My Alcantara headliner is starting to sag. I'm currently redoing the headliner in my Maserati and the reason that one failed is that the material separates from the foam backing. In this case, I am changing the material to something new, as well as all a b and c pillars, so I don't care about the old headliner.

But on the xj, is it the same situation, and I would not be able to reuse/reglue my sagging headliner? Because I was hoping to just reuse the old material on the XJ as I like it. If it is, then I have to find the same or similar material to match.

 

Have you considered doing a search (advanced, to restrict it to the X351) for headliner?
I just did a quick one, and found a few, including one a few months ago, and a pretty in-depth one about a year ago (among others).
As far as it separating from the foam backing, I don't know of any headliner that could be re-glued to a new (is there any available?) foam backing without ruining it.
You could always re-glue the existing liner to the panel, but with the effort of removing the panel, unless it's become a real hooptie, why not do it right?
Headliner including Alcantara isn't that expensive and doesn't need to be replaced often.

 

Hey Silver,
Look over at the X150 forum. Someone just reused their alcantra headliner; believe renewed the foam

(I am considering a 2015 XJ to replace my '07 XJR (which got a new headliner last year). Guess I was hoping Jag had fixed the sagging headliner issue in these newer cars...

 

Well since I stand corrected (yet again, a habit I need to break!), the least I can do is point to what I think is the very helpful post that hisport referred to:
Headliner Refurbish - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

It really does look like a good, informative & helpful guide that it can (and maybe should) be done...
I may be using the post for a reference myself before too long.

Thank you for pointing to which sub-forum this helpful post could be found!

 

Hey, so I've done this. It's a giant pain in the ***. You need to take the front windshield out to get it out and then back in. Take it to a local upholstery shop and see what they quote you for, you will need new fabric with a backing for the best look, and you will need to clean/decontaminate the headliner board before doing anything.

 

Sorry I respectfully disagree and have done at least 6 or 8 headliners. Never on an XJ but did on my old S-Type which has the same instruction in the shop manual. Only use new material and foam. Heat is what kills headliner glue and they are all the same regardless of the price of the car. One other tip is like a lot of repairs preparation is the key. You will have a lot of failed foam to remove from the backer board. Take you time and do they best you can at this. Do not damage the backer board! It can be repaired but the headliner material is like a mirror and anything behind the material will show thru!

Also yes the factory says you must remove the windshield and sometimes they also claim you need to remove the rear window too. Nobody does that. Find a headliner shop as they do this everyday and I will guarantee you they will not be removing either the front or rear glass. Way too much expense and you have a almost 100% chance of breaking your old glass upon removal. In fact what you will find is all the shops that will attempt to remove the front or rear wind screens will always tell you it's on you If they break it taking it out you buy a new one.

Another tip is to completely remove the passenger side front seat. Some just recline it as flat as possible but you will be bending the head liner as it's removed and trying to prevent it from kinking so you want maximum room. If it does kink you can smooth it back out and an upholstery steamer can be very helpful to make it lay back down nice. It's a job I let the pro's do if possible but it will help them a lot if you get the seat out of the way.

As always if you have a LWB car use that massive rear door opening!
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I am trying to repair the sagging headliner issue. I have a 2013 XJL 5.0. It's really bad in the back. I've seen the headliner repair for other Jag model posts, but none specific to X351. My goal is to follow the manual posted as well as reasonably possible, but also add back the foam (which is not replaced in the guide posted). I'm hoping someone that has done this can share some of their experience.

1. The XJ repair manual says to disconnect the battery to do the headliner replacement. Is this correct/necessary?? If I disconnect the battery, don't I need some equipment to reconnect/not have some error created I can't clear??
2. I have seen that you can reuse the suede after cleaning. Does anyone explicitly have experience doing this on the X351?
3. Has anyone successfully removed the headliner without damage without taking out the windshield or rear glass (as stated in the repair manual)?
4. Has anyone replaced the foam? If so, how thick/where did you purchase? If this was successful, did you glue the foam to the headliner first, or to the suede?
5. What general advice would you give???

THANKS!

 

- Headliner material is bonded foam and fabric

- Take an A pillar cover to auto upholstery supply shop and match; also buy aerosol adhesive; 3 cans

- Remove headliner card through RR door; remove rear and RF seats first

- If you're not handy and resourceful, best farm this job out

- There's a complex harness above the card; always disc bat before anything else

 

Does this apply to both the XJ and XJL?
I don't believe the XJ rear door is as wide as the XJL's.

 

It will work.
I've done many headliners and always removed out the rear doors. Just lay the seats all the way down..bend it a bit and slide right out

 

When you say "bend it a bit", while that works for probably 99% of the people, when I try to carefully and slowly bend something, odds are I'll manage to get it almost where I needs it to be, then... break....
So I guess I'm too often in that 1%.
Also I understand it works in most vehicles, but in this case I'm looking for specific experience, specific to the short wheel base XJ (X351).
So when you say you've done many headliners, are you saying many headliners of the X351 short wheel base (Not XJL).

 

An XJ headliner is NOT that special lol. Same material.
plus the headliner isn't that big. There is NO other way to remove it... unless you remove the windshield. You decide which route you'd rather take.

A SWB XJ has much larger rear doors that most cars. Including the last Jetta I've done.

I have to do my car. I'm switching colors from tan to black. I have to find the sunroof shades in black. My upholstery shop says you can't change the fabric and have to replace the entire shade assembly. Dealer quoted me $900 each lol

 

Last year I had to do this job on my 2012 XJL and went through all the threads on the internet related to this topic. I wanted to replace my Ivory colored trim since mine was in bad shape from the previous owner. I faced multiple problems during the whole process. I will try to explain them in short.

At first I wanted to change the fabric with one that was as close as possible. Where I live this is not a very expensive job(around 500eur) but as I understood there weren’t any suitable options for fabrics and colors that are close to the original color. The other problem was that I had to remove the headliner by myself in order to be sure that someone else will not damage it in the proces.

After long days of searching the internet I did not found any suitable material. I started removing the old fabric from the B pillars and this ended up being way harder than I was expected it to be. In the end I managed to find a salvage 2014 car with like new interior. I bought a lot of parts for my car and the seller agreed to sell me the headliner and all the trim for 250euro. This was the easier task.



My car came from the US to Europe with a broken windshield and the guys in the garage replaced it on the next day, before knowing that it needs to be removed again in order for the headliner to go out of the car. There is only one way this headliner can go out of the car without the risk of damaging it and it is through the windshield.

However there is another way involving more than one person and a high risk of damaging the headliner. This is what I did - removed all the front and back seats, removed the center console and even the front passenger door. The disassembly is not that hard and takes not more than hour. The problem however is to remove the headliner from the car without bending it too much. Even with everything out of the car(including the removed door) this is a tough job requiring two people. There is no way the headliner can go out through the back door. Maybe for the SWB there is a slight possibility, but I tried everything on my XJL and it was impossible.

After removing my headliner by disassembling the majority of the interior I paid a guy to remove the windshield from the salvaged car where I took the replacement headliner from. It was a much easier job and I didn’t wanted to risk to damage the replacement headliner twice. The process of putting it back in the car was a little bit easier, but still very tricky and you have to be patient and very careful. It needs to be bent a lot to go through the door.

So in short let me answer your questions:
1.There are a few connectors that you will disconnect in order to remove the headliner. It is always recommended to disconnect the battery before doing such things.
2.I would not recommend reusing the same material. You need new foam and after that you need to glue the old fabric to it. The glue will soak into the fabric and the end result will not be good. Also the fabric wont fit that well anymore to the new foam.
3.Yes, but it is was not the easiest job like you can see.
4.I would not recommend that.
5.I will suggest to find Alcantara/Dinamica that you like and is as close as possible to the original color and to do it properly with the new material.
Here is a helpful article what are the differences between the different fabrics:
https://www.drbeasleys.com/blog/2016...Jqevb2EBM-gt0x

Good luck

 

Is it possible to dye the Alcantra? Want to change the B pillar from light gray to black or tan.