Had the same problem, took the cup holder out, removed the spring and BAM was fixed. Though afterwards in noticed the top of the cup holder, when closed, was no longer flush with the rest of the console. To solve this a glued a small piece of plastic in the back to basically function as a stopper. Problem solved

To open the cup holder I just push down on the back of it and to close it i just press the catch in. Manual operation now sure, but it looks as good as it did and still works as a cup holder.