If you have an older XK with the side trim, you can remove it like on the newer XK's.
It's held on only with adhesive.
However, 10-year old adhesive is a pain to remove, and it took me 5 hours a lot of goo-gone and some sore fingernails to finally get all of it off. But as you can see, it was worth it!
Before:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...e/PICT4755.jpg

After:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...e/PICT4788.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...e/PICT4790.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...e/PICT4789.jpg

 

Nice job! It looks really smooth now!

 

That does look pretty good. Was the side trim just to prevent the car from being dented or was it for design puposes. Also, after removing it was there like reside or did that all come off with the goof off.

 

It's hard to say whether it was for design purposes or not. I think it was for just preventing door dings, and happened to be well enough designed that it didn't detract too badly from the overall look of the car. However, the newer XK8's come without the trim, so it was probably deleted for aesthetics. The newer your XK, the easier it will be to pull off the trim, as the tape hardens with age. Some pieces pulled the residue off with them, but most required hours of work with goo-gone to take off the remaining tape.