John: It looks as if you and your brother have really been bitten by the X-(insert number here) bug! The photos were great and thanks for sharing. I'm very impressed at your ability to do so much mechanical work. I would like to do more work on my car but I don't have a garage, so I just do piddly little things myself. I've done pads before on the xj40 in my parking lot and some other small stuff, and a friend with a 3-car garage, a lift, air compressor, five Corvettes and four muscle cars helped me do shocks, pads and rear subframe bushings on my '97 X300L. The subframe was a real pain, mostly because we had to take it down three times while we figured out the right way to press the bushings in.

Thanks for posting the picture of how to get to the screws on the armrest/cupholder. I really don't have any issues with the spring strength on the armrest that I can think of. I open it so infrequently and I've never considered it as an issue or thought about it. I mostly raise the lid about a half inch on occasion to slip an iPhone charging cord under the lid to hold the cord out of the way of the seatbelt. I have the front power unit devoted to my XM radio and pull power for my phone/google maps or whatever off one of the rear power sources.

Your photos of burning Jags, including yours, make me think about getting a small extinguisher and putting it in the trunk. Clearly a gasoline fire is hot enough to ignite aluminum.

Best regards.

Eliot

 

Mine came in today.

Smooth finish, just like the rest of the console. Genuine leather.

Score!

Date Code: 2008

Sweet......

Is getting installed tomorrow. Can't wait...

 

Wow!
Which color option did you choose?

 

Abonano! Same question regarding color. I wrote the seller asking if hd had any black leather or access to some. The one I recieved is dated 2008 also, is a tad smoother than the one Ben Wilcox received, but the label put any question to rest.

 

Warm Charcoal

 

I installed today.

Didn't get a chance to snap a pic of the label but my new one (label) looked the same as the one coming out of my console.

My label was different,.

I'll try and snap a photo of the original console lid label for comparison.

 

My replacement cover arrived today, six days after placing the order!!!

A quick question: The color is a dead solid perfect match for my interior so I can just swap out the top units and avoid taking out the console. But ... What the heck is this fastener? A teeny tiny torx? maybe 1/16"

And, if that's right, after going out to buy one so I can release the two screws in the lid, I'll take any guidance anyone cares to offer regarding extracting the spring mechanism out of the old lid and sliding it into the new one. Does getting those fasteners/screws out of the lid create enough play in the back end of the plastic liner to extract it?

FYI: my unit shows a date of 09.10.03 and says it's "autolux." It appears almost smooth but on very close inspection has a very fine mottled pattern, just like the one in the car.

Again, multitudinous thanks to everyone here who has walked this ground before.

Eliot

this is as reasonably close in as I could get on one of the two the fastener/screw? things that hold the plastic underside to the upper part of the console cover. Looks like a star-shaped bit is necessary???

 

I think it's a T10 torx.

Do the right thing.

Remove the console. It's easy. 4 bolts and swap out the entire console cover assembly. You'll be glad you did.

It's hard meddling trying to swap out parts. Install the new assembly. I'm real glad I took the extra time to take the entire console out.

The assembly is held in by 5 - T10 torx bolts.

Only do them hand tight!

 

I followed your advice. The console came out easily (4 T-30 screws, two front, two rear), though I had some trouble with some of the electrical connections. I spent considerable time figuring out how to make the parts swap once I had the console on a working surface in my basement. More on that in a second.

If I were to do this over again, I would give serious consideration to just using a T-10 bit to free the existing top from the frame/hinge already in the console. Do the same with the new unit, then just reattach the new console top/cup holder to the existing hinge frame. It would have saved me a ton of time. Downside is I would have a 14-years old hinge, but have gained a couple hours of my time.

But that said, the advice I would give anyone else doing this job with the console out, once you’ve undone the five T-20 screws (yeah, T-20) on the interior to release the spring mechanism, and then popped loose the alleged storage tray to permit the extraction of the old console cover and its spring: in reassembling things — 1) maneuver the single screw part of the frame that goes in the back of the console into place but don’t screw it down or do so loosely. 2) figure out how to get the portion of the frame with the two screws closest together (near the back of the console) into place with the back of the spring and fastened loosely down, and then 3) insert the old storage tray into place and maneuver the spring frame’s two outermost screw holes and their adjacent pins into place to line up with the screw receptacles on the storage lid underside, then fasten those down fully, circling back around to make sure the others are well fastened hand tight.

I’ll reinstall everything in the morning. I ran out of daylight this evening.

Thanks again to all for the help.

Eliot



To black fasteners closest together are toward the rear of the console. The two further apart are where the new top fastens both to the new spring hinge and the underside of the storage tray that is revealed when the cup-holder/top is opened. There’s room in that storage area for a couple of packs of hearing aid batteries!

Finished product, ready to reinstall after refastening the grille missing from lower cutout.

 

Ben - your replacement pics look great and I think you mentioned 2004 as your original. I have an 2004 XJ8 LWB with rear climate control so just wanted to check if it will fit.

Also, if any of you know the answer, it would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

 

Yes mine is also a 2004 LWB with 4-zone climate, and it fits just fine.

Ben

 

Yes, direct fit

 

Thanks Ben.