Help Please:

Okay I did a search and was able to find how to remove the center console. But that is not what i was looking for.

As oopposed to buying the stick on console kits I was going to send the silver interior pieces out to get Hydrographics overlay that one of our forum members offers. But I cannot find how to take the silver pieces off of the console. I do not want to send the entire consol when all I am doing is getting the silver outsides covered.

Can someone direct me to an instructional on how to remove the silver pieces in our interior. Trust me I did search before asking for help

 

lift trim around shifter with plastic wedge.
lift window control trim piece
Open the armrest glove box and remove two screws at the back of the lid, two 10mm bolts at the bottom under the carpet liner (small micro screws under lid to remove silver top)
Remove screw at the front edge of console just behind shifter. Lift out console (small micro screws from underneath to remove solver trim
Remove radio with Mercedes radio keys
Remove screws that hold in bezel inside radio opening
Remove two screws below switch panel
Pop out main trim panel
Remove two crews from under vent...remove vent
Remove screws above switch panel/ashtray...remove (you may have to push the sides of the stalk to be able to wiggle free)

 

Infinity:

Thanks so much for the prompt and thorough reply. Very complete instructions.

I knew how to remove the trim around radio, it was the console and ashtray silver ttrim that was concerning me. I will look at those pieces in the way you directed.

Thanks so much

 

Infinity:

I followed your instructions to the "T" on how to remove the silver trim pieces and your guidance was so detailed it was a piece of cake. But I got hung up on what matter.

In removing the console
I saw all of the screws but I could not get the consol past the emergency brake lever. The rubber and plastic around the lever is to thick to slide thru the hole. So, I cannnot pull the consol from the car. Does the plastic surrounding the emergency brake lever come off. I did not want to tear anything up

 

Yes it comes off, lubricate it with soapy water or WD40 first.
Be careful pulling on it so that you do not punch yourself in the face.

 

Okay thanks 180 and Infinity.

I am making progress. I got the center consol off thanks to you guys instructions on how to remove the brake lever boot. So all of the silver trim is off of the center consol (armrest area).

I pulled the radio and locate two screws in the top roof portion of the bin holding the silver trim surrounding the radio bin. However I still could not get the lower part of the silver loose after removing those two screws. I could not see any other screws in the bin area holding the silver trim in place. Are there screws I am missing besides the two in the top of the radio bin roof holding the dash trim in place. For the life of me I cannot see what else is holding the lower portion of the trim in place (talking about the portion above the ashtray and airbag slot.

Any further help would be greatly appreciated

 

As long as you got the two above the radio you should be good unless you have an aftermarket unit. The cage that holds the head unit needs to be removed as well in that case. Usually it's just a couple of tabs. The only other thing is the switches for the heated seats etc, they snap onto that silver trim so if they are caught up on something it may seem stuck. Get some slack on the cables and you should be good otherwise each one of the switches has two tabs (one on the top, one on the bottom. You should be able to punch them together one at a time to get the block of switches released.

 

Airscape:

That was the key!! For the life of me I could not get the radio bezel off the car. But your suggestion to remove the radio cage did the trick. Once i released the cage the bezel dislodged like magic.

The only two pieces now holding me up are these: I got the ashtray, airbag, and lighter lower cabinets out of their slots. I found how to remove the silver front from the airbag compartment. But for the life of me I cannot figure out how the silver front comes off of the cigarerete lighter compartment and the sliding tray compartment.

Airscape or anyone else who have painted these pieces could you tell me how they come off

 

If you have it out of the car it's easy. The cage that the airbag cover goes over and the lighter surround is all one piece, they come off together. You should see how it all snaps on to the larger assembly. If I remember correctly there are large square holes on each corner, just press the tabs in and it should pop off. You can kind of tell by the silver overspray what needs to come off.

The ashtray door is not bad. Basically flip it down and you will see the metal rod that is holding it on. You just need to push that pin out, think toy car wheels. I can't remember what side to push it out from but I want to say inside. If you look closely one end of the bar is fatter than the other, that side is the one you have to push towards as it will not fit through the hole if you push the other way. I think I used an ice pick or something to get it started.

 

Airscape::

You are correct on the slide tray. I saw the rod and I figured it had to be pushed thru. But I wanted to be sure.

The airbag and lighter trays pose more difficulty. You are correct about the two square tabs on the back. But they only release the airbag tray. I pushed in the 2 tabs and the airbag tray cover came off so simply.

But that still leaves me with the lighter tray. I see absolutely nothing, no tabs or nothing to release that cover. the 2 tabs only released the airbag cover. Do you think the lighter tray needs to be pryed off?

 

The lighter piece is not like the airbag cover. It is attached to the piece that the airbag cover connects to, like one big cage. Look at it as if the ashtray and the airbag+lighter are 2 separate chunks of one big piece.

Here is a link to what it looks like detached. The tabs that hold it on are similar to the airbag cover just bigger.

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...id=43906512155

 

Airscape:

Okay, now I see what you are talking about. The picture you cited said it all. The lighter cover is part of the cage belonging to the airbag tray. Would have never figured it out had you not provided the cover.

Air: One last question, how do i get the cigeratee lighter out of its hole, does it screw out or unplug from the back. Could not figure out how that becomes disengaged

 

That is a PITA, there are 2 small clips way up close to back of the hole, you can use 2 small screwdrivers or something to pinch them and push the plug out the front, takes some maneuvering but pops out easy after you get it right.

 

Airscape:

The silver door handle we have in our cars. I removed the front plate of the silver bar. Removed the door panel and I see where the back part of the bar is attached. But there is nothing holding it on. I went to remove the back part of the silver bar but it does not budge. I did not want to force it because i did not want to break anything. Does that back portion come out of the door panel or do people simply paint or cover just the front part.

The silver trim on the cup holder. How is that front plate removed

 

Most just do the front i think, to get the back off I am pretty sure you have to remove the whole panel and remove something holding it on from the back side. I could not find a clear answer on a quick search though. Check here for a thread about a broken one. There are some pics that may help, one comment at the bottom says you don't have to remove the panel but no specifics. It can be done though as people have replaced them. It may be like a 2 piece connector or something?? I always thought it was just bolted on from the back. (Mine are still silver)

I did not remove the cupholder piece, just taped around it and sprayed. I did not want to risk messing with the wonky engineering of that thing, I would honestly send to whole part, from my understanding of the process they would only dip it in far enough to cover that section anyway so no biggie if its not removed. Your other option is to leave it out and install the storage bin instead.

 

The rear handle part is locked in I believe with tabs and is easily removed when the door panel is removed. Some say it is glued in, as others have removed it I would say no glue.
The trim around the cup holder comes out with the cup holder after removing the console and unscrewing the cup holder from the rear.

 

Airscape:

That was great advice about the cupholder. I do not relish dissembling the piece. I will tell the guy to dip the silver part only if he can. If not, I will go with the bin as you suggest.

 

I have scoured this forum but am still stumped. The lower edge of the front-center silver trim panel around the blower/radio/lower switch bank is loose on my XF. I want to remove JUST the silver trim panel to see why it's loose. I THINK it just clips onto the black plastic cage that holds everything in place that sits behind it - I DO NOT want to remove that cage. If I grasp the lower edge of the silver panel I can pull it forward maybe half an inch. Note that the lower switches remain stationary, confirming that the silver trim is a separate piece. I have removed the radio and the two screws that sit behind the upper edge of the radio "hole" but these screws appear to fix the black plastic cage, referred to above, to the car itself. Looking at the diagram in the Nav Radio Installation procedure pdf posted elsewhere on this forum suggests that I need to simply lever out the trim panel at the top/sides. But this pdf suggests that the silver trim panel and the rear black plastic cage are one piece, when they are not. By removing the silver trim piece, I also hope to be able to loosen the two screws that hold the upper air-vent unit and straighten it up - the misalignment bugs me! I will try to attach a photo to illustrate my problem.

 

The silver faceplate is welded to a black backing plate and the backing plate has, the two screw holes in it, two retaining clips at the top, 1" in from each side and two retaining clips, one on each side 1" up from the bottom.
There are clips in the backing plate that each hold a switch or a switch holding plate. With the screws removed the faceplate is pried out with the plastic trim pry bars above or beside the clips.
When you move the bottom silver part out the switches should move with it, if so the bottom right retaining clip has been broken.
From what I see the black backing plate has separated from the faceplate in that corner as the switches appear to be in the correct position.

Attached is the rear view of the faceplate.

 

Spot on 180! Now that I can see how it's all put together, I'm sure that I can get it apart, then re-glue the silver plate to the backing plate. Yes, a previous owner has fitted an after-market radio and I suspected that something had been damaged in the process. Thanks again - this forum is the business!