Changing interior - DIY job?

[Cossington]

Hi,

I fancy a colour change, so I'm thinking of changing the interior of my 2003 X350.
Is it a straightforward job, to swap the seats and door cards out?
I'm hoping it is a spanner/ allen key job and then plug in the wiring. Can it be this easy?

Any experience/ warnings welcomed.

Thanks,

David

[robv12]

pretty much plug and play

be careful swapping year and spec though

doors dead easy, 10 mins each and as far as I know all swap with all over all years, obviously LWB and SWB rears will not swap

Front seat wise, I would suggest swap like for like, unless you upgrade to heated or heated/cooled, you will need the corresponding switch pack, seats just bolt in and out, and grab some seats with DVD screens in if you can

Rear seats, LWB and SWB will not swap, and ensure you do not downgrade by losing the rear ents pack

My guess is once this is all done you MAY have to reprogramme the car, to tell it that upgraded or down graded seats have been fitted

what colour you going from to??, I need a good drivers seat in Sand if that is the one coming out of your car

[Cossington]

Thanks robv12,

That is very useful.

I've currently got black, hoping to go to cranberry. I currently have rear ents (but no tv screens). The two sets I'm looking at are both heated fronts, but no rear ents. So - not as straightforward as it could have been.

Might need to get the pros involved...

Best wishes,

David

[robv12]

I think I know the two seat you are looking at one on ebay and one private sale??

[Cossington]

Both on Ebay; one in Coventry, the other from a breaker in Derby.

Do you know of another set, for sale privately?

Lovely colour, but a chunk to spend on a £4k car...

David

[robv12]

The one in Cov is the one I looked at, its now appeared on the bay then!!

you have a pm

[jagshield]

Surely changing the *interior* is not this easy?
Seats and door cards, yes. But what of the seat belts - would you trust a s/h one? And all the myriad plastic covers everywhere will all be in your original colour, and will be difficult to remove without breaking the tangs. So in turn look for broken tangs on the replacements. Also carpets, centre console, steering wheel and rear ledge will all be in a different colour.
And the dashboard??
It strikes me as a long and involved job - not technically difficult, but requiring a lot of planning along the lines of 'do I know how to remove that piece and install a new one'.

[barrywi]

Buy a new car in the right colour!

[jBlackwell]

You could try painting the ones you have to the color you want?

Speak to furniture clinic:

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/
Tel: 0844 879 3691

Probably just as expensive/cheap, but you can change the colour of everything you want. Paint sticks to all sorts of surfaces.

Just an alternative option.

James

[Cossington]

Surely changing the *interior* is not this easy?
Seats and door cards, yes. But what of the seat belts - would you trust a s/h one? And all the myriad plastic covers everywhere will all be in your original colour, and will be difficult to remove without breaking the tangs. So in turn look for broken tangs on the replacements. Also carpets, centre console, steering wheel and rear ledge will all be in a different colour.
And the dashboard??
It strikes me as a long and involved job - not technically difficult, but requiring a lot of planning along the lines of 'do I know how to remove that piece and install a new one'.

Agreed - some colour changes are more 'compatible' than others. In this case, going from black to cranberry - things like seat bealts, dash surround etc remain in black.

I've just bought a cranberry interior (after a month of discussions/ pondering etc) and it is to be fitted by a local Jag specialist (Farriers, nr Leicester) on Wednesday. We're still investigating how we can switch the rear ents in the armrests. Does anyone know if the plastic trays/ inserts just popout, or where the tangs might be, in the rear arm rest?

Any info welcomed.

Update to follow....
Best wishes,

David

[Cossington]

I collected my car last Friday with the cranberry interior fitted. I am delighted with it. I used Farriers in Glenfield, near Leicester, a Jaguar specialist I haven't used before. I was very pleased with their work and communcation.

A new switchpack for the dash was all that was required to get the heated seats working (my previous seats were not heated, but the wiring was in place in the car). The rear ents system was transferred from the old rear arm rest to the new.

The cranberry contrasts nicely with the 'Steed tribute bowler hat' that sits on my rear parcel shelf. It never showed up against the black!

Thanks to Rob for the advice and comments offline. It was helpful and much appreciated.

Now I just need to sell the black interior. Great condition if anyone is interested (pics in the claissified section).

David

[robv12]

Excellent, were these the seats from Coventry??

[Cossington]

Hi Rob,

Yes, they were the Coventry ones. I am delighted with them - not the most sensible financial upgrade, but I've always wanted a car with a red leather interior and it refreshes the whole 'affair' with the car, for me.

I'm not sure I'll use the heated seats (I have had them in other cars), as I'm paranoid about overloading the battery on a freezing dark morning, but it is nice to have the upgrade for the car.

Best,

David

[robv12]

well dome, I hope the deal went well for you, better than my attempt!!!

I too love red and missed a black/red 350 yesterday by a few quid!!

[mstanley3814]

Regarding interior swap out....

Does anyone know if the wiring loom is standard across the entire range??
ie. would a car that does not have heated rear seats still have the plugs for a heated rear seat stowed away under the existing seat?
Would a car that does not have cooled front seats but has heated ones be easy to fit with heated and cooled seats to as all the required wiring / plugs are already present??

I know a lot of manufacturers like to standardise some kit across a range to reduce costs but I'm not sure if something as in-depth as a wiring loom would be the same??

The reason I ask is that I currently have heated front seats only and both pads have failed, I know it will cost approx £400 for the Jag pads and to get a trimmer to fit them but if a new interior, same year and colour of course, with cooled fronts and heated rears would essentially be plug and play it is something I would consider?

Thanks.............