New door panels installed! Old (left) vs the new (right). I will agree with the poster above who noted that the doors do sound much more solid when you shut them. Initially I couldn't tell the difference, but when I had the other door shut, and shut the drivers door, it was actually surprisingly noticeable. Install took about 20 minutes for the tech. Watching him (he was very friendly) it probably would have taken me a couple hours. He knew exactly where all the wires, clips, etc were to unplug and replug, and it was an absolute breeze for him.
These new panels do indeed have a new ambient LED in them somewhere, but he confirmed older cars don't have the pigtail for them so you won't be getting that ambient LED (unless you do some creative wiring, which I'm not going to bother with)
I did get the wood trim pieces as well, but my carbon dash and trim replacements from Fusion Motorsports are being delivered on Monday so I figured I'd just leave them uninstalled so I don't have to bother uninstalling them. Just snap the new ones in place and be done with it.
Overall great experience with this particular tech, he was super friendly and was clearly a car guy, was digging all the other little modifications I've got in the car, and was just super professional in general and got the job done super fast.
For $70, I'd say paying for the tech to come out and do it was well worth it. For you you may feel different, but I'm glad I had him come out and do it.
It definitely is DIY friendly, I just hate working on cars and this guy was in and out and installed them perfectly. Some stuff like the manual release would have been annoying for me to figure out, and although I could have figured it out, like I said... 20 minutes in and out for $70. Super worth it.
He was even nice enough to be gentle with the clips as he took the old panels out. He asked me if I wanted the old panels taken or if I wanted to keep them. He said they'd be going in the trash if they took them, and I said I'd be selling them. So with that in mind, he mentioned they normally just rip the old clips out which destroys them. He took his time and carefully pulled them out and re-seated them into the old door panels so that they're install ready for whoever buys them, and also gave me the original covers for the new door panels to put the old ones in to have them protected and ready for shipment.
I'm happy.
Also worth noting... that sound insulation looks like it bolts up to open holes that look like would line up perfect on the old panel. Not sure if there is a part #, but for those just wanting the sound insulation pad, you probably could do it. Though if you're going to that trouble, I'd probably be using Dynamat or something of that nature and filling the entire door panel. Still, it could be an option.