deilenberger

Porsche doesn't make things simple. I (as others have before) broke one of the little flop down trays on the CD holder in the glovebox (PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: do not try to close the glovebox with one of the trays extended. It will break.) I went on eBay and found a brand new replacement one for about $25/shipped to me.. so I bought it. It's been sitting in the garage bugging me for a few months, some health issues prevented me from doing that sort of work on the Boxster.

Today it was supposed to - and did - rain most of the day, so the Boxster wasn't going anywhere. It's not that I won't drive it in the rain, but I do have the Cayenne for weather use, and I prefer driving it on days when I can put the top down (pretty much any day over 45F and sunny..) So I figured I'd replace the CD holder.

Looking on AllDataDIY - it showed doing it - preceded by glovebox removal. Glovebox removal is preceded by cup-holder removal. And it requires some of the interior dash to be removed. I printed it all out, and it came in handy since there are some screws holding the glovebox in that are basically hidden.

So I got to work. Found the cupholder removal is complicated by the screws holding it in, not wanting to drop down and release it. They're a bit awkward to get to anyway since they're inside the upper lip of the glovebox where the door closes, and getting a Torx driver on them is difficult because of the glovebox. Once loosened they don't actually come free - I had to pull them down and out using tiny channel lock pliers. The cupholder then slides out.

At this point, one can see the CD holder, but you can't do anything with it since it's screwed in from the back of the glovebox. So - next the outside lower dash panel has to come off, the end-cap plastic cover has to come off, and there are 3 glovebox screws hiding behind it. Moving on to the other side of the glovebox - the side-panel of the console has to be removed, revealing another 3 glovebox screws. Finally, there are two more screws that were hidden by the cupholder (why it had to be removed) on the top edge of the glovebox.

AND - it's out. Swapping out the CD holder was 2 more screws. The CD holders tend to break due to the hinge mechanism for the cover/front-tray-edge rotating in plastic bushings. Once popped out of the bushings, chances are it won't go back in since one of the bushings is undoubtedly broken.

SO - the new one went in.

Seeing as how I was this far into the assembly, I decided to investigate why my Sirius radio stopped working earlier this week. So - I pulled out the aftermarket head unit I'd installed about a year ago, and found the DIN connector for the Sirius receiver had unplugged from the cable coming from the headunit. I anticipated this when I did the install and used electrical tape to try to make the connection resistant to accidental/time related disconnect. Obviously, I failed. So - another hour was spent futzing around trying to come up with a way of making it secure. Finally found some 1/2" shrink-wrap tubing and made a cover for the junction. I shrank it down and then used some tie-wraps around it just as extra security.

Reassembly was the opposite of disassembly except I'd lost one of the many Torx screws holding the glovebox in - don't know where it went. It dropped on removal and it apparently is hiding somewhere in the center console. A replacement was found in my big box of self-tap screws. Same size/color - but Philips head instead of Torx. I'll switch to the correct one when I get around to purchasing one.

So - task accomplished. CD holder replaced. Sirius working again. Car back together. And I'm VERY sore.

What impressed me was the precision that Porsche went to in the assembly of the dash. On BMW's that I've taken apart (and that's a lot of them) - there is usually some effort required to line up holes between parts of the vehicle. Some pressure needed to push something close enough, or bend it a bit so the holes line up. There was none of that on the Boxster. I placed the glovebox back in position (and it stayed there) and each of the many holes for screws lined up precisely with the holes in the framework that holds it in place.

ekam

What's a "CD" ?

tomhartzell

+1 on the quality of the engineering. On my '12 CS, I didn't close the cup holder completely after using it at Rennsport, but also didn't need to take the glove box out to fix it. The problem is that if you don't close the cup holder down to its smallest diameter before putting it back in the dash, it won't release. Fix only took seconds for the cup holder, but getting it out and then back in was considerably more effort. (As Don found out!)

I have never used my CD holders, but one of the flop down trays is now broken. (i.e. Finally figured out what the rattling was in the glove box) As ekam says... "What's a CD?..." Based upon what Don has offered, mine is going to stay the way it is; I'll disclose it to the new owner whenever that time comes.

okie981

I think it's a type of investment where you give some money to a bank and they pay you 0.05% interest per year back.

Mathman

A CD that gets 0.05%? WOW!! COOL!

okie981

Yep, not negative interest, not 5% either, but 0.05%. Almost enough to buy a postage stamp each year.

Mathman

Is negative interest like a negative gain? (he asks VERY sarcastically).