As title really, the interior on my baby is a bit tired looking (as expected on a 17 year old car) so I've been eyeing up a new one..... how much of a job is it to take out the seats, remove all the door cards & center console panels then fit new ones? Both sets of seats are the electric memory ones, do I need to disconnect the battery before starting? Is it feasible to get this done in a weekend? Or even a day?

For context, I'm a software developer.....so a wrench isn't my tool of choice, but I'm quite happy following the RAVE CD, just looking for timescales from anyone who's actually done this.

It's pretty much how it looks - a variety of Torx bits for the seats, a couple of plugs, and a couple of Philips screws for the door cards (one in the handle trim, two in the armrest and at the front one under the tweeter cover).

Orangebean swapped his complete interior at the first summer camp, took about 4 hours to do. Gives a good opportunity to give the carpets a good vac while the seats are out and retrieve all the small change that's been dropped down the side of the seats over the years. If you are swapping seats like for like, then just unplug the cables under each front seat. Easiest way of doing it is to undo the 4 bolts holding each front seat, then tip it back so you can get in there. As Gordon says, you'll need a set of Torx bits (like https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/draper-12-7-piece-square-drive-48mm-long-tx-/) and a Number 2 Pozidrive screwdriver for the door cards. Trim removal tools (https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/5-piece-car-trim-removal-kit/) help with getting the door cards off without breaking the clips although you will find that most of them stay in the door and have to be refitted to the cards before you put them back.

If by centre console panels you mean the side covers, there's two screws (or there should be, many cars don't have them any longer), one at the front by the heater outlet vent and one low down at the back. You need to gently lever the back outwards away from the window switchpack, then the whole thing slides downwards. I've got pictures of how to do it somewhere, I'll see if I can add them.

Document I did for someone else who was also changing theirs.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=12A6QY4pwXjBKG9cxDhEaWURy_vc475M4

As Gilbertd says it all comes out quite easily when you know but there are gotchas for the first timer.

Before you decide what to buy its worth spending an evening doing some "parts book" homework on LRcat (http://new.lrcat.com, select P38, section K and choose from list to get pretty picture) to see what all the bits look like, how many screws there are and, more or less, where they hide. There are a few screws you can't easily see and various plastic tabs needing unhooking before parts can be lifted away. Centre console in particular.

OK its Captain Obvious suggestion but make sure you have a selection of plastic tubs or whatever (margarine, ex-curry take away et al) to keep the screws safe and separate.

Clive

Brilliant, thanks for the help guys.

I've purchased a full interior set (minus the lid for the centre console cubby) off ebay, it's the same colour as mine (lightstone / cream) but a) in better nick b) with the piping on the seats and c) with the headrest seats....good things is, if there's any bits missing out of the new set the current ones should be about the same colour anyway.