LEX ES300

Well, all of a sudden it happened to me - the black paint/glossy finish on one of my B pillars (the black strip on the outside of the car between the front and rear windows) are peeling and they look terrible! One minute it looked brand new, the next minute without warning I go out and look at my car and there's paint peeling all over the place.

I have used the search tool and I see that almost everyone on the site has experienced this problem. I won't try to repaint them, I'll just buy new ones as most people suggest, but can anyone please, PLEASE help me with a write up on how to replace the the B-pillar - there have been alot of posts about this but no help on how to actually replace them. Step by step write up with pics would be great.

Thanks in advance!

LEX ES300

calichris

iTrader: (2)

i think that all of ours do too, someone told me to just replace them at the dealership for $25

zajac

iTrader: (1)

I'm new here but I read that you open both doors and start prying off starting from the bottom. IIRC they are held with tabs that are useless as the new pillar has new tabs. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong though. GL

LEX ES300

Thanks zajac - you're correct. I'm going to post up a DIY for everyone in a min.

LEX ES300

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

are new b pillars really 25 dollars for each side? can someone confirm this and are they easy to remove?

LEX ES300

Ok, I was hoping for a bit more help but it seems people aren't too hot on posting up DIY's at the moment, so I've bought a new B pillar, worked it out myself, and here's the DIY I've made for everyone:

The B pillar is held on from the exterior of the car by 4 plastic clips. Nothing to work on from the inside of the car!

All you need to do is open the front and rear doors to give yourself a bit of room and then start prising the plastic pillar piece off STARTING FROM THE BOTTOM. I found that using 2 large desert spoons worked very well to carefully but firmly prise of the plastic pillar piece!

You will probably break some of the plastic clips holding it on but don't worry, the new piece will have 4 new clips as you will see in the pics. I think the B pillar is the type of part to only be removed once then discarded for a new one that is why its much cheaper just to buy a new piece that trying to remove it without breaking the tabs then painting it. JUST BUY A NEW ONE!
I live in Australia so my new piece was more expensive than in the USA. Mine cost $75 AUS, but in the USA I think they are about $45 US but I'm not a 100% sure.

Here's my damaged piece removed - one minute it was ok, the next minute it started peeling rapidly -


Once you've prised off the old piece you will see the 4 slots on the body of the car where the tabs fit in -


Close up -


The new Piece - Note the little indent bit at the top which slots in under the top of the car trim this is important as you will see.


The new tabs on the back -


Close up of one of the new tabs -



Now to put the new B-pillar on all you have to do is START FROM THE TOP and lock in the little indent bit in under the trim, which will then line up the tabs with the slots on the body of the car and CAREFULLY press/push the piece in tab by tab to lock in the B-Pillar. Start from the top and work towards the bottom.
Quite easy all up!

Finished! -


Hope this helps everyone!

LEX ES300

charley240

iTrader: (6)

thanks. great write up. i like how you actually showed the clip design and designations. i actually never knew it was that cheap, i figured itd be a lot more, but its still expensive for some plastic. lol. well. enjoyu
Charley
oh, whats the part number?

tcbted

Likewise, great review.

I would also appreciate the part number.

LEX ES300

Thanks guys,

There are two different part numbers - one for the left and one for the right hand side. Because I've only had to replace the right hand side at this stage, I only have the part number for this side. The sticker has the part number 75505-33010 on it.

Cheers,

LEX ES300

charley240

iTrader: (6)

ok. well that will help out the community at least. thanks again
Charley

Infin1ty

Excellent write up, you wouldn't happen to have a DIY on the weather seals above both doors would you? I need to do the B Pillar and the weather seals because they are both starting to look, well, weathered lol.

lexusnb

Thanks for the great write up. I too have this problem and my wifes car is a 00. I guess I'll have to order both sides for her. I was either thinking of replacing them or buying those chrome pieces and just slapping those over it.

lexpilot

I have 2 white 97 300s and this happened to both.
Mine were not painted but had the same look as the ones LEX 300 had.
They came back to new looks after I did the same McGuires Mirror Glaze treatment I did to the headlight plastic lenses. They are black ABS all the way through.
My answer would be to polish first to see if you can get them to shine again.
Also If you do pull them off and a slot for the clips break, hot melt glue works great to re attach them.
Lex

Smitty

iTrader: (1)

Nice write up. I was just lookin at how crappy mine were the other day. lol


-Smitty

zealexus

I put wax on mine and they look brand new.