How Do I Install a BMW E46 Wind Deflector?

The BMW E46 is the body style line for BMW 3 Series cars with a production date between 1999 and 2006, including BMW convertibles. A wind deflector keeps wind and debris from entering the passenger cabin in a convertible while the top is down. Installing a wind deflector on an E46 BMW 3 Series convertible offers an interior upgrade and only takes between 10 and 15 minutes to do.

Lower the convertible top, leaving the storage lid behind the back seat headrests about 3 inches open. Locate one hole in the trim panels underneath the driver and passenger side windows of the E46 back seat for later installation of the barrel bolt.

Slide the barrel bolts on each side of the wind deflector to an upright position. Tighten the thumb screws underneath the bolts so that they are tight enough to keep the bolts in the upright position.

Extend the barrel bolt outward on the passenger's side. Lock it in place with the handle facing up. Keep the driver's side bolt in its original position.

Extend the two rear brackets located on the back of the deflector and tighten the thumb screws. These brackets extend to fit under the convertible lid you raised in Step 1.

Stand at the driver's side of the vehicle. Hold the wind deflector and insert the barrel bolt that you extended in Step 3 into the passenger's side hole noted in Step 1.

Lower the deflector so it lays flat in the rear seat area, with the top of the deflector pointing toward the back seat. Fit the rear brackets into place through the 3-inch opening of the storage lid for the convertible top.

Line up the driver's side barrel bolt with its corresponding hole. Slide the barrel bolt into the hole and turn it toward the front of the vehicle.

Push back the barrel bolts on each side to lock the wind deflector in place. Close the convertible top's storage lid to secure the wind deflector's rear brackets in place.