C) are what allows the armrest to slide back and forth and would normally screw directly into the armrest's recessed slots now occupied by bars "A". Bars "B" are affixed to the rails by four screws through the rails at the factory positions, two of which are shown at the black arrows. Each bar "B" is tapped to accept 2 new screws at these positions. The factory rails are attached to the armrest base unit by screws, two of which are seen at positions "E". These are normally covered by pop-on (or off) plastic covers. These factory screws are not altered in any way, only unscrewed to remove the armrest during the modification. Note also that the rails are at 45 degree angles to the top of the armrest (for reasons known only to BMW engineers). This is why two 3/8" thick bars will result in a 1" raised height (~1" is the hypotenuse of an isosceles triangle 3/4 inch on the sides).

Each bar "B" is attached to Bar "A" by flush mounted screws that are now hidden under the rail. Bars "B" must be slightly beveled at the position shown by the green arrow in order to fit flush to the armrest. Each bar "A" is attached to the armrest itself using the two (each) original factory screws, which are deeply countersunk into the bar. One of these is barely visible at the red arrow. The new 1 inch feet are labeled "D".

The raised armrest is comfortable, looks fine and still moves back and forth normally. If you ever decide to return the armrest to factory height, just remove the aluminum bars and spacer feet.
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      08-16-2013, 05:39 AM   #2
aris
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      08-16-2013, 06:02 AM   #3
KaKiT
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looks cool and so creative!

This should be posted in X1 DIY section.
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      08-16-2013, 08:00 AM   #4
Grovsnus
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In the first image, it looks like the feet "D" have the ability (and thus propensity) to scratch the finish or get stuck on the cup holder when sliding the armrest. Is this a 100% non-issue?
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      08-16-2013, 09:47 AM   #5
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Pretty creative solution -- well done. Lacking the nerve to experiment, I just bought a pad. It works great, but doesn't look as good.
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      08-16-2013, 06:55 PM   #6
peter123
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grovsnus View Post
In the first image, it looks like the feet "D" have the ability (and thus propensity) to scratch the finish or get stuck on the cup holder when sliding the armrest. Is this a 100% non-issue?
,

The feet end in plastic caps (over the screw heads) and these do not touch the base or the cup holder unless you press down on the armrest. You don't need feet at all if you will never bear much weight on the armrest. There are no marks on the finish yet, but feel free to experiment.
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      08-19-2013, 05:34 AM   #7
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Not being handy, I prefer the pad solution. Where did you get the pad??
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      08-19-2013, 06:20 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrT-Man View Post
Not being handy, I prefer the pad solution. Where did you get the pad??
I believe I bought it at Amazon. I actually bought it a few years ago for a different vehicle, but it fits the X1 pretty well. I believe it was sold under a different brand at the time, but it looks like exactly the same in the pics.

http://www.amazon.com/Trillium-CCG-3...ds=armrest+pad
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      08-19-2013, 07:32 AM   #9
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I'm most interested in stopping it from sliding. That BMW didn't put a lock mechanism on the sliding is a design flaw, given how the arm rest is prone to decapitate what you put in the cup holder.

The question is whether it's possible to stop the slider without having to remove the entire centre console, which I'm not inclined to do.
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      12-30-2018, 08:03 AM   #10
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My car was broken into recently and they broke the slider, so I have to replace mine anyway. I like the idea of raising it up a lot. Its just not high enough.
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      12-10-2023, 03:55 PM   #11
scottjameson
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Center armrest - Stop random sliding

Here's what I did to stop the center armrest from sliding when I don't want it to.
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