W124 folding armrest with storage help

[Indyz12]

Hi Guys. Ive just bought a genuine 124 armrest with storage. I want to re-trim it in grey to match my interior (its black at the moment).
So ive removed all of the screws on the internal plastics, the main section popped out of the main body without any fuss, but the lid won't sepperate from the plastic. When i try to force it, im afraid it will break.

Help will be appreciated! I will post pics of what i mean later if you dont know what i mean.

I want to install my handfree kit inside and run the wiring all hidden.


Thanks!

 

[millo777]

Are you trying to remove the upholstered section of the lid from the plastic section?

It looks like there are 5 screws holding it together, and of course you'll need to remove both check straps and the small gas strut. after that I can only guess you'd need to pry the upholstered section away form the plastic. As you can tell, I haven't removed this on mine.

re fitting the phone kit, this is doable, but a total pita. The existing phone wiring is more or less impossible to remove. I gave up in the end.

The only way I found to get additional wires into it, was drilling a hole through the side. There is just enough room to avoid damagign the folding mechanism inside the area where the folding mech exits the armest. There is a section where cover is held with velcro that allows you to peel the cover back slightly. I guess not so much os a problem if you're havignit re-trimmed anyway.

It's also worth noting that the rear section of the base of the armrest, surrounding the mech is actually metal, so it'd not as easy to drill as you might imagine.

I'd be interested to know how you get on.

And also how much it ends up costing for the retrim. Mine is a colour match for my interior, but it appears to be vinyl, not leather so would be interested to look at getting retrimmed in leather.