I did read the posting regarding how to add / replace the padding in the armrest, and it is very helpful. It inspired me to go after the one in my new XKR.

However, mine has bigger issues than a loss of padding. On top of the leather being slightly loose and wrinkled, it is worn through the color and finish, down to the "raw" leather, and looks pretty ratty.

That brings me to my first questions. I see new leather coverings on ebay for around $60. Has anyone got one of these? Do they fit OK and seem to be of good quality? If not I'll just see a few local upholstery places about making me one.

Next, when I opened the console to remove the armrest, I saw that the black plastic plate on the bottom of the armrest is broken into about 5 pieces. Is there a source for this short of buying a new armrest?

On the plus side, my cupholders work flawlessly! If they were broken as well I'd just get one of the all new ones from ebay, but $280 seems sort of pricey for what it is.

 

You can get the entire armrest new, including cupholder on ebay for about $130:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=jag....c0.m270.l1313

That may be your best bet.

 

The problem is I don't see any in my color code, SDZ, for $130. If there was, I'd be all over it. The only one in that color is from Pauls Jaguar, and is over double that price.

That's why I am leaning towards new leather and hoping to find a good bottom part for mine.

 

I need to do some similar work on my armrest, but I couldn't find the post you refer to. Could you post a link, please?

 

Did you try contacting that seller directly? He seems to have a lot of them, and has been selling these for some time now.

Here it is: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...hlight=armrest

 

Excellent. Thanks for your quick reply. My armrest looks almost as bad as the black one in your how-to. I have added the restore to my 'stuff-to-do-on-the-Jag' list

 

Frog...Glad to help...please post a before and after picture for us once you get it done !

 

I'm still looking for the cheap way out, and getting some conflicting information.

Does anyone know for sure if the XK armrest is the same as the one in the XJ? I know the consoles are different, but the armrest looks the same.

 

Well, I gave it a go yesterday, but strangely it didn't really solve the problem. I added some 2mm-thick padding and the armrest is a lot more comfortable, but the wrinkles in the leather didn't appear to be caused by the OE foam (which looked 99% intact). I will keep at it with leather conditioner and see if that does the trick.

 

I am wondering if there was enough foam to 'pressure' out the wrinkles. My total added foam thickness was about 8mm for the armrest and 4mm for the cupholder.

 

I'm by no means a jag purist so I opted to pull the entire cover off and make an insert that would fit our life style better than the factory. I can still put the factory piece back in. But this insert fits down in the same slots as the cd/cassettes use. Plus it will hold two large drinks.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...p?albumid=2296

 

I started out by adding a thick slab of foam (about 8mm) to see what it looked like, but it bulged out the armrest too much and didn't look nice. I tried pulling and stretching the affected area of the leather on its own, but even then there was little to no affect on the wrinkles. Not to worry, it wasn't a big deal and I have at least got enhanced elbow comfort now

 

If the top leather was 'worn' so that was thin enough to both break the interior 'plastic', it can become discolored by the original padding that was on the other side. Mine was like that, the previous owner had a heavy elbow and it was always apparently on the same spot I've since purchased the full leather skin set, including the armrest and cupholder pieces, so it will be rebuilt better, or at least I hope so. I'll make sure my uphosterly guy makes that area more resilient.

Did you see all the leather cover replacements? I'd email the seller, and get one in your color (most offer other colors, just need to contact them), spend the $60 and just rebuilt it yourself or remove it, and drop it off with a shop while you drive the car.

 

In my case it is not worn that bad. Yes the leather is worn badly, but actually the padding seems OK, and the white plastic framework inside is fine.

It is the black plastic on the underside that is broken, almost like there was something too big in the storage compartment, and someone tried to force the lid closed.

I did end a message to the guy in Ohio with the cheaper new armrests on ebay, to see if he has a Cashmere part but I haven't heard back yet. There are also two sellers on ebay that have my color coverings for sale, I don't anticipate a problem there.

My concern is that after buying the covering, and buying parts to replace the broken stuff I may be spending close to the cost of a new part.

No worries about driving it. The XKR hasn't moved out of my garage since I bought it. It's still Winter here, and I don't expect to start driving it for about a month. I'm just getting Jag fever, and figured the armrest deal is something I can work on in the house while waiting for warmer weather.

 

Mine had fine cracks and was rippled. I re-dyed it and it really looks great now. I put three coats of dye on it and the fine lines filled in. The ripples are still there, but the color is solid so it looks like real leather to me. I'm very satisfied how it turned out.

 

OK, this is what mine looked (looks) like: imagine you remove the leather, replace the 2mm foam underlay with 2mm of Plasticine and replace the leather. Now take a toy hammer and bash the leather where the elbow goes. The dints stay there and the leather isn't quite smooth. It's only minor, but no matter how much I stretched the leather, the 'dints' wouldn't come out. It's not the foam underlay, as that appears 99% perfect.

I'm not too fussed about it though. It's not a serious problem. I would probably look to fit a new replacement leather cover, but I have ivory with contrasting charcoal stitching and that's going to be hard to source.

 

These folks might be pricey but I bet they can make one for you.

http://www.gahh.com/products_interiors.php

 

Thanks for the link, but I stopped looking when I saw that one sunvisor for a MB SLK was $438

 

I thought I had a cheap armrest from ebay to use for parts, btu got outbid at the last second by a penny!

I;m going to go ahead and order a new leather cover from ebay, and recover mine, and maybe try to glue the black part back together for now, and keep looking.

There has to be someone who bought a new armrest, to fix broken cupholders or something and still has a good bottom plate...

Anyone have an armrest for parts?

 

They look the same and I seem to remember reading somewhere that a review of the XK was critical of the holdover armrest from the XJS.