I give up! I'm trying to remove the door panels on my 06 and CAN NOT get the armrests to come off. I've looked at everyone's posts about depressing the little concealed clips and just can't get them to budge. I've tried using popsicle sticks, various thicknesses of metal feeler gauges (I even went as far as to bend the ends a little bit to make sure they weren't just digging into the sloping plastic on the tab), a thin metal ruler, and just about everything else in my garage just short of a sledgehammer!

Does anyone have a super-special, magic solution to the problem of depressing this dumb little clip?

Thanks.

Chuck

 

Use a flathead screwdriver, taped up thoroughly to avoid scratching the delicate paint on the door handle (I use one of my larger ones). The screwdriver is rigid enough to push the tab down - everything you've mentioned isn't rigid enough. This tutorial should give you all you need: http://www.jwardell.com/mini/hkdoor.html

 

What happens when you insert the tool? Do you mean it comes to a hard stop and goes no further (how far in did it go)? Same result on both doors?

 

Put the flat-head screwdriver in the exact center of the front (leading) edge of the arm rest and slide it in about 4"... the clip is really close to the front edge of the pad. You'll feel an increase in pressure when you're on the clip. Once you have the screwdriver in, push the arm rest forward (towards the screwdriver) to release it. It's a bit tricky - it took me about 15 minutes to pop the first one off then only about 5 minutes for the second since I could see what the clip looked like. Now that I've done it a few times I can get them off in about 30 seconds flat. Putting them back on is a bit of a trick as well, and takes a few minutes the first time.

Once you have all 4 door screws out (remember that there's a screw under the round white reflector at the top of the panel!), the easiest way I've found to get the actual panel off is to lay on your back looking up at the bottom of the panel and slide the same flat-head screwdriver that you used to get the arm rest off into the lower seam (be sure to pop out the lower light first and slide the lens assembly into the door to avoid damaging the wires). Prying from the bottom is best, since that way if you DO ding or mar the panel, nobody will see it. Once you start to open the lower edge, get your fingers into the seam and just keep pulling - the panel is held on with friction clips that make a scary ripping noise when releasing - don't worry, you're not damaging anything. After the lower edge is separated, stand up and lift the top edge off the door lock button and you're all done.

NOTE: if you accidentally pop off the door lock button when trying to re-install the panel, let me know - I accidentally knocked loose the passenger side button the first time I had the panel off and I now know how to fix THAT as well.

Good luck!

 

Whew! I finally got the armrests both off with a small plastic spatula. Thank you Cuisinart! The problem was that the slping edge of the tab that needed to be depressed was squared off (probably by all of my tools and attempts that didn't work) on the leading edge and preventing anything from "riding up" the ramp. I'll need to file the bad edge into a new smooth ramp so I can get them off the next time.

Thanks for your replies!

Chuck

 

That's "sloping" edge... ;-)

Happy New Year!