OK, the panel swap is done, and I've got pictures in tow!
Here's a quick write-up of the overall process that I took. I did the passenger door first, and finished on the driver's side. The first door took me about 1.5 hours to do and the second door took me about 30 minutes... it's funny how that goes!
Step 1 - remove the old door panel
Before you get started, remove the tweeter that sits on top of the door panel. It will take some effort, but it does "pry" up and "pop" out with some persuasion.
I used a trim removal tool to get underneath of it and lift an edge of it up so I could get a couple fingers under it to lift it out. You'll then need to disconnect the wiring harness connector and set the speaker aside.
You'll need a Torx T-27 bit in order to remove the 3 bolts securing the door panel to the door itself. Pictures below show where each bolt is located.
Bolt 1 - under the red reflector
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Bolt 2 - on the backside of the door pull
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Bolt 3 - on the underside of the door pull
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Once the bolts are out, I then used an interior trim tool and my hands to pull the panel back from the door frame and lifted the panel from the door itself. I started at a bottom corner and ran along the bottom, popping the plastic rivets out as I went and the panel eventually freed itself from the door. There are 3 wiring harness connectors that must be removed (2 across the width of the door, one at the LED light at the bottom of the panel).
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Next, you'll need to remove the emergency latch release cable... it's easier than it looks, as it simply lifts out of the retaining assembly once you pull the cable up and rotate it around. It's keyed and can only come out and go back in one way, so it's difficult to mess up.
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With that done, you can then fully remove the panel from the door.
I set the old door panel side-by-side with the new one just for comparisons sake:
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One interesting point - the door panels have NO insulation whatsoever (outside of the white fabric liner shown above)... no wonder the doors sound so "hollow" when pulled shut!
Here's a detail shot of the back side of the new panel - I didn't think the flocked storage compartment on the new panel would make a big difference in sound insulation, but TRUST ME - it's night-and-day compared to the old panel. Now when I shut either of the front doors, they sound so much better and I don't worry that they're going to explode every time they are shut!
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Step 2 - Prepare the new door panel
Another difference between the two panels that I wasn't quite expecting was the mounting tabs... the new door panel has these white/green tabs that will not work in my "older" door frame, so I had to swap over the black mounting tabs from the old panel before putting the panel back on the door... you can see the differences in the side-by-side picture, above.
FYI that I used some medium-sized needle-nose pliers to remove the tabs from both doors, as trying to remove them by hand wasn't going to cut it, as the tabs are too easy to break by hand.
While I had the door apart, I took the opportunity to tape the wiring harness so that I eliminated all points of "rattle" that I could possibly find. I used some black gorilla tape and it worked a treat. You can see below what I'm referring to... I walked the entire harness and made sure that if there was any point where the harness could move and "slap" against the door panel it got some tape!
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Step 3 - install new door panel
Once finished there, I then lined everything back up, connected the wiring harnesses (be sure to pay special attention to the tweeter harness, as it has to run up the door in a specific manner in order to reach properly), inserted the emergency release cable pawl, set it in its mounting tab, laid the white sound proof material back over and situated it properly and then mouted the new panel on the door frame.
To get this installed, you'll need to start at the top of the door and "hang" the panel on the metal "lip" that runs the length of the door. Once you have the door supporting the weight of the panel, you can then "swing" the bottom panel down and into place. It'll take some trial/error, but it will eventually "find its home". You'll want to ensure the 3 bolt holes line up properly, and once they do, you should be able to use your fist and go around the perimeter of the door panel and hit it (gently) and feel/hear the plastic tabs "snap" back into place, securing the panel onto the door.
Once you are at that point, reinstall the 3 Torx bolts, reinstall the red reflector, mount the tweeter and marvel at your handiwork!!!
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I then repeated on the other side, and the end result is shown in the next post (I ran into the 10 attachment limit on this post).