I began by putting the seats fully back, i had to do this first because the seats are electric and i would be disconnecting the battery, but if your car has manual seats then this is not a problem.
The next thing is disconnecting the battery because, there is an air bag switch that gets disconnected in the process and to avoid warning lights doing this stops that, or any other flair ups of French electrics being temperamental.
Pull out the ashtray thing, its just held in there with clips, so it just involves pulling the bit beside the gearstick gaiter upwards, then sliding it out:
Unclip the gearstick gaiter, that means pulling it by the front where the clips are holding it in, then the tabs at the back should have enough clearance to let you lift it out:
Undo the 2 nuts under where the ashtray sat:
Undo the 2 bolts at the back of the centre console, it helps if your seats aren't too far back because otherwise its hard to get the socket wrench in to take them out:
Undo the 2 torx screws also where the ashtray sat, which hold in the side covers of the whole thing, you will need either a stubby screwdriver, or one of them flexible attachments such as the one in the photo because its awkward to get a screwdriver down in here:
Once the screws are out, pull away these 2 covers, a bit of brute force and ignorance here can help get them out quick (getting them back in is a real b******d):
Pull away the air ducts, there is clips holding them in place so push them down first otherwise you will be pulling at them for some time and possibly break them (the masking tape is something i added to them the last time i took out the centre console to hold them together better and stop rattles):
Pull out the bit of plastic under the handbrake:
Slide the whole centre console a bit backwards, then tilt it forwards, while doing this try and pop up the cig socket, and the buttons for the heated seats, airbag , then set the console back down and unclip the wires going to these things:
Tilt the centre console up again and push the gearstick gatier through the bottom of the console, and also thread the handbrake through it, once these are cleared it should come on ahead out, try not to scratch anything:
Take the 2 nuts out of the holder at the back out and this allows that to come out, why you want this out i dont know but to hoover underneath it is one reason:
I stored the whole thing in a box while the car was away getting the handbrake cables put in:
Here is the middle of the car with the centre console out
In typical Haynes manual style I shall end by saying "installation is the reverse of removal" except not as easy if you forget how you removed it.
