Hello, does anyone have any diagrams or instructions on how to remove the wood trim from the doors and from the front windshield area?

 

Service techs have a special plastic tool. You can purchase the tool on eBay or use a very thin piece of plastic.
To be on the safe side tape off all leather material around these parts that you want to remove. Starting from the front or the back slide that thin piece of plastic up under the wood trim and pry upward, it might take a little effort as the retainers really hold the trim piece on tight.
I am OCD so I tape off the the area of any trim I am going to use a tool on so as not to scratch or damage it.

Good Luck.....

 

I assume you're going to carbon fiber wrap the trim?

Wood fits better with my interior (London Tan) but I think CF would look incredible with some of the other colors that are out there.

I'd love to see some pics of the project, if possible - what the panels look like removed, etc, as a reference point for my speaker upgrade project.

 

Ha ! Yes exactly! I think the wood is a bit old school and im not against doing something unique if done right with no damage (but im very curious to see how the simulated 3D CF should look. It should give it a nice new age look and CF looks pretty in light.
You can take a look and see what i have done on my bentley GT trim. I made the dash area in Machine Turned aluminum wrap and it changed the look entirely( for the mulliner edition). Look below
DIY:Aluminum Wrap Dashboard and Passenger Fascia like Mulliner - 6SpeedOnline - Porsche Forum and Luxury Car Resource

 

Can you please send me link to this special plastic tool i can use?
Has anyone actually removed the trim themselves?

 

Looks great! Can't wait to see what you do with the XJ. If you need a resource for working with CF, check out the M5board, there are several threads on the topic there.

 

Im not sure there is a need, this would be simply a 3D Carbon Wrap Vinyl which is super easy to apply.

 

12pcs Set Car Door Panel Audio Video Stereo GPS Molding Removal Install Tools | eBay.webarchive:

You can improvise, you just need a plastic tool shaped like a fork, or take a thin dinner knife and cover the blade with a scotch tape or a thin tape to keep from scratching the panel or door material. I would put a slight bend towards the tip of the blade to give a little leverage when pulling out on the panel.

I have replaced the door sills and trunk finisher with the illuminated sills and the process to remove them is the same as removing the panels that you are desiring to remove.

It is just a matter of sliding a thin blade behind that panel and lifting up on it. you do have to be careful as to not brake the retainers as I do not know if they are replaceable as the retainers in the door sills and trunk finisher are.

UPDATE: On the wood door panel you can probably use your hand, just go up to where the speaker is and grip the edge of that trim with your fingers and pull out. If you cannot do it with your fingers than you will want to use one of the other methods that I mentioned but the key is to start at the front were the speaker is, this will be the same for the rear door.

The dash trim is the same start at the point were you can see the edge of the trim and pull out with your fingers or a tool, the edge of that trim is your starting point.

 

Might this be an easier way to replace the upper speakers than removing the whole door card? I'm trying to replace mine, it'd be nice to not have to take the whole door apart.

/threadjack

 

You are correct, for the upper speaker you only need to remove the wood trim. It is the trim that the OP is trying to remove and that is what my instructions are for.

 

Good luck!

Every piece of wood trim I have removed was cracked in the process. The clips are killer strong. So if you plan to cover the wood I think you will be fine because any finish cracking won't show.

I don't recommend removing any interior wood unless you absolutely have too. Just to large a risk in cracking the wood finish.
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I agree!

 

WOW!!! there goes that idea then. So do you think you over applied the pull pressure or literally every piece cracked?
Sounds like its guaranteed to crack, if so then its not worth the damage.

 

On the wood trim, have you actually took those off ? If yes, did any wood crack from it ?

 

I can only guess at this point. I had a crack in the finish so I wanted to send it off to be refinished. The wood is applied over an Aluminum casting and looks to be a high quality piece.

The panels were on so tight I really thought I was going to break them in two. I spent a while messing with them and then spent several hours on the computer looking for "tricks" to get them off. I even removed the glove box so I could get behind and push that way.

There is no trick. It just takes a great amount of force to pop those clips out.

I have removed the dash and console pieces only. The door stuff may not have the metal backing.

I got a tip from Brutal one of our factory techs. Use some Silicone grease (Bulb grease, Dielectric grease) on the clips before you reinstall them. This is for noise and I did have some creaking of the panels after I reinstalled them but that went away with time. I think the Silicone has to work in a bit to be effective.

If you do take them off try to post back with anything you think would help the next guy.
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The door panel wood/CF trim is easy to remove on the X351 XJ. The front end of the panel is pried or pulled straight out until the clips pop free.
Then the entire panel is slid towards the front of the car to unhook the panel.

Pretty easy BUT the plastic clips can and do break which can cause the panel to make noise.
Here is what they look like;




You can see the hooks that engage and then slide to capture the trim panel securely



Those white plastic clips are C2D10041 and are available from Jaguar if needed.
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