It’s literally one of the worst things I’ve had to do. That took more time than putting the double din kit in or even the 4 channel mod. I had to order a whole new lighter insert assembly because I destroyed it. It doesn’t look like it comes apart at all.

Edit. I for some reason thought you were talking about the lighter assembly but yes the ash tray sucked as well. I’m surprised it didn’t snap in half with all the pressure you have to use to get it out. One thing I found is the bottom two screws if taken out you can pull the bottom part outwards for better fitment when putting everything else back together. Also my little light for the ash tray was fried like I’m sure 99% of all other XF owners are. I put a nice T10 LED in there. I positioned it to where it shines up under the shifter, nice little ambiance at night.