I looked on the net, but could not find any advise of how to remove the carpet from an X-Type. Thus, here is how I did it (today)…

Three month ago I bought my X (No.3), a 2004 AWD 2.5L, metallic green (HGZ). I already fixed up nearly everything mechanical (all fluids, new cam-gaskets, new brake caliper gaskets, new Denso TT sparks), but my wife was still not prepared to drive it, as the previous owners where quite messy – to put it politely: Even after removing the cabin air filter and giving the A/C a treatment with A/C cleaner foam, there was still a little bit of a smell lingering, even though I cleaned the rough mess already up with a vacuum cleaner (finding some coins in the process as always when I buy another used car… ). Hence, “alea jacta est”: I had to not only remove the headliner (which was quite dirty and sagging) to apply a new layer of headliner fabric, but I also had to remove the complete carpet to be able to clean it with a water pressure cleaner and laundry-detergent. I am doing the carpet first, the headliner (and C-pillar- and A-pillar- and other covers in the back) later.

So step one: removing the rear seat to be able to clean it with a water pressure cleaner and “Gumption” (a magical household cleaning paste, which I can buy here in Australia) and same with the front seats.

Note that there are airbags in the seats! Watch this to be forewarned:


So it is a quite good idea to disconnect the battery first. It’s up to you – not my responsibility. I, however, did not remove the battery hoping that “Ignition OFF” would suffice…) - and it did so far...

I did not mention every push-in clip and screw and plastic cover, which needs to be removed, but most of them, but certainly the difficult ones...


If you do not have this kind of gas pedal, which is fixed on the floor, you are lucky (my 2.1L, 2006 has a normal gas pedal (like the brake pedal next to it)). I took a bright torch and figured out, how to remove that gas pedal (which is in the way when removing the carpet). So: WD40 onto the "floor-rail" and use the help of a hammer...


Tricky part about removing the seats: The seat belt! I do not think that it is possible to remove the seatbelt on that end, which connects to the seat. Hence: removal of all the plastic covers on the inner B-pillar and remove the complete seat belt, which is actually a plus, as this allows you to also clean the seat belt with a water pressure cleaner and detergent. (I did not apply water onto the seat-belt coil though).


Removal of gear selector bezel: Lifting up at front.


Removal of the 2 screws next to the coin holder.


Removal of the 3 screws in the arm-rest tray.


Pulling off the "carpet bits" to the left and right of the centre console. Remove the Philip head screws first on the sides. Expect one of those clips to break off... sadly...


Remove the 2 torx-screws still holding the arm-rest piece onto the car-body on each side.


Pull the handbrake-cover over the handbrake and pull up the armrest carefully. Note the wire...


To get better access to the connector of that wire, I pushed the coin-holder thru to the upper side, where I had batter access to the connector, so I could disconnect it easier.


Now: That complete carpet is not split at the very front (the last approx. 5cm). This would mean that you would have to disassemble a whole lot more parts... or, and this makes much more sense: Use a carpet-cutter and cut the last 5cm, but do not cut your fingers...


I had tried carefully to lever out the bottom bit of the gas-pedal: No luck - as I later saw, it is bolted on, and those bolts are accessible only after the carpet is removed. Hence, what I did was the only way: I used a tool, which is for the removal of those press-in clips and used it a lever to pry the carpet over the gas-petal-base.


That's the tool I used...


Mission completed. Carpet is loose and ready to be pulled out.

The carpet will now get a thorough clean: Water pressure cleaner, detergent, water pressure. then it will be in the hot sun to dry thoroughly. Hence, carpet cleaning is not a job for the winter...

 

Addition to my thread above:

I can't remember, if it was necessary to remove the rear seat to be able to remove the carpet (as I wanted to remove the rear seat anyway, but if you want or need to remove the rear seat..: I just wrote another thread of how to do that:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...lstery-270359/

And more pictures of my removed carpet:

I cleaned both sides (upper and lower) thoroughly with a water pressure cleaner and laundry detergent (liquid). There is a lot of foam underneath (and the previous owner managed to make sure it got soaked with coffee of Cola).


Detergent and a brush did the trick - and the water pressure cleaner.


After one day of drying in the sun... It will get another day of sun tomorrow.


And this is the base part of the gas-petal, which shows that there was no way to "pull it out" to free the carpet, as those 2 bolts were under the carpet. I unscrewed it after removing the carpet, because it was utterly rusty, and rust spreads like a cancer into neighbouring areas. I removed the rust and spray-painted it.

PS - AIRBAG SAFETY:
I asked Robert, who made the youtube video about airbag safety, which I linked above, regarding if I should disconnect the battery when removing e.g. a seat, and I received a pretty good answer:

> Before unplugging an airbag it's recommended to disconnect the battery. Some vehicles will have a fuse you can pull instead.
> Once the airbag system is disabled it's safe to do whatever you need.

So I will pull fuse 53 in the passenger compartment fuse box in my 2004 X-Type, which is the "Airbag module ignition supply" fuse.

PS2: Meanwhile I took pictures of the X-Type's inside without carpet - thought this might possibly be useful for someone - it's not a sight you see everyday...


On top of the gear-shifter is the bracket going around the gear-shifter, which is normally full of rust - I removed the rust and sprayed it silver.

 

If memory serves me rightly, that throttle pedal base is released before the carpet is lifted and without brute force, by pushing a rods of the right diameter into the two vertical holes visible in the photo

 

> If memory serves me rightly, that throttle pedal base is released before the carpet is lifted and without brute force, by pushing a rods of the
> right diameter into the two vertical holes visible in the photo

...or like that, yes... Thanks, I did not figure that one out. One could push 2 little Philips-head screwdrivers thru those holes. But I did not apply brute force - pulling the carpet around the pedal-base was not too bad. After unscrewing the base, I used a big flathead to separate the plastic from the metal-bracket - that required quite some force, because the metal bracket was severely rusted and clang on to the plastic part - kind of rusted onto the plastic part. Thus, I am not sure, if the plastic would have separated using the 2 rods would have worked under those conditions. Meanwhile I completely removed the rust (wire-brush on drill) and I paint-coated it (OE is uncoated inviting rust). Also, you see just left in my picture that production-hole in my floor...: I did not have a rubber grommet in there: I do not know, if that was missing or if no one has one. Anyway, that is where spray-water could have entered over time generating the rust. I used now silicone and duct-tape to fill this hole in.