Guys, im trying to remove my interior door panel on my 98(passenger side)..
I unscrewed a screw near side view mirror covered with a little round black plastic piece and unscrewed another one where my door **** is.. it seems like the whole bottom area is detached but somewhere in middle or the top where window is is still intact. I didn't wanna break anything so i didnt force it. Are there any other screws that i missed or maybe do i have to take out the whole door **** area or the window controls..??

 

I tried this a while back on my 97 and then didn't follow through. Please take pictures as you go along. They'll be very helpful to the rest of us. Hopefully somebody with more experience in this can provide some help....

 

* blowing dust off of my camera..

 

hmmm... u say you got the screw below the handle right? i have a 92 es i recently took off the rear door panels and there was only one screw that kept the panels together. i say give it a hard tug once youve gotten all the clips from the sides...are you able to lift the panel?

 

I did it not too long ago to my 98 (installed blue LEDs in the map pockets), and if I get a chance tomorrow I'll take it off and take some pics for 'ya. It's not too difficult, especially if you have the Haynes manual (every ES owner should have one, IMO).

I can't do it tonight, though because IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!! No, my birthday plans do not involve taking off my door panel...

 

I managed to take door panel off without breaking anything. The whole purpose of this was to change my side view mirror.
I have NEVER touched or worked on anything on any car before, this was my first time. I took time and was very careful and it all worked out fine and saved me few bucks.
I took some pictures during the process with my camera phone so the quality isn't that good..

1) REMOVING THE SCREWS

First, I removed the speaker cover to see where the screws for side view mirror was located.
It was fairy easy to take out the covers, all i had to do was lift it upward with little force and came right out.
I wasn't sure if this screw had to be removed to open the door panel but i did it anyway..








2) PRYING OUT TRIMS

I found it easier to pry out the trims using these spots without breaking anything..
I used a taped flat-head screw driver to pry out the trims so i won't scratch anything.
The main screw to open the door panel is located under window switch panel.
Once the trim is pryed out, disconnect all the plugs from switch panel.






3) OPENING DOOR PANEL / SNAP PLUGS

After removing all the trims(door handle, switch panel), use some force to unplug the snap plugs. There are total 7 snap plugs holding the door panel and the door together. Try working from the sides or the bottom. I found easier to unplug these working from the sides first. . Once all these are out, slightly lift up the door panel and should come right out.






4) TAKING OUT SIDE VIEW MIRROR

Once the door panel is removed, it should be easy to take out side view mirror and install the new one. But first you have to remove the speaker to reveal side view mirror screws underneath it.




Here's a picture of what it looks like after removing the speaker.




After unscrewing the bolds and removing the side view mirror.




Install your new side view mirror, connect all cables, screw back in everything and done!
I hope this helps!

 

Great write up. Thank you!

 

Hey thirdmotio, why do you need to replace your side mirror? Broken? The reason I ask is that I need to take apart my side mirror (installing amber signal LEDs) and don't want to risk breaking it... so if you don't have a use for your old mirror do you think that you could send it to me to experiment with??? Please???

PM me if you'd be willing to help a me out with this... trust me it'll be worth it, I plan on doing a complete writeup/DIY for this mod...

Donating it for research would be much better than having it collect dust in your garage!!!

 

omaha_lex, the glass was broken and some noticable scratches on casing from when the mirror was damaged. Other than that everything works fine including the motors and stuff.
I can send u the mirror to experiment, no prob.
E-mail me at tae@j2studios.com

 

I concur. Excellent write-up on how to remove the door panel in your ES. Some of us will really benefit this info, so I'm adding 3rdmotio's post to the "ES300 DIY" stickied thread and crediting 3rdmotio for his efforts

 

Does removing the window switch panel take a considerable amount of force? I used a small flat head screwdriver to try to pry out the circled area in the picture. I got it only about 3mm out and it felt like the plastic was going to break. Then I withdrew the screwdriver to see that I've ripped a gash in the leather where the screwdriver was. This attempt was a big disappointment. I might try again with a larger flathead.

 

Thank you for the detailed description on taking off door panel. I followed closely and your instructions worked like a charm. I was replacing rear door speakers and was done in 30 min. Thanks Thirdmotio, Best buy charges $87.00 and a appointment for this!

 

do you guys see the pics ?

 

I can't see the pictures either.

 

Probably gone, given this thread is 6 years old...