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Sorry for making another thread, I'd love to get both my center vent cover leather and gauge cluster cover leather refinished at the same time, so please chime in if you have had experience!
Right now I have had the foremost part unclipped, rearmost part unclipped, 2 sides on the center aren't coming out.
Originally Posted by Ray Ray
Anyone has experience removing the leather cover on the center vent?
The repair manual seemed to depict how to remove the entire center vent, with no mention of the leather cover being secured by clips or screws.
i successfully removed the speaker grille, gentle pulling suggests the leather cover is not integrated or screwed into the vent assembly, with some gentle pulling, i was able to break loose the front clips free, the rear and the side were moving but not coming free, did not want to use more force in fear of a hidden screw or additional piece needing removal.
Any suggestions?
Never realized I’m missing the design line that run across the center due to shrinkage, no wonder the repair manual seemed weird!
I removed my entire event last year, and seem to remember that the leather cover is held on by screws that go in from the underside of the vent into the bottom of the plastic to which the leather is connected.
I removed my entire event last year, and seem to remember that the leather cover is held on by screws that go in from the underside of the vent into the bottom of the plastic to which the leather is connected.
Jeff is correct. You need to remove the vent (the 6 torx screws are shown in step 11 in your pictures) and then lift the entire vent assembly out. The leather panel is attached from below.
Note - while you have the vents out apply some PTFE spray or similar low viscosity non-sticky lubricant to the two plastic gears on the outer edges that support the vent as it rises and falls. If the friction builds up there the vents wont open fully, or might jerk in operation, and it seems to need doing every few years on mine to restore nice smooth movement.
I removed my entire event last year, and seem to remember that the leather cover is held on by screws that go in from the underside of the vent into the bottom of the plastic to which the leather is connected.
Originally Posted by xdave
Jeff is correct. You need to remove the vent (the 6 torx screws are shown in step 11 in your pictures) and then lift the entire vent assembly out. The leather panel is attached from below.
Note - while you have the vents out apply some PTFE spray or similar low viscosity non-sticky lubricant to the two plastic gears on the outer edges that support the vent as it rises and falls. If the friction builds up there the vents wont open fully, or might jerk in operation, and it seems to need doing every few years on mine to restore nice smooth movement.
Thanks!! Im surprised I haven't break it haha, getting all the torx out was a struggle, my tools were either too short or too long, and there's no way to actually see the screws, fortunately they all came out at the end.
Sun went down so I'ma work on it tomorrow, I tried taking off the hinge cover and it wasn't coming out, any tip?
After removing hinge cover and front connector, it should be free, right?
I tried taking off the hinge cover and it wasn't coming out, any tip?
The hinge cover/sun sensor trim clips in as shown in your pictures, but you cannot remove it easily until the vents are also free because it is angled to slide underneath.
Likewise when assembling again, you need to loosely place the trim back in place before you put the vents fully back into position or you won't be able to slide the plastic under. Only once the vent is soundly back in place should you clip the cover back in. It doesn't need to be removed from the car, but it does need to be loose enough to lift it off the hinge pins and it is just easier with it removed.
As to removing the vent, the two torx at the front that you can see and the four on the top are all you need to remove. You can use an inspection mirror or even look in through the windscreen to check you have removed the four screws. Note the two black ones ones at the back are not the centre speaker ones - the speaker (if fitted) doesn't need to be touched. I find putting the middle/silver screws back in the hardest because the access hole is narrow and if you misalign the screw and it falls over you need a magnet to pull it back out again. I suggest doing those two first in case you need to lift the vents out again to get to a fallen screw!
The hinge cover/sun sensor trim clips in as shown in your pictures, but you cannot remove it easily until the vents are also free because it is angled to slide underneath.
Likewise when assembling again, you need to loosely place the trim back in place before you put the vents fully back into position or you won't be able to slide the plastic under. Only once the vent is soundly back in place should you clip the cover back in. It doesn't need to be removed from the car, but it does need to be loose enough to lift it off the hinge pins and it is just easier with it removed.
As to removing the vent, the two torx at the front that you can see and the four on the top are all you need to remove. You can use an inspection mirror or even look in through the windscreen to check you have removed the four screws. Note the two black ones ones at the back are not the centre speaker ones - the speaker (if fitted) doesn't need to be touched. I find putting the middle/silver screws back in the hardest because the access hole is narrow and if you misalign the screw and it falls over you need a magnet to pull it back out again. I suggest doing those two first in case you need to lift the vents out again to get to a fallen screw!
Okay I get the idea now, the hinge cover is blocked by the legs of the vent cover.
Here is how far I have gone, the 4 screws removed should be correct, pic shows the highest point I can lift the vent.
I can slide the vent half an inch fore and aft, but it doesn't lift out more.
So to remove it from this point, what do I do?
More force pulling it towards myself?
More force lifting it upward?
Top screws removed Bottom screws removed Able to lift to this point until resistance Max lift side pic
My car is in for service at the moment and one of the things being covered under warranty is the leather bubbling up like seen in your pictures. Mine almost looks the same, where the center has the edge bubbled up. JLR is replacing for free. Not sure if you were still in warranty or not.
My car is in for service at the moment and one of the things being covered under warranty is the leather bubbling up like seen in your pictures. Mine almost looks the same, where the center has the edge bubbled up. JLR is replacing for free. Not sure if you were still in warranty or not.
Good luck with the warranty! Mine expired a year before I bought it so I'm all on my own.
Good news, I got it out, hinge cover had to be lifted but the connector can be left there. There are 4 torx holding the cover to the vent, t20 this time.
Front connector is a typical push tab design, I knew what to do but was still a fight to disconnect, which leads to....:
Bad news, lost my t15 bit down there while trying to remove the connector, and when trying to fish it out, it slide behind the infotainment screen. Now this wouldn't be a huge issue normally, but I broke my backup camera to screen connectors when I did carplay install, so they are glued on with 3m tape right now. Gonna be a huge pain in the **** to move the screen out of the way and it doesn't even guarantee that I can find the bit. :icon_ rain:: icon_rain:
Nontheless happy to have it out now, probably not gonna do it again myself if I knew what I was getting into(like everything haha), way too tedious X_X, will post the result once I have all tidied up.
05-20-2021, 12:53 PM
Center vent cover removal
