OK, I started wrapping the silver trim parts of the dash. The two small bits behind the steering wheel were easy to prise off, but the section above the glove box is connected differently! I've discovered this by breaking one of the clips that screws into it. Doh!

So, how do I get this thing off without destroying my car!?

The door cards sound like a real pain in the ass to do too...I think I'll tackle them on a day I'm feeling especially patient.

Thanks in advance,

Danny

Wrap them in situ. Use a sharp knife and be very careful when trimming the excess. That's what I plan to do.

OK, I started wrapping the silver trim parts of the dash. The two small bits behind the steering wheel were easy to prise off, but the section above the glove box is connected differently! I've discovered this by breaking one of the clips that screws into it. Doh!

So, how do I get this thing off without destroying my car!?

The door cards sound like a real pain in the ass to do too...I think I'll tackle them on a day I'm feeling especially patient.

Thanks in advance,

Danny

any pictures Danny? really want to do it but dont want to break anything....

Spooky as i was gonna ask the same question, will have a go with it in place.

There is a way to do it properly

Open the passenger door, and on the edge of the dash there's a removable panel

Then you have to drop the glovebox by feeling around the bottom for where it's attached, open the door and remove a few screws holding it from the top

Then you can get to three screw heads which hold the trim section in place

It's a real PITA to be honest, but I managed it

Lining it all back up and putting the glovebox back is the worst thing

Cheers for the replies guys. I think I'll do it the hard way, just because I've got to repair the snapped connection.

I'll do the door cards first in situ and see how good I am at that. If that's fine, I'll do the glove box the same way. If not, I'll take the whole lot out and repair/wrap at the same time.

@Brimma - did you have to disconnect the glove box light to pull it out, or is there enough cable for it to be left in (but pulled out enough) to unscrew the trim?

any pictures Danny? really want to do it but dont want to break anything....

I'll take some as I do it to try and help others out, no worries.

@Brimma - did you have to disconnect the glove box light to pull it out, or is there enough cable for it to be left in (but pulled out enough) to unscrew the trim?

I don't recall having to unplug anything, but I did it a while ago, and my memory's not what it used to be :(

It's literally a case of dropping it far enough to get a stubby cross head screwdriver up from behing to remove three screws

Door cards I would leave in place and just do them in situ.

Glove box - as mentioned just follow Brimmas description and you should be OK. To give you more access you can disconnect the cooling pipe and light on the glovebox.

I did mine just the other day

I thought changing everything to L&K spec piano black would be easy but I should have known it would be a Skoda/dealer nightmare.

I have a 58-plate pre-FL car which has the horrid plastic looking silver trim everywhere, doors, dash etc. It wouldn't be so bad if VW Group had allowed Skoda to use the real alloy look from VW/Audi interiors but no such luck.

L&K spec (Laurent & Klement) Octavia models have lovely piano black interior trim which looks 100% better and more modern in my opinion and some of the cars on Briskoda have been upgraded.

My (unhelpful) local Skoda dealer helped me source and buy the correct dash parts only to find the centre radio/climatronic surround only comes in silver or grey plastic not piano black, the door trims are not separate and I have to buy each door interior at £254.88 each!!!), the ashtray is available but only in grey, silver or carbon???

Thankfully the small pieces either side of the driver binnacle come in piano black and pull/push off/on easy enough (£17.45 and £10.65). The big strip above the glovebox is available in piano black (£27) but is apparently dealer fit only and the piece running around the gear stick is available in piano black (£6) and takes 5 seconds to fit without removing gear knob or gaitor. Incidentally my leather gaitor is ripped so I enquired to the cost of a new one and they cost £75 each!!!

I bought the centre radio surround (Skoda dealer price £5.65 ...nice surprise, silver is £32.29) and had a local bodyshop paint it piano black for £20 - the finish was appalling and looked like a 2-year old had painted it. They apologised and painted it red which was better and glossy but not great either. I have since bought another one which had been sent to be carbon wrapped by Wicked Coatings in Poole, Dorset for £55.

In the meantime the three dash parts arrived at the dealer from Czechoslovakia (all where out of stock both in UK and Czech Republic but all once ordered all appeared within 5-days???). As I reported the left and right pieces either side of the dash remove easily with a bit of force although beware of the headlight switch. When I pulled on the trim piece the switch surround with all the light settings on it flew off and broke - but somehow it snapped back into place with the new trim even though a tab was broken inside. Remove this part and switch first.

The passenger trim piece looked easy too until I realised it's bolted on with three screws accessed from behind and below. Thank God I had a Skoda schematic diagram or I would have ripped the lot off and probably caused expensive damage. Perhaps dealer is right and I should let them fit it. They said airbag has to be deactivated, glovebox lid removed, along with air-con ducting, thermo switch, cubby light and wiring all have to be removed. (Damn!)

So far my interior looks like a patchwork quilt.

Do I dare try and prize the door trims off??? Wish I hadn't started this now interior project now

Edited 24 May, 201313 yr by ckracer76