Here’s an update on this thread if anyone finds it in the future.
Today I was able to remove the rear door cards in my FL 3dr S3 in order to fit my new posh rear leather arm rests to match my swanky fronts. Special thanks to
@Potterswheel for assisting me with some Elsawin screenshots.
For the 3dr model, it’s a pig of a job. I imagine it’s similar for the Cabrio too. Anyway, I spent all day on it. My thumb is also sore from when I was prying a bit of trim off and I slipped. Is it worth it? Yes for sure, but it’s definitely a big job.
In a nutshell, first you need to remove the false floor from the boot/trunk, the subwoofer, spare wheel, and polystyrene car jack tool holder. Next job is to remove the rear seat bench/squab. To do this remove the iso fix plastic covers (the flap and the shroud), and then firmly pull the base up at the two edges. Once the front of the base is released, push the edge of each side inwards to release the spring loaded catches and remove from the vehicle.
Next part is to remove the seat back. It’s in two parts. Fold the seat back so they are both flat, and there are two plastic covers you need to pry/remove from the middle, (between the two seat backs). Once they’ve been removed you’ll reveal a T25 Torx screw. Remove the screw and the metal bracket. Put the seats back upright, and then lift from the central pivot (where that screw was). That will release one side of the seat back. Then push the seat from the car body edge inwards to slide off the seatback from a pivot point. That’s one half of the seat out. Do the same with the other side. Note: the larger seat back (60/40 split), has a seatbelt on it. No probs but you need to unclip the electric wire from the seat belt buckle (that’s the rear seatbelt and rear passenger occupancy detector). Then, unscrew the seat belt buckle from the car body (17mm nut).
Then you need to remove the lower front door trim that runs along the base of the door. It forms part of the rear passenger cup holder. Pry that up using a trim tool, and then once the four clips are removed from the tread plate area, you can slide the whole thing forwards towards the front of the car to release it all. It comes out as one long piece.
Above - put your trim pry tool between the car body and the door card where the green blobs are. These blobs are all metal clips. Start at the bottom and release each one, one at a time. Then, put your hands in the door bin (where the two blue blobs are) and yank to release those clips. Then release the B pillar trim from the top of the door card, which allows you to get behind the top of the door card and pull (orange blobs) to release those clips. Ideally you should remove the rear carpeted boot/trunk but I found if you removed the T30 torx screw from the grille (above the rear boot light), and the plastic lower L shaped bracket (circled yellow) that surrounds the boot polystyrene car-jack (1 x 10mm nut in front, and 1 x 10mm bolt at the rear after you pry the top off), there was enough flex in the rear carpeted boot side panel to allow you to remove the door card. Don’t forget to unclip the rear speaker tweeter once the door card has been released from the car body, and then remove the sound deadening material (it unclips easily).
Then, you can take the door card to your work area to install the new arm rest (same process as the fronts). Drill out the 12 plastic rivets with a 6.5mm drill bit. Drill enough to remove the head, and then stop. Use a flat blades screwdriver to flick off any stubborn pieces of plastic rivet that remain attached after the drilling, and the arm rest will almost just fall off.
Once the new arm rest has been placed into position, you’ll need to use 12 flanged self-tappers and 12 washers. These were 1/2 inch in length. The washers were from my washer box. Not the best photo below, but you get the idea.
After that, you need to refit the door card but don’t forget to reattach the sound deadening, AND clip in the rear tweeter cable. Ask me how I know……grrrrr!!!
In good old Haynes style, refitting is a reversal of removal. It actually is. Don’t be a cowboy and before you put your swanky new door card on, vacuum out all the fluff and dust from behind the door card and the seat base. I didn’t find any money sadly but I did find a plastic lug in the door bin of one. No idea where it’s from - I didn’t put it there.
Time to admire your work, clear up and grab a cool beer from the fridge.
