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Ultimate Cupholder™

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The stock cup holders in most BMWs are useless and I couldn't find an after-market cup holder that worked well and wasn't way over-priced, so finally I designed one myself. It's a nicer version of one that I made a long time ago. I've used it in all three of the BMWs that I've owned (E34, E36, and E39). It's the best approach for a practical cup holder that I've found yet for the 5 Series cars.

It's a simple, one-piece, all-metal design, made from 20 guage 304-grade stainless steel. It's large enough to actually be useful in the real world. Unlike the stock cupholders, it's basically indestructable - no moving parts or little plastic pieces to break. I tried a number of more complex approaches, but, as in the case of many things, the most simple seems to work best. (It's a cup holder - how complicated does it need to be?)

It fits under the edge of the center console as shown in the picture below.

Installation and removal are easy - it just slips in and out. Requires no alteration at all to the car.

I think this is the optimal location in these cars as opposed to others that mount along the center console or armrest areas. Here it's out of the way and inconspicuous, but still easily accessible. It's the only the ONLY spot that I've found that doesn't take any useable space or restrict any typical functions of the car. Also, if a spill does happen, it will be on your mats, not on any person or electronics. It works on both the driver's and passenger's sides in this same location.

Works great. Holds anything from 12 oz. cans, to one-liter bottles. Stands up to just about anything that you can throw at it short of rolling the car without spilling. No more reaching over to hold/catch things when cranking through a hard turn!

More examples are shown here.

The holder is sized to fit most standard drink containers. The arms can be bent out or in to better fit anything larger or smaller. The curves of the arms naturally accept containers, and the height and span are optimally sized to hold the widest possible range of items. Basically, you can just drop things into it, and they'll stay put. Smaller containers like cans fit more loosely, but they will NOT spill (within reason at least). The felt lining prevents any rattles. The center of gravity and holding force are down low where they need to be to keep things in place. Also provides for improved safety in the event of an accident since containers are less likely to launch.

I have these CNC cut by laser, and then form and finish them by hand. Even though you don't really see them much in use, I wanted something that looked nice enough to put into the cars. I think it came out pretty well. If interested, you can get one here: BMW cup holders at http://www.ultimatecupholders.com. They also work with Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, Acura NSX and other cars with a similar console arrangement.

And, yeah I know I have way too much time on my hands... thanks. ; )