Help: Dropped gold wedding band in a/c vent on dash...

Hmmm? Any chance there's access to this ductwork behind cabin air filter housing...maybe drill a hole, get ring, plug hole?

Originally Posted by dmax

Hmmm? Any chance there's access to this ductwork behind cabin air filter housing...maybe drill a hole, get ring, plug hole?

Possibly, wouldn't hurt to try. The man's marriage is on the line!! Save the family!!!!!

Originally Posted by dmax

Hmmm? Any chance there's access to this ductwork behind cabin air filter housing...maybe drill a hole, get ring, plug hole?

I called him late last night after trouble shooting his problem. I mentioned going through the front but the depth seems too far away from the dash vents to be worth trying right now. I took out my cluster, left trim piece, and left a/c vent. I then tied a key chain ring to tooth floss and dropped it in my left-side dash vent. It seems like the dash vents lead out to the far left a/c vent. I told the OP to go find a parking lot and do some aggressive right hand turns to get the ring as far left as possible. Then take a coat hanger and see if it becomes visible down inside the dash vents by sticking it in the far most-left a/c port. I was feeling the ring basically hit the tubing where my hand was last night far back behind my instrument cluster in my dash. As long as the OP doesn't take an aggressive left and slide the ring to the middle ducts (causing the ring to fall into the abyss) then I believe with some patience he can get the ring this way.

All that trouble when all he needs is that $2 pickup tool and the $25 camera amazon sells and he would be able to fish his ring out in less than 30 minutes...

Originally Posted by phubar

Buy this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/24-inch...ool-94162.html

And this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZWFOEQ

Good luck!

Originally Posted by phubar

All that trouble when all he needs is that $2 pickup tool and the $25 camera amazon sells and he would be able to fish his ring out in less than 30 minutes...

that pickup tool pays for itself when he gets the ring back. i could've used that tool to save me a lot of hassle from dropping a bolt on top of a spark plug...

I have scoped this F*&%$er inside and out but can't see the ring. If I could simply see it, I know that I could find a way to remove it.

I did donuts tonight in a parking lot and could hear it slide around but still can't visually put my eyes on it.

This is frustrating as hell.

Take out the dash. It's not too bad at all, and I'm a person who hates anything time consuming.

When you're done doing sharp turns hoping it will come out, look up a DIY on removing the dash.

Sooooo, how goes getting ur ring. Any luck?

Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Bimmer App

Yes, I finally have my ring back. It cost me $375 for a mechanic to swing by my house on the weekend and remove and reassemble the entire dash.
The ring was in the defroster vent.

Thanks everybody for all your help!!!!!!!!!!

$375 sounds pretty reasonable to r&r a dash. Glad you got it back

$375 was the cheapest estimate from Craigslist.

Here is the amazing part.

He had done this approx 40-50 times.

It took him 2 1/2 hours without removing the front seats.

we were really looking forward to this

NO PICTURES??

Here you go:

How romantic. You're sweet. Your wife is gorgeous.



Now pics of the dash apart!!!!

I figured you really wanted the pictures of the dash apart. To be honest I watched the first 5-10 minutes and went inside the house for the next 2+ hours.
In Florida it has been 90+ degrees w/ 100% humidity and I figured that I might as well enjoy the $375 I spent in a cold house while he worked in my garage.
Sorry, no photos.

But no ice tea for the poor guy you left out in the heat??

Actually he received cold gatorade, water and $375 cash....

Nice...! Congrats! E46f fails to save a marriage this time, but oh well..