X350 Doors - How to Get the Pesky Door Cards Off

[AlanC]

Hello All,

Having had second door internal defect (different defect) and spent silly money at Jag dealership, first time around, 'cos I couldn't find how to get the door cards off, I had a better think, on-line search and go at it.

The door cards come in two parts: One (the inner part) will be coloured same as your trim/seats, etc and the outer surround is grey/black/some contrasting colour. The trick is that only the inner part comes off, initially, then reveals all the torx screws that will allow the outer to be released. Don't just think you can pull the outer one off - you'll end up with a big bill.

So: On the inner part of the card, look for three screw covers, release and undo the screws underneath. You'll find that the vicinity of the card can be lifted a little but it still seems extremely tight. It is. The rest of the card is held by VERY TIGHT clips. To release these, I recommend you use a good, broad chisel as a lever, between the inner card and the outer card, and use thin sheets of firm plastic (old/your wife's credit cards are ideal) at the points where the chisel touches the edges of the door cards. Be bold, and "POP!", they'll come undone. Carefully release the window cable connectors and door handle wire, then you can get at all the screws for the outer card. That comes off fairly easily.

Then you can do the job that you started all this for. In my case, a corroded connector that was preventing the door lock working (first job) and removal and adjustment of outer door handle (second job), where the operating pin connection to the internals had come out of alignment.

Replacement of cards is a simple reversal of above but make sure that you have got the window cables and door catch wire aligned correctly - otherwise it all has to come off again (that's how I found out). The stiff poppers, on the inner card are very easily snapped into place, once you have them aligned correctly.

Oh, and then you can give the damaged credit card back to your wife. Success: It now won't work in the shops' card reader, saving you more money than even Jaguar Dealers can charge!

Good luck.