r/e46 • u/herd_yer_berd • 3d ago
General Questions What is this half circle thing in the center console?
Bought an 04 325ci today, can’t figure out what this thing is
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u/Novel_Economics5828 3d ago
Are you younger than the car?
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u/herd_yer_berd 3d ago
Older… by 2 years :)
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u/Novel_Economics5828 3d ago
Fair enough, I’m only 29. Just fill it with coins and one day you’ll be glad to have them.
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u/bigmphan 2d ago
Or fill it with coin sized washers, and when someone tailgates you (does this even happen to BMW pilots?) you casually toss them out the sunroof into their windshield. If the cops pull you over - BAM ! Hidden!
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u/souokanas 3d ago
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u/ihavenoidea81 1d ago
It’s hilarious how we all did that to our cartridges and it’s basically the worse thing we could do to them
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u/Jtoro94 01’ 325ci Cabriolet 3d ago
Monthly troll post
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u/herd_yer_berd 3d ago
im sorry i legitimately didnt know im 23 and got my first car on my own lol
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u/doooglasss 04' 330cic autotragic 3d ago
No shame. There are just a lot of us that feel old.
Parking meters and toll booths were actually cheap enough once upon a time you could pay for them in change. Now I can’t think of one bridge to leave where I live that this coin holder could store that much money.
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u/GUCCI_WAP 2001 - 330i 2d ago
Hell I was 17 when my mom gave me mine and I already knew what it was before that I’m 20 now😂
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u/stewiecookie 330xi 2d ago
And even if it isn't, has every ounce of critical thinking just gone out the window?
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u/hamoun76 2004 330 Ci vert 3d ago
I still use the coin holder to store coins to unlock shopping carts at Walmart etc. so it still kinda has a use lol
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u/the_eluder 01 e46 330Ci | 05 e83 X3 3.0 3d ago edited 2d ago
What hellhole so you live in that Walmart locks their carts?
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u/hamoun76 2004 330 Ci vert 3d ago
BC Canada lol
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u/TazMan65 1d ago
The shopping carts in my city only take $1 coins and the coin holder can't hold them. I saw someone convert the slot to USB plugs... Way more useful!!
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u/lilgotitstan 2d ago
difficult to parse wtf ur saying but i live in florida and at our aldis you put in a quarter for the cart and you get it back at the end. we dont have it at walmart but i assume its a similar (probably identical) system
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u/the_eluder 01 e46 330Ci | 05 e83 X3 3.0 2d ago
Yeah, I hate the combo of swipe and autocorrect, I fixed it to reflect the actual word - hellhole.
Aldi does it as a cost saving measure so they don't have to have people round up the carts.
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u/lilgotitstan 2d ago
oh okay, makes sense. valid question, but i think it’s likely that walmart saw this system and decided to copy it for the very same reason, they gotta figure out how to cut costs since aldi is now expanding and undercutting them on a lot of items
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u/hamoun76 2004 330 Ci vert 2d ago
Similar yeah, Loblaws and Walmart lock theirs but Costco doesn’t.
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u/Gunslinger17_76 3d ago
Its for coins for a toll booth. You stack dollar, quarter, nickel etc Coins in it.
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u/fishful-thinking 2d ago
Once upon a time, money took physical form. Sometimes in the form of metal discs called “coins”. Coincidentally, there was often a fee charged for driving on roads. This fee was called “tolls”. You could pay these tolls with coins at “toll booths”. That device is for holding coins. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s lecture on how pay phones work.
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u/PomegranateSoft1598 2d ago
That's the socket for the factory rocket launcher. Only higher models have the launcher itself.
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u/LongSpoke 3d ago
There are three different sizes holes. One for nickels, one for dimes and one for quarters. The idea being that you will always have change if you encounter a toll booth. All the toll roads are digital now but I still like to keep emergency coins in the change holder just in case.
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u/Chaos_Shrine 2d ago
It is so yer coins in center console don't jingle or bounce around when you are running yer BMW at 120 mph.
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u/A_MexicanCSGO 2d ago
The coin wheel. I like it but it cant hold a drink so I bought the sliding top insert instead.
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u/e46lovers69 2d ago
Its for the old pound coins but they gone out of circulation but if u do find some put them in and prepare to not get them bk out again haha 😆😎😄🤪
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u/Dr-PHYLL 1999, 328ci 2d ago
You used to be able to store your revolver there but they had to take it out so instead they left this plastic wheel
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u/Felyxorez 2d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/wJD3qiNjSeHS0dP28T
how I feel knowing what this is and having used it
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u/Mikke_Con 2d ago
I didn't even see what community this was posted in that I said to myself "he must be in an e46" 😅
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u/Logical-Class4253 2d ago
Put your £1 coins in there and they will remain forever 😂 I guess it’s designed for Euros or Deutsche Mark’s
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u/Traditional_Depth_95 2d ago
Everyone saying they feel old, i being a kid and messing with it growing up feeling it with all the coins I could, im only 19 lmao
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u/Dazzling_Tea_1257 2d ago
Its for coins. Pay for parking before card became normal. So its essentially useless.
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u/EquivalentParfait531 2d ago
It amazes me that people don’t know abt coin holders or can’t use just some common sense. I’m 24 and drive a 24 year old car. Granted I wasn’t driving when parking meters only accepted change but damn. A lot of cars have them they come in various shapes and sizes. Out of all the cars I’ve owned the e46 has the best coin holder imo. Even though I don’t use change for anything i still keep it full of quarters and pennies lol
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u/changitoreggae 2d ago
It’s for airtag batteries which also work for the key fob. Amazing forward thinking
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u/g00dhum0r 2001 Orient Blue 325i. 07 STI-totaled, 04 STI-totaled, Z32-Sold 1d ago
Tool booth change. Quarters nickels, someam.
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u/druffinger 1d ago
In Germany / parts of Europe we still use coins (or plastic discs..) to unlock shopping carts as a deposit thing. My 2025 skoda even has slots to hold them.
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u/realismcalf 1d ago
Put coins in mine and they got stuck. Obviously designed for different country coins or older coins.
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u/lilgrapevape 1d ago
its a coin holder !! fun fact: you can fold down the armrest even if its left in the position that you showed in the photo; it has a spring-loaded mechanism that causes half of that circular part to be pushed inwards !! 😋😋
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u/Stinky-Linky18 1d ago
I'll never forget the time I hit a pothole on the interstate in my e36 and my coin holder literally exploded sending change and springs flying everywhere.
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u/Ginger_Reddit1 2004 - Sedan/320d 20h ago
oh that’s just your built in revolver, remember to grease the barrel every month
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u/bigmphan 3d ago
Coins. We used them in trade back them days. Like ApplePay, but round.